
Silver Spring home melds art and history, for $2.4 million
Washington Post13-06-2025
When Stanley Asrael bought his Silver Spring home in 1962, the Tudor-style house with a soaring 20-foot beamed ceiling in the living room, friezes carved into its plaster walls and arched doorways was, as his daughter Lynn Grodzki tries to say as charitably as she can, 'out of shape.'
But Asrael took the Latin inscription carved above the front door to heart: 'Cedere Numquam,' or never give up. So Asrael, now 101, and his wife, Evelyn, went to work, removing heavy drapes and bookcases along an exterior living room wall to create space to add three massive atrium windows. They filled the home, built in 1923, with artwork, much of it now donated to museums, and eventually added a large, modern primary suite with his-and-her bathrooms.
'It's really one of a kind. My wife was the one with the vision, but along the way I became invested in it as well,' said Asrael, who now lives next door with Grodzki in a contemporary house built in 2016 by her architect husband, Tadeo Grodzki.
When asked his favorite part of the house, Asrael replied, 'All of it.'
That starts with the curving polished stainless-steel handrails along the steps leading uphill to the stone and stucco house. Asrael commissioned them from Chevy Chase artist Barton Rubenstein, whose sculptures can be seen around the Washington area, including at American University and Sidwell Friends School. Stainless-steel beams in the addition's bedroom echo the handrails. Floating glass shelves in the living room were designed by former Renwick Gallery curator Michael Monroe.
The house can be accessed from steps leading up from the cul-de-sac or by a glass tube elevator, which Asrael installed, that goes from the garage to the first floor. Real estate agent Leigh Reed said the kitchen was not renovated so new owners could choose their own design.
Ornate carvings surround the stone living room fireplace. They also cover the dining room's coffered ceiling, which includes the crest of the Order of the Garter, a British order that dates to medieval times.
'It's hard to know what the developer was thinking when he decided to put these elements in. He was crazy about British history,' Grodzki said. 'So I feel like that sometimes the house kind of has a sense of humor.'
A narrow, curving stairway leads to the second floor, which houses three bedrooms in addition to the primary suite on the first floor. A long balcony at the top of the stairs overlooks the living room. One bedroom features a cozy built-in wooden bed original to the house underneath a window that overlooks the yard, which borders Sligo Creek Park. While wallpaper was stripped from most rooms before the house was put on the market, one bedroom still includes the pink wallpaper and matching curtains it contained when occupied by one of the Asrael children.
Back downstairs, the living room opens to a terrace shaded by a Japanese maple tree. An additional patio is accessible from one of the two family rooms in the house, and a path into the woods leads to Sligo Creek Park.
'We hope whoever buys it would be somebody who would appreciate what the house is and how unique it is,' Grodzki said. 'It needs somebody who comes through who has an artistic mind. It does not look like many other houses, if any other house.'
302 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring, Md.
But Asrael took the Latin inscription carved above the front door to heart: 'Cedere Numquam,' or never give up. So Asrael, now 101, and his wife, Evelyn, went to work, removing heavy drapes and bookcases along an exterior living room wall to create space to add three massive atrium windows. They filled the home, built in 1923, with artwork, much of it now donated to museums, and eventually added a large, modern primary suite with his-and-her bathrooms.
'It's really one of a kind. My wife was the one with the vision, but along the way I became invested in it as well,' said Asrael, who now lives next door with Grodzki in a contemporary house built in 2016 by her architect husband, Tadeo Grodzki.
When asked his favorite part of the house, Asrael replied, 'All of it.'
That starts with the curving polished stainless-steel handrails along the steps leading uphill to the stone and stucco house. Asrael commissioned them from Chevy Chase artist Barton Rubenstein, whose sculptures can be seen around the Washington area, including at American University and Sidwell Friends School. Stainless-steel beams in the addition's bedroom echo the handrails. Floating glass shelves in the living room were designed by former Renwick Gallery curator Michael Monroe.
The house can be accessed from steps leading up from the cul-de-sac or by a glass tube elevator, which Asrael installed, that goes from the garage to the first floor. Real estate agent Leigh Reed said the kitchen was not renovated so new owners could choose their own design.
Ornate carvings surround the stone living room fireplace. They also cover the dining room's coffered ceiling, which includes the crest of the Order of the Garter, a British order that dates to medieval times.
'It's hard to know what the developer was thinking when he decided to put these elements in. He was crazy about British history,' Grodzki said. 'So I feel like that sometimes the house kind of has a sense of humor.'
A narrow, curving stairway leads to the second floor, which houses three bedrooms in addition to the primary suite on the first floor. A long balcony at the top of the stairs overlooks the living room. One bedroom features a cozy built-in wooden bed original to the house underneath a window that overlooks the yard, which borders Sligo Creek Park. While wallpaper was stripped from most rooms before the house was put on the market, one bedroom still includes the pink wallpaper and matching curtains it contained when occupied by one of the Asrael children.
Back downstairs, the living room opens to a terrace shaded by a Japanese maple tree. An additional patio is accessible from one of the two family rooms in the house, and a path into the woods leads to Sligo Creek Park.
'We hope whoever buys it would be somebody who would appreciate what the house is and how unique it is,' Grodzki said. 'It needs somebody who comes through who has an artistic mind. It does not look like many other houses, if any other house.'
302 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring, Md.
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