On a "wing and a prayer," we came to be in February of 1999. The four of us were surfing the waves at our favorite beach and conjecturing about the future of residential real estate in America, as one of the great real estate, hotel, and car franchise giants — then Cendant, now Realogy — had just gobbled up the premier, privately-owned "carriage-trade" firm in Washington D.C., Pardoe Real Estate. Sam Pardoe, who had founded Pardoe Real Estate back in the 1970s, had been a close friend, and during his time, as well as with those who succeeded him, his firm prospered and also became the Sotheby's International Realty affiliate for the Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland region.
