The Highlands (Sidwell Friends School)
This Georgian-style country house, now part of Sidwell Friends School, has been home to several significant Washingtonians.
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Erected between 1817 and 1827 by the first United States Register of the Treasury, Joseph Nourse (1754-1841), The Highlands is a late-Georgian styled home. The Nourse family, who owned and lived in the house for a century, were prominent Washingtonians, counting among their friends Dolley Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and other figures of national importance. Since its construction in the early nineteenth century, the house saw significant alterations in 1840 and again in 1935.
In the twentieth century, The Highlands became the residence of President Woodrow Wilson’s personal physician, Dr. Cary T. Grayson (1878-1938), and later the home of CIA Director Allen Dulles (1893-1969).
Today, the house serves as the administrative offices of the Sidwell Friends School, where President Nixon’s daughter, President Clinton’s daughter, President Obama’s daughters, and President Joe Biden’s grandchildren attended school.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: March 16, 1972
