Cleveland Abbe House
| Cleveland Abbe House | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| National Register of Historic Places | |||
| National Historic Landmark | |||
 Front facade of the Cleveland Abbe House |
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| location | Washington, DC | ||
| Coordinates | 38 ° 54 '5.4 " N , 77 ° 2' 44.5" W | ||
| Built | 1806-08 | ||
| Architectural style | Federal style | ||
| NRHP number | 69000289 | ||
| Data | |||
| The NRHP added | March 24, 1969 | ||
| Declared as an NHL | May 15, 1975 | ||
Cleveland Abbe House , also known as the Arts Club of Washington , is a historic building in Washington, DC It is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks .
history
In 1806 , the wealthy businessman Timothy Caldwell from Philadelphia decided to build a prestigious house in the capital. Two years later the federal style building was completed. In 1811, then-US Secretary of State and later President James Monroe and his wife rented the property and furnished it with furniture from Paris, where Monroe was envoy in the 1790s and later negotiated the Louisiana Purchase . After the White House was largely destroyed during the British-American War in 1814 , Cleveland Abbe House became a social center in the capital. Dolley Madison , wife of the incumbent president, was a regular guest here. Monroe also resided here during the first six months of his own presidency from March to September 1817 until the restoration of the White House. The first balls of his term took place on the second floor of Cleveland Abbe House. After the Monroes moved out, the house became the seat of the UK embassy , for which Stratford Canning and Charles Richard Vaughan , among others, worked here. Thereafter, Charles Francis Adams, Sr. , son of former US President John Quincy Adams , lived in Cleveland Abbe House.
In 1877, the astronomer and meteorologist Cleveland Abbe , who is believed to be the founder of the National Weather Service , acquired the property. He lived here until 1909. It is primarily his connection to the house, not Monroe's, that led to its recognition as a National Historic Landmark. In May 1916, local artists founded the Arts Club of Washington and bought the property from the Abbe family to use it as a clubhouse. This club, first chaired by the sculptor Henry Kirke Bush-Brown , was the first of its kind in the city to allow women to become members. Well-known visitors to the club, which enjoyed prominent popularity early on, included Claudette Colbert , F. Scott Fitzgerald and Tallulah Bankhead . The property is still owned by the Arts Club of Washington to this day.
On March 24, 1969, Cleveland Abbe House was added to the National Register of Historic Places. On May 15, 1975, it was declared a National Historic Landmark.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc43.htm . Retrieved December 9, 2012
- ↑ a b http://www.artsclubofwashington.org/history/ . Retrieved December 9, 2012
- ↑ Entry in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed April 20, 2016
- ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: District of Columbia. National Park Service , accessed July 19, 2019.