Out & About - The celebrity quotient comes home

The house is memorably appealing, a classic all brick semi-detached dwelling in Georgetown. Meticulously maintained, the property has 11-foot ceilings, four fireplaces with carved mantels, a paneled mahogany master study, first-class all-white kitchen with Gaggenau cooktop and two ovens below grey granite counters, recessed lighting, high-definition audio/visual sound system, and an unusually inviting garden room with top-notch landscaping.

Among the other features are a master bedroom with fireplace, designer wool carpeting, sitting area and en-suite marble bath with mahogany paneling and, it goes without saying, a whirlpool tub. The handsome master study is fashioned of burled mahogany and accessed via French doors. The dining and living rooms boast ornate crown modeling, oak floors, two of those fireplaces and exquisite décor. The two-zoned heating and cooling systems are new, the baths number three and a half, and the lower level closets are of cedar. As an added bonus, the furniture is available for purchase.

But here, almost inevitably, is the rub: Aside from the dim, if well appointed, lower level, the house has but two bedrooms. There also is no place to park a limousine. By no stretch of the imagination is it worth its original asking price of $2.8 million. Nor is it easy to justify the current asking price of $2.395 million - except, perhaps, because of the name of the owner, volunteered by the realtor who has the house listed.

The property is owned, though not occupied any longer, by Marvin Hamlisch and his wife Julie, whose name alone appears on the deed. As celebrity, Hamlisch has unimpeachable credentials. His life in music is notable for its great versatility as well as substance. As composer, Hamlisch has won every major award: three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, one Tony and three Golden Globe awards. His groundbreaking show, A Chorus Line, received the Pulitzer Prize. Among the Broadway shows Hamlisch has composed are They're Playing Our Song, The Goodbye Girl, Sweet Smell of Success and Imaginary Friends. He is the composer of more than 40 motion picture scores including his Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were and his adaptation of Scott Joplin's music for The Sting, for which he received a third Oscar. His prolific output of scores for films includes original compositions and/or musical adaptations for Sophie's Choice, Ordinary People, The Swimmer, Three Men and a Baby, Ice Castles, Take the Money and Run, Bananas and Save the Tiger. Hamlisch holds the position of Principal Pops Conductor with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as well as with the National Symphony Orchestra - the first time that anyone has held such a position with either orchestra.

What, then, is the value added by the celebrity status of the seller of a home? Only that eventual purchaser who is eager to soak in the tub in which the celebrity soaked can say. Money talks, but it would have to shout to make a two-bedroom Georgetown house worth as much as $2.4 million. Now if its walls, too, could talk, that titillating capability might well fetch a high price. Price 1, looks 10.

Some of the other properties listed by other agents and seen in the past week:

• In Kalorama, a 532-SF condo with hardwood floors, updated kitchen with a half-size dishwasher, nicely renovated bath and wide-open views through big windows. In a 1902 mid-rise building, this apartment is offered at an unrealistically high $360,000 with a $363 fee that includes all utilities. Here's the math: $360,000 divided by 532 equals $677 per square foot. What?
  
• A renovated 1880 bayfront home between Logan Circle and the U Street Corridor with original hardwood floors, ornate fireplace mantel, stylish kitchen, deck and an area than could accommodate two cars. There are three bedrooms, one and a half baths and 12-foot ceilings in the open living area. Across from a schoolyard, the house would be an excellent alternative to a condo at $650,000.
  
• Tucked into a quite Mount Pleasant block, a modest three-bedroom, two-bath home with attached garage, deck through sliding-glass doors, central air conditioning and a kitchen with canary yellow countertops that requires immediate attention. The lower level is being called a family room, though the light level for this subterranean space without windows would be best suited for a family of bats. The asking price of $749,000 is in line with recent comparable sales.
  
• In Dupont Circle, a seven-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath bayfront Victorian brownstone, including a $1,650 per month rental unit and two parking spaces. This house, in need of exterior pointing, is otherwise in apparently good condition. It has a newer kitchen that could benefit from modernizing, but it is large enough that a bicycle stored in one corner is hardly noticeable. Other aspects of the home include six fireplaces, custom wainscoting, upper rear deck, 10-foot ceilings, a large dining room and numerous original details such as banisters and staircase. The price of $1.475 is ambitious but not insultingly high.
  
• A partially renovated four-bedroom, three-bedroom 1918 home in a four-level former art gallery in Kalorama. There are five fireplaces, parking for one car, some new windows, new two-zone heating and cooling, extensive new wiring and senseless flow, including the kitchen only on the top floor. The asking price for this 3,606-SF white elephant, which the current owner is abandoning after squabbling with neighbors about running an interior design business from the place, is a ridiculous $1.55 million.
  
• In 16th Street Heights, a one-bedroom condo in a 2005 converted apartment building built in 1926. This 725-SF apartment has a good-size kitchen with granite counters and maple cabinetry, a high-end washer/dryer, crown molding, brushed nickel hardware, a bath with cast iron tub and ceramic tiles, and a parking space. It is offered at $369,900 minus $5,000 of closing assistance. The monthly fee is $277 plus $46 for that parking space.
  
• A sleek two-bedroom, two-bath condo that is close, too close for many, to the lively Adams Morgan scene. This loft-style condo with 12-foot ceilings faces nothing but gritty rooftops and walls through numerous windows, except for the glass doors opening to a narrow balcony overlooking the building's tranquilly landscaped courtyard. The Brazilian cherry floors are dramatic, but the shape of the living area, which has a gas fireplace, makes it hard to envision appropriate seating. Another issue is the placement of both baths through the bedrooms, which are set off from the living area by French doors. The owner is paying for rented garage space down the block until March, after which the new owner will have to pony up at least the current $225 per month. Although $619,000 is not considered excessive for the amount space and stylishness, the apartment's defects are offputting. The monthly fee is $225 and covers nothing expensive.
  
• In Columbia Heights, a thoughtfully renovated 1911 Wardman semi-detached rowhouse with three bedrooms and two baths on the second floor, including a sitting room in the master suite. The first floor offers an expanded modern open kitchen with granite-topped breakfast bar, a den, living room with fireplace, original wood floors and plenty of charm. In addition, the house has almost a two-car garage in the lower level, which also contains a laundry, full bath and pleasantly finished recreation room that is entirely above ground. Lowered to $699,000 from $725,000, this house represents good value.
  
• A four-level gut-renovated Victorian in Kalorama with a total of four bedrooms and three and a half baths. Other features include hardwood floors, fireplaces, skylights, multi-head steam shower, roof deck and up-to-date wiring. The open kitchen dominates the main floor, making for odd passage through it from the living room with its three bay windows to the dining area at the rear. Without parking, this essentially new dwelling is worth far less than the $1.699 million listing price.