living room with green and white sectional couches
Eric Chang Design outfitted the living room at LXIV DC—an 1840’s federal mansion in Washington developed into an upscale six-bedroom rental villa by Atelier Verre—in quiet bespoke luxury, as witnessed in the generous Umbria velvet sectional by his furniture company, Hellman-Chang, porcelain Gingko chandelier by Andreea Braescu, Chino Amobi’s oil on canvas, and restored original crown molding, casing, and wainscotting.

May 30, 2025

Words: Rebecca Dalzell

Photography: Douglas Friedman; Styling: Anita Sarsidi

Luxuriate In This Historic Rental Villa Fit For Royalty

Presidential suites are so passé. Ultra-wealthy travelers accustomed to private jets and superyachts are loath to tramp through hotel lobbies with the rest of us. They’d much rather stay in an elegant federal house with its own pool, concierge, and butler service—such as the LXIV DC, a six-bedroom luxury rental property in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood. Even better: Guests, often CEOs and world leaders willing and able to pay five figures a night to stay at the boutique property, access the 1-acre estate via a secret boxwood gate and private walled garden. “It’s magical—like walking into Alice in Wonderland,” begins Eric Chang, the project’s interior designer.

LXIV, named for France’s 17th-century Sun King Louis, is the brainchild of local real estate entrepreneurs Jessica and Ezra Glass, whose curated dining and retail developments have made colonial Georgetown feel suddenly hip. When the Glasses first saw the 10,500-square-foot, three-story house, which dates to the 1840’s, it had been on the market for three years and uninhabited for longer. Though dilapidated, it had belonged to a string of Washington elites and had a beautiful garden by famed American landscape architect Rose Greely, plus separate outbuildings that could be used for security and spa amenities. They bought the compound in 2022, undeterred by the extensive renovations required or the inevitable tug-of-war with the historic district board. Today, it’s the first outpost of their LXIV Group, an exclusive network of one-of-a-kind residences and estates that aim to “perfect the art of living through effortless luxury, soulful design, and superlative service,” with properties in New York City, San Francisco, London, and Paris on the horizon.

Eric Chang Crafts A Luxurious Rental Property In D.C.

A living room with a fireplace and a couch.
Eric Chang Design outfitted the living room at LXIV DC—an 1840’s federal mansion in Washington developed into an upscale six-bedroom rental villa by Atelier Verre—in quiet bespoke luxury, as witnessed in the generous Umbria velvet sectional by his furniture company, Hellman-Chang, porcelain Gingko chandelier by Andreea Braescu, Chino Amobi’s oil on canvas, and restored original crown molding, casing, and wainscotting.

The Glasses made the purchase only after they had the buy-in of Chang, who’s been friends with Ezra Glass since kindergarten. “I would never have taken this on without Eric,” says Jessica Glass; she and her husband’s design-build firm Atelier Verre oversaw the construction and interior architecture. “He could envision the comfortable luxury that was essential.” Chang is the cofounder and principal of the furniture line Hellman-Chang, but for years he has also conceived interiors for friends, including the Glasses, under the auspices of Eric Chang Design. He brought experience working with high net–worth clients and top designers, as well as a network of fellow artisans. 

Most importantly, the Glasses trusted Chang to bring out the best of the challenging site. “The home looked like it had been cobbled together, with strange elevations and different types of flooring. None of it made sense, but you could feel its potential,” the designer remembers. He worked closely with Atelier Verre, which first reorganized the cramped floor plan, opening up corridors, adding an elevator, and turning 10 small bedrooms into six larger ones with en suite bathrooms.

Garden Views + Bespoke Furnishings Welcome V.I.P. Guests

A hot tub in a wooden deck with a glass roof.
The formerly dilapidated greenhouse now houses ipe hot and cold plunge pools.

Everyone agreed that the garden was the real star of the estate, so nature was brought inside, creating a sense of timelessness. Adding to that was the preservation of such historic elements as the ori­ginal fireplaces, the dining room’s walnut parquet floor, and the shell of an old greenhouse that now houses hot and cold plunge pools. Yet Chang wasn’t about to create a creaky museum; it had to feel modern, with a mix of pieces from different eras. “I was looking to make it new and unexpected, with special moments that give guests pause,” he notes. Craftsmanship became a through line between past and present: Out went Chippendale, in went Hellman-Chang. The artisan hand is apparent everywhere.

Chang started in the grand living room, which kept its original detailing. His first call was to Romanian artist Andreea Braescu to order a custom porcelain chandelier resembling gingko leaves; the large, delicate piece helps fill the room without obscuring the existing plaster ceiling medallion. It hangs over a similarly sculptural cocktail table by Stefan Bishop and a moss-green velvet sectional Chang designed specifically for the space. “A challenge was creating a human scale that allowed you to be comfortable either in a formal meeting or casually kicking back,” Chang says. Important conversations will undoubtedly happen here; he ensured the sofa isn’t too deep, so people can sit a dignified manner. 

A chair and a table in a room.
The bronze Bruda chair and Jasper side table stand on honed marble floor tile at the base of the oak-and-drywall spiral staircase, which has a deliberately imperfect handrail.
A painting on a wall above a bed.
Beneath a Michele Montalbano artwork in the executive suite, the fireplace is original.

