Andrew Mellon Building
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McCormick Apartments
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| Location | 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. |
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| Coordinates | 38°54′33″N 77°2′30″W / 38.90917°N 77.04167°WCoordinates: 38°54′33″N 77°2′30″W / 38.90917°N 77.04167°W |
| Built | 1915 |
| Architect | Jules Henri de Sibour |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts |
| NRHP Reference # | 73002100 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 3, 1973 |
| Designated NHL | May 11, 1976 |
McCormick Apartments, also known as Andrew Mellon Building, Mellon Apartment, or 1785 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, is a landmark apartment building on Embassy Row in Washington, D.C., whose inhabitants once included Andrew W. Mellon. It will soon become home to the American Enterprise Institute.
The Andrew Mellon Building was built by Stanley McCormick, heir to the International Harvester fortune, in 1915 and completed in 1917. Washington-based Jules Henri de Sibour was architect of the building. This was one of the first Washington apartment buildings for luxury living. The structure was meant to fit in with other Beaux-Arts buildings in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. The building's composition is three principal elevations, to serve as a pivot point for a residential boulevard and two street intersections. The six units it originally contained had quarters for more than forty servants. Some of the Capital's most distinguished personalities once lived here. A partial listing of these residents, from the Historic American Buildings Survey, includes:
The millionaire industrialist Andrew Mellon is perhaps most significant of these past occupants. He was Secretary of the Treasury from 1921 to 1932. This was the longest tenure since Albert Gallatin. Mellon made this his residence shortly after taking on that role, occupying the top floor from 1922 until his death in 1937. Among his accomplishments include authoring the "Mellon Plan" which stimulated the economic boom of the 1920s, and founding the National Gallery of Art. In 1936 Mellon paid $21 million for paintings and sculptures owned by Sir Joseph Duveen, an art dealer leasing the apartment below. At the time this was the largest art transaction on record.
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