Phoebe Apperson Hearst & 1400 New Hampshire Ave, NW
Phoebe Apperson Hearst (1842-1919) married 41 year old George Hearst at the age of 19. Shortly after their marriage, the couple moved to San Franciso and had a son, William Randolph Hearst.
When George Hearst was elected to the United States senate in 1887, the couple relocated to Washington D.C. where Phoebe entertained many guests and statesman. Four years later, Phoebe became the sole heir to her husband’s valuable estate upon his death in 1891.
Phoebe returned to California after George’s death.
While they lived here in Washington, their home was located at 1400 New Hampshire Ave, NW, right on Dupont circle where Jury’s is currently located just off Dupont circle at the intersection of New Hampshire and O Street. The house, designed by architect Robert Fleming, was built in 1883 for John Field, and sold to Secretary of the Treasury, Charles Fairchild, in 1888. When it was acquired in 1889 by California Senator William G. Hearst, it was redesigned from the Colonial Revival style into the Romanesque by architect Harvey Page. After Hearst died in 1891, his widow Phoebe Apperson Hearst lived there until 1902 when she sold the mansion, which became the Italian Embassy until 1925. Subsequently, it was used as a hotel, a club, the Russian Bible Society Headquarters (from 1948 to 1958), and the Cathedral Club Residence, until 1964, when it was demolished. Additional images of the home, primarily of the interior, are after the jump
Washington Kaleidoscope 
April 10, 2009 at 3:02 pm
[…] And Then: In 1889, the Hearst family remodeled it in the Romanesque Revival style. You can read more about this house and see additional images at this post. […]
May 3, 2011 at 7:21 pm
I was looking at my grand mother’s document when she entered into the USA. Her place of residence on the USA document is 1400 New Hampshire Ave. N.W. Washington DC., in October 24, 1951. She was employed as a housekeeper. She was Latvian. Her name is Jeva Lizete Veperts. I find this very fascinating! She was applying for her citizenship. Not sure how long she worked for this family. Very cool….
May 3, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Sorry, I meant she worked for the hotel which was after Phoebe Hearst sold the house and it became a hotel/club for the Russian Bible Society Headquarters. Cool
December 28, 2011 at 5:29 pm
bible covers…
[…]Phoebe Apperson Hearst & 1400 New Hampshire Ave, NW « Washington Kaleidoscope[…]…
April 16, 2013 at 12:37 pm
Hello Renata. I am so excited to see your comment about your grandmother. My parents owned a house across the street from “The Bible House” which housed Latvians while they went to school or got jobs and their citizenships. We lived at 1319 and had many playmates from the Bible House. I fondly remember them and would love to get in touch with some of them. We also attended the John Quincy Adams Elementary school together. My twin brother David and I lived on New Hampshire Ave. across the street from the Bible House from 1947 to 1957 when we moved to Old Greenwich,CT. I never knew 1400 to be hotel so much as a temporary residence for families from Latvia. I see you posted this two years ago. I hope yoyo check this sight from time to time and see my post. You can also find me on Facebook.
September 17, 2014 at 9:49 am
Hi Renata:
Really loved those pictures. And got really excited reading about it. Actually, after seeing my birth certificate, it has this address on it of where my parents lived when I was born. Apparently they lived at 1400 New Hampshire Ave. NW. I suppose they rented a room. Originally, I thought it was an apartment building, but from what I see, it wasn’t. It says that it was used as the Russian Bible Society. My parents weren’t Russian, but I guess they rented out rooms to anyone. My dad, according to the my birth certificate, worked at Emerson & Orme car dealer, which, after looking it up, wasn’t very far from there.
If you have anymore information or remember anything else, sure would appreciate it.
I am also on facebook
Mercedes Balseca
May 30, 2015 at 2:05 pm
I lived here from 1961-1963 w a group of girls while we were attending Georgetown Visitation Junior College.
