Thomas T. Gaff House
- Architects
- Bruce Price Jules Henri de Sibour
- Style
- Chateauesque
- City
- Washington, DC
Built for Cincinnati distillery and machinery magnate Thomas T. Gaff, this Dupont Circle mansion at 1520 20th Street NW was modeled on the Château de Balleroy in Normandy and designed by Bruce Price with Jules Henri de Sibour. Gaff, whose Indiana childhood home Hillforest is a National Historic Landmark, was later appointed a commissioner overseeing construction of the Panama Canal by Secretary of War William Howard Taft. The house has since housed a U.S. senator, a cabinet secretary, a Greek ambassador, and today the Colombian ambassador to the United States.
the building
A hidden ballroom. Behind the châteauesque stone facade, the house conceals a ballroom along with a mix of 18th- and 19th-century interior schemes, additions tied to its long life as a diplomatic and social residence.
the style
The house is built in the châteauesque style, drawn directly from the Château de Balleroy in Normandy, France — a French Renaissance chateau reimagined for a Gilded Age industrialist's lot near Dupont Circle.
More on Chateauesquethe architect
The house was designed jointly by Bruce Price and Jules Henri de Sibour, two architects working in the eclectic revival styles favored in early 20th-century Washington.
significance
The house is a contributing property to the Dupont Circle Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, and today serves as the diplomatic residence of the Colombian ambassador to the United States.
nearby
- Blaine, James G., House
- Fraser Mansion
- Anderson, Larz House (Society of the Cincinnati)
- Whittemore, Sarah Adams, House (Weeks House; Woman's National Democratic Club)
- Patterson House (Washington Club)
- Townsend House