HUD Secretary Ben Carson Bags Slight Profit on Virginia Home
Click here to read the full article.
The man responsible for America’s housing needs recently sold one of his own homes. Ben Carson, brain surgeon and one-time presidential candidate turned Housing and Urban Development secretary, unloaded a house in Vienna, Va., for $1.35 million in March.
Carson didn’t own the property long — he bought it in January 2017 for $1.22 million, a month after being nominated for his HUD position by President Donald Trump; with an election cycle coming up this fall, Realtor.com speculates that the move might be a prescient one. Despite Covid-19, the sale was swift, with the HUD head putting the mini-estate on the market just a month before it sold. Marketing materials show the property spans about 1.4 acres and the home’s open plan floor plan encompasses five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in almost 6,400 square feet of deluxe, if dated, living space that will lend itself nicely to a sweeping overhaul.
More from Variety
The décor of the two-story brick colonial is a decade or so behind the times, with narrow light-colored oak flooring in the living room and hallways that are mismatched with darker, more modern wide plank flooring elsewhere. Multi-colored slate flooring in the kitchen and square travertine tiles in the bathroom harken back to design styles that became pervasively popular after the 2008 housing crash. Other residential features include a wet bar in the family room, a light filled study and a gourmet kitchen, while a 1,200 sq. ft. deck offers scenic views of the woodlands behind the house, and, curiously, listing photos show the spacious wall-to-wall-carpeted finished basement has a small disco ball hanging from the ceiling. On the upper level, the master-suite enjoys a walk-in closet large enough to be classified as a studio apartment in New York City.
Despite the sale, Carson and wife Candy, aren’t short of places to call home. They still own a mansion that presides over 35 sprawling acres in Upperco, Md., located near Baltimore, which they purchased way back in 2001 for $1.5 million. The couple have also been active in the Florida property market — in 2016 they forked out nearly $4.4 million for a mansion in Palm Beach Gardens, having previously sold a nearby home in West Palm Beach for $920,000.
The Carsons were represented by Julie Brodie with Engel and Völkers, and the buyers were represented by Victoria Baker of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.
Launch Gallery: Inside Ben Carson's Former Virgina Home
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
