The Washington Club
April 17, 2005

Venue of the first two gala events held by the Hereditary Society Community, the marble and terra-cotta Patterson house at 15 Dupont Circle, known now as the Washington Club, is one of the finest manorial edifices in the capital city. This superb Italianate mansion, the only survivor of the many mansions that once ringed the circle itself, was built in 1901 by New York architect Stanford White for Robert Patterson, editor of the Chicago Tribune, and his wife Nellie Patterson, heiress to the Chicago Tribune fortune. Upon Mrs. Patterson's incapacitation in the early 1920s, the house passed into the hands of her daughter, Cissy Patterson, who transformed it into a hub of Washington social life. The house served as temporary quarters for President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge in 1927 while the White House underwent renovation. The Coolidges welcomed Charles Lindbergh as a houseguest after his transatlantic flight.

HSC is grateful for the kindness of Mrs. Paul Milton Niebell, Sr. in sponsoring the Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony at the Washington Club.