A Gilded Age Mansion Asking $14.5 Million Is Washington, D.C.’s, Priciest New Listing

Jewett Home, a circa-1905 Georgian Revival mansion that has been used for many years because the headquarters of the progressive Bauman Basis, is itemizing for $14.5 million. Spanning about 16,504 sq. toes, the property is the costliest house available on the market within the metropolis, in keeping with itemizing agent Michael Rankin of TTR Sotheby’s Worldwide Realty. And whereas the overwhelming majority of large-scale Gilded Age mansions in D. C.—and throughout the nation—at the moment are used as business or institutional house, Jewett Home is being marketed as a single-family house.

“This home could be an ideal one for Bezos,” mentioned John Landrum Bryant, vice chairman of the Bauman Basis. Or, since Mr. Bezos already has a residence in D.C., a great purchaser could be the mogul’s ex-wife, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, he mentioned.

Mr. Bryant is aware of a factor or two in regards to the housing preferences of the elite. Apart from being married to actual property heiress Patricia Bauman, whose father launched the Bauman Basis, he carries the title of prince of Monteagudo, a city in Spain, and goes by Prince John.

The free-standing house on the border of the Dupont Circle and Kalorama neighborhoods was constructed for Main R. Dickinson Jewett, with an annex added years later, Prince John mentioned. The inspiration had been primarily based within the brick and limestone constructing because the early Nineties, he mentioned, leasing workplace house at below-market charges to different nonprofit organizations. However the basis has now moved to New York Metropolis, and the constructing is vacant.

 “It will be an incredible place for a household,” mentioned Prince John. The annex could possibly be used for a household basis or workplace, Prince John mentioned, whereas “in the primary home, you’ll have the expertise of residing within the Golden Age, which might be loads of enjoyable.”

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When Jewett Home was constructed, the neighborhood was far totally different than it’s at the moment, mentioned Stephen Hansen, a historian and writer of “A Historical past of Dupont Circle: Heart of Excessive Society within the Capital.” With the appearance of the Gilded Age across the Eighteen Eighties, rich newcomers began constructing lavish mansions within the Dupont Circle space as a means of displaying off their riches, Mr. Hansen mentioned. On the time, “Dupont was mainly the middle of excessive society in Washington,” he mentioned, with residents together with inventor Alexander Graham Bell and Marshall Area & Firm co-founder Levi Leiter. The house owners of those grand properties got here for the social season—which began when Congress reconvened in November and lasted till simply earlier than Easter—then decamped to areas corresponding to Europe, Bar Harbor or Newport to flee the summer time warmth, he mentioned. “It was a pretend pas to be caught in Washington in the summertime,” he mentioned. Throughout the season, they used their properties for large-scale entertaining, from dinner events to live shows to balls. “In Dupont Circle within the season, it was only one large occasion,” Mr. Hansen mentioned.

The early 1900s, when Jewett Home was constructed, have been the twilight of the Gilded Age, he mentioned, which may clarify the house’s comparatively restrained Georgian model and its measurement. At 16,500 sq. toes, it’s big by modern requirements, however considerably diminutive in contrast with many close by properties in Dupont Circle, Mr. Hansen mentioned.

Designed by architects Marsh & Peter, the house has three tales plus an English basement, Mr. Rankin mentioned. The title Jewett Home is etched in limestone above the entrance door, Prince John mentioned. The home has 14 dormer home windows, a clay tile roof, detailed chimneys and a bay window on the aspect of the constructing. A 1906 article within the Washington Occasions put the price of constructing the house at over $70,000, or roughly $2.35 million in at the moment’s {dollars}.

Jewett Home

The constructing, proven round 1906 and at the moment, is brick and limestone.

Main Jewett was a distinguished lawyer who died in 1917, in keeping with the Jewett Household of America, a genealogical group. He served within the Nationwide Guard and practiced regulation in New York Metropolis and D.C., in keeping with a Jewett household historical past written in 1908.

Main Jewett and his spouse, Elise Jewett, had a big household and owned a number of properties in D.C. and in Higher Nyack, N.Y., in keeping with courtroom paperwork filed in reference to the settlement of Mrs. Jewett’s property. In Higher Nyack, a village about 30 miles north of New York Metropolis, the Jewetts have been well-known members of the neighborhood, the place a avenue is called for the household, mentioned Higher Nyack Village Historian Winston Perry.

