Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

As I walked up to this Chevy Chase home, set well back from the street and coyly obscured by a meticulously landscaped front yard, it almost looked like it was flirting with me. Accordingly, I sent some mixed signals its way (“Nice shrubbery. But everyone's got nice shrubbery these days.“) and then promptly went for entry. Success!

Inside, this house was deliriously sunny and roomy. Gleaming hardwood floors and arched doorways abound. There's a den off the living room with a massive wall of built-in shelving, and a fantastically large kitchen. Another really cool thing about this place was that it had three bedrooms, but each bedroom was on a different floor of the house. This would be awesome: you can't put too much space between bedrooms. There's literally no noise that isn't horrible to hear through a shared wall.

In back there's a large wooden deck that looks out on the neighborhood, perfect for breakfasts or cookouts or drinks with some friends in the evening. I once attended a party on just such a deck, when the host suddenly disappeared. We all shrugged and continued drinking, and since the host was gone, conversation naturally turned to him. After we'd all finished discussing his various merits and shortcomings, he emerged from his hiding place under the deck, where'd he'd gone to hear what we really thought of him. Needless to say, that was the end of the party. (The lesson, as always: ignorance is bliss.)

6339 31st Place NW
3 Bedrooms, 3 Baths
$729,000