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79-518: The Leiter House was a mansion that once stood at 1500 New Hampshire Avenue NW in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Completed in 1893 for wealthy businessman Levi Leiter , the palatial 55-room neoclassical residence was designed by architect Theophilus P. Chandler Jr. , whose notable works include Trinity Episcopal Church , the Stirling mansion, St. Thomas Episcopal Church , and

158-852: A bohemian feel and became popular among the gay and lesbian community . Along with The Castro in San Francisco, Hillcrest in San Diego , Greenwich Village in New York City, Boystown in Chicago , Oak Lawn in Dallas , Montrose in Houston , and West Hollywood in Los Angeles, Dupont Circle is considered a historic locale in the development of American gay identity. D.C.'s first gay bookstore, Lambda Rising , opened in 1974 and gained notoriety nationwide. In 1975,

237-635: A Fellow in 1885. He served as first Vice President from 1898 to 1899. In Chicago, he designed the Ludington Building and Manhattan Building , both built in 1891 and National Historic Landmarks . He also designed the Horticultural Building for the World's Columbian Exposition (1893) held in Chicago. Jenney is best known for designing the ten-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago. The building

316-473: A block of Dupont Circle, but the creek has since been enclosed in a sewer line. Improvements made in the 1870s by a board of public works headed by Alexander "Boss" Shepherd transformed the area into a fashionable residential neighborhood. In 1871, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the traffic circle, then called Pacific Circle, as specified in L'Enfant's plan . On February 25, 1882, Congress renamed it "Dupont Circle", and authorized

395-506: A fixture in Dupont Circle for over 30 years and includes over 100 rooms and 32 secret doors. Also overlooking the square is The Dupont Circle Hotel . Two disused semicircular trolley tunnels follow the outline of the circle; the one on the east is currently Dupont Underground, an art and performance space. In addition to its residential components, consisting primarily of high-priced apartments and condominiums, Dupont Circle

474-626: A memorial statue of Samuel Francis Du Pont , in recognition of his service as a rear admiral during the Civil War. Unveiled on December 20, 1884, the statue was sculpted by Launt Thompson , and the circle was landscaped with exotic flowers and ornamental trees. Several prominent duPont family members deemed it too insignificant to honor their ancestor, so they secured permission to move the statue to Rockford Park in Wilmington in 1917, and commissioned Henry Bacon and Daniel Chester French to design

553-544: A salesman in Springfield, Ohio , Leiter moved to Chicago in 1854 and found employment working in a dry goods store. Eleven years later he and a coworker, Marshall Field , created a business partnership with Potter Palmer . The trio opened a department store, Field, Palmer and Leiter & Co., that same year. Palmer retired two years later and the two remaining partners continued to run their successful business venture and soon became wealthy. In 1881 Leiter sold his stake in

632-463: A turn-of-the-century writer who described the district as "the Striver's section, a community of Negro aristocracy". The area, which was once considered an overlap of the Dupont Circle and Shaw neighborhoods, is today a historic district. Many of its buildings are the original Edwardian -era residences, along with several apartment and condominium buildings and a few small businesses. The neighborhood

711-524: A two-story alcove with balconies and balustrade faced Dupont Circle. After entering the house there was a large vestibule. To the right was a large marble stairway leading to the great hall, which was 75 feet (23 m) long and 28 feet (8.5 m) wide, and to the left a stairway leading to the basement. Off the great hall was the wood-paneled music room which featured a large fireplace and ceiling panels. This room faced 19th Street and measured 65 feet (20 m) long and 32 feet (9.8 m) wide. Also off

790-449: A two-story brick addition on the rear of the house that was designed by Jules Henri de Sibour . Mary continued living in the home and hosting social events until her death in 1913. Her funeral, which took place inside the house, was attended by members of society including diplomats. Upon her death, members of society not only from Washington, D.C., but also Boston , Philadelphia, and Chicago, wondered who would take her place as leader of

869-424: A venture her husband did not care about though he nevertheless supported his wife's endeavors. After early mishaps Mary eventually gained a reputation as a member of the social elites. Her parties proved to be popular among locals and these events were often full of surprises, such as when she had a large ribbon hung in the ballroom that separated what she described as the social elites from the others. In April 1895

