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Stewart
Stewart's Castle

Stewart
Stewart's Castle, inside view: Chinese legation


Stewart's Castle (40)

Dupont Circle, Massachusetts and Connecticut Avenues, NW
1873, fire in 1879, demolished 1901

In 1870, the area around the later Dupont Circle was unexploited building land. In 1871, the Corps of Engineers began, on behalf the Board of Public Works, with the construction of the later Dupont Circle, which at the time was named Pacific Circle.

One of the first houses in this area was Stewart's Castle, named after its first owner, the senator from Nevada, William M. Stewart, and who wanted no one other than Adolf Cluss to design it.

A major investor in western silver mines, the republican Stewart was a millionaire and one of the most important supporters in the quest for public building improvements, which were given forth by the Board of Public Works (of which Cluss was a member at that time), under the direction of Alexander Shepherd. At the same time Stewart led the "California Syndicate," which bought up tracts of undeveloped land with the wish for future development.

The houses erected by Cluss set architectural standards for private houses, that stood in harmony with the newly emerging city landscape. In the 1880's the area around Dupont Circle grew into a popular and booming quarter. Stewart's Castle became the chief example for the residences to follow, which were built along Connecticut Avenue, North-West of Lafayette Square.

From 1886-93 Stewart's Castle was the seat of the Chinese Legation in Washington. The imposing residence was demolished in 1901.

Some years after Stewart's Castle, in close proximity, Cluss designed Phillip's Row and the Samuel Carter residence.

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