Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

Reading about this gem before the open house, the blurb said it was a "magazine quality" rowhome, and boy was that accurate. With its just-perfect details (the moldings, the exquisitely stained floors, those fairy-tale-ish under-staircase closets) and totally unique furnishings, I felt a distinct "through the looking glass" sensation as I toured the place, almost like I'd stepped into the pages of one of those glossy interior design magazines my ex-girlfriend's mother would always pretend to leaf through in an effort to convince everyone she was, in fact, human. (Nobody was fooled.)

There's a streamlined, well-lit living room (with fireplace), dining area, and the kitchen has beautiful pale gray marble counter tops, Subzero and Viking appliances, and one of a kind custom cabinets. (I don't care how many late-night infomercials you fall for, you will never be able to buy enough crap to fill all these cabinets.) The adjacent sitting room opens, via a pair of french doors, onto a large stone-paved wraparound patio, probably one of the finest outdoor spaces I've seen in this part of the city. It's large and open and simple and private and immensely appealing, aesthetically and otherwise. I like greenspace as much as the next guy, but it can often be more trouble than it's worth. (Take it from someone who weedwhacked his ankle almost down to the bone last summer.)

The master bedroom is a sprawling, luxurious affair, with a cozy window nook and a fireplace. And the master bath, with its very deep soaking tub and glass-enclosed shower, is as nice as the bathrooms in a five-star hotel in Vegas, but without invisible traces of prostitute vomit on every surface. (What, you know it's true.)

1618 Corcoran Street NW
4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths
$1,799,000