MEDIA CONTACTS:
For the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum:
Maralee Csellar: 202-994-7564, [email protected]
For Coldwell Banker:
Matt Hagan: 202-483-3003, [email protected]
WASHINGTON (May 29, 2015)— The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum along with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage announced Monday that The Textile Museum has sold its historic 2320-2330 S St., NW, property in the Kalorama neighborhood, for $19 million, to a private owner. Settlement took place on Thursday.
The Textile Museum’s founder George Hewitt Myers—heir to the Bristol Myers fortune, a businessman, forester and a prolific collector of oriental rugs and textiles—commissioned esteemed architect and Neoclassical master John Russell Pope to build a house, at 2320 S St., NW, in 1912. Mr. Pope also designed the Jefferson Memorial, the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, the Scottish Rite Temple and the National Archives and Records Administration building. Completed in 1915, the stately, Adam-style estate originally served as the Myers family’s home.
The Pope designed house remains a point of interest to architectural scholars and features a grand foyer opening onto checkerboard marble tile floors. Rooms on the ground level are paneled in Italian walnut, American oak and cedar from Mr. Myers’s own timber mills.
In 1925, Mr. Myers purchased the adjacent residence at 2330 S St., NW, which was designed by prominent architect Waddy Butler Wood. An established architect of private residences, Mr. Wood also designed the Woodrow Wilson House, the U.S. Department of the Interior Building on C Street NW and the Masonic Temple that would eventually become the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
In 1925, Mr. Myers’s growing collection of textiles was moved into the manor at 2330 S St., NW. After his death in 1957 the original family house gradually became staff offices and museum storage. Together, the mansions served as The Textile Museum’s home through the end of 2013, when the museum closed to prepare its move to a new location. In March 2015, the museum re-opened as the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum located on GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus.
“Long before his death, George Hewitt Myers was acutely aware that the museum’s collection had outgrown the space provided and was thinking of moving from S Street as a way to enhance the financial resources of the museum,” said Bruce P. Baganz, president of The Textile Museum Board of Trustees. “Mr. Myers would be delighted that his vision continues and The Textile Museum’s sustainability is ensured for generations to come.”
Both houses are part of the National Register of Historic Places and zoned R-1-B/D for residential or cultural use. The proceeds from the sale will be directed toward The Textile Museum endowment at GW, which provides ongoing support for The Textile Museum’s operations and programs.
Sylvia Bergstrom, Marin Hagen and Joseph Zorc of Coldwell Banker represented the seller. Anita Galang-Mason of Weichert Realtors represented the buyer.
The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum
The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum opened on March 21 on GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus. The custom-built museum displays The Textile Museum’s globally recognized collections of nearly 20,000 textiles and related objects, and pieces owned by the university, including the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection of nearly 1,000 artifacts documenting the history of Washington, D.C.
Coldwell Banker
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Mid-Atlantic is a leading residential real estate company with 39 sales and resort rental locations and more than 2,200 sales associates serving the communities of the greater metro Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, www.cbmove.com, is a subsidiary of NRT LLC, the nation’s largest residential real estate brokerage company. Worldwide, the Coldwell Banker network includes nearly 3,100 offices with nearly 87,000 sales associates. NRT LLC, a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, operates Realogy’s company-owned real estate brokerage offices.
-GW-