MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE
Sheridan Circle to Scott Circle
16th to 17th Streets NW, Scott Circle

Sanborn, 1904	Today

17th to 16th St, North Block	17th to 16th St, South Block

Scott Circle, which serves as an anchor to this section of Massachusetts Avenue, is the site of many large, attractive homes. While the architecture of the homes is notable, their siting and placement fail to acknowledge the circle and turn instead to th e regular grid pattern of the city streets. In particular, the Louise Home at 1500 Massachusetts Avenue and its expansive grounds present a vast openness to the building fabric of Scott Circle. Edmund G. Lind of Baltimore built the residence in 1 871, for William Wilson Corcoran the banker/philanthropist, in the French Empire style and incorporated a four story central octagonal space rising to a spectacular stained-glass ceiling. Senator Cameron’s House, which was built by John Fraser in the early 1880s, departs from the grid pattern siting of the Louise Home and faces diagonally onto the circle.

Bell/Morton House, 1905

Bell/Morton House, 1970

The Alexander Graham Bell/Levi Morton House at 1500 Rhode Island Avenue is considered part of Massachusetts Avenue’s residential development and is another example of the unusual building setbacks and orientation along Scott Circle. As built in 18 79 by John Fraser, the house has a corner turret, mansard roof, and delicate carriage porch typical of its period. Alexander Graham Bell and his family resided in the house until 1889, when they sold it to prominent New York banker Levi Morton. In 1912, Morton transformed the Victorian mansion into an Italian Renaissance palazzo style, and bequeathed it to his daughter Edith Eustis, who sold it in 1936 for use as the National Paint and Coatings Association’s Headquarters.

Scott Circle, 1890 (note Bell House on right)

Scott Circle, 1900