Woodrow Wilson House | |
Location | 2340 S St.,
NW Washington, D.C., U.S. |
---|---|
Coordinates | 38°54′50″N 77°3′6″W / 38.91389°N 77.05167°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1915 |
Architect | Waddy Butler Wood |
Architectural style | Georgian Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 66000873 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
Designated NHL | July 19, 1964 [2] |
The Woodrow Wilson House was the residence of the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson after he left office. [3] It is at 2340 S Street NW just off Washington, D.C.'s Embassy Row. On February 3, 1924, Wilson died in an upstairs bedroom. [3] It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. [2] [4] The National Trust for Historic Preservation owns the house and operates it as a museum. [3]
The house was built by Henry Fairbanks in 1915 on a design by prominent masonic Washington architect Waddy Wood. President Woodrow Wilson bought it in the last months of his second term as President of the United States as a gift to his wife, Edith Bolling Wilson. [3] He presented her the deed in December 1920, although he had never seen the house. [3] The former president and his wife moved into the home on Inauguration Day, [3] which in 1921 was March 4 (not the current date of January 20). Wilson made several modifications to the house, including a billiard room, stacks for his library of over 8,000 books, and a one-story brick garage. [3]
It was from the balcony of the house that Wilson addressed a crowd on November 11, 1923, as his last public appearance. [3] While the Wilsons had few guests, former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and former French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau visited the ailing former president at the house. [3]
After Wilson's death in 1924, Edith Wilson lived in the residence until her death on December 28, 1961. She hosted First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy for a brunch in the formal dining room. Edith bequeathed the property and all of its original furnishings to the National Trust for Historic Preservation upon her death. [3]