How iconic DC mansion that hosted JFK, Diana and Ronald Reagan was left to rot for 23 years because of wealthy neighbors' constant meddling

When venture capitalist Mark Ein purchased his home on the corner of R and 30th Street in DC more than 22 years ago, he had plans to eventually raise a family.

The part-owner of the Washington Commanders took a step toward that goal in 2013 when he wed Sally Stiebel, right there in the mansion's garden.

By then, irate neighbors had reportedly honed in on the philanthropist, angered about the couple's plans to renovate and expand. 

The home for which he had paid $8 million had historic value, they said -  once welcoming figures like John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and even Princess Diana.

Back then, the home was considered a hub of political power, and played home to the family of the former publisher of The Washington Post, Philip Graham and then his wife Katharine Graham.

The latter held court there for several decades, before her death in 2001. The estate was then sold to Ein that year, but after more than ten years of pushback, he's ready to sell.

Once considered a hub of political power, the Beall-Washington house today sits vacant in the wake of a decades-long battle between its owners and neighbors

Venture capitalist Mark Ein - seen here with wife Sally outside the estate - purchased his home on the corner of R and 30th Street in DC more than 22 years ago, but after being met with pushback with neighbors over proposed renovations, is ready to part ways with it

In an interview with The New York Times, he explained how coming to that decision was 'weirdly emotional.'

Recalling how he and his wife had at first been drawn to the prospect of raising their kids in a historic home, he blamed the local Old Georgetown Board for repeatedly rejecting his plans, and not his neighbors.

'[It] was not about a neighborhood that didn't want us because they did en masse, and still do,' he insisted.

'It was more about insane inconsistency in a process where members of the historic board encouraged us to press forward, but then there's no transparency or accountability.'

Lally Weymouth, the daughter of former Post publisher Philip Graham, had another, more blunt assessment of what had occurred.

'Washington used to be a much easier place to live,' the 81-year-old said in her own interview. Now, the current senior associate editor of the Post said, 'Everybody hates everybody.'

Accounts of what's transpired over the past decade or so around the historic home - which has been padlocked and empty since October 2014 - tell the rest of the story.  

Toward the start of 2014, he and his newly minted wife hired a team of architects to begin an expansion - on the home built around 1784 by the second mayor of Georgetown, Thomas Beall.

In an interview, he explained how coming to that decision was 'weirdly emotional', after the home played host to figures like Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy in the past. The pair is seen here with then-owner Katharine Graham, the late publisher of the Washington Post

In the nineties, the nearly 250-year-old old home's history continued, as it played host to Princess Diana, Hillary Clinton, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, designer Ralph Lauren for an event in 1996. Several celebs, political or not, visited in the decades before

That forced them before the Old Georgetown Board, which reviews all changes to historic properties in the neighborhood - no matter how small. 

The Eins, at that point, desired a two-story addition out back and two large garages at the home's front - a proposal that quickly inspired outrage from several of their neighbors. 

Jane and Calvin Cafritz, a local real estate power couple who lived next-door, and a neighbor across the street, Robert Budic, emerged as the most outspoken critics.

The Cafritzes argued the addition would ruin their property's 'feeling of openness,' while 'caus[ing] irreparable damage to several of our very mature specimen trees.'

The proposed installations would also eliminate the 'dappled afternoon light' between the two homes, they complained - following gripes over the Eins' supposed failure to shovel their parts of sidewalk to their standards.

Both members of a prominent Washington real estate family, their complaints were carefully heard.

Meanwhile, Budic, who would almost come to blows with Ein a little later, wrote the project would dismay visitors who 'stand in awe as they take in the façade' of the home, which he added 'has greeted presidents, heads of state and royalty.'

His angry letters to the board remain to this day in the National Archives.

Calvin and Jane Cafritz, a local real estate power couple who lived next-door, surfaced as the Washington Commander part-owner's biggest critics 

Meanwhile, the home sat with unfinished renovations from the time of the Grahams' own overhaul in 1960, as the Cafritzes hired an architectural historian to pen a 46-page report that found the back of the Eins' home had never been the main entrance.

Jane Cafritz had asked why these additions had be built on 'their' side of the Eins home when they had so much unused space out back - and within months, Ein had to scrap the above ground garages.

That was after Ein already had to scrap construction on the other side of the house due to a separate series of complaints, records show. 

In the eyes of the board, the project was branded a 'nonstarter' - spurring a new series of drafts from the homeowners. The board - comprised of local volunteers - would go on to reject the Eins' plans four separate times.

Meanwhile, a few miles north, the Cafritzes themselves were receiving complaints for their own 263-unit apartment-building construction project at Connecticut Avenue and Military Road - one that had peeved residents there. It went through anyway.

'If you choose to live in Georgetown, then you have to choose to live by historic-preservation rules,' Jane said at the time, pointing out the difference in neighborhood. 'That's just life in Georgetown.'

The board had not only objected to the garages, but the size of the proposed two-story addition - as well as disruptions the project would cause to the home's foundation, grounds and architecture.

The seemingly never-ending series of revisions, meanwhile, all failed to sway the board. 

