Virginia’s Most Expensive Home for Sale Is an Extraordinary Potomac River Estate on George Washington’s Former Mount Vernon Land, Asking $49.9 Million

River View Estate spans 16.5 acres and roughly 400 feet of Potomac River frontage near Washington, D.C., pairing a 16,000-square-foot residence with a guest house, private dock and a remarkable connection to American history.

The most expensive home currently for sale in Virginia isn’t a centuries-old mansion. It is a modern estate built on historically significant land.

River View Estate, a 16.5-acre waterfront compound at 7979 E Boulevard Drive in Alexandria, is asking $49.9 million. Completed in 2018, the roughly 16,000-square-foot residence stands on land that the listing identifies as part of George Washington’s original Mount Vernon estate—and as the largest privately owned remaining portion of that land. Current listing records confirm the $49.9 million asking price, eight bedrooms, 15 bathrooms and 16.5-acre site.

That combination—newer construction, roughly 400 feet of Potomac frontage, substantial acreage and a connection to one of America’s best-known historic properties—puts an unusual proposition behind Virginia’s highest residential asking price.

And despite the nearly $50 million price tag, River View isn’t being offered at a dramatic premium to its most recent transaction. The estate sold for $48 million in October 2021 after being marketed for $60 million. It later returned with another $60 million asking price before coming back to market this year for $49.9 million.

Listing agent Michael Sobhi of Real Broker describes the property as bringing together “complete privacy, immediate access to Washington’s centers of power, and true historical significance.”

At River View, those three attributes aren’t merely marketing themes. They shape almost every aspect of the estate.

Historic Land, but a Modern House

The distinction between the history of the land and the age of the residence is important.

River View is not an 18th-century Washington mansion preserved in place. The existing house was completed in 2018. Its historical significance instead comes from the 16.5 acres beneath and around it, which the listing says formed part of George Washington’s original Mount Vernon estate.

That makes the property an unusual hybrid: historically connected land supporting a contemporary luxury compound.

Two separate gates control access. Beyond them, a long, stone-lined driveway passes established groves of trees, extensive hardscaping and landscape lighting before reaching the main residence.

The privacy created by that acreage is notable because the estate remains within the Washington metropolitan area. The listing emphasizes its proximity to the White House, U.S. Capitol and Pentagon—a combination of seclusion and access that becomes increasingly difficult to assemble as properties approach the capital.

Then the land opens toward the Potomac.

Approximately 400 feet of waterfront forms the estate’s eastern edge, according to the listing. Multiple terraces, balconies, patios and decks orient the house toward the river, with nearly every room designed to have its own connection to an outdoor terrace.

For all the scale of the residence, the site remains the harder element to reproduce.

A 16,000-Square-Foot House Designed Around the River

The architecture repeatedly turns toward the Potomac.

Custom radius windows and doors frame the water while bringing natural light into the house. Rather than concentrating the view in a single great room, the design uses the river as a recurring backdrop across multiple levels.

Arrival inside begins with a wood-paneled reception room, followed by a circular room overlooking both the gardens and the Potomac.

Those rooms establish the home’s formal character, but the floor plan was also designed to handle events on a scale beyond ordinary residential entertaining. The listing says the estate can accommodate gatherings numbering in the hundreds while maintaining the atmosphere of a private residence.

The kitchen arrangement illustrates that dual purpose.

A commercial-grade chef’s kitchen can support major events, while a separate family kitchen handles everyday living. An elevator connects all four levels of the residence.

It is a recurring theme at River View: private-house functions have often been supplemented by infrastructure more commonly associated with a hospitality property.

One Level Is Built Almost Entirely for Entertaining

Instead of distributing recreational rooms randomly throughout the house, River View concentrates many of them on a dedicated entertaining level.

A full bar is surrounded by handcrafted stonework and accompanied by a billiards area. Radius doors open the space directly toward the Potomac.

There is also a temperature-controlled wine cellar and a private theater seating 15.

The theater has been upgraded with a 15-by-9-foot Stewart screen, DCI-compliant projection equipment and Dolby Atmos audio, according to the listing.

At this price point, the presence of a home theater isn’t particularly surprising. Its technical specification is more revealing.

River View’s amenities weren’t conceived merely as rooms that could be checked off a luxury-home inventory. Several have been designed to function at a considerably higher level.

The same applies to the wellness facilities.

A Private Spa Overlooks the Potomac

A large fitness center uses radius windows to maintain the home’s connection to the river.

Alongside it, a dedicated spa contains an indoor resistance pool, steam room, infrared sauna and additional spa facilities.

It would have been easy to place those functions deep within the house, where natural light and views mattered less. Instead, even the fitness spaces participate in the property’s waterfront architecture.

That relationship between highly engineered interiors and the natural landscape is one of River View’s more interesting contrasts.

An indoor resistance pool provides a controlled environment for exercise. Beyond the windows lies the Potomac.

The private dock, meanwhile, turns that water from scenery into infrastructure.

The Potomac Is More Than the View

Waterfront mansions frequently use their docks primarily for recreation.

At River View, the Potomac can also function as another route into the Washington region.

The estate’s private dock provides navigable river access to waterfront destinations in Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia, according to the listing.

That creates an unusual transportation equation.

There is conventional road access to the capital. Multiple regional airports support private aviation. And at the bottom of the property, there is the river.

For a residence marketed partly around proximity to Washington’s centers of government and influence, the dock therefore has significance beyond boating.

It makes the waterfront functional.

