Campaign Stop

Where Adrian Fenty Takes a Break From His Run for Mayor

Adrian Fenty springs out of an SUV at his Crestwood home clutching a quart of vanilla soy milk and talking on one of his two BlackBerrys. The Ward 4 D.C. Council member leads a reporter up the front walk past the lawn, which looks lush even on this hot July afternoon. The front door of the renovated 1958 split-level is flanked by two prized Fenty collections: stones gathered during family hikes on one side, tadpoles in murky jars of water on the other.

But what's Daddy doing home in the middle of a weekday afternoon?

Most days now, Fenty, 35, a front-runner in the race for the D.C. Democratic mayoral nomination, rises at dawn to jog and works late canvassing neighborhoods for votes. He's squeezing in an hour-long pit stop today to give a tour of his digs. But first, the Fentys' 6-year-old twins, Matthew and Andrew, have an important constituent question: Are their tadpoles dead or alive?

While the candidate tries to spin that one, his wife, Michelle Cross Fenty, walks us through the first floor of the house they have lived in since 1997, with its sunken living room, library, dining room and double-island kitchen, all in shades of honey, putty and taupe.

It is she who is responsible for the billowing gold and bronze silk taffeta draperies, the toffee-colored textured walls and the soft Tibetan rugs. It is he who keeps the lawn groomed for Fenty family football and basketball games and cookouts in the back yard, with its generous slate patio and granite-topped barbecue area.

"Interior design is my hobby," says Michelle, 37, a reader of design magazines and a fan of HGTV. She sought advice from decorators on her rooms, predominantly done in mocha, tans and sueded brown.

The Fentys remodeled in phases, first redoing the pine-paneled basement room. Then they opened up the rooms on the first floor. They raised the roof to add four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Three years ago, they redid the kitchen with two granite islands and stainless appliances, using plans from Home Depot.

Since Michelle's father was in the construction business, she felt comfortable acting as general contractor on the various stages. She and her dad painted or faux-finished all the rooms. She keeps files of interiors and furniture pieces she likes, and budgets for one or two major pieces a year, preferably during summer sales.

Michelle Fenty supervised the house's renovation and redesign. The library is where she and Adrian read with their sons.(Jahi Chikwendiu - The Washington Post)

"I'm really a home person, a homebody. I have my exercise equipment here so I can work out at home," says Michelle, an attorney with the Perkins Coie law firm in the District. She enjoys poring over fabric swatches and arranging flowers, and thinks painting a room is "relaxing."

Adrian Fenty, meanwhile, likes action.

"The big three for me are work, family and working out," he says. He and his boys like to swim and play football and basketball together. And sometimes more Fentys show up at the house for a Fenty Family Challenge.

Growing up in a Washington family focused on fitness -- his parents own the specialty running shoe shop Fleet Feet Sports in Adams Morgan -- he's more focused on the outside than the inside of the house.

The candidate says he actually doesn't mind mowing the lawn. "It's a good release. The only other time I can do that is when I exercise or work out." He usually mows Sundays after he cooks the plantains they have with breakfast. He runs for 5 to 7 miles about every other morning. "When I go to run at 6 a.m., I start the lawn sprinkler and then I turn it off when I get back."

Fenty grew up in a Mount Pleasant rowhouse. His memories of childhood focus more on pickup basketball games than decor. "Remember, my parents were former hippies," says Fenty. "My dad was an artist, and we had various stages of his pieces all over the house. He was really into fitness and his hobby was running marathons. His bikes and running shoes were all over." Recollections center on playing hard outside until dusk and then gathering inside for his mom's dinners.

When she was 18, Michelle moved to New York from London with her parents, who are originally from Jamaica. "My household growing up was the opposite of Adrian's," she says. "There were three girls and we grew up in a flat. My mom taught me how to balance home, family and work."

The two met at Howard University Law School. They married in 1997 and bought this house the same year, choosing it because it was close to Rock Creek Park. "I fell in love with the neighborhood, the beautiful trees, the neighborly feeling and the landscaped lawns," says Michelle. "It felt like a good place to start a family." They bought the house from its original owners, inheriting the 1950s kitchen and bathrooms.

When Michelle learned she was pregnant with twins in 1999, it was time to come up with a plan to make the house work better for two kids and two working parents. Because the main floor of the house had only two bedrooms, they decided to raise the roof to add more sleeping space. The project was in full swing when Matthew and Andrew were born in March 2000, and the Fenty family lived with both sets of grandparents for a few months until it was completed. In 2003, they remodeled the kitchen and added a butler's pantry with a wine fridge and a seating area with two small sofas and a TV. Michelle's father helped with the installation of the glazed maple cabinets, tiling and painting. "This is the place you're most likely to find us," she says.

In planning the rooms, Michelle wanted the house to have a lot of seating areas and places to hang out. The library is where the parents read with the boys, in a setting of framed photos and wood carvings and paintings from family trips. The lower level overlooks the elegant new patio and two-story garage finished last year. Michelle and her mother planted the shrubs around the patio, which includes an outdoor kitchen with a gas grill, a sink and an under-counter refrigerator.

Michelle is challenged to keep footballs and backpacks in their place, as she isn't a fan of clutter. "Adrian and I aren't collectors," she says. "But our little boys are turning out to be -- between the rocks and shells and their trophy collections."