WASHINGTON — From extravagant, to modern, to traditional — this year’s 58th Potomac Country House Tour and Festival is sure to please all tastes and styles.
Featured homes on the Oct. 4 and 5 tour include an elegant mansion, a traditional colonial, a contemporary masterpiece and a newly renovated 12,000-square-foot Williamsburg colonial.
Here’s a glimpse at what attendees can expect to see:
- Norton Manor, open 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 4 and 5: This 47,000-square-foot residence is set on nine acres and belongs to philanthropists Frank Islam and Debbie Driesman. The owners purchased the property in 2007 and completed the home almost seven years later.
The home features adjoining “his and hers” libraries, an elegant dining room, a French garden room, a five-bedroom guest house and a secluded tea house.
- Re-imagined Williamsburg Colonial, open 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 4 and 5: This 12,000- square-foot colonial was recently renovated and “greened” to make the home more environmentally friendly. The home has an eclectic collection of art, wood and glass sculptures, a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace and a slate and marble walk-in spa and shower.
- Potomac Contemporary, open 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 5 only: This modern home belongs to Deborah Kalkstein, an architect and owner of Georgetown furnishing store Contemporaria. Metals, cement walls, marble floors, and whitewashed wood beams are present throughout the home.
- The Rowe House, open 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 4 and 5: Oriental rugs and patterned furniture fill this traditional colonial, built in 1979 by the Bell family in McAuley Park. Custom shuttered windows, a newly renovated kitchen and environmentally- friendly upgrades are the highlights of this home.
Tickets to the tour, an annual fundraiser for St. Francis Episcopal Church, are $30 in advance ($40 the weekend of) and can be purchased online or at the church. Other activities for the weekend include a silent auction, a luncheon, kid-friendly festival activities, a petting zoo and more.
Take a video tour of the featured homes:
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