Good Deal or Not? “one of the best Tudor Revivals in the city” edition (Reader Request)

by Prince Of Petworth February 4, 2011 at 1:00 pm 51 Comments

This home is located at 4715 17th St, NW:

The flier says:

“Without doubt, this is one of the best Tudor Revivals in the city. In stunning condition with virtually every original detail intact, a truly rare jewel among houses of its type. Breathtaking interior spaces with large public rooms, a detached two-car garage, spectacular solarium, full basement with 9′ ceilings and three finished floors, this listing offers quality in every corner.”

You can find more info here and a virtual tour here.

This was originally recommended by a reader because they thought it was (former) Mayor Fenty’s home. After you look at the wild virtual tour you will see why that is so funny. This 6 bed/4bath home is yours for $1,325,000. What’s your favorite room/feature in this house?

Sleepy

Tudor revival? I only see one door on the house.
Anonymous

Needs a new kitchen style I think.

There’s way too much going on in that house right now style-wise. They need a house stager.
- Anonymous
  
  If you are trying to sell a house for $1.3 million, wouldn’t it be worthwhile to spring for the $400 to replace your 1982 dishwasher? You can’t even see the refrigerator. Probably a yellow Kelvinator icebox.
WDC

Is it funny because the current (and clearly longtime) resident is obviously an aging gay man?
- Prince Of Petworth
  
  It’s funny because the reader thought this was Mayor Fenty’s home.
  - ah
    
    But why is that funny, other than it’s not publicly well known that Fenty is a HUGE fan of Eva Peron and Marilyn Monroe, and has a number of white ancestors (which many suspected anyway)?
    - Prince Of Petworth
      
      Hahaha, fair enough!
Anonymous

Fenty’s home looks like a kindergartner did his reno.
- Anonymous
  
  From the original lego castle set.
RAD

i would break so many things in that house
- ah
  
  Intentionally?
  - Dingo
    
    Yes. Intentionally. And with gusto.
Chalk

good lord.
Melissa Gilbert

Wow…I don’t know what to say.
photodork

There is just so much STUFF in that house. I think the Fenty tip off was the autographed headshot of David Hasselhoff in the study.
- ah
  
  Fenty is German?!?
CH in CH

Description fails to mention that the new owner will need to put up The Lowell School and its incredible (not in a good way) traffic it generates – directly across the street.
- Anonymous
  
  Don’t forget about Zion Baptist owning your street parking on Sunday’s.
  - James
    
    Great, another example of PoP commenters living in a bubble and disrespecting community assets that actually serve the neighborhood. FYI – the Lowell school works to create a diverse lifelong learning environment children. But hey, what’s more important traffic or the lives of our children?
    - Anonymous
      
      Who cares what their mission is? My mission is world peace, doesn’t mean I disrespect my neighbors.
      - ah
        
        Dropping your kids off at school is “disrespecting” neighbors?
        
        Please don’t drive down my street, because I don’t want you disrespecting me like that.
      - Anonymous
        
        Depends. If you double park, then j-walk across the street with your child in tow and then stand in the middle of the road having a conversation with another parent like you’re the HMFIC for 10 minutes while traffic backs up then yes, you are.
ET

jebus

Interesting decor. Did anyone see the Ricky Martin picture on the bookshelf. Those in the old lady decor and the Marily obsession and I am sort of speechless.

It is 6 bedrooms in a good neighborhood so it isn’t going to be cheap.
- ah
  
  Waylon Smithers is buying.
la_niña

The house itself looks to be in pretty good condition but there must be a reason why there is not a single photo of the bathrooms which lead me to believe they must be ancient and not in good shape or form. the need to put a lot of their stuff in storage ASAP! holy cow – don’t know where to look, I swear I was getting a seizure as I went from the dining room to the bedroom!
Jessica

Did you see the ornate gold molding around one door in the hallway?? WTF??
- SnarkCity
  
  Without a doubt that was my favorite feature in this monstrosity. Well, the window dressings that are made of the same hideous fabric as the bedspreads are pretty awesome too….
  - anon.
    
