Gorgeous room--blue is my favorite color too. I noticed in her English and American homes she started to favour neutrals and ivory.....the size of their UK living room really surprised me--very small. 2 loveseats facing each other and a few small tables with family photos. Quite modest but tasteful. It was on a Bryant Gumbel program from the year before KH died. Gumbel said "you are young, very much in love with many years ahead of you...." QN immediately knocked wood on the table for luck. She might have suspected bad news then.
Queen Noor has sold the house at 10221 River Road, Potomac, MD, to Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. Details on his new house are reported by the Washingtoninan Magazine:
Cost: 10 million
Acreage: 14
Total space: 30,000 square feet
Master bedroom suite: 3,000 square feet
Former owner: Queen Noor
Number of car bays: 12
Number of seats in movie theater: 18 (plus popcorn stand)
Size of "fun room" - 1,000 square feet
Clothes storage area - 600 square feet
Number of closets: 17 including 120 square foot cedar closet
Seats at bar: 14
Number of TVs in bar area: one 65 inch and 4 41 inch
Since sale, Mr. Snyder has been in trouble with village of Potomac for cutting down a vast number of trees on the property. The village sent in environmental officials and Mr. Snyder has had to pay fines and commit to a tree planting project in an effort to restore some of the lost vegetation.
Crest Lane has traditionally been McLean’s most prestigious street in large part because Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis grew up in the same Chain Bridge Road neighborhood at Merrywood, the house where JFK wrote Profiles in Courage. But what makes 1159 Crest Lane so special that the seller is asking $11.5 million? Granted the unique elliptical house set on 2.4 acres commands beautiful views of the river from every room. And the fact that it is rumored to have been rented by Jordan’s Queen Noor also accounts for some of the property ’s perceived value. Built in 1999, the multi-million dollar home is described as having “understated elegance,” not unlike Noor herself. The seller, listed as Margaret Skallrup, Trustee, originally placed the home on the market with an asking price of $15 million. Consequently, interested buyers may hold out some hope that the price will fall yet again.
It is Noor's for now but, unless she buys it, she will be moving once the seller receives her asking price. I suspect--given the fact Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland are home to her mother and sister, as well as a convenient hub from where to do business with the causes she is associated with--her next home will likely be in same area. She obviously likes living on the Potomac River but just finished reading an article where she says she is downsizing as she no longer has the need for many servants or rooms for entertaining state visit guests. Will try to post as it is quite good and revealing. Mary Shawn
River Road House Information
Redskins’ owner, Daniel Snyder, has reportedly spent $10 million for yet another major purchase in the Washington metropolitan area. This time he bought the much-publicized Potomac waterfront estate which Jordan’s Queen Noor and the late King Hussein had owned. The twelve-acre property, which was listed with W. C. & A. N. Miller, contains two large homes, one of which the royal couple used to house their staff of servants and aides when visiting the Washington area, where Noor (the former Lisa Halaby) was raised. Reportedly, Snyder had been scouting properties in Potomac, for the better part of two years and considered “Chateau Peyrenne de Moras” at 9121 River Road with a pool, five-car garage, and on a little less than five acres before deeming the neighborhood too noisy. With his recent choice, he should have more solitude, and, given that the property boasts an electric fence and pop-up barricades, plenty of security as well. (Couldn't remember his name....but there are plenty who are fighting--albeit a little too late his taking so many lovely trees down).
Now this maybe a rather strange question. I am trying to imagine the area where this house on the Potomac River may be situated. As I've never been to the area I am, I guess getting a helping hand from the movies that I've seen where this location may have been used. The recent remake of The Manchurian Candidate with Meryl Streep and Denzel Washington had a scene showing the backyard of Meryl Streep's character (she plays the wife of a Senator and her son is the running candidate for Vice President). The outside scene has a river at the end. It looks really beautiful and I presume it was shot in a prestigious area. It's a long shot I know but could this be the same area???
This may give you some idea, courtesy of Yahoo. A is where River Road is and B is Crest Lane area. My understanding is that while KH was alive, they used the River Road house about 3-4 mos. total per year; now Noor is based largely at Crest Lane. Both are highly prestigious neighborhoods so it is likely the movie was shot in the River Road area right on the Potomac.
Balqis, You have a keen eye; yes, that movie had parts shot right around River Road where KH and QN's first house--the description I posted first on this thread--in Potomac! So that is the correct area! Wow. Gives me better idea of how it looks now and why they loved it at first sight. How pretty.....
Balqis, You have a keen eye; yes, that movie had parts shot right around River Road where KH and QN's first house--the description I posted first on this thread--in Potomac! So that is the correct area! Wow. Gives me better idea of how it looks now and why they loved it at first sight. How pretty.....
Thanks for bringing this one up!
Mary Shawn
That's GREAT! Thanks for getting back to me about this. While watching the movie, and that particular scene, I was struck how beautiful the area is. It has a real old world feeling to it. Glad to know now it is what I thought it might have been :)
I heard that Raghadan was used for more formal occasions, and that the King and Queen reside mainly in a more casual home in the suburbs. I don't remember where I heard that though.
The Palace was named after an Ummayad hunting lodge south of Amman. Located in the Jordan Valley near the town of southern Shuna and the Dead Sea, King Abdullah used to live and work here during the winter months. It was built in 1929 and was renovated in 1942, after which the Palace became a guest house for Prince Abdel Ilah, the Regent of Iraq.
King Hussein continued to use it as a working farm and country home until the June 1967 war. On March 21, 1968, it was damaged by the Israeli army during the Battle of Karama. Today, it is still a working farm. The Royal Palaces
Personally I like Basman Palace and Al-Hashmiya Palace best.
"The two live in an apartment in the suburbs of Amman, a wedding present from the late king which they prefer to any of the eight royal palaces scattered around the city, and are the epitome of normality – or as normal as you can be when you are royalty. Rania still puts their children to bed herself, and her husband is not above whipping up the occasional evening meal." http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/kingabdullah/
so it seems Rania and Abdullah don't live in a palace, as somebody stated before
Qasr Al-Mushatta:
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