georgetown

Lucky Ducks: DC welcomes its newest VIDs

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Pets

It's not everyday that one can claim to have been born at The Ritz-Carlton. For the sixth year in a row, Mother Ritzy Duck has returned to The Rtiz-Carlton, Georgetown, to honor her standing reservation and lay her precious eggs. Just in time for Mother's Day, seven bouncing baby ducklings were born, each deemed healthy by a local wildlife expert.

This year, "Ritzy" the VID (Very Important Duck) opted for a tall planter, located in the hotel's courtyard area off the main lobby. Hotel Security provided 24-hour service and offered velvet ropes and stanchions to keep curious guests at bay.

To ease Mama Ritzy's concerns during pregnancy, the hotel's "Just Ducky" Concierge issued a standard operating procedure to hotel staff - as per Ritzy's preferences, she was to enjoy only Ritz-Carlton bottled water and absolutely no "people food" to ensure that her figure would remain slim and healthy. During her daily lunch walks and swims with "Baby Daddy Duck," Ritzy's nest was monitored by a security camera and extra staffer. During the final days before hatching, Ritzy opted to enjoy gourmet organic duck pellets to ensure that she could rest in comfort as well as have food for her new ducklings at the ready.

When Ritzy and her ducklings are ready to leave the nest, they will enjoy red carpet treatment - a specially-designed duck crate will be placed into one of the hotel's private sedans for transportation to her permanent home in a nearby park.

To honor Ritzy's delivery, the staff at the hotel bar, Degrees Bar & Lounge, brought back her signature cocktail - The Duck Duck Goose - made with Grey Goose L'orange, pineapple juice and a splash each of grenadine and Sprite. And, out of respect for the nesting mother, the hotel has also opted to temporarily remove all duck-based menu items from the restaurants.

Tags: dc, ducks, georgetown, MothersDay, ritz carlton, washington dc

Weehaw Plantation, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Take a large historic plantation in South Carolina, add a couple newer homes and you've got the Weehaw Plantation just outside of Georgetown, South Carolina on the Black River. The 650-acre plantation has two beautiful homes (circa 1991 and 1997) and overlooks a 35 acre controlled rice field impoundment. Weehaw was one of the earliest successful rice plantations in the area. The main house was built in 1997 but has the look of an older home. Stroll down the road and you are at the Lodge which also has a great view of old ricefields and rivers. This home has a more casual low country style with a wide porch. This secluded, protected property is listed at $4.5 million.

Gallery: Weehaw Plantation

Tags: estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, georgetown, plantation for sale, PlantationForSale, south carolina, south carolina real estate, SouthCarolina, SouthCarolinaRealEstate, weehaw plantation, WeehawPlantation

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Georgetown Classic, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

According to property records, this Mansard-roofed home in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. belongs to William A Haseltine, former Harvard Medical School profession and the founder of Human Genome Sciences, Inc. He also founded the Haseltine Foundation for Medical Sciences and the Arts, a foundation that supports access to high quality health for the poor and middle class of developing countries. His home is a real Georgetown charmer, combining elegance with a certain informal warmth. It was built in 1875 with later additions. The eight-bedroom home has large public rooms and a cozy wood-paneled library and an informal dining area occupies a sunny windowed spot. The home also includes a fitness room.The exterior includes a brick terrace and a small lap pool with a fountain. This home is listed at $13.25 million.

Gallery: A Georgetown Classic

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Tags: estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, georgetown, washington dc, WashingtonDc

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Evermay, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

I first mentioned Evermay when it went on sale last fall for $49 million but didn't give it the full estate of the day treatment. Now that it has had a $10 million price chop it seems as good a time as any to take a second look. Evermay, a Georgian Revival estate on 3.58 acres, is Washington D.C.'s priciest home. The 12,000-square-foot house was commissioned in 1801. It created by Samuel Davidson, a businessman and international maritime merchant who once owned more than 150 acres of land in the heart of the city, land eventually occupied by the White House, Treasury, Old Executive Office Building and Lafayette Park. Evermay is located in walking distance to the White House with views of views of the Washington Monument and Rock Creek Park. The eight-bedroom home includes a ballroom and was rented out to a foreign official for the inauguration. The land includes a gatekeepers house and a separate office. This home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. More details are available at the property website.

Gallery: Evermay

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Tags: estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, evermay, georgetown, washington dc, WashingtonDc

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Halcyon House, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's home is a real piece of Washington history. Halcyon House is now a 30,500 square foot property and the oldest part of the house was built in the late 1780s by Benjamin Stoddert. the first secretary of the Navy. The home has undergone a 17-year restoration. HGTV has a piece on the restoration of the home which was also once owned by Albert Clemens, the nephew of Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain. Clemens added two wings of apartments in 1880 and Halcyon House was used as rental apartments and housing for students at Georgetown University during most of the 20th century. HGTV reports that John Dreyfuss moved into the home in the 1970s and details the extensive work he did to restore the home. A piece from the NY Times back in 1995 goes into even greater explanation, including the detail that Dreyfuss began the huge project when he was just 28.

The mansion has five bedrooms and the property also has five rental apartments and a separate townhouse. It has been the site of many weddings and grand events. It's also got one of the highest prices I've ever seen in the area, it is listed at $30 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Halcyon House

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Tags: estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, georgetown, halcyon house, HalcyonHouse, washington

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Water Street, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

I saw this apartment listed in the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties column and liked it so much I decided to make it an estate of the day. This condo on Water Street in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. overlooks the Potomac River. The current owners combined three units into one to create a six-bedroom expanse decorated in a modern style. The building also has a rooftop pool, gym and 24-hour staff. The Wall Street Journal reports that the city's condo record is thought to be a Georgetown sale for $6.25 million which means that even if this one sells pretty far below the listing price of $10.6 million it will still likely set a record.

Gallery: Water Street

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Tags: condominium, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, georgetown, washington dc

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Georgetown Modern, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Our modern Monday pick takes us to Washington D.C. and a rather non-traditional Georgetown townhouse. This throughly modern home is a four-story Le Corbusier-inspired work of utterly angular lines. The seven-bedroom home has multiple terraces and a wide open floor plan. The home is utterly spare and bare, all dark wood and white walls and bathrooms that trip the line between stark and institutional. It is listed at $3.45 million. After the jump, not a curve in sight.

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Tags: esate of the day, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, georgetown, luxury real estate, LuxuryRealEstate, modern home, modernist

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