AROUND TOWN

Built in 1922 for $500K ($9.3M today), the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain stands at 2801 16th Street, NW. Mary Foote Henderson (1842-1931) and her husband, former Missouri Senator John B. Henderson, had established themselves as real estate developers in the Meridian Hill area by purchasing blocks of primarily undeveloped land on which Mary Henderson built elaborate mansions for use as embassies for foreign dignitaries. Henderson’s vision of turning 16th Street into “something like the Champs-Elysees” began in the early 1900s with the construction of the former French Embassy at the southwest corner of Fuller and 16th Streets, NW.

Designed by George Oakley Totten, Jr., Henderson’s favored architect, this particular mansion was intended as a residence for the U.S. Vice President. At the time (and up to 1973), Vice Presidents resided in their own homes, or hotels if they did not have a home in Washington, DC. Due to the lack of a designated Vice Presidential mansion, Mary Henderson took steps to change that and, thus, built a residence that she believed would be worthy of such important occupants as Vice President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, who were residing at the Willard Hotel.

The Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds considered the need of a designated vice presidential mansion well before and after the construction of Henderson’s new mansion at 2801 16th Street, NW. Although Mrs. Henderson’s generous offer to gift the new mansion to the U.S. government was primarily accepted by the Committee, they feared that the upkeep for such an elaborate building would be too costly for a Vice President given their small public servant salary. The Committee was also hesitant to appropriate government funds for such a need. Even after Mrs. Henderson’s compelling and thoughtful reasons to accept the gift, the Committee refused the offer on February 19, 1923.

In April 1927, the government of Spain purchased the mansion for use as the permanent Spanish embassy. In October, after renovations, Spanish Ambassador Senor Alejandro de Padilla y Bell (1869-1953) and his wife Senora María del Carmen de Satrústegui y Barrié (1876-1947) moved into the mansion. In addition to some interior renovations, a separate two-story building was constructed at the rear of the embassy to be used by embassy attaches, the front of which is on 15th Street.

In the late 1980s, due to skyrocketing crime in the Meridian Hill area, the Spanish government implemented plans to move the embassy and to establish a new ambassador’s residence. Julián Santamaría Ossorio (1940-2020), who served as Spain’s Ambassador to the United States from 1987-1990, believed the area was dangerous and that he was “concerned about [his] family and the embassy employees.” In 1987, the government of Spain attempted to purchase the Codman House at 2145 Decatur Place, NW, for use as an ambassador’s residence. Unfortunately, due to bureaucratic red tape in Spain, the residence was sold before Spain could move forward to purchase the house. In 1989, Spain purchased two and a half acres of land on Foxhall Road to construct a new residence. (The new Ambassador’s residence located at 2350 Foxhall Rd NW, designed by Pritzker prize winner, Rafael Moneo, opened in 2004.)

In 1991, after a $20 million renovation, the embassy moved into a newly constructed office building at 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. The shiny, black building, which rises above a historic facade of 1880s row houses, was met with community disapproval and compared to Darth Vader by critics.

Before the 16th and Fuller Streets building became the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain, it sat empty for nearly a decade. According to Miguel Albero, the head of the Cultural Office, this proved problematic “because a foreign country cannot own property in DC with diplomatic privileges if you don’t use it,” hence the decision to establish the Cultural Office in 2004.

Over the past two decades, through SPAIN arts + culture, a collaboration between the embassy’s Cultural Office and the Spain-USA Foundation, a local non-profit organization, a host of Spanish culture events have been offered locally and nationally. Events include culinary demonstrations, concerts, film festivals, literary discussions, children’s programs, and more. Their mission is “to promote Spanish culture in the US through fruitful cultural exchanges among institutions and artists, fostering positive bilateral relations between our two countries.” And that they do. Visit http://www.spainculture.us for more information.

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The Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain building is designated as a contributing structure of the Meridian Hill Historic District.