From www.dcpreservation.org:
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The residents of this rare surviving example of a five-part federal-era residence comprise a “who’s who” of Washington, DC’s diverse populace, including early entrepreneurs, presidential advisors, enslaved African Americans, farmers and scientists.
Dr. Henry C. Holt, a former US Army assistant surgeon, purchased the house in 1844 and sold it to the newly created National Zoo in 1889.
The Zoo renovated it for use as administrative offices. In helping plan the zoological park, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. advised the park’s planners to look to the graceful architecture of Holt House as a source of inspiration.