New $20 Million Washington Listing…You Got to Be Kidding

There are three homes priced above $15 million, according to the region's listing service.  Add a new one to the city's stock: The Washington Post wrote this morning about the $20 million price tag attached to the Whitehaven Street home of Lea and Wayne Berman.

For those not traveling in Washington's most exclusive Republican circles, Lea Berman is a former social secretary for first lady Laura Bush. Her husband is a lobbyst with an "almost unmatched position at the crossroads of policy, politics and campaign finance," at least according to his work bio page. In 2001, they bought their "eight-bedroom, seven-bath 1930 Palladian-style manse (wine cellar, elevator, six fireplaces, gardens — plus a luggage room and linen and silver room)," as described by the Post. Now they've quadrupled their own purchasing price— $4.8 million—despite the fact that the Halcyon House, which listed at $30 million last August, just dropped to $19.5 million.

Really Bermans? What were you thinking?