Has Bret Baier's mansion been bought by Trump's incoming Commerce Secretary? Photograph by Studio Trejo.The Trump bump has begun, at least when it comes to the area real-estate market. Howard Lutnick, the Cantor Fitzgerald CEO and President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, has purchased the Foxhall house formerly owned by Fox News anchor Bret Baier and his wife, Amy, for $25 million, in an all-cash transaction. Which makes it the most expensive residential sale in DC history, topping the $23 million Jeff Bezos paid for the former Textile Museum in Kalorama. The listing agent for the Foxhall house, Daniel Heider of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, told Washingtonian that he couldn’t comment on the purchase. As members of the new administration start descending on DC, the ultra-luxury real estate market is poised for a surge in activity. Trump’s cabinet picks have a total new worth in excess of $14 billion—a number that rises to $450 billion if you include government efficiency co-czar Elon Musk and other advisers who will not require Senate confirmation. The Lutnick sale foreshadows more high-end contracts to come. The Baiers listed their Foxhall home initially in October 2023 for $31.9 million. Inspired by the Château du Grand-Lucé in the Loire Valley south of Paris, the 16,250-square-foot house boasts five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, two half-baths, as well as a floor-to-ceiling temperature-controlled wine display, a cinema, spa, and fitness facilities, and outside, a 56-foot heated pool and chipping and putting green complete with sand traps. The Baiers purchased the property for $5.4 million in 2018 and spent about $25 million building the house. The project team included the developer Michael Banks, the architect David Jones, interior designer Thomas Pheasant, and landscape architect Richard Arentz. During the pandemic, the Baiers made frequent trips to Florida and decided to move there full-time with their two teenage sons, as Bret told The Wall Street Journal. The Baiers purchased a $37 million Palm Beach mansion last year. Since the election, a handful of $10 million-plus properties in the region have gone under contract or sold. In Kalorama alone, at least nine $3 million-plus listings are pending or have been snatched up, including a $14.5 million house built in 1924 by Adolf Miller, a former board member of the Federal Reserve. Earlier this week, Heider discussed the state of the luxury market with Washingtonian. “I’m currently in the midst of selling more real estate than I’ve ever sold in a short period in my career,” he said. “It’s not a Trump bump. It’s a Trump surge.” Photograph by Mid-Atlantic Drones. Photograph by Studio Trejo. Photograph by Studio Trejo. Photograph by Studio Trejo. Photograph by Studio Trejo. Photograph by Studio Trejo. Photograph by Studio Trejo. Photograph by Studio Trejo. Photograph by Studio Trejo. Photograph by Studio Trejo. Photograph by Studio Trejo. The post Bret Baier’s DC House Sells for Record $25 Million—in Cash first appeared on Washingtonian.