Flash Back: 1785 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.
During the National Trust’s 75th anniversary year, Flash Back will highlight a place of significance to the organization’s history.
photo by: The George F. Landegger Collection of District of Columbia Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, 2010
The National Trust for Historic Preservation acquired this imposing Washington, D.C., building in 1977 and used it as its headquarters through 2013. Located at 1785 Massachusetts Ave. NW in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, the circa-1917 Beaux-Arts apartment building was designed by Jules Henri de Sibour, the architect behind other Washington sites such as The Jefferson hotel and the French ambassador’s residence. Originally called the McCormick Apartments for its developer, International Harvester Company heir Stanley McCormick, 1785 Massachusetts also became known as the Andrew Mellon Building, after its most famous resident.
Eventually the building was converted to office space, and the National Trust rehabilitated it. Before the Trust sold 1785 (as employees fondly call it) to the American Enterprise Institute in 2013, it placed the building’s exteriors and interiors under a historic preservation easement, ensuring its long-term protection. The National Trust is now headquartered in the 1929 Hamilton Square building in downtown Washington.
