Before & After: They Gave Their Dilapidated Washington D.C. Home the Renovation of a Lifetime

"I’m going to die in this house," says homeowner Ezekiel J. Emanuel, who famously wrote an essay about how he will refuse medical care after the age of 75.

This was a renovation 25 years in the making.

Ezekiel J. Emanuel, who goes by Zeke, first saw this house on a picturesque street in Washington D.C.’s Cleveland Park neighborhood in 1999. He lived in the area, and he passed it every day on his way to the metro. At the time, Zeke had already renovated several homes, and this was his next target. "I love broken-down houses," he says.

There was just one problem: It wasn’t for sale. He left a letter at the property in 2000 asking to buy the house, and again a few years later, but no one contacted him.

Before: Exterior

Fast forward nearly two decades and Zeke, a well-known oncologist, bioethicist, and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and his partner, Teasel, were looking for their next project.

She called him one day in the summer of 2019 to tell him about a house on Highland Place that was part of an estate sale. He stopped her as soon as she said the street. "I know the house—we’re going to bid," he recalls saying.

After: Exterior

See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: They Gave Their Dilapidated Washington D.C. Home the Renovation of a Lifetime
Related stories:

• Before & After: From Pegboards to Terrazzo, This Swervy Oakland Bungalow Has It All

• Budget Breakdown: $91K and Vintage Flair Revive a Flat in One of Paris’s Coolest Buildings

• Terra-Cotta Flooring Ties Together a Refreshed Country Home in France