How an American industrialist, a British baron and a luxurious Washington apartment building all played a part in the making of the National Gallery
By Donna Evers
Andrew W. Mellon in his sumptuous apartment in the McCormick Building.
The most luxurious apartment building in Washington’s history was created in 1906, when International Harvester heir Stanley McCormick hired architect Jules de Sibour to design a Beaux Arts building for the rich and famous. The imposing structure at 1785 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., had six colossal apartments, most of which had 11,000 square feet of living space and 21 rooms with oval foyers, huge drawing rooms and extensive servants quarters. (To give these figures some perspective, a 2,000 square foot apartment in Washington today is considered to be large.)
