Holt House

Inscribed on the DC Preservation League's List of Endangered Places 2005.

From www.dcpreservation.org:

Built about 1810 by owner George Johnson, the property known today as Holt House was one of more than a dozen large country estates built on the high grounds of Rock Creek, within the boundaries of an old land grant known as “Pretty Prospects.” Today, Holt House is one of the few that remain, and the last east of Rock Creek.

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.