February 27, 2022 at 9:49 pm
My Recollections of Living at Cathedral Club Residence, 1400 New Hampshire Ave, NW, Wash, DC
Written by Monica Ann Purol (now Monica Ann Purol Ford) 27Feb2022
I recently checked online under 1400 New Hampshire Ave, Washington, D.C., my former living quarters, as it was 60 years ago (5Feb1962) that I reported-in for my first workday with the Federal Government, and a few days later, I moved to the Victorian home at 1400 New Hampshire Avenue. This home remained my home from Feb1962 to late 1963. I am elated that “my voice” at the house joins other members of the house, as well as the distinguished former owners’ voices, like the George and Phoebe Hearst family and others. The historical account of this mansion plus the Library of Congress photos of the house on your web site really jog memories. When I lived at the house, it was called Cathedral Club under the auspices of St. Matthew’s Cathedral, as a home for young working people, professional women, and college women. The Club offered a refreshing quiet refuge for camaraderie and comfortable living accommodations under the discipline and watchful eye of a “house mother.” For $20.00 a week in those days (1962), we had room and board for 6 days a week. On Sundays, however, we had to forage for our own meals.
Mansion’s exterior. The mansion’s exterior looked still the same in 1962 as it did in a photo from 1910 on your website with the heavily arched grayed portico sheltering the front entrance. The Romanesque-architecturally-styled home was an enormity of dark red brick and very Victorian. As one faced the front of the house, my room was one with the window on the right side of the building. I believe that the room was directly above the formal salon. If the window had been original to the house or was it added later to enhance the room’s livability I do not know. The 1910 photo indicates that a home was built right next to it, but by 1962, that home was replaced by a paved parking lot. On the other side of that paved lot were two or possibly three older homes out toward Dupont Circle. On occasional Friday or Saturday evenings, the music of castanets from one of those neighboring houses wafted over to my room across this paved lot.
Foyer. When I turned the key in the lock to the over-sized front door and walked into its foyer, the grandeur of the home always created an aura of the “Gilded Age.” I walked into a formally ornate foyer with an immense, but ornate fireplace, greeting me on the right, heavy wood ceiling beams, ornately colorful painted ceilings and panels, and a black and white floor made up from very large tiles, and a large wooden stairway facing the front door leading up to the upper floors. The wooden stairway with its thinner wooden balusters, stairway’s placement, and the built-in settee against the stairway were all still the same in 1962 as in the Library of Congress photo from an earlier time. If one of my friends “fixed me up” with a blind date, I remember peering down through the balusters at the top of the stairway into the foyer to try and catch a glimpse of my date. This home now was Cathedral Club where we followed a strict set of rules and had to abide by a curfew. We were not allowed on this main floor of the Club unless fully dressed and groomed, that is, no coming down to this floor, in PJs, morning slippers, hair in curlers, or even carrying a laundry basket to the lower floor. Further, there were two doorways on either side of the foyer fireplace, which led into the very formal salon. In the online photo, only one doorway of the two is visible, that is, the doorway on the left side of foyer fireplace. Directly under the massive wooden stairs, another set of wide stairs led down to the formal dining room on the lower floor. The alcove area with the wide stairs to the downstairs had a large mirror (covering about ¾ of that wall) on the back side of the salon wall as you made the turn to go downstairs. One anomaly exists between the online 1900 photo and what I actually saw in 1962. The mirrored alcove wall in 1962 originally was a door in the 1900 photo. My conjecture is that the door led to the service staff stairs or it possibly led up to the small balcony in the salon for theatrical plays, or perhaps even a musicians “pit.” to the salon. From the salon side, the balcony was in the same location as the reverse side of the mirrored wall (door in 1900). Absent also from what appeared in the early photo were the large carpeted foyer table and floor carpets.
Reception Room or Ante-Room on left. As one entered the foyer, facing the stairway and to the left, there was a tiled ante-room (not visible on the photo). This room was more of a “meet and greet” area for people who were visiting residents of the home. This ante-room was a smaller, less formal than the salon, but very bright from several tall windows. Furnishings were a large side table positioned between 2 windows facing New Hampshire Ave, chairs, highly polished tiled floor, and a restroom to accommodate visitors and residents. If ceilings were beamed with painted ceiling panels, or if this room had a fireplace, I have no recollection..
Salon on right. This room was my favorite with its enormity, lavish furnishings, beamed ceilings, huge fireplace, various colored-painted panels and trims (I especially remember a beautiful turquoise as one of the pops-of-color enhancing the room.) However, there were several noticeable changes to what I saw in 1962 compared to the photo taken at an earlier time. In 1962, the wall with the fireplace and adjoining walls were now devoid of paintings and tapestries. The pseudo-like banister balcony resting on the ledge above the fireplace was now fully visible and beautifully painted…painted in rich dark brown hues, turquoise, and gold gild. If the balcony was usable or had a door to that upper floor or was it just decorative, I do not know. One of the former owners of the home, Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, at the turn of the twentieth century, loved to have theatrical plays and music as part of the entertainment for her guests. In the Library of Congress photo, a small balcony appears on the left wall, as well as the longer one on the fireplace wall. In 1962, I believe that the smaller balcony was non-existent. The huge unusual couch with seating from both sides appears to be the same one, but in all probability was reupholstered for a newer, fresher look. The huge table by the ouch, I believe, was still there, as well. Floor carpets too were gone. A huge doorway adjoining the fireplace wall led to the home’s Library.
