Sports

McLean Welcomes Washington Capitals Star to the Neighborhood

International Hockey Player Buys $4 million McLean home.

A pair of deer grazed in the quiet backyard yesterday of the $4 million home that Washington Capitals star player Alexander Ovechkin recently purchased in McLean.

Ovechkin will be the first owner of newly built 8,000 square foot brick and stucco home with six bedrooms, six bathrooms and three fireplaces. Visitors to the two-story find a sweeping staircase to the left and look straight ahead into a homey large fireplace.

If Ovechkin has any complaints about the construction of the house he can visit his neighbor Nader Raeisinia who built it. Raeisinia lives two houses away.

Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Raeisinia said he couldn't talk about the house or the sale because he had signed a confidentiality agreement with Ovechkin.

Real estate agent Marianne Pendergast handled the sale.

Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Raeisinia has built several homes in the quiet neighborhood that is a combination of traditional suburban homes ---ramblers and split-levels--- and newer mansions. Raeisinia built the home in which he lives.

"Our neighborhood is really quiet and private---everyone respects each other's privacy," said one neighbor who was excited by the news of her new neighbor.

Is she a fan? "I'm a fan of every team (in the area) and they are the best team we have," she said.

The New York Times in a profile last year said of McLean's new neighbor, "Already Ovechkin is the most fascinating hockey player in the world."

She said she thinks that Ovechkin might have discovered the neighborhood when he and former Redskin quarterback Donovan McNabb filmed a commercial there a year ago.

The Washington Post reported "the highest-paid man in the NHL"  has lived in the brick four-bedroom near Ballston — with his parents and brother as frequent housemates — since 2005. Unclear how much of the family will move with him to McLean, The Post said.

Here's a conversation opener, if you run into our new neighbor around the neighborhood:  He was born Alexander Mikhaylovich Ovechkin in Moscow on Sept. 17, 1985, The New York Times profile reported. Yes he's 26.

His mother, Tatiana, was a gold-winning Olympic basketball player for the Soviet Union in 1976 and 1980, a distinction that gives Ovechkin tremendous pride. His Caps jersey bears her number: 8. Ovechkin’s father, Mikhail, a big Russian bear of a man who is a frequent presence in the Capitals’ dressing room, grew up in one of those two-room Soviet apartments that used to house several families at once. After a promising soccer career was cut short by a leg injury, he became a Moscow cabdriver, The  Times said.

"I hope he's happy here," said the neighbor who asked that her name not be used.

Another neighbor said, "I just want him to have a good life. . . I know the neighbors are excited."


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