Buffy Cafritz’s Bethesda, Md., house is offered at $2.9 million
4 min read
Buffy and her husband, actual estate developer William N. Cafritz, a nephew of Washington small business leaders and benefactors Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz, “welcomed politicians, diplomats, Supreme Court docket justices, lecturers and many others [into the home]. She valued appeal, wit and kindness, and experienced small time for individuals who took them selves far too severely or experienced no feeling of humor,” Roberts wrote. Invoice Cafritz died in 2014.
The initially inaugural occasion was in 1985, adhering to the reelection of President Ronald Reagan, whom the Cafritzes had entertained in their household. Whilst the inaugural functions were being held by way of 2001 at the Jockey Club in the Fairfax Resort on Massachusetts Avenue NW in D.C. and afterwards at other lodges, the residence in the Bradley Hills community was the internet site of a lot of A-listing Washington functions.
Distinguished homes for sale in the D.C. location
In 2018, when Earl “Rusty” Powell stepped down as the director of the National Gallery of Artwork, just one of lots of beneficiaries of Buffy Cafritz’s philanthropy, she feted him at her dwelling. The party’s visitor record provided Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), previous Kennedy Centre chairman Jim Johnson, Librarian of Congress emeritus James Billington, Ann Jordan, Barbara Allbritton, Maureen Scalia and Clarice Smith.
A get together at the dwelling in 1972 bundled actor Paul Henreid, who performed Victor Laszlo in “Casablanca” actress Agnes Moorehead, who was Endora on the tv sequence “Bewitched” Ricardo Montalbán, who was Mr. Roarke on the tv sequence “Fantasy Island” and Edward Mulhare, who was Professor Higgins in the authentic Broadway production of “My Truthful Woman.” Surveying the throng at the Cafritz dwelling, Montalbán instructed The Put up that it was “like Hollywood functions employed to be.”
The Cafritzes bought the 1944 Georgian-fashion household in 1958 from William R. Teunis, and they are considered to be only the 2nd owners. In 35 yrs as a Washington optician, Teunis equipped eyeglasses for President Harry S. Truman and other higher-rating government officials.
In the early 1970s, the Cafritzes brought in renowned interior designer Albert Hadley of Parish-Hadley to redesign the household. Elizabeth Stamp wrote in Architectural Digest in 2015 that “few companies have had a higher effect on the inside design entire world than Parish-Hadley. The partnership involving Sister Parish and Albert Hadley influenced American decor for additional than 3 a long time.”
By relocating the front doorway, Hadley made an entry hall. He also included onto the still left facet of the home, devising a new dwelling space that Architectural Digest described as “large sufficient to accommodate the Washington elite who flock to the elaborate meal dances and casual evenings which make the identify Cafritz synonymous with entertaining on a grand scale.”
The renovation was featured in the March/April 1975 situation of Architectural Digest.
“It is a residence without having tips,” Hadley instructed Architectural Digest. “But it does have a good quality of fantasy about it.”
The house has been additional on to due to the fact Hadley’s renovation. The bay window that Hadley moved to body the patio and birch trees, no for a longer time faces the exterior. Now it faces the sunroom, which opens to the yard. Aside from the three partitions of home windows, an huge skylight floods the room with natural light.
Between the residing room and the sunroom is a household area with a fire, 1 of 4 in the property. A formal eating space, the kitchen and a visitor suite are also on the main stage.
The owner’s suite, on the second level, has two dressing rooms and two bathrooms. This level also has two far more bedrooms and an office environment. An elevator runs among the to start with and second floors.
The major and lower stages each and every have a bedroom with an en suite bathroom. The reduced amount also has an training home and an business office.
The grounds, which are just above an acre, are surrounded by experienced trees. The stone path from the patio qualified prospects to a swimming pool and a gazebo. The round driveway and motor courtroom have parking for 10 vehicles.
The six-bed room, 7-toilet, 8,100-square-foot household is listed at just underneath $2.9 million.
- Bedrooms/loos: 6/7
- Approximate sq.-footage: 8,100
- Whole lot dimension: 1.08 acre
- Functions: The 1944 Georgian-fashion home in the Bradley Hills neighborhood was the longtime property of Washington philanthropists Buffy and Monthly bill Cafritz. It has been the web site of several A-record Washington parties about the decades. Mature trees encompass the grounds, furnishing privateness. There’s a swimming pool, a gazebo and parking for 10 cars.
- Listing agent: Theo Adamstein, TTR Sotheby’s Intercontinental Realty
