Did you know that there’s a Frank Lloyd Wright house overlooking the Potomac River in McLean? AOL co-founder Jim Kimsey had a few friends over for a housewarming Saturday evening to toast the renovations of the Louis Marden home (Marden was a National Geographic photographer and a world-class fisherman), one of the last Frank Lloyd Wright-designed homes completed before Wright’s death in 1959. Unlike other Wright designs, no original photographs have been found of the property, only drawings. The magnificent home is adjacent to that of Kimsey, who renovated the historic home and plans to use it as his guest house. The first guest? “Patti Austin [the vocalist] is the only one who spent the night here so far,” he told me.
ADDITIONAL REFINED FAVORITES
When Kimsey purchased the house several years ago, it had Frank Lloyd Wright furniture as well, but his real estate agent didn’t realize the value of the furnishings. He’s refurnished it with mid-century design favorites, including Finn Juhl’s Chieftain chair and a Hans Wegner chair, now referred to as “the chair” because Presidents Kennedy and Nixon sat in the same one at the U.N. debate in 1960. Some of the pieces are from local artist/designer Robin Rose’s mid-century (20th) collection.
HAIG MISSED BOOK’S DEADLINE, HE SAYS
Gen. Al Haig, at 81, is still rewriting history. Although he calls himself “the oldest living employee” at United Technologies, he’d rather be in charge. Haig told me that “[Henry] Kissinger listened to the [Nixon] tapes and realized I was his best friend in the White House. He called me after playing them, but he had already written me out of history.”
COUSTEAU’S LIFE AQUATIC
At the Kimsey party, Gen. Colin Powell was thrilled to meet the handsome Philippe Cousteau, 26, the grandson of French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, and told him he grew up watching his grandfather’s films. Cousteau, who works to promote environmental issues in keeping with pop culture, co-founded EarthEcho International with his mother, Jan Cousteau, to perpetuate his father and grandfather’s legacy of protecting the environment. “It’s Indiana Jones,” he explained about his animated pieces online. “Not stodgy,” said Cousteau, who now lives in Pentagon City.
I remember interviewing the elder Cousteau in 1985 at his festive 75th birthday bash thrown by Ted Turner at Mount Vernon. He told me: “Birthdays are entirely artificial. Nature doesn’t count days.” The wise environmentalist went on to say, “If a ship is at anchor, it becomes rusty. The arteries of the ship clog, just like the arteries of people who remain at anchor.” His grandson, Philippe, has that same tireless energy.
… AND ‘LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL’
Joe Robert, just back from a business trip to Iraq, insists, “There’s light at the end of the tunnel.” … Former Ambassador Tom Pickering, talking about the Middle East situation, said he’s ready to retire from Boeing. Other guests included Virginia politicians — former Sen.Chuck Robb and Rep. Tom Davis — and D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams; coach Kathy Kemper, who couldn’t stop raving about Kimsey’s sequestered tennis court; columnist Georgie Ann Geyer; fundraiser Esther Coopersmith; Elizabeth and Smith Bagley; Capitol File publisher Paige Bishop; and popular dermatologist Melda Isaac.
AS THE A LIST GROWS, INVITES TOUGHER TO SNAG
Bloomberg News may have landed rapper Ludacris — more attention-grabber than source is our guess — as its guest at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday evening, but it still has big competition this year in the arena of off-site late-night parties with tightly controlled guest lists. Capitol File has booked Café Milano, and Reuters is throwing a bash at the hip club called kstreet with a performance by local group Thievery Corporation. Stephen Colbert has promised to drop by. Capitol File’s Jason Binn is a guest of CNN at the dinner. You can expect CNN bigwigs to make an appearance at his party.