Living like this would drive me insane, but the house is a blank canvas so things can be easily changed. 3.5M. I would want things to already be changed.

Beautiful house and at least some color can be added. It screams indecision to me.

Pretty sure it is either staged or done that way for rental purposes (see property history).

The DR, for example, was totally done on the cheap. And many empty rooms.

I dislike Tudor, but I'd take it. taxes are really reasonable, too for that price point.

Oh, no problem for me. Some of the walls are a little too peachy bandaid, but this is a fine starting point.

My friend is a realtor in Alexandria, Va and all houses in the market are painted and staged by the brokers as part of the seller’s agreement. All homes in the beltway look the same:(

This makes me sad — so many old houses being stripped of all original character. Whitewashed into oblivion.

It’s happening in my town, too. We have a historic district with all kinds of architectural styles, from the mid-1800s to mid-century … flippers and HGTV devotees are methodically ruining each one. Now the inside of that Queen Anne looks just like the Italianate which looks like the Craftsman which looks like the Greek Revival which looks the MCM. Etc.

Carved woodwork torn out or painted white, original woods floors ripped out for gray streaked fake wood, all masonry painted white or gray, old tile fireplaces being taken out for new modern styles, kitchens and bathrooms ripped out — everything shiny and generic and black and white and gray with blinding bulbs shining down on it all.

We used to have yearly holiday home tours … what would there be to look at now? A sea of white and gray and 2020’s ’modern’.

I liked it until I knew it was from 1931. I’d love to see the original.

It's a starting point, but I can't help but think that this generic interior styling is what seems to be pushed on the decorating/design dilemma sides of this forum. It's so bland with zero personality.

I'm not sure what's going on with the front door as some are dark green and others are white...same door.

It's artwork has a little bling.....just a little. I like the size of the rooms and the bathrooms.

I know where that is. Lovely neighborhood. My husband lived near there before we married. That is definitely the work of a real estate person/stager. Sigh.

I think the hints of color/wood we can see say to me someone went in and white washed to sell. They ruined it for me.

But did you see the frogs on the tile in the bathroom?

I missed that, Zee!

I like:

Here's a rental listing of the home 2.5 years ago. The woodwork had all been painted out white by then. As Mtn mentioned the home seems to have a rental history. Wonder what the condition was when the owner purchased it. Even though it was still fairly white on beige back in 2020 I like the furnishings better. Not as sterile as all the pure white upholstery, seating and casegoods. I would love to have seen it even 50 years ago!

2020 listing

Sorry--I posted the wrong link. Tried to edit my post to include the link with the interior shots but no luck. Here it is:2020 rental listing

I still keep tabs on real estate in my former city, Birmingham, AL. Virtually all historical homes have had the interior woodwork painted. And a goodly portion of the brick ranch homes have been painted white on the exterior. It’s a blizzard of a disappointment.

No charm left in that house. I imagine the original owners of that house would be turning over in their graves if they saw the inside of that house now! The interior photos look no different than the real estate listings for a $200,000 condo built in 2000 that I was looking at just the other day! A home of that prestige should be MORE!

The older pictures are a lot nicer! There are very large older homes near where we live with a similar style that would sell for less than $500,000. Prices these day are just unreal for certain areas!

How many permanent elements in the house were permanently changed? I see the current listing as just decorating choices. I love the colorful house, and that style of furniture, but for staging they often go more neutral. The exterior, well, I do like both. The older one looks so established and settled, the later one looks so fresh, and makes the other look, well, old.

I would definitely take the decorating of the colorful house. Except maybe for that odd triangle of fabric over the dormered door in th bedroom. What is that about?

The Washington Post had an article about the house today.

Current neighbors include Anthony S. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell; and a daughter and grandchildren of former secretary of state Madeleine Albright.

and

Across the street is the house occupied by Richard M. Nixon and his wife, Pat, during his vice presidency. Before the Nixons’ tenure, the property was owned by Homer Stille Cummings, chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1919 and 1920 and the U.S. attorney general under President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1939.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/01/27/4201-forest-lane-nw/

I would have no problem adding my own colors.

I prefer a blank canvas to some horrible burnt orange color that would require primer to get rid of. It is so much easier to paint over white or extremely light colored walls. I find white or pale gray to be much less offensive than dark colors that I do not like.

I also love a blank slate. I love the details of this home, in particular, the trim above this built in: