Massachusetts Avenue Historic District
The Massachusetts Avenue Historic District's grandly appointed buildings are widely known as Embassy Row.
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Massachusetts Avenue is a boulevard of grand mansions, row houses, and embassies, affectionately known as "Embassy Row." It is among the finest realizations of L'Enfant's Baroque vision of grand vistas and diagonal avenues. This historic district serves as an exemplar of the fashion for urban boulevards in the European manner, with dynamic interaction among buildings, streets, and landscaped open space.
Massachusetts Avenue includes some of the city's most elegant and lavish turn-of-the-century residences, many of which have been home to foreign governments since the early 1900s. Many prominent architects are represented through a variety of architectural styles, including Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque, Beaux Arts, Chateauesque, and Classical Revival. The historic district includes approximately 150 buildings, dating from about 1880 to 1940.
DC Inventory: November 27, 1973 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: October 22, 1974