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948-410: A victory ball held at the house. Juliette continued the tradition of holding elaborate social gatherings at the house, hosting events attended by diplomats, politicians, and other members of society. One such event included a reception for the future Edward VIII . To avoid running out of alcoholic beverages for these events during Prohibition , Joseph had $ 300,000 worth of liquors and wines stocked in

1027-474: A wedding breakfast. In 1941 Juliette chose to make her permanent home at Beverly, Massachusetts , leaving the Dupont Circle house vacant, which a local news report lamented: "For Washington society the breaking up of the Leiter menage means more than just a change of residence for the family. It's the finish of an era of lavish and elegant entertaining that none of us may ever see again." After Juliette died in 1942,

1106-446: Is centered around the traffic circle, which is divided between two counterclockwise roads. The outer road serves all the intersecting streets, while access to the inner road is limited to through traffic on Massachusetts Avenue. Connecticut Avenue passes under the circle via a tunnel; vehicles on Connecticut Avenue can access the circle via service roads that branch from Connecticut near N Street and R Street. The park within

1185-732: Is home to numerous embassies , many of which are located in historic residences. The Thomas T. Gaff House serves as the Colombian ambassador's residence, and the Walsh-McLean House is home to the Indonesian embassy. Located east of Dupont Circle on Massachusetts Avenue is the Clarence Moore House , now serving as the Embassy of Uzbekistan , and the Emily J. Wilkins House , which formerly housed

1264-1092: Is home to some of the nation's most prestigious think tanks and research institutions, including the American Enterprise Institute , the Brookings Institution , the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , the Institute for Policy Studies , the Aspen Institute , the German Marshall Fund , the Center for Global Development , the Stimson Center , the Eurasia Center , and the Peterson Institute . The renowned Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins

1343-729: Is host to the parade, and the street festival is held in Penn Quarter. Held annually since 1986, the Dupont Circle High Heel Race takes place on the Tuesday before Halloween (October 31). The race pits dozens of drag queens against each other in a sprint down 17th Street NW between R Street and Church Street, a distance of three short blocks. The event attracts thousands of spectators and scores of participants. William Le Baron Jenney William Le Baron Jenney (September 25, 1832 – June 14, 1907)

1422-531: Is located less than two blocks from the circle. Dupont Circle is also home to the Founding Church of Scientology museum and Scientology's National Affairs Office. The Phillips Collection , the nation's first museum of modern art, is located near the circle; its most famous and popular work on display is Renoir 's giant festive canvas Luncheon of the Boating Party . Additionally, the national headquarters of

1501-512: Is named for Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont . The traffic circle contains the Dupont Circle Fountain in its center. The neighborhood is known for its high concentration of embassies , many located on Embassy Row , and think tanks , many located on Think Tank Row . Dupont Circle is located in the "Old City" of Washington, D.C. , the area planned by architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant that remained largely undeveloped until after

1580-621: The Washington Times-Herald (sold to The Washington Post in 1954) and declared journalistic warfare on Franklin D. Roosevelt from 15 Dupont Circle, continuing throughout World War II to push her policies, which were echoed in the New York Daily News , run by her brother Joseph Medill Patterson , and the Chicago Tribune , run by their first cousin, Colonel Robert R. McCormick . Today's Dupont Circle includes

1659-554: The AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. Capital Pride is an annual LGBT pride festival held each June in Washington. As of 2007 , the festival is the fourth-largest LGBT pride event in the United States, with over 200,000 people in attendance. The Capital Pride parade takes place annually on Saturday during the festival and travels through the streets of the neighborhood. Dupont Circle

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1738-505: The American Civil War , when there was a large influx of new residents. Based on the original L'Enfant plan , the area occupied by the circle was intended to be rectangular in shape, similar to Farragut Square . Dupont Circle was once home to a brickyard and slaughterhouse. There also was a creek, Slash Run, that began near 15th Street NW and Columbia Road NW, ran from 16th Street near Adams Morgan , through Kalorama and within

1817-709: The Australian embassy and now is occupied by the Peruvian Chancery. Iraq operates a consular services office in the William J. Boardman House on P Street. Other landmarks, many of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, include the International Temple , Embassy Gulf Service Station , Christian Heurich Mansion (also known as Brewmaster's Castle), Whittemore House (headquarters to

