The Congressional Club is a distinctive Beaux-Arts, Classical Revival style building with a prominent domed rotunda at the corner of 16th Street, U Street, and New Hampshire Avenue NW. Designed by architect George Oakley Totten, Jr. (1866-1939), the 1914 building exemplifies the vision of Mary Foote Henderson, a club member and forceful advocate for the development of Sixteenth Street according to the principles of the City Beautiful Movement.

The club provides a politically neutral meeting space for a distinctive and selective group of women: the wives and daughters of United States Congressmen, Senators, and Cabinet members. During the Wilson Administration, the club was the only non-governmental organization asked to serve as an official extension of the White House in hosting important diplomatic and social events.

Additionally, during World War I The Congressional Club made nationally significant wartime contributions, serving as a nexus between Washington, DC, and local communities across the country in organizing state-side activities. Today, the Congressional Club remains in operation and annually hosts a luncheon honoring the First Lady of the United States.

DC Inventory: July 28, 2011

National Register: October 6, 2011

Within Sixteenth Street Historic District

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The Warder-Totten House is the only structure designed by the firm of Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1866) remaining in DC. Commissioned in 1885 by American businessman Benjamin Warder (1824-1894) at 1509 K Street NW, the building was razed in 1923 to erect an office building. However, the Richardsonian Romanesque style house was reconstructed piece by piece at its present site in 1925 by architect George Oakley Totten Jr. (1866-1939). He converted the building into an apartment house.

Although the massing, heaviness, and fenestration are very Richardsonian in character, the detailing shows the influence of 16th century French and Byzantine motifs. Unlike many Richardsonian structures which are of rough granite, the Warder-Totten House is of smooth sandstone.

Eventually, the building housed the National Lutheran Council and the Antioch College of Law until 1986. The house was left vacant for years and placed on DC Preservation’s League’s “Most Endangered Places” list in 1996. Renovated in 2002, the Warder Mansion is now an apartment complex with 38-single and two-bedroom apartments.

DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)

National Register: April 14, 1972

Within Meridian Hill Historic District

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Designed by George Oakley Totten Jr. and constructed in 1912 as the University Club, this building is now more closely associated with the legendary union leader John L. Lewis (1880-1969). A self-made man, Lewis was president of the United Mine Workers of America for more than forty years. In 1936, in the midst of the Great Depression, his purchase of this elegant building from a failing club not only provided a base of operations for lobbying government officials, but also validated the strength of the union in its war of class struggle. Lewis expunged the inscribed university names and shields from the facades, and added a top floor pavilion housing a heavy-timbered assembly room for union officers. The building recalls not only the influence of the elite gentlemen’s clubs that were once significant in Washington’s social life, but also the achievements of the United Mine Workers of America, which reshaped its appearance and occupied it for more than a half century. It forms part of the monumental streetscape around McPherson Square, and typifies the efforts of private organizations to embellish the national capital. The cornerstone was laid by President William H. Taft.

DC Inventory: April 22, 1999

National Register: September 13, 2000

National Historic Landmark: April 5, 2005

Within Financial Historic District

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The Inter-American Defense Board headquarters, located at 2600 16th Street NW, is a monumental Venetian Gothic Revival style building constructed in 1905 as part of socialite and developer Mary Foote Henderson’s (1841-1931) plan to create a grand entrance into the nation’s capital along 16th Street, which terminates at Lafayette Square and the White House. Constructed to the plans of noted local architect George Oakley Totten Jr. (1866-1939), it stands as one of DC’s most interesting and elegant residential structures.

When Delia Field (Mrs. Marshall Field) became the owner of the house between 1912 and 1914, she made numerous and expensive alterations, all within a period of seven years. At some point, the mansion was painted pink, earning the moniker “Pink Palace.” However, according to the Inter-American Defense Board who has owned the building since 1945, beige was the original paint color. The residence was later painted pink and, at one point, blue. Today, the “Pink Palace” is beige once again.

DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)

National Register: August 5, 1991

Within Meridan Hill Historic District

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Like Meridian Hall and several other mansions in the Meridian Hill Historic District, this building was part of Mary Foote Henderson's plan to beautify the area. She commissioned renowned architect George Oakley Totten, Jr. to design this building, which was constructed in 1927. Although she intended the building to serve as an embassy, Mrs. Henderson struggled to find an occupant for the property.

Later in the 40s, the house was sold to the American Legion and then to the Hungarian People's Republic, who began to use the property as an embassy as Mrs. Henderson had planned. Private ownership was reinstated in the 1970s, however, and the historic house now serves as the Josephine Butler Parks Center, an office for Washington Parks and People.