    I’ve looked several times for this so called gold molding and cannot find it.
    - Jessica
      
      It’s in the picture of the upstairs hallway, with two doors. The door on the right has shiny gold molding!
srh79

Good bones, not my style, but who doesn’t want a house with a framed picture of Ricky Martin. I hope that comes with the purchase
friday

Lots of estate sale/yard sale/flea market items in there.
- friday
  
  …future estate sale/yard sale/flea market items.
Herb

OMG did they buy out the “Art by the Yard” sale?
anon.

This is a beautiful house. Intelligently and logically laid out. Nice neighborhood. OK the furnishings are specific to the owner but who cares. You don’t have to live with them.
I’d love to live in this house.
Price. I don’t know. Location is inconvenient except by car. Convenient however to Rock Creek Parkway.
(16th St. buses don’t count. What a nightmare they are)
- Anonymous
  
  It’s hard to imagine your own furniture in this house with the visually overwhelming stuff that’s there. I think I got a migraine after the 4th set of flowery print furniture.
  
  The real estate agent should be spanked for listing this house with the existing furniture.
  - anon.
    
    I don’t think it’s at all hard to imagine this house stripped of its furniture and furnishings.
    Stunning house.
    - Anonymous
      
      Based on the plurality of responses, I think you’re outvoted.
mark

Pretty house but there are too many modern-styled fixtures to feel authentic.

And, without any disrespect to the owner/decorator’s essential personhood: those sitting rooms remind me of the Far Side cartoon “How Nature Says, ‘Do not touch.’ “
Dingo

The living room, with it’s 28+ chairs: Holy cow, I don’t know what to say. It’s an interior design train wreck. I was trying to imagine Tim Gunn walking into that room.
Then, the bedroom. I laughed out loud.
Sadly, the library induced a seizure.
EPF

The founder of Giant Food built this house.
Petworth Res

Their realtor should be slapped. Asking 1.3M with no photos of the bathrooms and an ancient kitchen?? He should hide his head in shame.

Or maybe this is a case of sellers not really being serious? Granted it’s a huge house in a good location but why should someone give you 1.3M when they will need to do $300K in renovations, OR can buy something else that is move-in ready?

Please turn off TCM and watch a few episodes on HGTV. Thanks!
- Anonymous
  
  i bet the realtor know more about his business and clients than you do.
  - Anonymous
    
    I’ll bet you’re the Realtor and you’re embarrassed by all the negative comments.
    - Anonymous
      
      dude. i wish i was. i’d be making a shit ton more money if i was a realtor.
      
      2.5% commission on, let’s say it goes for 1 million, 25,000. not too shabby.
      - Stella
        
        Which gets divided between the listing agent and the agent for the buyers, and then on each side, the agent divides their money between themselves and their employing broker. And then you pay 47% taxes on the money that’s left over. So $25,000 looks more like $5,000 cash in hand. Just, FYI.
      - Anonymous
        
        stella,
        
        aren’t RE commissions generally 5%? 2.5 for the buying agent, 2.5 for the selling agent?
        and why is that income in a 47% tax bracket?
      - ah
        
        Yeah, the commission starts out at 5%, but Stella’s point is that 5% gets split between two brokers, each of whom has to pay a share to their employing broker. So an agent is lucky to clear 1% on a sale, and then they have to pay taxes, which in DC is about 9%+36% federal if you’re doing well.
- anon.
  
  No thanks.
  Why do you want to spend money on someone else’s renovations?
  Firstly, they are not what you would want.
  Secondly, it is only done to jack up the price.
  Which one of these two ideas makes sense to you?
  - anon.
    
    The above response was meant as a reply to Petworth Res
van ness guy

Talk about old money! That place needs a serious revival itself. It’s a huge house, and Crestwood is a beautiful neighborhood, but I figure it would cost at least another 200k to modernize the place – because it is so big. Plus, while Crestwood is nice, there’s no metro over there and no restarurants or anything to do. I’d say 1.1 mil is a better price.
Sully

Love it.

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