1896-575: The Chicago School like Louis Sullivan , Daniel Burnham , William Holabird , and Martin Roche , performed their architectural apprenticeships on Jenney's staff. On May 8, 1867, Jenney and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Hannah Cobb, from Cleveland, Ohio, were married. They had two children named Max and Francis. Jenney was elected an Associate of the American Institute of Architects in 1872 and became

1975-676: The Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America , the nation's oldest veterans organization, the National Museum of American Jewish Military History , and the Washington, D.C. Jewish Community Center are also located in Dupont Circle. DuPont Circle roughly coincides with the following five Census tracts, which had a total population of 15,099 in 2020. The area is roughly 70% non-Hispanic (NH) White, 10% Hispanic, 9% NH Asian, 7% NH Black and 4% NH Multiracial. Note: "Circle" refers to

2054-584: The North Philadelphia station . The house was one of several mansions that were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries around the perimeter of Dupont Circle, a traffic circle and park that was considered a fashionable area at the time. Leiter had made his fortune in real estate ventures after cofounding what would later become the Marshall Field & Company department store chain. He and his wife, Mary, wanted to be involved in social circles in

2133-468: The Queen Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque revival styles. Rarer are the palatial mansions and large freestanding houses that line the broad, tree-lined diagonal avenues that intersect the circle. Many of these larger dwellings were built in the styles popular between 1895 and 1910. One such grand residence is the marble and limestone Patterson Mansion at 15 Dupont Circle. This Italianate mansion,

2212-610: The Soviet government briefly rented the house for use as diplomatic offices in the 1930s. During World War II the US government rented the house as office space for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics . It was during this time that Joseph's son, Thomas, sold the house to a local architect and real estate developer. Two years after the war, the building was demolished after being stripped of valuable building materials. It

2291-451: The Strivers' Section , a small residential area west of 16th Street roughly between Swann Street and Florida Avenue. The Strivers' Section was an enclave of upper-middle-class African Americans —often community leaders—in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The area includes a row of houses on 17th Street owned by Frederick Douglass and occupied by his son. It takes its name from

2370-512: The White House underwent renovation. The Coolidges welcomed Charles Lindbergh as a houseguest after his historic transatlantic flight . Lindbergh made several public appearances at the house, waving to roaring crowds from the second-story balcony, and befriended the Patterson Family, with whom he increasingly came to share isolationist and pro- German views. Cissy Patterson later acquired

2449-771: The Woman's National Democratic Club ), the Brigadier General George P. Scriven House (headquarters to the National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century ), and the Phillips Collection , the country's first museum of modern art . The Richard H. Townsend House located on Massachusetts Avenue now houses the Cosmos Club . Across Massachusetts Avenue, the historic Anderson House, owned by the Society of

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2528-474: The fountain that sits in Dupont Circle today. In 1920, the current double-tiered white marble fountain replaced the statue. Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon, the co-creators of the Lincoln Memorial , designed the fountain, which features carvings of three classical figures symbolizing the sea, the stars and the wind on the fountain's shaft. In 1876, the second house located directly in Dupont Circle

2607-490: The "smart set." Joseph and Juliette split their time between the Dupont Circle house and another house they had built near Langley, Virginia , for the next 20 years. In 1917 during World War I the couple lent the house to representatives of the Italian government, including Prince Ferdinando , who were escorted from Union Station to Dupont Circle by two cavalry troops. At the end of the war, British military officers attended

2686-595: The Blaine Mansion and Stewart's Castle . In February 1891 Leiter purchased a lot on Square 135 from William Walter Phelps at a cost of $ 83,276.53. The building permit, No. 2562, was issued on June 12 that same year. The Leiters selected architect Theophilus P. Chandler Jr. to design their new house. Chandler's noted works include religious buildings such as the Church of the New Jerusalem , Trinity Episcopal Church , and

2765-631: The Cincinnati, is open daily for tours. The Dumbarton Bridge , also known as the Buffalo Bridge, carries Q Street over Rock Creek Park and into Georgetown and was constructed in 1883. The Nuns of the Battlefield sculpture, which serves as a tribute to over 600 nuns who nursed soldiers of both armies during the Civil War, was erected in 1924. The Mansion on O Street a luxury boutique hotel, private club, events venue and museum has been

