Looking to win friends and influence political heavyweights? The recent listing of a Montgomery County mansion to the tune of $26 million was designed specifically for flashy parties with Washington elite.
If sold for its asking price, it will exceed the $23 million purchase of a former textile museum by Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos in the D.C. neighborhood of Kalorama — where he is spending $12 million for renovations.
“I actually reached out to Jeff Bezos to see if he was interested because this one is much more turnkey,” said real estate agent Ted Duncan of Long and Foster, who is listing the property. “You really could buy this property, settle on it today and tomorrow have a party in it.”
Built in 1894, the three-story, Tudor-style home is 13,000 square-feet, with a stone facade and cottage-style peaks. It boasts a grand ballroom off the entryway and a number of private entertaining rooms — like a club, music and drawing room — no doubt a fixture of high society parties in the early 20th century.
The mansion has seven bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a large outdoor patio with retractable canopy and expansive cellar with 8-foot-high ceilings.
The home currently is owned by the Cafaro family of Ohio, who made their fortune on shopping center real estate development and originally bought the property for $1.975 million in 1991.
The patriarch, J.J. Cafaro, made headlines in 2002, when he pleaded guilty for bribing a public official — former Ohio congressman James Traficant — and also faced charges of falsifying campaign contributions.
Located at 9 Chevy Chase Circle, the mansion is close to the border with the District, yet sits on the Maryland side.
It was the first home built in Chevy Chase and served as a symbol of an affluent community its builders envisioned the neighborhood would eventually grow to.
The home was built by Francis Newlands, a politician from Nevada and a successful real estate and land developer throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The mansion was the first home in the newly partitioned neighborhood, of which Newlands was co-founder of the Chevy Chase Land company that bought up more than a thousand acres of property in the area with the intention of developing a regal neighborhood.
Many of the neighborhood homes were designed by local architect Leon E. Dessez, who designed — among other things — the house for the superintendent of the Naval Observatory, now the vice president’s house, and established the first building codes in Washington, according to the Chevy Chase Historical Society.
In 1909, William S. Corby — who made his fortune with bread and baking patents — bought the home on the circle and oversaw an extensive renovation whose main features have largely stayed the same to today.
That includes the addition of a grand ballroom with 30-foot ceilings and intricate artistic detailing on the ceiling and walls. Half of the second floor was removed and two balcony windows added. They frame a centerpiece of grand organ pipes.
“It certainly has French provincial feel to it,” said Mr. Duncan. “Given the proximity to Washington and space that’s there, and the ability to have very special events where presidents would attend make it a more unique place.”
Beth Huffer, director of the Chevy Chase Historical Society’s archive and research center, said it’s difficult to confirm presidential visits to the home but its clear many parties and society functions took place there.
“Apparently the Corby daughters had these all-night New Year’s Eve parties — so they were kind of known for musical concerts, parties and sorts of things,” she said.
Mrs. Corby, she added, was a prolific antiques collector and is believed to have owned the chair that President William H. Taft sat in during his inauguration.
It is the second-most expensive home in the greater D.C. area, with Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s childhood home, which went on the market last year in McLean, listed for $49.5 million.
Surrounding homes for sale in Chevy Chase list for between $1.65 million and $3 million — with an average of five bedrooms and five bathrooms.
“It is a boon to the Chevy Chase Circle area because then there’s a [comparable price] for it,” said Jayne Ehrens, a Realtor with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty.
“This one, I think, is unique in the fact that it has history. It’s not necessarily every home,” she said.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.