Jim Lehrer’s Washington DC Home Hits the Market for the First Time in 47 Years at $5 Million

The morning Jim Lehrer died, January 23, 2020, he passed away peacefully in his sleep. At home. In the same Cleveland Park house he had lived in for over 40 years.

Six years later, that house is on the market for the first time. The asking price is $5 million.

One property. One family. Forty-seven years. And a number that tells you something real about what time and place can do to a home.

The Man Who Lived There

Jim Lehrer and his wife Kate, a novelist and writer, bought the home at 3556 Macomb St NW in 1979 for $395,000. That same decade, he had co-founded PBS NewsHour with Robert MacNeil, born out of their live Watergate hearing coverage in 1973.

He anchored the show for 36 years. He moderated 12 presidential debates between 1988 and 2012, more than any other journalist in US history. He wrote 20 novels, three memoirs, and multiple plays.

All of that happened while he lived at this address.

What the Property Actually Looks Like

The gray stucco home was built in the early 1900s. It sits on a rare double lot covering a third of an acre in Cleveland Park, one of DC’s most historic and prestigious neighborhoods.

The interior spans roughly 6,700 square feet across four levels. Five bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms. Oak-plank floors, high ceilings, casement windows, crown molding, and built-in cabinetry throughout.

A green marble wood-burning fireplace anchors the living room. The formal dining room has a pair of decorative stained-glass windows.

The kitchen has black-and-white checkered floors, a breakfast banquette, and a butler’s pantry. A bookshelf-lined study and a sunroom sit just beyond.

The primary suite on the second floor includes a separate library and office, a walk-in closet, a dressing area, and a floral-wallpapered bath. The basement adds a guest bedroom, a recreation room, a brick terrace, a 50-foot swimming pool, and a detached two-car garage.

And from almost every room, you get a clear view of the Gothic-style Washington National Cathedral.

After Jim passed, Kate inherited the property and moved it into a family trust. Now, with plans to downsize, the family has listed it at $5 million with Michael Moore of Compass. The full listing details are covered by Robb Report.

A Neighborhood That Got More Valuable Around It

When the Lehrers bought in 1979, $395,000 was a serious price for DC. Today that same home is listed at nearly 12 times that amount.

Cleveland Park has always been a prestige address. Oak-lined streets, historic homes dating to the 1800s, proximity to Rock Creek Park. But the DC luxury market right now tells a more complicated story.

As of May 2026, the median DC home price sits between $670,000 and $700,000. Active listings across the District have jumped roughly 33% compared to last year. Buyers in the $5 million-plus range are taking longer to decide, and sellers need patience.

Even in other markets, luxury does not always move on timeline. The situation is not unlike what happened with J.Lo’s $50M Beverly Hills mansion, where a buyer walked away after putting down a huge deposit, proof that even iconic properties can stall when price and timing do not line up.

If you follow celebrity real estate and luxury market moves as they happen, channel on WhatsApp is worth bookmarking. Good place to catch these stories before the full news cycle kicks in.

Why This Matters

This is not just a property listing. It is 47 years of American journalism history sitting on a double lot in Northwest DC.

Jim Lehrer moderated 12 presidential debates in front of upwards of 60 million viewers each, more than any other person in US history. He covered Watergate, 9/11, and every major political moment in between. The Dean of Moderators, they called him.

Former President Bill Clinton said after his death: he believed news is a public good, not a commodity.

That kind of career does not happen in a vacuum. It happens in a city, in a neighborhood, in a house. This house.

Now it goes to someone new. And whoever buys it probably does not fully grasp what happened inside those walls for four and a half decades.

Celebrity homes carry weight that goes far beyond square footage. Sometimes families hold on for decades, sometimes they let go quietly.

Dolly Parton’s West Hollywood home is now available for rent at $12,000 a month — a different path, but the same question underneath: what do you do with a space that meant something to someone the world remembers?

And sometimes the story gets even more complicated, like Kelly Clarkson’s late ex-husband listing the Montana ranch he bought for $1.8M after their divorce, now asking $2.9M. Behind every big listing, there is always a bigger story than the price.

Key Takeaways

• Jim and Kate Lehrer bought 3556 Macomb St NW in Cleveland Park in 1979 for $395,000
• The home is now listed for $5 million, the first time it has hit the market in over 47 years
• Listed with Michael Moore of Compass
• Built in the early 1900s, double lot, roughly 6,700 sq ft across four levels
• 5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, library, study, sunroom, 50-foot pool, 2-car garage
• Almost every room has a view of the Washington National Cathedral
• Jim Lehrer died peacefully in his sleep at this home on January 23, 2020, at age 85
• Kate inherited the home, moved it into a family trust, and is now downsizing
• The buyer’s identity has not been disclosed

What do you think should happen to homes like this once they sell? Should the new owner even know the full history of who lived there, or does a home just become whatever they make of it? Drop your take in the comments. Genuinely curious what people think on this one.

Wrapping Up

Jim Lehrer was not a flashy journalist. He was steady, fair, and deeply serious about what journalism was supposed to do for a democracy. He lived that out from a quiet house in Cleveland Park for 47 years.

Now the house is someone else’s to make something of.

If this kind of story is your thing, Build Like New covers celebrity real estate, legacy listings, and the human side of big transactions on the regular. Worth bookmarking if you want more than just the headline.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. All details are based on publicly available reports at the time of publication.