General Federation of Women’s Clubs Headquarters

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This house at 1734 N Street, NW is located on a quiet residential street near Dupont Circle, an area developed by wealthy Washingtonians in the 1870s as they constructed opulent living spaces. Although most of the buildings are now used as offices, these elegant Victorian mansions originally operated as individual homes.

The house at 1734 N Street, NW was built by Rear Admiral William Radford in 1875 when he retired from the U.S. Navy. Founded in 1890, the Federation moved to this building in 1922, when it became involved in conservation projects and community programs. At either side of the building entrance were offices which housed the legislative, research and distribution headquarters of the organization. Behind the offices were the kitchens, the pantry, and the housekeeper's office. The second floor had a music room and conservatory which opened out into a formal garden. There was also a white-paneled dining room, a reception room with fireplace, a library, and a sixty-foot lounge. The upper floors were equipped with sixteen bedrooms, six baths and a large sitting room which was at the disposal of visiting GFWC members.

This main building has never been altered structurally, but it has been redecorated several times during the GFWC's occupancy.

National Register: December 4, 1991
National Historic Landmark: December 4, 1991

This site is included in the Women's Suffrage in Washington DC tour as the home to one of the largest women's organizations in the nation and a prominent space of women's political activism.