2844-529: The Dupont Circle traffic circle. Source: 2020 decennial Census Dupont Circle is served by the Dupont Circle station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro . There are two entrances: north of the circle at Q Street NW and south of the circle at 19th Street NW. The northern entrance is framed by a quote from Walt Whitman 's 1865 poem, "The Wound-Dresser", that was carved into the entrance in 2007 and echoes

2923-631: The Eternal Silence section of Uptown's Graceland Cemetery . In 1998, Jenney was ranked number 89 in the book 1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking the Men and Women Who Shaped the Millennium . Original notes and papers of Jenney, including "Jenney's 1884 holograph notebook containing, among other things, structural calculations for the Home Insurance Building, and his undated sketch entitled 'Key to

3002-666: The Home Insurance Building, the first skyscraper in the world, erected in 1884 at the corner of LaSalle and Monroe Streets in Chicago. Another source cites the inspiration for the steel skyscraper as coming from vernacular, Philippine architecture, where wooden framed construction gave Jenney the idea. The Home Insurance Building was the first example of a steel skeleton building, the first grid of iron columns, girders, beams, and floor joists ever constructed. He died in Los Angeles , California , on June 15, 1907. After Jenney's death, his ashes were scattered over his wife's grave, just south of

3081-510: The Jurys Washington Hotel and now The Dupont Circle Hotel , was built shortly afterwards. The three remaining mansions on or near the perimeter of Dupont Circle are the Blaine Mansion, Patterson Mansion, and Wadsworth House. Dupont Circle The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, New Hampshire Avenue  NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW. The circle

3160-492: The Lawrence Scientific school at Harvard in 1853, but transferred to École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures (École Centrale Paris) to study engineering and architecture . In Paris he discovers the writings of Viollet-le-Duc and he will become one of his followers: " the research and discoveries of Viollet le Duc surpass anything that any other author has been able to write". At École Centrale Paris , he learned

3239-547: The Leiter House. The Leiters continued hosting social gatherings at their home, cementing their status as Washington elites, with receptions attended by Treasury Secretary Lyman J. Gage , Secretary of War Elihu Root , Supreme Court Chief Justice Melville Fuller , Speaker of the House David B. Henderson , and dozens of other politicians and government officials. When Levi died in 1904 from heart disease, his estimated net worth

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3318-501: The Leiters did not mind people knowing how much they paid because it was a way to let Washingtonians know how wealthy they were. For the next decade the family lived in their rented mansion in Washington, D.C., a home in Chicago, their home in Wisconsin, and also traveled to Europe. The Leiters decided to build their own home in the city, joining the ranks of large homes on Dupont Circle like

3397-492: The Leiters hosted a breakfast for 150 guests at their home on the morning of their eldest daughter's wedding. The wedding of Mary Victoria to Englishman George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston , who would later become Viceroy of India , was held at St. John's Episcopal Church . British Ambassador Julian Pauncefote, 1st Baron Pauncefote , and First Lady Frances Cleveland , a close friend of Mary Victoria, were among those in attendance. The wedding reception, described at

3476-551: The Virginia home and securities holdings. Two years later the Soviet government rented the house to use as diplomatic office space while the family was not using the property. Two of the last major social events that took place at the house involved Nancy. The first was her formal debut in 1935 and the second was her wedding to Charles Thomas Clagett Jr in February 1941. The wedding was attend by 100 people and another 200 were invited to

3555-496: The actual White House was being repaired in 1927. In 1933, the National Park Service took over administering the circle, and added sandboxes for children, though these were removed a few years later. Connecticut Avenue was widened in the late 1920s, and increased traffic in the neighborhood caused a great deal of congestion in the circle, making it difficult for pedestrians to get around. Medians were installed in 1948, in

3634-547: The building and replace it with a hotel. The house was opened to the public in July 1947, with over 10,000 people going through the building before it was demolished the following month. Salvageable building materials were removed and sold before the Arrow Wrecking Company demolished the house and afterwards people went through the wreckage, hoping to find valuables that had been forgotten. The Dupont Plaza Hotel, later called

