“He took one look at this tiny little sort of farmhouse cottage that had 10-foot ceilings on the main level and said, ‘Yes, we can work with this,’” Smith said.
An existing wing of the house was preserved during the renovation, which took more than a year, and another wing was added. Jacobsen retained some the house’s Victorian characteristics (though not the turquoise exterior), but he downplayed their importance.
“The mix works best when it’s 90 percent modern,” he told House & Garden in May 1977. “In effect, this house is as Victorian as a Chevrolet.”
In 1985, Jacobsen oversaw further renovations, including remodeling the kitchen. A patio and a Victorian-style gazebo were added to the front yard. The striking outdoor structure, according to a 1988 Architectural Digest article, is a result of the Elliotts’ asking Jacobsen to “carve a private backyard within the front yard.” The finished product includes a six-foot-eight weather vane in the shape of an English griffin.
Jacobsen described the house — now on the market for $3.25 million — as “a maverick,” and others have admired its originality. It won an American Institute of Architects award in 1978 and another in 1988. It stands out among its neighbors in the Chevy Chase Village Historic District, where such renovations are no longer allowed.
Jacobsen, who died in 2021, worked for such prominent clients as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Meryl Streep, and he left his mark in and around D.C. His own home, in Georgetown, was listed this summer for $6.2 million.
The wood-and-glass front entryway of the Chevy Chase house leads, on one side, to a living room with floor-to-ceiling windows and, on the other, to a parlor with egg-crate bookshelves (so-called because of their many interlocking compartments).
In back, the house has the dining room and the kitchen, with a 12-foot ceiling and skylights. It also has a family room, a den (or additional bedroom) and a full bathroom. A patio wraps around one side and the back of the house.
The primary bedroom suite fills the newer wing’s second level. It includes a dressing area, vaulted ceilings and a bathroom with a skylight. A washer and dryer are also on this level, along with two more bedrooms with large closets and a shared hall bathroom. The lower level includes unfinished storage space.
The property has not changed families since the Elliotts bought it in the mid-1970s. “It’s going to be weird to let it go,” Smith said. She lived in the house until she moved out after college in 1989. “It’s been such a fixture in my life.”
- Bedrooms/bathrooms: 4/3
- Approximate square-footage: 3,200
- Lot size: 0.28 acres
- Features: Originally built in 1871 as a carriage house, this residence underwent a major renovation in the mid-1970s by prominent modernist architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen but retains Victorian touches. The clapboard-sided house has a front-yard gazebo, a wheelchair-accessible ramp entrance and driveway parking for two cars.
- Listing agent: Liz Lavette Shorb, Washington Fine Properties
Read More: Renovated Bethesda, Md. house on the market for $3.25 million