17EZTHE WASHINGTON POST.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2019meeting a new neighbor who
asked where she lived. When Lyn-
da told her she lived in the stone
house with the semicircular
driveway, the woman said, “Oh,
the cottage.” Little did she know
that the “cottage” is 8,400 square
feet.
“We made it work for our fam-
ily, and we love the location,”
Lynda said. “For us, it really felt
like being in an oasis somewhere
out in some country area. We
never felt like we were in the city.”
The six-bedroom, nine-bath-
room house is listed at just under
$5.5 million.
[email protected]“It’s been a great, great house
for entertaining,” Lynda said. “It’s
been very warm and fuzzy with
just the six of us.”
Lynda’s favorite room is the
conservatory, which takes full ad-
vantage of the southern exposure
with glass doors that open to the
backyard and three skylights. The
room is as enjoyable in the winter
as it is in the summer.
“When it snowed, [the sky-
lights] were just as great, with
snow coming down,” she said.
“Having snow covered skylights
was really very fun.”
The house is deceptively mod-
est from the street. Lynda recallsovation. What once had a big tree
in the middle, a profusion of
azaleas and a chain-link fence
now has a swimming pool, terrac-
es and ivy-covered walls.
Although they grew the house,
the Camaliers kept it cozy and
comfortable. The rooms can ac-
commodate large crowds — they
once hosted 175 people — but
don’t feel cavernous.The couple, who raised four
children in the house, expanded it
by adding a conservatory, break-
fast nook and family room on the
main level. They turned the ga-
rage into a mud room and second
laundry room and transformed
the backyard into a serene sanc-
tuary.
Lynda says Davis was the mas-
termind behind the backyard ren-BY KATHY ORTON
Lynda and Davis Camalier
were looking for a house big
enough for their growing family
when they came across this stone
dwelling in the Woodland Norm-
anstone neighborhood of North-
west Washington. Although the
house needed updating and ex-
panding, the Camaliers fell in
love with the room sizes, the
double-story foyer and the south-
ern exposure. They went to the
Tombs restaurant and on the
back of a napkin drew up their
plans for the house.
“Davis and I, we love to redo
houses,” Lynda said. “That’s a
passion we both have. We saw
potential right away and kind of
figured it out very quickly.”
It helps that Lynda is an interi-
or designer and Davis is a real
estate developer. The 1935 house
was designed by architect J.J.
Whelan for Francis Walker, chief
economist at the Federal Trade
Commission.
Before the Camaliers owned it,
the house was home to members
of the diplomatic corps. Walker
sold the house in 1951 to Hungary,
which used it as the ambassador’s
residence. Robert Douglas Coe, a
Foreign Service officer, bought
the house from the Hungarians
but lived there only a short time.
After Coe was appointed ambas-
sador to Denmark, he leased the
house to the Uruguayan ambassa-
dor.
Calvin Hawley Oakes, a For-
eign Service officer and senior
executive at the Central Intelli-
gence Agency, purchased the
house in 1956. The house re-
mained in the Oakes family until
the Camaliers bought it in 1993.
Diplomatic past allied with obvious potential
PHOTOS BY SEAN SHANAHANABOVE: The backyard swimming pool is among the changes Lynda and Davis Camalier made to the 1935 house at 2848 McGill Terr. NW in
the District. BELOW: The breakfast nook, seen in the background from the kitchen, is another. The Camaliers bought the house in 1993.2848 MCGILL TERR. NW,
WASHINGTON
$5.5 million
Features: The 1935 stone house
has six fireplaces, antique pine
floors in the kitchen, knotty pine
paneling in the study and a
conservatory with three skylights.
The master bedroom has a
separate sitting room, his-and-her
bathrooms and his-and-her
dressing rooms. The lower level
has a wet bar and wine cellar. The
backyard has a heated pool and
spa.
Bedrooms/bathrooms: 6/9
Approximate square-footage:
8,400
Listing agent: Melanie Hayes, TTR
Sotheby’s International Realty
For more photos of this house
and other houses for sale in the area,
go to washingtonpost.com/real estate.
House of the Week