Library or Library Combined TV Game Room in 1962. Like all rooms on this floor, except the Ante-Room, the Library Combined TV-Game Room was enormous and very lavish with wooden beam ceilings, popping color trims to enhance room, tiled floors using large tiles, and very formal. On the wall on the back side of the foyer stairway was an immense bookcase with glass doors and wire grids which bespoke of a by-gone era when owners had a substantial personal home library. In 1962, the Library had that huge bookcase, a TV, several couches, and chairs for TV watching. The TV and couches, as I remember, were dwarfed by the enormity of the room. However, I do not recall if there were tables and chairs available for board games or card playing. However, I do remember that we had to be fully dressed, that is, no watching the late movie in PJs.
Formal Dining Room (downstairs). As I entered the immense-sized dining room, a cavernous fireplace with ornate trimmings at one end of the room greeted us as its residents. I remember the heavy beamed ceiling, painted ceiling panels and painted walls, but these panels and walls carried a more subdued color palette of browns and beige. Even though room had at least two wrought iron barred windows facing New Hampshire Ave at ground level, the dining room was much more dark than other rooms in the house. If the room had wainscoting, I do not recall. Two very long wooden tables placed lengthwise and chairs ran from the fireplace area to about 2/3 of the room. Nearer the two windows, there was a large round table to seat about 6 to 8 people for better conservation flow and several smaller tables to accommodate two people. The official 1900 official photo also shows a lovely large hutch cabinet with a candelabra setting on it. In 1962, the hutch cabinet was gone, but I remember several silver candelabras decorated the “special occasion dinner” tables for us. What that special occasion dinner celebrated I do not remember, but the silver candelabras adorned the tables with fresh blooming climbing roses wired to it. I remember how it added to the formal ambiance of the room and how the aroma of the roses made even more of an impact on the senses. I wonder if this dining room on the lower level was the original placement of the room or was it redesigned and moved from the main floor to the downstairs at a later time. However, the wide steps downward from the foyer and the formalism of the dining room itself seemed to fit the home’s lavishness, flow, and harmony.
Service Staff Stairs. There was an entrance to this home’s service staff stairs from a hallway wall portal on every upper floor. Stairs was steep, dark, devoid of any ornamentation, angular and twisty, wooden, spooky, and out-of-sight and it led down to the kitchen and dining areas. On Saturdays, foot traffic on these stairs was quite ample in 1962. We loved it. We exited our upper bedrooms through portals from each floor hallway, came down to the dining room in PJs, hair curlers, slippers, and laundry baskets, and we experienced casual breakfasts. However, as you came down these stairs, your imagination ran run wild with thoughts of bygone service people carrying out their tasks inconspicuously. If only these stairs could carry the whispers of these service people from its by-gone days.
Bedroom. Here in the bedroom, the ornate lavishness of the walls and ceilings stopped. Room was adequate in providing the basic amenities and comfort, that is, in 1962, it housed 4 single beds, 2 closets, 4 bureaus, an en-suite bathroom, a narrow longer desk, and a tall window for ventilation. Actually, this large room in shape and size and location of the walk-in closet with paneled door looked very much like the 1900 photo of Mrs. Hearst’s bedroom. (Its resemblance is uncanny…but any hint of ostentatious furnishings in room were already gone by the time of my residency.) The bed canopy in the 1900 photo was where the window was located in 1962…if indeed it was the same room. The irony of the room continues with the desk in the 1900 photo which shows a longer narrow desk in middle of the room, but such a shaped desk in 1962 adorned the wall under the window in the room. Since the room now accommodated 4 girls, closet space was of the essence. There was the original walk-in closet with the paneled door and a newer closet built in 1950s style with sliding doors. The beds were iron-framed ones reminiscent of WWI hospital beds or perhaps ones brought down from the original live-in service staff rooms during the home’s heyday years. At ceiling level, there may have been a simple cove, but I do not recall; however, I remember its ceiling light fixture. Very plain one with one or two regular light bulbs hanging downward, with a glass shield to feather the light. After a very heavy rain, I remember that the light bulb started to have moisture in its interior; and, the service staff man had to repair the roof after seeing this moisture. Since I do not believe that there was a bare exterior roof above my room, the water had to seep downward from the roof of a higher floor. Service man repaired it well as no water seepage into the light bulb or wet ceiling recurred again.
