Perry Belmont House

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Perry Belmont House
Belmont Mansion (Washington, D.C.).JPG
Perry Belmont House in 2009
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Location1618 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C.
Coordinates 38°54′44″N77°2′30″W / 38.91222°N 77.04167°W / 38.91222; -77.04167
Built1909
Architect Ernest-Paul Sanson
Architectural style Beaux-Arts
Part of Dupont Circle Historic District (ID78003056)
NRHP reference No. 73002074 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 8, 1973
Designated CPJuly 21, 1978 [2]
Designated DCIHSNovember 8, 1964

The Perry Belmont House, sometimes referred to as the International Temple of the Order of the Eastern Star is the world headquarters of the General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, one of several organizations affiliated with Freemasonry. The building is located at 1618 New Hampshire Avenue, Northwest in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The International Temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 8, 1973.

Contents

The grand stairway of the Perry Belmont House, leading to the main public rooms of the house. Perry Belmont House Grand Stairway 2020 - 1.jpg
The grand stairway of the Perry Belmont House, leading to the main public rooms of the house.

History

The building, Beaux-Arts in style, was built from 1907 to 1909 for Perry Belmont, son of August Belmont and grandson of Matthew C. Perry. The trapezoidal plot of land was purchased for $90,000 (equivalent to $3.04 million in 2024), and construction cost $1.5 million (equivalent to $52.49 million in 2024). [3] Perry Belmont served as a United States Congressman from New York, and later as the United States' ambassador to Spain. French architect Ernest-Paul Sanson designed the building, having built several chateaux in Europe; the construction architect on site was Horace Trumbauer. [4]

The house takes the form of a free-standing pavilion in the French style, with a single storey articulated with slender Ionic pilasters over a channel-rusticated basement. A balustrade with stone urns masks a discreet Mansard attic storey. In the interiors Sanson used wrought-iron fixtures from France, wood from Germany, and marble from Italy. During Belmont's lifetime, the house was used for only the winter months, when Belmont hosted lavish parties for Washington's elite.

In 1919, Edward, Prince of Wales, was a guest of the Belmonts (at President Woodrow Wilson's request); there, he conferred medals upon American soldiers whom the United Kingdom wished to honor for their service in World War I. [5] [6] [7] [8]

The Belmonts continued to use the building until 1925. Beginning in the 1920s, the Belmonts increasingly spent time away from Washington, and the house was mothballed for nearly a decade. Perry Belmont, a Freemason, sold the building to the General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star in 1935 for $100,000 (equivalent to $2.29 million in 2024), on the condition that the Right Worthy Grand Secretary would live in the building. [5]

On May 8, 1973, the Belmont House was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The building was designated a contributing property to the Dupont Circle Historic District in 1978. [2] The 2009 property value of the Belmont House was $7,475,100 (equivalent to $10.96 million in 2024). [9]

Current usage

The building serves as the headquarters for the General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. The Right Worthy Grand Secretary and his/her spouse live on the premises. Tours are arranged by appointment. Items from the Belmont era of the mansion, as well as items sent to the headquarters as gifts from chapters around the world, are on display. In the Venetian Dining Room, five ceiling paintings depict the five heroines of the Order. There are 37 oil paintings and several Tiffany vases in the house. The Japanese fourfold teakwood screen was a gift from the Emperor of Japan to Perry Belmont. [10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "District of Columbia - Inventory of Historic Sites" (PDF). District of Columbia: Office of Planning. Government of the District of Columbia. September 1, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 17, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  3. ↑ As the house was completed, Perry Belmont transferred to his brother August the Newport cottage "By-the-Sea", which he had occupied in the season for the previous eighteen years. (New York Times, "Belmont Home Transferred", October 16, 1909 on-line text).
  4. ↑ Gerard Martin Moeller, G. Martin Moeller, Jr., and Francis D. Lethbridge, AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, D.C., 2006: cat. no. L30, p. 264f; Michael C. Kathrens, Eleanor Weller and Richard C. Marchand, American Splendor: The Residential Architecture of Horace Trumbauer p. 141.
  5. 1 2 GGC International Headquarters
  6. ↑ Williams, Paul. Dupont Circle (Arcadia Publishing, 2000) pg.52,86
  7. ↑ GGC Headquarters MWGP Suite
  8. ↑ "Perry Belmont to Build; Will Have a Handsome Louis XVI Mansion in Washington". The New York Times . February 17, 1907. Retrieved June 6, 2008.
  9. ↑ "DC Citizen Atlas Real Property Reports". Government of the District of Columbia. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  10. ↑ Order of the Eastern Star Headquarters; Treasure Room
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