EMBASSY ROW
Call them robber barons or nouveau-riche, the late 1800s tycoons of mining, railroads, banking, publishing, politicians, and speculators gathered in the capital city to showcase their fortune and impress their neighbors. Sumptuous gilded age mansions were thus built along Massachusetts Avenue, today commonly referred to as Embassy Row.
The Great Depression came and along with other misfortune the resources of several families drained and they couldn't afford to maintain their properties any longer. Decades later, foreign embassies, private clubs and institutions started buying up their mansions at a downmarket price.
Over time, the high life and high architecture have made for some great stories: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, sit next to me”, Alice Roosevelt Longworth resided here, the Hope Diamond was kept nearby and later Ahmet Ertegun, son of a Turkish ambassador threw wild parties in his residence with Duke Ellington during prohibition... before he went on to create Atlantic Records.