While the living room gets sun, much of the house was darker. To brighten the interior and improve circulation, a central fireplace was removed and a spiral oak-and-drywall staircase with a skylight overhead installed. Chang observes that the light guides you around as you naturally gravitate to where it hits a wall or landing. “You have a sense of journey and curiosity, because you are following that light through the home,” he continues. 

It especially draws one to the stair, which is coated in fine-grained, hand-applied Matteo Brioni plaster that shines in the light. The organic finish, its colors coming from specific quarries in Italy, from which nearly 10 tons of the material were imported, brings the texture of the earth inside, Jessica Glass says: “As you go up the stairwell, it feels like moving through a canyon.” Used on walls throughout, the plaster’s muted clay palette unifies the interior, from the moody terra-cotta dining room to the creamy primary suite. 

In the latter, three enlarged windows face the garden, with a view sweeping across a fountain and hedges to a giant magnolia tree. You could be in the countryside or 19th-century DC. It’s a peaceful, transporting overlook—and one that no Four Seasons could match. 

Walk Through LXIV, A Six-Bedroom Rental Property In Georgetown

A living room with a large chandel and a green couch.
A pair of living room paintings by Robert Janitz overlooks Stefan Bishop’s Ring cocktail table and a leather-upholstered Soho swivel chair.
A room with a table and a chair.
The dining room’s Matteo Brioni plaster walls.
A statue of a woman in a garden.
A section of the 1-acre walled garden, originally designed in the 1930’s by Rose Greely, later updated by Perry Wheeler, who worked on the White House Rose Garden.
A dining room with a table and chairs.
The breakfast room’s custom pampas grass–covered pendant fixture, Ella table, and Bahati chairs.
A picture of a woman is on the wall above a fireplace.
An original edition of Phil by Chuck Close defines the primary suite’s office, where Cahn and Jett chairs by Douglas Levine face a Crawford desk by Hellman-Chang.
A living room with a fireplace and two chairs.
A live cherry tree and Petra Cortright artwork brighten the parlor, where shearling-upholstered Olive swivel chairs flank a Button martini table.
A bedroom with a bed and a painting on the wall.
In the premiere suite, wallcovering evokes watercolor and the bed, sideboard, and lounge chair are by Hellman-Chang.
A bathroom with a sink and a mirror.
An existing outbuilding across the garden was made into the spa.
A bathroom with a marble floor and a large tub.
An arch-detailed bronze shower door and fluted bleached-walnut vanity bring an art deco vibe to the primary suite bathroom.
A bathtub in a bathroom with a wooden floor.
Lievore + Altherr’s Désile Park tub occupies a nook in the premiere suite’s bathroom.
A bedroom with a bed, a couch and a window.
A Hellman-Chang bed, side table, and nightstand appoint the primary suite’s bedroom, where faux suede upholsters the built-in banquette and the painting is by Helmut Lang.
A view of a garden from the roof.
The spa and plunge-pool buildings can be seen across the garden.
PROJECT TEAM

ERIC CHANG DESIGN: MONICA RUMA. RICH MARKUS ARCHITECTS: ARCHITECT OF RECORD. WAYNE HINSON DESIGN: LIGHTING DESIGN. VON AMMON: ART CONSULTANT. MARION OXFORD DEARTH LANDSCAPE DESIGN: LANDSCAPE CONSULTANT. BEL ENGINEERING: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER. KK ENGI­NEERING: MEP. MATTEO BRIONI: PLASTERWORK. FERRIS CUSTOM CABINETRY: WOODWORK. ATELIER VERRE: GENERAL CONTRACTOR, DEVELOPER.

PRODUCT SOURCES

FROM FRONT HELLMAN-CHANG: CUSTOM SECTIONAL (LIVING ROOM), DESK (OFFICE), BED, CHAIR, SIDEBOARD (PREMIERE SUITE), BED, NIGHT­STAND, SIDE TABLE (PRIMARY SUITE). MAHARAM: SECTIONAL FABRIC (LIVING ROOM). DYPHOR: WHITE SOFA. UNA MALAN: SWIVEL CHAIRS (LIVING ROOM, PARLOR). PAVONI: SWIVEL CHAIR LEATHER (LIVING ROOM). THROUGH CRISTINA GRAJALES GALLERY: COCKTAIL TABLE. ANDREEA BRAESCU: CUS­TOM CHANDELIER. PERENNIALS: CUSTOM RUGS (LIVING ROOM, PREMIERE SUITE), SWIVEL CHAIR UPHOLSTERY (PARLOR). ARTERIORS: CHAIRS (BREAKFAST ROOM). ELAN ATELIER: TABLE (BREAKFAST ROOM), CHAIR, SIDE TABLE (LANDING). BRIGHT CHAIR: CHAIRS (OFFICE). GUILD BY LMI: TABLE (PARLOR). STARK CARPET: RUG. PHILLIIP JEFFRIES: WALLCOVERING (PARLOR, PREMIERE SUITE). EFFE: SPA (SPA). GESSI: PEDESTAL SINK, SINK FITTINGS (SPA), TUB FILLERS (BATHS). VIBIA: CEILING FIXTURES (SPA). LANDMADE: TUB (PRIMARY SUITE BATH). OCHRE: CHANDELIER. JONATHAN BROWNING: SCONCES (BATHS). NOORTH: TUB (PREMIERE SUITE BATH). THROUGHOUT ROSEMARY HALLGARTEN: THROWS, PILLOWS. BENJAMIN MOORE & CO.: PAINT.

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