3713-419: The circle is maintained by the National Park Service . The central fountain designed by Daniel Chester French provides seating, and long, curved benches around the central area were installed in 1964. The park within the circle is a gathering place for those wishing to play chess on the permanent stone chessboards . Tom Murphy , a homeless championship chess player, was a resident. The park has also been

3792-408: The circle, to separate the through traffic on Massachusetts Avenue from the local traffic, and traffic signals were added. In 1949, traffic tunnels and an underground streetcar station were built under the circle by Capital Transit , the company produced by the consolidation of D.C.'s streetcar lines. The tunnels enabled trams and vehicles traveling along Connecticut Avenue to pass more quickly past

3871-415: The circle. When streetcar service ended in 1962, the entrances to the underground station were closed. The space has since been transformed and reopened as the Dupont Underground art space. The neighborhood declined after World War II and particularly after the 1968 riots , but began to enjoy a resurgence in the 1970s, fueled by urban pioneers seeking an alternative lifestyle. The neighborhood took on

3950-439: The department store business to Field for $ 6 million and focused on his real estate ventures. The department store chain would survive until 2005 as Marshall Field's , when it was purchased by Macy's, Inc. Over the next ten years Leiter's fortune tripled and his real estate ventures included the Second Leiter Building , one of the first skyscrapers built with steel frames, designed by architect William Le Baron Jenney . Leiter

4029-448: The end of the war, he had become a major, and was Engineer-in-Charge at Nashville 's Union headquarters. After the war, in 1867, Jenney moved to Chicago and began his own architectural office, which specialized in commercial buildings and urban planning . During the late 1870s, he commuted weekly to Ann Arbor, Michigan , to start and teach in the architecture program at the University of Michigan . In later years future leaders of

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4108-537: The event to occur on the same night as a dance being held by "old" Washington society. After the invitations were sent for the latter, Mary sent her own invitations. The organizers of the dance asked her to postpone the event, but she refused. Mary let those who were invited to both events know that if they attended the dance, they would no longer be welcome at her social gatherings. Almost everyone, including all invited diplomats and their families, attended Nancy's debut. One news report said "[Mary] deliberately submitted

4187-498: The following month and much like her sister's event, it took place at the Leiter House and was subdued due to her father's recent death. The last of the Leiter children to be married was Joseph (1868-1932), who had gained a reputation as a prominent local businessman. While his father was still alive, Joseph had tried to corner the wheat market but was unsuccessful. His competitors prevailed and Joseph lost $ 10 million, an amount his father paid in order to settle his son's debts. Joseph

4266-424: The great hall was the entrance to two rooms that overlooked Dupont Circle. At the end of the first floor vestibule was a stairway leading to a large landing featuring an ornate stained glass window. The entrance to the dining room was to the right of this stairway. Continuing up the stairs to the second floor led to another large hallway almost the length of the one found on the first floor. The same stairway led to

4345-410: The house cellar. When Joseph died in 1932, he left the bulk of his fortune of approximately $ 10 million to Juliette. The Dupont Circle house was given to their surviving son, Thomas. In his will Joseph stated: "I request that Thomas permit my wife, Juliette, during her life to use the house at Dupont Circle, Washington, for herself and as a common home for the children." He left their daughter, Nancy,

4424-427: The house for several years, hosting the weddings of their other daughters, including Margaret to Henry Howard, 19th Earl of Suffolk . Mary gifted the house to her son, Joseph, and daughter-in-law on their wedding day in 1908. Joseph and his wife continued the tradition of hosting social events in the house for the next few decades. The couple allowed the Italian government to use their house during World War I and

4503-456: The house was rented by the US government during World War II as office space for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics . The house was rezoned for apartment use that same year, despite objections from neighbors including the Woman's National Democratic Club , headquartered at the nearby Whittemore House . Thomas sold the house in 1944 for $ 190,000 to architect and real estate developer Alvin C. Aubinoe, who announced plans to demolish

4582-452: The latest iron construction techniques as well as the classical functionalist doctrine of Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand (1760–1834) - Professor of Architecture at the Ecole Polytechnique. He graduated in 1856, one year after his classmate, Gustave Eiffel , the designer of the Eiffel Tower. In 1861, he returned to the US to join the Union Army as an engineer in the Civil War , designing fortifications for Generals Sherman and Grant . By

