After living in hotels and other temporary homes in Washington for the past two years, Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog is getting a new and permanent official residence. And it’s in Forest Hills. The mansion at 3301 Fessenden Street NW was built in 2019 and originally listed for $15 million dollars. The list price when it went under contract in August: just under $10 million. The 11-bedroom home, dubbed “Palazzo Della Felicita,” by its builder called it, also has 12 full bathrooms, five partial bathrooms, a heated pool, a pet-washing station, and a limestone-domed foyer inspired by the Pantheon.
The purchase, once closed, will be a Forest Hills homecoming of sorts for Israel’s top U.S. diplomat. The Embassy of Israel housed its ambassadors on nearby Chesapeake Street for a half century, but the house was declared uninhabitable in 2013, and subsequently demolished. The ambassadors of Peru and Kuwait also live nearby.
Rent on the rise: The median advertised rent for a two-bedroom Van Ness apartment during the May-July study period was $3,333, a 7.5% increase from year-ago levels. (RentHop via UrbanTurf)
Atomic testing in the neighborhood: You’ve heard of Robert Oppenheimer and his work at the Los Alamos lab, but the real birthplace of the atomic age was a bomb shelter at the the Carnegie Institution for Science in Forest Hills. (The WTOP article and podcast say it’s in Chevy Chase, but the boundaries are fuzzy, and we’re willing to share the institution with our neighbor.)
One of the coolest things about Hillwood, in our opinion: “The Forest Hills mansion once owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post is home to a lovingly maintained old-school kitchen.” (Washingtonian)
The return of the do-si-do: In August, “Several hundred dancers, both experts and newbies, returned for [Peirce Mill’s] first summer square dance since 2018. (Washingtonian)
Social Media Mentions
Yesterday in Driving Dangerously https://t.co/xbdyaQPo98
— PoPville (@PoPville) September 8, 2023
A 1935 water wheel restoration project at Peirce Mill:
— Neil Flanagan (@jg_bollard) September 17, 2023
One interesting detail: A porch had been built over the water wheel area and was removed in the course of the project.
To reconstruct this, they had to demolish a porch that was added onto Peirce Mill at some point during its time as a teahouse. pic.twitter.com/pwLkrQlout
— Neil Flanagan (@jg_bollard) September 17, 2023
Helen says
Thank you or this news letter. I have not had a computer for several months and I missed it.
Thanks for the infrmation about ‘who lived where and is still here or gone to another world…
One never knows when one might need his informatio. Its god for talkinmg to my neighbors when riding on the elevators in my buiding……
Ambassador SHIRLEY ELIZABETH BARNES says
Thanks. Newsletter is very informative.