The Massachusetts Avenue Historic District is linearly
conceived. L'Enfant planned Massachusetts Avenue as a transverse
avenue crossing the city diagonally from the Eastern Branch to
Rock Creek. The longest of the transverse avenues, it is roughly
parallel to Pennsylvania Avenue and, like Pennsylvania Avenue,
is 160 feet wide. In the years 1890 to 1930, Massachusetts
Avenue between Scott Circle and Observatory Hill developed as an
elegant boulevard lined by the sumptuous homes of some of the
richest and most influential citizens of the United States. In
these years a remarkable degree of architectural quality,
coherence and unity was achieved, creating a street fašade
unique in the city and perhaps in the nation. The Depression of
1929 destroyed the lifestyles of many of the families who built
these great houses. Embassies, associations, foundations and
clubs moved in. Today the character of the Avenue is that of an
Embassy Row. The British Embassy Photo courtesy of DC SHPO In
the late 1880s and 1890s houses