Each time the couple would change their plans, the Cafritzes wrote to the government with a fresh set objections, each of which was substantiated by Budic.

They filed several complaints over the couple's proposed renovations, coming up with new qualms with every revision

Things would eventually heat up in October of that year - on the heels of some 20 meetings and a half a million dollars spent by Ein, with nothing to show for it. 

At a meeting described by Washingtonian magazine, Budic and an architect hired by Ein had a disagreement over who would take the mic next.

Ein laughed at the pettiness, and on the way to take the stage, Budic intentionally bumped his neighbor on the shoulder, a la a classical high school bully.

It was enough for the squabble to be broken up and the board boss to demand the men take their argument outside.

As this was happening, countless other neighbors sent letters to the board asking they let the Eins move in and finally finish renovating the house to bring it back to life.

Somewhat ironically, the cemetery across the street was one of those neighbors, writing, 'All of us at Oak Hill are delighted with the prospect of this young family moving in and bringing the property to life once again.'

But the board stayed firm in its decisions, spurring Donald Graham, the son of Phillip and wife Katharine Graham, to weigh in. 

'I think the world of Mark and Sally, and I hope they do with the house whatever they want, he said at the time - painting the board's nit-picky review process as 'stupid.'

During Katharine Graham's famed stretch of ownership, it welcomed a new series of political titans and several celebrities as well - including but not limited to Truman Capote, several Supreme Court justices, cabinet members, diplomats, and financiers

the board stayed firm in its decisions, spurring the son of Katharine and husband Phillip (seen here), to weigh in. 

Lally Weymouth, the daughter of former Post publishers, had another, more blunt assessment of what had occurred

The Eins responded by remaining mostly silent for the next six years, with one official speaking The Times positing that the duo - deterred by the scale and cost of the prospective battle - had 'lost their nerve.'

They ended up approaching the board again 2021, but once more, failed to sway it.   

They had a son and a daughter, and never returned. 

They now live across the Potomac River in Virginia, near the Saudi ambassador to the United States and Secretary of State Antony Blinken - who visited the Georgetown home in 2022 for an outdoor gala as much of its interior remained closed.

The Eins would open up the house again this past April ahead of the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner for another outdoor brunch, where Carol Joynt, a local television producer, said the old, not-maintained rooms and crowd of guests did 'not in any way resemble the parties that Mrs. [Katharine] Graham gave' during her almost 60 years of ownership.

When contacted by the Times this month, both and Budic and Jane Cafritz - Calvin died last year - insisted they would like to see the Eins move in at some point. 

'I'm not the one who turned that plan down,' Budic told the publication. 'It was the Old Georgetown Board that rejected it, each and every time.'

Jane Cafritz, meanwhile, declined to comment.

Despite the pushback, Eins would open up the house again this past April ahead of the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner for another outdoor brunch

 Pete Buttigieg is seen presenting Lt. General Donna Martin with the 2022 Courage Award during the event, which a local  said did 'not in any way resemble the parties that Mrs. Graham gave' during her almost 60 years of ownership

However, Ein spoke about a recent encounter between him and Jane at an art exhibition in Miami. 

Reportedly dismayed about living next to a long-vacant house, she urged him to finish the process and move in.

He said he left the conversation shaking his head.

The home, meanwhile, while somewhat dilapidated, boasts a rich history.

George Corbin Washington, a great-nephew of the first president of the United States, lived there for many years.

In the decades that followed, several of Washington's descendants lived there as well.

This, along with the original architect, granted the manor its name - the Beall-Washington house.

During Katharine Graham's famed stretch of ownership, it welcomed a new series of political titans and several celebrities as well - including but not limited to Truman Capote, several Supreme Court justices, cabinet members, diplomats and financiers.

Before her, it belonged to William 'Wild Bill' Donovan, a founder of the Office of Strategic Services, which is considered the precursor to the CIA.

Today, it continues to sit untouched and closed off, sans the odd event in its still-seminal garden. Its future fate, for now, remains uncertain, as the Eins mull a sale

Decades later, it served as the site where Katharine - one of the most prolific Post publishers -  made the decision to publish the Pentagon Papers, which laid bare some of the disturbing secrets concerning the US's involvement in Vietnam.

It was also where the journalist learned that John Mitchell, President Richard M. Nixon's attorney general, had recently warned Carl Bernstein about the inevitable article calling attention the Watergate scandal. 

'Katie Graham's gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer if that's published,' Mr. Mitchell said at the time, spurring a then 55-year-old Katharine to say it was 'especially strange for him to call me "Katie," which no one has ever called me.'

In the '90s, the history continued, with the home playing host to Diana, Hillary Clinton, Vogue editor Anna Wintour and designer Ralph Lauren for an event in 1996.

A few years before, Reagan and First Lady Nancy visited as well - almost a decade to the day before Katharine's death and the home's subsequent sale.

Today, it continues to sit untouched, aside from the odd event in its still-seminal garden.

Inside, the same cannot be said, with much of it not seen in years.

Its future fate, for now, remains uncertain. As mentioned, the Eins are mulling a sale.