DC Inventory: December 16, 1987

National Register: March 16, 1988

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This former embassy is among the finest of nearly a dozen Meridian Hill mansions built by Mary Foote Henderson (1841-1931), in collaboration with her favorite architect, George Oakley Totten Jr. (1866-1939). Built in 1907, the project was her first successful enticement of a foreign mission to Sixteenth Street, in keeping with her great ambition to create an “Avenue of Presidents” lined with lavish embassies and memorials. The building is a superb example of Beaux Arts residential architecture, ranking among Totten’s finest work. The embassy was planned and built under French ambassador Jean Jules Jusserand, who served from 1902 to 1925 as one of the most influential and admired foreign diplomats ever assigned to the DC corps. The Old French Embassy was the site of critical political conferences during and after World War I, and served as Jusserand’s residence until his retirement. When he retired, the estate was turned back over to Henderson as the embassy planned to move their offices in the following decade. Following Henderson’s death, the Old French Embassy became a boarding house/hotel, with a church renting out some of the space. Eventually, the newly formed government of Ghana headquartered their embassy in the building, before moving to a newer building in 1990s. Today, the Council for Professional Recognition occupies the building, keeping the building properly preserved.

DC Inventory: August 28, 1997

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Meridian Hall, like several other mansions in the Meridian Hill Historic District, was commissioned by Mary Foote Henderson, who was the guiding force behind the development of the area as an enclave of embassies and mansions. She advocated for the area to feature statues of Presidents and even offered some of her property to be used as the Vice Presidential residence. Though these offers were declined, Mrs. Henderson's influence is visible throughout the neighborhood, particularly in the large mansions like Meridian Hall. Meridian Hall did briefly serve as an Embassy as intended but has also served as a school, boarding house, and law firm offices.

Henderson commissioned the work of all of her mansions to one of the city's leading Beaux Arts architects, George Oakley Totten, Jr. Totten designed Meridian Hall, and it was built in 1923. It is a Tudor Revival mansion with a facade evocative of an English manor house. The interior has a grand central staircase, salons, a ballroom, and a dining hall ornamented in Tudor classical style.

DC Inventory: December 19, 1990

National Register: January 28, 1991

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Built in 1907 for A. Clifford and Alice Pike Barney by George Oakley Totten, this house is most notable as the home of Charles Evans Hughes—a statesman and juror of the highest order, a leader in the Progressive movement, and the holder of a succession of important offices, from the administration of William Howard Taft to the New Deal. When first appointed in 1910 to the Supreme Court, of which he later became Chief Justice, Hughes took his place alongside Oliver Wendell Holmes as one of the conservative body's two distinguished dissidents, exercising a powerful voice in progressive reform and as an early champion of civil rights and racial equality.

Although a native of New York, Hughes made Washington his permanent home. He and Mrs. Hughes purchased the commodious R Street residence, next door to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Francis Adams, in 1930, when he returned to the city as Chief Justice. For the rest of their lives, longer than they had lived anywhere else, the Hughes resided here, maintaining the order and efficiency that had always characterized their daily existence. As at his earlier Washington home, Hughes maintained a study on the first floor. "From these modest quarters," writes Hughes' biographer Marlo Pusey, "the Supreme Court was to be directed for eleven years."

Now occupied by the Ambassador of Burma, the dwelling is outwardly unchanged.

DC Inventory: June 19, 1973 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)

National Register and National Historic Landmark: November 28, 1972

Within Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District

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In 1928, Embassy Building No. 10 was designed by architect George Oakley Totten Jr. (1866-1939), which was built in the following years. The building was designed to incorporate both public and private domestic activities, as the building is one of many associated with Mary Foote Henderson (1841-1931), who commissioned Totten to construct many embassy buildings in order to establish Sixteenth Street as a fashionable and politically important area. The building reflects the tail end of the development activity along Sixteenth Street that created a luxurious ambiance in the vicinity of Meridian Hill Park and Mt. Pleasant at the turn of the century. Embassy Building No. 10 is highly typical of Totten’s work, which has been characterized by a willingness to employ numerous styles and rich ornamentation. The façade of the building serves as a catalogue of features associated with the Renaissance Revival style. Upon Henderson’s passing, the building stood vacant for some years. Since 1942, Embassy Building No. 10 has served as DC’s Department of Parks and Recreation headquarters. DC Inventory: October 15, 1986

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