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Prominent Washington architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen is better known for such efforts as designing Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s home on Martha’s Vineyard and restoring part of the U.S. Embassy in Paris. But after he remodeled this 1810 D.C. townhouse, he lived in it for about 50 years.
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Jacobsen did not set out to renovate the townhouse — at 1352 28th St. NW in Georgetown — for himself. In an interview with Knoll magazine, he said he redesigned it for a client who worked in the Nixon administration. Then the client moved to the suburbs instead.
Before moving to the house himself, in the early 1970s, Jacobsen added some signature touches — floor-to-ceiling windows in the library, Greek columns and white walls, a color choice less common at the time.
Jacobsen, who died in 2021, was known for a modernist flair, and he had an international reputation because of the Paris project and a renovation of the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Moscow.
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But his influence is most notable in Washington, where he worked on the preservation of the Smithsonian Institution’s Arts and Industries Building, the interior restoration of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery and an addition under the West Terrace at the U.S. Capitol. He also worked on more than 120 Georgetown houses.
Real estate agent Patrick Emad said developers bought the house from Jacobsen in 2019, gutted it and then renovated it with features reminiscent of Jacobsen’s designs, like angled lines and large windows in the rear of the house. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places, so an easement prevented demolition of the facade and front windows. Emad said the current owner purchased the house from the developers and “put on the finishing touches.”
“We wanted to keep Jacobsen’s touch,” Emad said. “Everything was taken from his style and made extremely modern with brand-new materials.”
The townhouse, built on a double lot, has three floors above a finished lower level. The main entrance is at the back of the house. The first floor has a family room and a dining room, each with a floor-to-ceiling marble fireplace. It also has a living room, a powder room and a kitchen with white marble countertops and gold-colored hardware on the oven, the stovetop and other appliances, and on the wood cabinets.
Stairways in the house are lined with glass paneling. The second floor has a primary suite, with an en suite bathroom, a sitting nook and an office. Another bedroom there also has an en suite bathroom. The third floor has a bedroom, a bathroom and a closet. The lower level has a second family room, a bedroom, a full bathroom and a large storage space.
A slate patio is accessible from the kitchen and the main floor family room and leads to two uncovered parking spots.
$6,200,000
1352 28th St NW, Washington, D.C.
Bedrooms/bathrooms: 4/5 Approximate square-footage: 3,700 Lot size: 3,732 square feet Features: The Georgetown townhouse was built in the early 1800s and renovated by architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He started the renovation for a client who never occupied the property. But Jacobsen did. The house was gutted recently and redesigned with some features favored by Jacobsen, including large windows. The original facade remains. There is parking for two cars. Listing agent: Patrick Emad and Mark McFadden, Compass Real Estate
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