Sulgrave Club

The Sulgrave Club is a private women's club located at 1801 Massachusetts Avenue NW on the east side of Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. The clubhouse is the former Beaux-Arts mansion on Embassy Row built for Herbert and Martha Blow Wadsworth and designed by noted architect George Cary. During World War I the Wadsworth House was used as the local headquarters for the American Red Cross.

In 1932 a group of local women led by Mabel Thorp Boardman established the Sulgrave Club and purchased the mansion. They chose architect Frederick H. Brooke to renovate the triangular-shaped building into a clubhouse. The Sulgrave Club was added to the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites in 1964 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The building is also a designated contributing property to the Dupont Circle Historic District and Massachusetts Avenue Historic District.

The clubhouse is one of two remaining large houses on Dupont Circle, the other being the Patterson Mansion. The building was designed in the Beaux-Arts style, popular during the time of its construction. The clubhouse includes a lavishly decorated Beaux-Arts ballroom while some of the other rooms feature different architectural styles, including an Arts and Crafts entrance and Colonial Revival reception area.

The Holy Cross Episcopal Church once stood on the lot where the Sulgrave Club is located. The congregation was established in 1874 and although there is no record of when the church was built, the sanctuary was expanded and a brick tower added in 1882 for $2,000. The parish closed in the 1880s due to financial reasons and the property was abandoned. In 1889, the property was purchased by Senator Charles Van Wyck who lived across the street at 1800 Massachusetts Avenue NW. While their home was being remodeled, the Van Wyck family moved into the deserted church, which was a surprise to everyone in the fashionable Dupont Circle neighborhood. Members of St. Thomas' Parish began meeting in the building in 1890 until their new sanctuary was built a few years later on the corner of 18th and Church Streets NW.

Herbert and Martha Blow Wadsworth, a wealthy couple from Geneseo, New York who had married in 1888, wanted a winter residence in Washington, D.C., and chose Dupont Circle as the location of their new home. There were only two large lots still available on the circle where they could build a mansion, including the one where Holy Cross Episcopal Church stood. Van Wyck's widow, Kate, sold the property to the Wadsworths in 1896. The Wadsworths were already familiar with Washington, D.C., and had family and social connections with the city. Herbert's cousin, James Wolcott Wadsworth, was a congressman from New York, and Martha's sister and niece were local socialites.

On January 16, 1900, a permit application was filed to construct the Wadsworth mansion on Square 137, a triangular lot which is sited between 18th Street on the east, P Street on the north, and Massachusetts Avenue on the south. The couple chose a longtime friend, New York architect George Cary, to design their new house in the popular Beaux-Arts style. It is the only known building in Washington, D.C. that was designed by him. Cary is best known for his designs at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition and the Buffalo History Museum. Martha took a hands-on approach with the design of her new home, and would often claim she was the architect.

Just like the Perry Belmont House that was built a few years later, the Wadsworth House's design was made to fit an irregular-shaped lot. The total cost of constructing the house was around $300,000. The couple had their new home designed to specifically serve as a place of entertainment and socializing. This included a two-story ballroom, a musician's gallery, a porte-cochère similar to the one across the street at the William J. Boardman House, and a new feature in the city, an automobile room that served as an internal parking garage. It is believed the porte-cochère, vestibule, servants hall, kitchen, back hallway, and automobile room incorporated the former church building.

After the house was completed by builder Charles A. Langley, Martha began years of organizing and hosting social events. These included standard social gatherings such as dances, dinners, and musicals, but she also hosted lessons for singing, beauty, jujutsu, and even held an ugliest baby photograph competition. As the couple aged, they spent less time at their Washington, D.C. home, and during World War I let an organization use the building In February 1917, the Wadsworth House became the first American private residence to be lent for use by the American Red Cross. The organization continued using the building until the war ended and the Wadsworths spent very little time at the house after that.