As one of only a few memorials dedicated to a religious leader, the Francis Asbury Memorial honors the life and legacy of someone whom many consider the “father of the American Methodist Church.” Dedicated in 1924, the statue features a bronze Asbury on horseback, designed by H. Augustus Lukeman; the pedestal with selected quotations by Asbury was designed by Evarts Tracy.
During his lifetime, the Methodist Church, originating in England, faced opposition; despite this, founder John Wesley continued to expand the church domestically and internationally. In 1771, Asbury and another preacher, Richard Wright, were selected as missionaries to travel to the American colonies to establish religious congregations. However, Asbury’s time as a missionary coincided with the American Revolution. He remained the sole Methodist missionary during the war, but had to go into hiding as he did not renounce his British citizenship during the revolution.
After the war’s end, Methodist missionaries once again traveled to the country, and in 1784, Asbury, along with preacher Thomas Coke, were elected as bishops of the American Methodist Church. When Coke returned to England a few years later, Asbury continued as the leading bishop for the congregation. He continued to preach along the Eastern United States for the rest of his life, and interestingly, never owned or rented a permanent home throughout his life in America. In addition to his religious leadership, Asbury also became an advocate for abolition, even urging George Washington to draft anti-slavery legislation.
When the Francis Asbury Memorial Association advocated for the commission of a statue in memory of the 100th anniversary of his death, their selection of Washington, DC as the eventual location was not only due to the city’s prominence as the nation’s capital, but also because of Asbury’s ties to the area. While, as previously mentioned, he did not own or rent any property, Asbury preached and visited Georgetown and the surrounding area many times. The memorial's location at the prominent intersection of 16th and Mount Pleasant streets serves as a reminder of the religion’s rich history.
DC Inventory: February 22, 2007
National Register: October 11, 2007
Within Mount Pleasant Historic District and Meridian Hill Historic District
]]>Emily MacVeagh purchased land from developer Mary Foote Henderson (1841-1931), who actively engaged in transforming Meridian Hill into an elite residential and diplomatic community. The MacVeagh House, designed by architect Nathan C. Wyeth (1870-1963) in the Beaux-Arts style and completed in 1911, was one of the first results of her plans. After MacVeagh’s death, her husband sold the property to the government of Mexico. By then, Meridian Hill was already home to a number of other embassies, including the French, Swiss, Spanish, Cuban, Polish, and Lithuanian.
The Mexican government, in a successful attempt to enhance the mansion’s splendor, added a portico to the Italian-style façade. The interior of the building has aesthetically integrated and combined different styles and shapes, reflecting the dynamics of Mexican culture. The main hall, inspired by late-fifteenth century Italian architecture, is a majestic setting for the mahogany English banister, the eighteenth century Mexican altarpiece, and a three-story mural by Roberto Cueva del Río.
The Embassy of Mexico operated from this location for the next 69 years, until its headquarters moved downtown and the mansion was converted into the Mexican Cultural Institute in 1990. Today, the building upholds its diplomatic legacy through the organization’s ongoing cultural programming aimed at showing the diversity of Mexican creative talent and building bridges of understanding through art and dialogue.
DC Inventory: December 20, 2012
National Register: February 13, 2013
]]>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
]]>Meridian Hill Park, also known today as Malcolm X Park following a 1969 speech by activist Angela Davis, is a distinguished example of landscape design. The hilly, twelve-acre park with its Beaux-Arts design elements is notable for its elaborate architectural composition within the diverse neighborhood that surrounds it. It is also notable for its concrete features by sculptor John J. Earley.
Opened in 1936, Meridian Hill Park features landscape architect Ferrucio Vitale’s designs, inspired by Italian villa landscapes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The park can be divided into two principal areas: the lower park, with water cascading into linked basins, symmetric stairways, and a large reflecting pool surrounded by a plaza; and the upper park, with an open mall, wooded areas flanking the mall, and a broad terrace overlooking the lower park. The park also contains a number of statues and memorials, including the Buchanan Memorial and statues of Joan of Arc and Dante.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: October 25, 1974
National Historic Landmark: April 19, 1994
]]>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
]]>Park Tower illustrates the significant effort expended at the beginning of the twentieth century to develop Sixteenth Street as a prestigious avenue; this was a fashionable address for congressmen, professionals, and other notables during the 1930s. Designed by architect William Harris, Park Tower exhibits many of the qualities and details associated with Art Deco, while also reflecting important changes in aesthetic philosophies. Built in 1929, the structure was one of the first major buildings to break away from the city’s predominant Beaux Arts and Colonial Revival expression styles. The five-story apartment building features an irregular plan. The exterior is a series of repetitive bays covered in golden buff-colored brick, with a rooftop loggia which rises above squared bays. The building also features limestone and patterned brick with chevron, diaper, and oak leaf motifs. DC Inventory: January 20, 1988
National Register: October 30, 1989]]>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
]]>The congregation of this local church was organized in 1906, yet the vision for the religious building expanded through a desire for a national Baptist Church. Original designs included a prominent statue of Roger Williams, Puritan minister, theologian, and pioneer of religious liberty.
Northern and Southern Baptist groups decided to unite in the building of the current structure, with a public groundbreaking in April of 1921. The church features a white limestone edifice and a massive, round corner tower, whose classic silhouette is derivative of late seventeenth-century English examples. The interior of the tower forms a circular channel in one side of the hexagonal auditorium, while the remaining portion of the structure contains the usual offices of the church. The main entrance is set in the facade fronting Sixteenth Street, and is crowned by a classic balustrade behind which the low dome of the auditorium is visible.
The church continues to operate in a local and national capacity today as an icon of Baptist religion.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
Within the Meridian Hill Historic District
]]>Built between 1921 and 1923 by John Russell Pope, Meridian House is an 18th-century French-style mansion, built for Irwin Boyle Laughlin, an American diplomat and an heir of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company fortune. With his fine collection of 18th-century French art and Asian porcelains on display, Laughlin's mansion entertained much of DC's artistic community.
The ornate Beaux Arts exterior of the house, as well as its opulent interiors, has been well-maintained, as have its well-landscaped and terraced grounds. The international diplomacy-focused nonprofit Meridian International Center has been based out of the house since the 1960s.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: May 8, 1973
]]>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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