THEWASHINGTONPOST.
SATURDAY,AUGUST1, 2020EZ
4ship in Pakistan for the windows,
steel for the floating staircase, a
lapis lazuli sink in the powder
room, rainbow stone from India
at the entrance and brass entry
doors.
“A lot of things I did for us,” she
said. Had it been “with the inten-
tion of selling [the house], I
wouldn’t have done them.”
The seven-bedroom, 10-bath-
room, 11,777-square foot house is
listed at just under $6 million.
[email protected]she said. “Well, I don’t give up
easily.”
After it was suggested that she
turn the house into an investment
property and apply for a commer-
cial loan, she was able to gain the
financing to complete the renova-
tion.
Because of their previous expe-
rience, the Ommayas had made
sure that this time the house was
solidly built. Ghazali also chose
exotic and durable materials such
as Burmese teak reclaimed from awhere Ayub died in 2008. Ghazali
remained in Pakistan until 2014 to
allow the children to finish
school.
When she returned to Bethes-
da, she wasn’t in a position finan-
cially to finish reconstruction of
the house, which had sat empty
for eight years. Like many wid-
owed and divorced spouses, she
was unable to obtain a loan.
“I felt like somebody is just
trying to take advantage of me
because I’m in this hard place,”ministered at the site of brain
tumors. He worked as a research-
er and clinician at the National
Institute of Neurological Disor-
ders and Stroke, eventually be-
coming chief of neurosurgery. He
was also a professor of neurosur-
gery at George Washington Uni-
versity.
The family moved to PakistanBY KATHY ORTONGhazali Ommaya married her
husband, Ayub Ommaya, in 1984
and moved into this house in the
Bradley Hills Grove neighbor-
hood of Bethesda, Md. Although
Ayub had completely renovated
the house six years earlier, there
were problems.
“When I got married to him in
’84, the house was already falling
apart,” she said. “Not only that, the
roof over the pool, it just caved in.”
Ayub had bought the 1951
house in 1972. After several years
of trying to make do, the Omma-
yas decided to undertake another
renovation.
“We got some prices that were
ridiculously high,” Ghazali said. “I
said to Ayub, ‘If the construction
is anything like what you experi-
enced before, we will not be able
to stay in this house for very
long.’ ”
Ghazali decided the only way to
make sure the job was done prop-
erly was to teach herself the build-
ing trades. She began by enrolling
in a carpentry class at Montgom-
ery College — even though her
gender, skin color and age set her
apart from the rest of the class.
“It was a really nice experi-
ence,” said Ghazali, who was 41
when she took the class. “I tell you
the people were so kind to me.”
On the first day of class, the
teacher asked the students why
they took the course.
“I said I’m here because I want
to know why people like you
charge people like me so much
money,” Ghazali said. “He laughed
and he laughed. He said, ‘I’ve been
teaching for 20 years, and I’ve
never had anyone say that to me.’ ”
After completing the carpentry
course, Ghazali kept going.
“I also became an electrician in
the process,” she said. “Once I did
[carpentry], then I said, ‘Well, I
have always been scared of elec-
tricity so let me do that.’ When it
came down to the plumbing, I
started it and gave up.”
The Ommayas hired an archi-
tect to design the renovation, but
Ghazali supervised the construc-
tion. In the middle of the renova-
tion, Ayub became ill.
“It was an onset of Alzheimer’s,
which is ironic because he was a
neurosurgeon,” Ghazali said.
At Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar,
Ayub became interested in trau-
matic brain injury and went on to
become an international expert in
the field. He “was a pioneering
neurosurgeon of Pakistani origin
who is widely known for invent-
ing the Ommaya reservoir,” ac-
cording to a 2017 article in the
journal Neurosurgery. The device
allows chemotherapy to be ad-House of the Week
This Bethesda, Md., house was a hard case
PHOTOS BY SEAN SHANAHAN8901 BURNING TREE RD.,
BETHESDA, MD.
$6 million
Features: The Mediterranean-style
house underwent a complete
renovation, which was completed
in 2019. The house has an
elevator, seven fireplaces and an
indoor swimming pool. It has
several outdoor spaces, including
an enclosed courtyard, a veranda
with a fireplace and tiered
landscaping.
Bedrooms/bathrooms: 7 /10
Approximate square-footage:
11,800
Lot size: 1.33 acre
Listing agent: Shahab Nasrin, TTR
Sotheby’s International Realty
For more photos of this house
and other houses for sale in the area,
go to washingtonpost.com/realestate.ABOVE: Rear
view of the house
a t 8 901 Burning
Tree Rd. in
Bethesda, Md.
Ghazali Ommaya
finished a second
renovation after
the death of her
husband, Ayub
Ommaya, a
prominent
neurosurgeon.
LEFT: An indoor
swimming pool.