4661-441: The location of political rallies, such as those supporting gay rights and those protesting the 2003 invasion of Iraq , the World Bank , and the International Monetary Fund . In 1999, Thelma Billy was arrested handing out Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless. In 2009, a tug of war was sponsored by the Washington Project for the Arts . In 2014, the city proposed to turn an 850-square-foot (79 m ) concrete sidewalk on

4740-572: The nation's capital and relocated with their children to Washington, D.C. in 1883. They spent the first decade in the city renting another large Dupont Circle house, the James G. Blaine Mansion , before moving into their finished home in 1893. During their time in the city, the Leiters entertained at their residences, hosted foreign dignitaries and members of local society, and hosted a wedding breakfast and reception for their daughter, Mary , to George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston . Following Leiter's death in 1904, his wife continued occupying

4819-425: The nearby Administration Building, Carnegie Institution of Washington . The cream-colored neoclassical house made of terracotta bricks and gray stone was three stories tall not including the basement, was 96 feet (29 m) long, 75 feet (23 m) wide, 62 feet (19 m) tall, and contained 55 rooms. The entrance with an elaborate porte-cochère faced New Hampshire Avenue and not the traffic circle. Instead

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4898-433: The nearby St. Thomas Episcopal Church (destroyed), as well as residential buildings including Stirling and the Bishop Mackay-Smith House . He was most active in Pennsylvania, where he designed the North Philadelphia station and helped found the School of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania . The house was built at an estimated cost of $ 125,000 by general contractors J.E. and A.L. Pennock, who had also built

4977-526: The only survivor of the many mansions that once ringed the circle, was built in 1901 by New York architect Stanford White for Robert Patterson , editor of the Chicago Tribune , and his wife Nellie, heiress to the Chicago Tribune fortune. Upon Mrs. Patterson's incapacitation in the early 1920s, the house passed into the hands of her daughter, Cissy Patterson , who made it a hub of Washington social life. The house served as temporary quarters for President and Mrs.  Calvin Coolidge in 1927 while

5056-410: The question of her superior popularity to a crucial test such as a society leader rarely invites and the result was entirely satisfactory." A few years after the Leiter House was completed, the Patterson Mansion and Wadsworth House (now the Sulgrave Club ) were built. When the Townsend House on Massachusetts Avenue was built nearby, news reports made note that it would be almost twice the size of

5135-620: The south side of the traffic circle into a "kinetic park". Previously occupied by bike lockers, the parklet was repaved with 100 PaveGen pavers, which generate electricity when people walk on them. Designers ZGF Architects said the project would rebuild the sidewalk and curbs and add seven granite benches, six bollard bicycle racks, and two flower beds. The pavers were expected to "generate 456.25 kilowatts of energy [ sic ] annually", according to Washington Business Journal , and power lights under each bench. The $ 300,000 project opened in November 2016. The Dupont Circle neighborhood

5214-412: The store ran the world's first gay-oriented television commercial. Gentrification accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s, and the area is now a more mainstream and trendy location with coffeehouses , restaurants, bars, fast casual food, and upscale retail stores. Since 1997, a weekly farmers market has operated on 20th Street NW. The area's rowhouses , primarily built before 1900, feature variations on

5293-403: The third floor. An elevator was later installed in 1902. The bedroom for one of the Leiter daughters was described as being Louis XIV style , featuring eight French paintings, carved woodwork, a white marble ceiling, and an elaborate fireplace. The family moved into their completed house in 1893. After their house was completed, Mary Leiter wasted no time in her attempt to enter local society,

5372-566: The time as brilliant, was also held at the Leiter House. The dowry provided by Levi for Mary Victoria was reportedly $ 3–5 million. Her daughter's new status in the British Empire helped elevate Mary even further up the Washington social ladder. Soon after the Leiter House was being described as being "better equipped for large entertainments than any other house in Washington." One particular event secured Mary's status as "Queen of Washington Society." In January 1898 Mary made plans for her daughter Nancy's formal debut and intentionally planned

