Swedish Government Lists Washington, D.C., Mansion for $19.5 Million, Making It City’s Priciest Listing

The Swedish authorities is itemizing its former ambassador’s residence—a mansion constructed for the founding father of U.S. Information & World Report—in Washington, D.C., for $19.5 million. 

The roughly 12,200-square-foot dwelling on virtually 7 acres shall be Washington, D.C.’s most costly residential itemizing, stated itemizing agent Cara Pearlman of Compass, who has the itemizing with colleague TJ Morton. 

Situated within the American College Park neighborhood, the home was constructed within the Twenties for David Lawrence, in response to the Washington, D.C., Historic Preservation Workplace. Mr. Lawrence based the US Information newspaper in 1933 and World Report journal in 1946; they merged in 1948, in response to a U.S. Information & World Report spokeswoman.  

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The home was bought by the Swedish authorities round 1950 and has since been dwelling to 12 Swedish ambassadors who’ve hosted events, fundraisers and diplomatic conferences on the residence, stated Karin Olofsdotter, the present Swedish ambassador to the US. Ms. Olofsdotter lived in the home from 2017 to 2019 and hosted notable visitors together with Queen Silvia of Sweden and Madeleine Albright, the late former U.S. secretary of state, she stated. 

The Swedish authorities is promoting the property as a result of they wished a contemporary residence in a central location for the ambassador, stated Ms. Olofsdotter, who has relocated to a residence in the identical constructing because the Swedish Embassy in Georgetown. 

“I lived there two years and began to comprehend it’s a implausible property, however the location, for a smaller nation like Sweden, is simply too far exterior city” to attract busy visitors for lunch or dinner, she stated.

The seven-bedroom home, which isn’t landmarked, wants an estimated $2 million value of renovations and updates, stated Ms. Pearlman.

Stucco with a red-tile roof, the home has two adjoining ballrooms on the primary ground, together with a eating room and a business kitchen. Many of the bedrooms are on the second ground, together with non-public residing areas and a second kitchen utilized by the ambassador’s household, he stated. The house additionally has 5 fireplaces, two sunrooms and a library, he stated.

Exterior, the grounds include a greenhouse and a lighted tennis court docket, stated Mr. Morton. The property is particularly giant for the neighborhood, he stated, and builders have expressed curiosity in subdividing and constructing on the land whereas preserving the home. One examine prompt that roughly 22 indifferent properties or about 50 townhomes could possibly be constructed on the property, stated Ms. Pearlman. Mr. Morton stated he might additionally see a rich purchaser buying the property to make use of as a residence.

“The piece of land is exclusive,” stated Ms. Olofsdotter, who stated the sloping garden offers “astonishing views” of sunsets and autumn foliage.

Within the third quarter, there have been about six dwelling gross sales over $5 million in Washington, D.C., down from eight within the third quarter of 2021, in response to Compass. The median luxurious sale value grew from $6.6 million to about $6.9 million throughout the identical interval, Compass stated. Jewett Home, a big circa-1905 mansion in Washington, D.C., hit the market in October for $14.5 million.