Dumbarton Oaks, 3101 R Street, Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

Significance: No other property combines mansion, collections, and gardens into such an aesthetically compelling early to mid-twentieth century vision of estate living in Georgetown. Starting with the Bliss's occupancy and continuing under Harvard's ownership, Dumbarton Oaks has been a site of internationally significant cultural and political events. In 1938, Nadia Boulanger conducted, in the music room, the world premier of Igor Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks Concerto, commissioned by Mrs. Bliss, and nine years later Stravinsky conducted his concerto at Dumbarton Oaks. Stravinsky and Boulanger were two of this century's most important musicians. In 1944, the planning sessions that led to the creation of the United Nations were held in the Dumbarton Oaks music room. Two of this century's most important architectural firms, McKim, Mead and White and Philip Johnson, have designed major spaces at Dumbarton Oaks. Furthermore, the present Georgian Revival house incorporates a Federal Period house dating from approximately 1800. In addition, several locally prominent and one nationally prominent man associated with the house in the nineteenth century.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N672

Survey number: HABS DC-825

Building/structure dates: ca. 1800- ca. 1801 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1921-1925 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1940 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1963 Subsequent Work

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 67000025

estates galleries and museums u plan buildings domestic life music politics and government historic house museums adaptive reuse research washington city dumbarton oaks dumbarton oaks r street northwest washington dc district of columbia clara albert robert c anderson robert r arzola david benton mildred barnes bliss robert woods bliss jack e boucher nadia boulanger frederick h brooke edward byrdy john c calhoun aimee charboneau paul dolinsky william hammond dorsey beatrix jones farrand bryan c green irwin j gueco harvard university ruth havey historic american buildings survey philip johnson william lebovich adam maksay mead and white mckim roger s miller virginia b price james w rosenthal igor stravinsky us commission of fine arts thomas waterman john p white wyeth and king samuel yellin photo ultra high resolution high resolution living room library of congress national register of historic places historic landmarks

1801

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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