Architecture

When John Tayloe III was looking to build a winter home, his personal friend George Washington suggested the District. Tayloe commissioned William Thornton, who designed the Capitol building and Thornton designed an impressive home, which fit neatly into the triangle lot it was situated on at 18th St. and New York Ave, NW. The layout of the building is quite imaginative, but today the house is not just known for its architecture. It's also known for the spirits that are said to linger on in the residence.

When architect Thomas Franklin Schneider built a 12-story building called The Cairo in 1894, it dazzled and infuriated Washington—so much that neighbors and Congress moved to ban skyscrapers, forever changing the city’s skyline.

In 1873, the Kölnische Zeitung (Cologne Daily News) asked German anthropologist Friedrich Ratzel to take a trip to the United States and write a series of articles about life in America. He reached Washington in the winter of 1874 and, as a scientist, was particularly interested in the Smithsonian building.