5451-444: The weight of the building was reduced, thus allowing the possibility to construct even taller structures. Later, he solved the problem of fireproof construction for tall buildings by using masonry, iron, and terra cotta flooring and partitions. From 1889 to 1891, he displayed his system in the construction of the Second Leiter Building , also in Chicago. According to a popular story, one day he came home early and surprised his wife who

5530-418: The winter of 1893, joining Field and Palmer who were also spending the winter in the nation's capital. The Leiters rented the large home of politician James G. Blaine which was located in the fashionable residential area of Dupont Circle . The mansion was rented for $ 11,500 a year, an incredible sum at the time that was noted as being the most expensive rent paid for a house in the city. It's believed that

5609-474: Was $ 30 million. Later that year Nancy married British military officer Colin Campbell, whom she had met while visiting her older sister in India, at a wedding that took place inside the Leiter House. Because the family was still in mourning, the event was small and only attended by less than a dozen people, one of which was Henry Howard, 19th Earl of Suffolk , the fiancé of the youngest Leiter daughter, Margaret , also known as Daisy. Margaret's wedding took place

5688-471: Was able to recover financially and once again became a successful businessman. He married Juliette Williams, the daughter of an America army colonel, in June 1908. As a wedding gift, Mary gave Joseph and Juliette the Dupont Circle house. She had made improvements to the property, including the addition of a greenhouse on two adjoining lots the family had purchased, the replacement of the tile roof with red slate, and

5767-803: Was also a philanthropist, donating money to Chicago institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago , where he served as its second president, and the Chicago Public Library . Leiter's wife, Mary Theresa Carver (1844-1913), was a former schoolteacher from Utica, New York , and a descendant of John Carver , the first governor of the Plymouth Colony . Though the two had become wealthy from Levi's business ventures, they were considered " new money " and not accepted in Chicago's social circles. The couple and their four children, Joseph, Mary Victoria , Nancy, and Margaret , moved to Washington, D.C. for

5846-490: Was an American architect and engineer known for building the first skyscraper in 1884. In 1998, Jenney was ranked number 89 in the book 1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking the Men and Women Who Shaped the Millennium . Jenney was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts , on September 25, 1832, the son of William Proctor Jenney and Eliza LeBaron Gibbs. Jenney began his formal education at Phillips Academy , Andover, in 1846, and at

5925-509: Was built by a wealthy merchant by the name of William M. Galt. During the 1870s and 1880s, mansions were built along Massachusetts Avenue, one of Washington's grand avenues, and townhouses were built throughout the neighborhood. In 1872, the British built a new embassy on Connecticut Avenue, at N Street NW. Stewart's Castle was built in 1873 on the north side of the circle, the James G. Blaine Mansion

6004-555: Was built on the west side in 1882, and the Leiter House was built on the north side in 1893. By the 1920s, Connecticut Avenue was more commercial in character, with numerous shops. Some residences, including Senator Philetus Sawyer 's mansion at Connecticut and R Street, were demolished to make way for office buildings and shops. The Patterson House, at 15 Dupont Circle, served as a temporary residence for President Calvin Coolidge while

6083-402: Was reading. She put her book down on top of a birdcage and ran to meet him. He strode across the room, lifted the book, and dropped it back on the bird cage two or three times. Then, he exclaimed: "It works! It works! Don’t you see? If this little cage can hold this heavy book, why can’t an iron or steel cage be the framework for a whole building?" Jenney applied his new idea to the construction of

6162-593: Was replaced with the Hotel Dupont Plaza, now known as The Dupont Circle Hotel . Of the large residences that once lined Dupont Circle, the only ones that remain are the Blaine Mansion, Patterson Mansion , and Wadsworth House, home of the Sulgrave Club . Levi Ziegler Leiter (1834-1904) was born in Leitersburg, Maryland , the ancestor of Dutch immigrants who arrived in the United States in 1760. After working as

6241-457: Was the first fully metal-framed building and is considered the first skyscraper. It was built from 1884 to 1885, enlarged by adding two stories in 1891, and demolished in 1931. In his designs, he used metal columns and beams instead of stone and brick to support the building's upper levels. The steel needed to support the Home Insurance Building weighed only one-third as much as a ten-story building made of heavy masonry. Using this method,

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