Because the fortunes of the Gilded Age have been decimated by revenue taxes within the early 20^th century, the mansions of Dupont Circle have been bought, Mr. Hansen mentioned. Many have been transformed to business use or museums, whereas others grew to become embassies. The realm grew to become a historic district in 1976, which protected among the properties from being razed, Mr. Hansen mentioned.

Jewett Home was bought after Mrs. Jewett died in Higher Nyack in 1946. The furnishings retailer W. & J. Sloane purchased the constructing for $250,000 in April of 1947, courtroom paperwork mentioned.

In 1955, the Boy Scouts of America bought the constructing with assist from the late socialite and heiress Marjorie Merriweather Submit, in keeping with Jason Speck, head of archives and particular collections at Hillwood, a former house of Ms. Submit’s that’s now a museum. Ms. Submit was a good friend of Mortimer Schiff, a significant determine in early Boy Scouts historical past, and donated land and cash to the group all through her life, Mr. Speck mentioned. Ms. Submit gave $50,000 to assist the Boy Scouts buy Jewett Home to make use of as a Scout Service Heart for the BSA’s Nationwide Capital Space Council, Mr. Speck mentioned; it’s not clear what the Boy Scouts paid for the constructing.

The Boy Scouts used the house as an administrative facility however shortly outgrew it, Mr. Speck mentioned. By 1969 the group needed to borrow house in native church buildings to carry conferences and conferences, so it began fundraising to construct a brand new service middle; Ms. Submit donated money and inventory to that marketing campaign as effectively, Mr. Speck mentioned.

The Boy Scouts bought the constructing to the Nationwide Science Academics Affiliation, which paid $525,000 for it in 1974, in keeping with property information. In 1993, the Bauman Basis purchased it for $2.1 million, information present.

Prince John, 84, is a jewellery designer by commerce; his spouse is the daughter of New York real-estate magnate Lionel Bauman, who based the Bauman Basis in 1982. Ms. Bauman, 80, is the president and co-director of the muse, whereas Prince John is the vice chairman and co-director. For years the couple lived in a big house inside strolling distance of Jewett Home.

Jewett Home was in disrepair after they purchased it, Prince John mentioned, however retained unique particulars corresponding to an 8-foot-wide curving staircase and mahogany pocket doorways within the eating room. The inspiration spent about $2 million renovating and restoring the constructing, mentioned Prince John, who spearheaded the trouble. They revamped the constructing’s heating and cooling methods, he mentioned, however left a lot of the unique ceilings, doorways and hinges. “Every thing was completed to connect with the unique home,” he mentioned.

Gilded Age Particulars

The home retains a lot of its unique particulars. Townsend Visuals (4)

The home initially had 9 or 10 bedrooms, Prince John estimated, however it’s now configured with 38 places of work and 5 convention rooms. There are 10 loos, 5 kitchenettes and an elevator. The Bauman Basis’s places of work have been in what had been the lounge of the mansion, Prince John mentioned. The eating room, which has a fire and coffered ceiling, grew to become a gathering room to be used by all of the organizations within the constructing.

Regardless of some adjustments to its unique format, the constructing nonetheless appears like a home, mentioned Mr. Rankin. The lobby, eating room and drawing room are intact, and whereas among the bedrooms have been divided to be used as places of work, he mentioned, “you may simply see them being bedrooms.” Fireplaces stay in most of the rooms, and whereas they’ve been closed up, they could possibly be opened once more, Prince John mentioned. Mr. Rankin estimated that it could price about $500,000 to return the constructing to residential use, however {that a} purchaser would probably spend far more than that to personalize it.

The Bauman Basis is promoting as a result of “it was time to downsize,” Prince John mentioned. The couple has bought their giant house in D.C. and relocated to New York, the place they’re working the muse from their condominium.

This can be very uncommon for historic properties of this measurement to return available on the market in D.C., Mr. Rankin mentioned. In 2007, an 1810 Federal-style mansion in Georgetown bought for $23.96 million, in keeping with property information. One other mansion, Evermay, constructed round 1800, was bought for $22 million in 2011 by biotech executives Sachiko Kuno and Ryuji Ueno, who use it to accommodate their nonprofit group, S&R Evermay.

Nevertheless, it has develop into extra frequent in recent times for historic mansions throughout the nation to be returned to their unique makes use of as single household properties. The 2 D.C. properties bought by Mr. Bezos had beforehand been used as the town’s Textile Museum. In 2017 comic Jay Leno paid $13.5 million for Seafair, a crescent-shaped mansion constructed within the Nineteen Thirties in Newport, R.I., that was at one level divided into about 5 apartment items. 

Write to Candace Taylor at candace.taylor@wsj.com