McCormick, Robert S., House (Brazilian Embassy)
- Architect
- John Russell Pope
- Year
- 1928
- Style
- Neoclassical
- City
- Washington, DC
- Collection
- the city beautiful
Commissioned in 1908 at 3000 Massachusetts Avenue NW from architect John Russell Pope by diplomat Robert Sanderson McCormick and his wife, Katherine Medill McCormick, the Neoclassical mansion was not completed until 1931. Katherine was the daughter of Joseph Medill, co-owner of the Chicago Tribune and a one-term mayor of Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871, while Robert's father, Cyrus McCormick, invented the McCormick reaper that transformed world agriculture. The house today serves as the residence of the Brazilian ambassador to the United States.
the building
A 23-year build. Pope's design was commissioned in 1908, but the mansion sat unfinished for over two decades and was not completed until 1931, long after both original patrons had envisioned occupying it.
the style
Pope, one of the era's leading Neoclassicists, gave the McCormick house the formal, symmetrical grandeur typical of the grand embassy residences that line Massachusetts Avenue's Embassy Row.
More on Neoclassicalthe architect
John Russell Pope was among the most prominent American architects of the early 20th century; the McCormick House was one of his residential commissions on Embassy Row, in the neoclassical vein he later brought to institutional Washington landmarks.
significance
Individually designated DC Historic Landmark #L_0575, the house now serves as the official residence of the Brazilian ambassador to the United States.
nearby
- Islamic Center of Washington
- British ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C.
- Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel
- Evermay
- French ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C.
- Frances Perkins House