Monday, April 28, 2025
Every year in springtime, a tour of six to eight Georgetown houses and a high tea (including crustless sandwiches and petit fours) are organized by St. John’s Episcopal Church at 3240 O St. NW, as their annual fundraiser.
The houses are always different each year and usually include several of Georgetown’s iconic townhouses and one or two mansions, all opened for a one-day visit by their generous owners. Organizers try to cluster homes on the tour so that viewers can walk to them easily. The tickets for this year’s April 26 tour was a glossy bound booklet with information about each home’s often remarkable history and renovations over the decades.
The Georgetowner each year tries to detect from the houses on the tour, a possible new trend or pattern in Georgetown living. During the pandemic, for instance, there was definitely a trend towards large garden kitchens, some including couches and TVs outside. Also noted was an increase in designated spaces to accommodate working remotely and more children’s play spaces indoors and out. One year recently, almost every home on the tour had a swimming pool, many quite large. Last year, several of the homes had small elevators — to accommodate more seniors living at home perhaps?
So, what was the new trend spotted this year by the Georgetowner in many of the featured Georgetown homes on the tour?
Dining rooms! Full-on dining rooms with a large dining table — many set with beautiful place settings; six to eight chairs and even a buffet or two.
“Absolutely right!” agreed Georgetown architect Christian Zapatka, who has been upgrading Georgetown homes, large and small, for some 30 years. “You got it! People increasingly want dining rooms fully separate from the kitchen — even from the living room if there is space.”
For many who took the self-conducted tour, most enlightening and idea-generating were the small townhouses on the tour. Most had width spans that fit a front door and one or two windows. Many had gutted the entire interior to make new staircases and less defined spaces. The use of mirrors, built in shelving and sliding door-walls added space as well. Some basements turned into guest rooms and beautiful laundry rooms — some including dog baths — also revealed demographic and life-style changes.
At the tea, many patrons had to pause to name their favorite home on the tour. But several named the home on 29th Street. The house combined three old small townhouses into one, with two perfect gardens (terraces and fine crunchy gravel and beautiful patio seating). The original kitchen was turned into an entrance hall and guest bath. Fine wood paneling and built-in book shelves made a former basement laundry room into an ultra classy garden-accessible family room and private study. The customized paint tones in the dream kitchen took months to find and mix, according to Zapatka. (There is not a white wall in sight in the house).
Many at the tea were volunteers who made up a core of docents enough for two in every room in the tour, and at the entrances and exits or each house. They also made sure that every visitor slipped on plastic shoe coverings to protect the house floors and rugs (it rained most the afternoon). Many had been volunteering for decades.