The Patterson Mansion

The Patterson Mansion

On this bike ride in northwest D.C.’s DuPont Circle neighborhood, I stopped to take in the one of the last large mansions still remaining directly on the city’s most iconic traffic circle. Located directly northeast of The Samuel Francis Du Pont Memorial Fountain at 15 Dupont Circle (MAP), the Patterson Mansion (also commonly referred to as the Patterson House), is a historic mansion whose appearance harkens back to previous eras.

Designed by architect Stanford White and built by The George A. Fuller Company, the completion of the Neoclassical-style house with exterior Italianate decorative motifs was delayed by when paint cans in the attic of the north wing of the house caught fire.  After fire and water damage was repaired it was finally completed in 1903,. The house was built for Robert Wilson Patterson, who at the time was the editor of the Chicago Tribune newspaper, and his wife, Elinor “Nellie” Medill Patterson. Originally estimated to cost $85,000 (the equivalent of $2,599,556.98 in 2021 dollars), its final cost was actually $200,000 ($6,116,604.65 in 2019 dollars).

It was used by the Patterson family for entertaining when they were in the city, with the inaugural event being a gigantic cotillion ball for social debut of her daughter, Eleanor Josephine Medill “Cissy” Patterson.  The family would go on to hold numerous events over the years, a tradition which Nellie and her staff of livery-clad servants would continue after Robert’s death in 1910.  Over the years, however, Nellie spent less and less time at her D.C. mansion, instead preferring to be at the Chicago home her and Robert had shared.  She vacated the property for good in 1923, never to return, and deeded the property to her daughter Cissy that same year.  However, Cissy also chose to spend more time at her other homes and abroad, so she allowed her daughter, Felicia, and her new husband, Drew Pearson, to take up residence in the mansion.  But the house was only intermittently occupied from for the next several years, as the Pearsons left for Asia and never returned to the home.  

For a short period of time during these years, the Patterson Mansion was the home of President Calvin Coolidge and his wife, Grace Coolidge.  In 1927 The White House needed extensive renovation, which rendered it unlivable while construction occurred.  So Cissy Patterson offered them the use of her empty home.  The Coolidges stayed in the house from March 4, 1927, to June 13, 1927.  But Mrs. Coolidge was not fond of the home, finding it cramped. So they spent the remainder of the time the White House was being renovated vacationing in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Just before departing the mansion, from June 10 to June 12, 1927, Charles Lindbergh and his mother, Evangeline Lodge Land Lindbergh, were guests of the president and first lady at the Patterson Mansion upon his triumphant return from France after his non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean piloting the Spirit of St. Louis.  During these three days the house was besieged by crowds.  And because of the crowds Charles appeared several times at the second floor balcony to wave and briefly speak to the crowds.  

Two years later, beginning in 1929, Cissy Patterson reoccupied the home full-time, where she remained and entertained until her death in 1948, when the mansion left the Patterson family.  Cissy originally willed the house to her daughter, Felicia. But after a family argument in 1942, Cissy changed her will and asked that the mansion be donated to the League of Republican Women of the District of Columbia.  She changed her mind again in 1946 and left it to the Red Cross.

After a lengthy legal dispute over the will, the Red Cross took possession of the Patterson Mansion.  But the organization had no practical use for the property,  They already the Neoclassical The American National Red Cross Headquarters building.  So the Red Cross put the building and its furnishings up for sale in November of 1949, with a $700,000 asking price ($7,735,705.88 in 2021 dollars).  But the property lingered on the market until the Washington Club, a private women’s club, bought the Patterson Mansion in January of 1951, for just $450,000 ($4,552,165.38 in 2021 dollars).  Subsequently, The Washington Club put the mansion up for sale in the summer of 2013 with a $26 million asking price.  After a pending deal with another company fell through, real estate development company SB-Urban, along with District-based real estate investment firm CBD LLC, bought the property and with the help of Hartman-Cox Architects, turned the Patterson Mansion into a multi-unit apartment building.

The Ampeer Oakwood Suites & Studio Apartments opened in 2017, consisting of 92 mini-apartments with shared living space, an on-site chef providing meals, meeting space, a private wine cellar, and a fully staffed private bar in the mansion’s ballroom.  Today the site is also host to A Landmark Venue, that can host up to 100 guests for both intimate or grand events.  The Venue is also home to the Patterson Mansion Social Club, which provides members with a daily continental breakfast, a 24-hour gourmet coffee bar, an exclusive bar with seasonal cocktail programs, high speed WiFi and cable TV as well as a library and business center with unlimited printing, and access to social spaces and exclusive discounts on hosted events.  

The Patterson Mansion is wholly or in part responsible for three listings on the National Register of Historic Places.  The mansion itself was added to the National Register on December 5, 1972, and is one of two remaining mansions on Dupont Circle, the other being the Wadsworth House.  It is also a contributing property to both the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District (added to the National Register in 1974), and the Dupont Circle Historic District (which was added to the National Register in 1978).

    
[Click on the thumbnails above to view the full size photos]