Readers can explore the complete photography, current availability and additional property details through the Zillow listing for River View Estate.

A Guest House, Carriage House and Colonial Garden Expand the Compound

The 16,000-square-foot main residence represents only part of River View’s built environment.

A separate guest house adds approximately 2,600 square feet, with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. A carriage house provides four garage bays as well as a studio apartment.

Together, the structures give the estate more flexibility than a single large residence could provide.

Long-term guests can occupy a genuinely separate house. Staff or additional visitors can use the studio. Vehicle storage is distributed away from the primary living spaces.

The grounds also contain a recreated English colonial boxwood garden based on original estate plans, according to the listing.

That may be one of the more thoughtful ways the contemporary property acknowledges its historical setting.

Rather than making a house built in 2018 pretend to be an 18th-century residence, the landscape provides a point of connection with the site’s past.

The result is a property where historical provenance and modern construction remain distinct rather than competing with one another.

Behind the Estate Is Infrastructure Built for Its Scale

Some of River View’s most consequential features are largely invisible.

A centralized smart-estate system manages security, utilities, information and entertainment across the property.

Geothermal heating serves the residence, while advanced well-water systems support the estate. Backup power comes from 150-kilowatt generators designed to power the entire property, according to the listing.

At 16.5 acres, with several buildings, two gates, extensive exterior lighting, entertainment technology and significant mechanical systems, conventional smart-home automation would address only part of the operational challenge.

River View needs to function as an estate rather than simply as a large house.

That distinction matters at the highest end of the market, where buyers aren’t only purchasing architecture. They are inheriting an unusually complex private property that has to operate reliably.

The engineering behind that experience may not photograph as dramatically as the Potomac.

It is nevertheless part of what separates a compound of this scale from a conventional luxury residence.

A $48 Million Sale Provides an Unusually Relevant Benchmark

River View’s price history is particularly useful because it contains a recent completed transaction for the existing estate.

The property was offered for $60 million in October 2020 and again in March 2021 before selling for $48 million on Oct. 29, 2021. It was subsequently marketed again at $60 million before that listing was removed in March 2026. The current offering arrived in May at $49.9 million, or approximately $3,119 per square foot.

That means the current asking price is $10.1 million—or about 16.8%—below the previous $60 million ask.

More significantly, $49.9 million is only $1.9 million above the estate’s $48 million sale price in 2021, a difference of roughly 4%.

Neither comparison should be confused with a measure of market appreciation. One compares asking prices; the other compares today’s asking price with a completed transaction nearly five years ago.

But the $48 million sale is still a meaningful reference point because, unlike the much older transactions in the property’s history, it involved the current estate.

The supplied history also shows a $9.084 million transaction in 2014. That figure isn’t an appropriate starting point for calculating appreciation of today’s house because the existing residence wasn’t completed until 2018.

There is also a discrepancy among third-party databases regarding the 2014 transaction: one current property-history source reports an $18.6 million sale while other records cited in the supplied listing history show $9.084 million. Given that inconsistency—and because both figures predate construction of the present house—the 2014 transaction shouldn’t be used as a direct valuation comparison.

The 2021 sale is the cleaner benchmark.

What Does $49.9 Million Buy at the Top of Virginia’s Housing Market?

At this level, it is tempting to explain the asking price by counting amenities.

River View makes that easy.

There are eight bedrooms, a 15-seat theater, commercial-grade kitchen, wine cellar, indoor resistance pool, steam room, infrared sauna, guest house, carriage house, extensive entertaining areas and whole-estate backup power.

But most of those things can be reproduced.

Given sufficient land and money, another owner could build a sophisticated theater. A spa can be installed. A guest house can be commissioned. Technology will eventually make today’s smart-estate systems obsolete.

The difficult part to reproduce is the combination surrounding them.

Sixteen and a half acres near Washington is one component. Approximately 400 feet of Potomac frontage is another. The private dock adds functional access to the river. The property’s connection to George Washington’s original Mount Vernon estate adds provenance that new construction cannot manufacture.

And all of it exists within reach of Washington’s centers of government and power.

That is the more compelling argument behind Virginia’s highest-priced home currently on the market.

River View is an expensive house.

The land beneath it is the rarer proposition.

Property Overview

River View Estate at 7979 E Boulevard Drive in Alexandria, Virginia, is asking $49.9 million. The residence was completed in 2018 and contains approximately 16,000 square feet, with eight bedrooms and 15 bathrooms according to the current Bright MLS-fed listing. The estate occupies 16.5 acres along the Potomac River.

The property is described as occupying part of George Washington’s original Mount Vernon estate and as representing the largest privately owned remaining portion of that land. Its grounds extend along approximately 400 feet of Potomac waterfront.

The main residence includes formal reception rooms, separate commercial-grade and family kitchens, an elevator serving four levels, a dedicated entertaining floor, temperature-controlled wine cellar, 15-seat theater, fitness center and private spa.

Additional structures include an approximately 2,600-square-foot, three-bedroom guest house and a carriage house with four garage bays and a studio apartment. The property also has a private waterfront dock and a recreated English colonial boxwood garden.

River View last sold for $48 million in October 2021. Its current $49.9 million asking price follows previous marketing at $60 million.

Listing Representation

Michael Sobhi of Real Broker represents River View Estate.

Sobhi describes the property as bringing together “complete privacy, immediate access to Washington’s centers of power, and true historical significance,” with the Potomac waterfront and Mount Vernon connection forming central parts of the offering.

Michael Sobhi
Real Broker, LLC
Phone: 703-973-7555