Buffy Cafritz’s Bethesda, Md., house is offered at $2.9 million

Buffy and her partner, authentic estate developer William N. Cafritz, a nephew of Washington business leaders and benefactors Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz, “welcomed politicians, diplomats, Supreme Court docket justices, teachers and other individuals [into the home]. She valued appeal, wit and kindness, and experienced minimal time for people today who took by themselves also critically or experienced no perception of humor,” Roberts wrote. Monthly bill Cafritz died in 2014.

The first inaugural social gathering was in 1985, following the reelection of President Ronald Reagan, whom the Cafritzes had entertained in their property. While the inaugural parties had been held as a result of 2001 at the Jockey Club in the Fairfax Hotel on Massachusetts Avenue NW in D.C. and afterwards at other motels, the house in the Bradley Hills community was the web page of many A-listing Washington events.

In 2018, when Earl “Rusty” Powell stepped down as the director of the Nationwide Gallery of Artwork, one particular of several beneficiaries of Buffy Cafritz’s philanthropy, she feted him at her home. The party’s guest record bundled Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), previous Kennedy Middle chairman Jim Johnson, Librarian of Congress emeritus James Billington, Ann Jordan, Barbara Allbritton, Maureen Scalia and Clarice Smith.

A social gathering at the residence in 1972 integrated actor Paul Henreid, who performed Victor Laszlo in “Casablanca” actress Agnes Moorehead, who was Endora on the tv series “Bewitched” Ricardo Montalbán, who was Mr. Roarke on the tv collection “Fantasy Island” and Edward Mulhare, who was Professor Higgins in the primary Broadway output of “My Reasonable Lady.” Surveying the throng at the Cafritz home, Montalbán instructed The Article that it was “like Hollywood parties utilized to be.”

The Cafritzes acquired the 1944 Georgian-model residence in 1958 from William R. Teunis, and they are thought to be only the next proprietors. In 35 several years as a Washington optician, Teunis fitted eyeglasses for President Harry S. Truman and other superior-ranking governing administration officers.

In the early 1970s, the Cafritzes brought in renowned interior designer Albert Hadley of Parish-Hadley to redesign the house. Elizabeth Stamp wrote in Architectural Digest in 2015 that “few companies have had a better effects on the interior design and style world than Parish-Hadley. The partnership concerning Sister Parish and Albert Hadley affected American decor for extra than a few many years.”

By relocating the entrance door, Hadley designed an entry hall. He also added onto the still left aspect of the house, devising a new living area that Architectural Digest described as “large plenty of to accommodate the Washington elite who flock to the elaborate supper dances and casual evenings which make the title Cafritz synonymous with entertaining on a grand scale.”

The renovation was showcased in the March/April 1975 challenge of Architectural Digest.

“It is a dwelling without the need of tricks,” Hadley informed Architectural Digest. “But it does have a top quality of fantasy about it.”

The household has been additional onto considering that Hadley’s renovation. The bay window that Hadley moved to frame the patio and birch trees, no extended faces the outside. Now it faces the sunroom, which opens to the backyard. Apart from the 3 walls of home windows, an huge skylight floods the area with natural light-weight.

Between the residing home and the sunroom is a relatives room with a fire, a person of 4 in the dwelling. A formal dining home, the kitchen and a guest suite are also on the major level.

The owner’s suite, on the 2nd stage, has two dressing rooms and two bathrooms. This level also has two much more bedrooms and an business office. An elevator operates amongst the initially and second flooring.

The top rated and decrease concentrations each and every have a bedroom with an en suite bathroom. The reduce level also has an training space and an office.

The grounds, which are just more than an acre, are surrounded by experienced trees. The stone path from the patio prospects to a swimming pool and a gazebo. The circular driveway and motor court have parking for 10 cars.

The 6-bed room, seven-bathroom, 8,100-sq.-foot property is detailed at just under $2.9 million.

5334 Goldsboro Rd., Bethesda, Md.

• Bedrooms/bathrooms: 6/7
• Approximate sq.-footage: 8,100
• Lot sizing: 1.08 acre
• Options: The 1944 Georgian-model house in the Bradley Hills neighborhood was the longtime house of Washington philanthropists Buffy and Invoice Cafritz. It has been the internet site of quite a few A-record Washington parties more than the years. Mature trees surround the grounds, providing privacy. There is a swimming pool, a gazebo and parking for 10 autos.
• Listing agent: Theo Adamstein, TTR Sotheby’s Global Realty