En-suite Bathroom. On the other side of the home’s walk-in closet (using 1900 photo as reference), there was a step up to the en-suite bathroom…a sink, bathtub, loo, and towel rack or racks. If the bathtub was claw-footed or had a shroud built around it, I do not recall, but it had no shower. The floor and part of the lower walls were tiled, but if it were covered in smaller tiles indicative of the Victorian period or regular brick-sized tiles, I do not recall, but I do remember that the tiles were white.
Staff. Unfortunately, I do not know the size of the work force employed to clean and upkeep this property in its heyday. In 1962, under the auspices of Cathedral Club, the home had a sizable staff to service its 50-60 tenants. We as its residents were greeted every morning at breakfast by a very congenial cook and her helper/server. In the evenings, we were again warmly greeted by this same cook and her helper/server. In addition to these two, there was a handyman, several service staff members to clean the rooms and change bed linens, a “house mother,” and a substitute “house mother” in the absence of the regular one. We only needed to do our own personal laundry and forage around for Sunday meals out as no meals were served that day.
Kitchen and Laundry Room. Both were tiled in white on the lower level; both were non-descriptive, but functional. We as residents loved that the service staff stairs in the wall accessed the kitchen area from our upstairs hallway portals. On the weekends, especially, we left many footprints on those stairs to the kitchen dressed in PJs and hair curlers and/or carrying laundry baskets. Prosaically, that is all that needs to be said about these two rooms.
The official online photos and history of the home at 1400 New Hampshire Ave, Wash, DC, really jogged my thoughts that “I lived there too, but 60 years later, in the early 1960s.” Since these are such good memories, I decided to take one on a tour of the house through my written recollections and the official Library of Congress photos from 1900. So much of the exterior and interior of the house miraculously remained in tact for those 60 years from about 1900 to my residency there in 1962. I then took another 60 years to write my recollections. The home’s grandeur, aura, and ambiance affect my heart forever…even if the home no longer exists physically..
August 15, 2022 at 8:20 am
Ann & Monica- My mother, Angela, lived there in the early 1060’s while going to Georgetown and working. I would love to connect and discuss this- she has pictures all dressed up to go out. She has fond memories of giving tours to visitors, and remembers the paintings there. Can I contact either of you to discuss?
September 30, 2022 at 4:41 pm
My mother and grandmother lived here when it was the Russian Bible House. They were both displaced persons from Latvia. They lived here in this house from 1948-1950, and my grandmother, Anna Redin, was a bookkeeper for Basil Malof’s Russian Bible Mission. My mother, Rute Redin, worked as a bookkeeper at the Hotel Raleigh. Although they enjoyed their time in Washington D.C., they both left to move to California to join Anna’s daughter, Marta Redin, who had married and had a new baby. Thanks for posting all of this interesting information about his house!
November 7, 2022 at 2:13 pm
Yes, Sean S and others. I am delighted to discuss the Hearst home with you, your mother, and others. Sean, your comment was posted in late August, but I saw it only a few weeks ago…10 scourges to me..and, of course, I am so elated that Washington Kaleidoscope has given us an opportunity to share our lives while living at the historic D.C. Hearst home, as well.
November 7, 2022 at 5:20 pm
I always thought it was interesting to know the history of the house, which is where I first saw the light of day. So, I really don’t remember anything about the place. I was mostly curious since my birth certificate reads as this address where my mom and dad lived when I was born. I suppose they didn’t live there very long since I do remember that by the time I was 4, we were living in the Mt. Pleasant area and then when I was 5 (around 1961) we lived in an apartment building on P St., near Dupont Circle, not far from New Hampshire Ave.
February 15, 2023 at 4:55 pm
Monica- just saw your reply! How do I contact you? I was just looking at old pics of my mother in front of the fireplace and all dressed in black for a night out, in the foyer.
September 4, 2023 at 6:06 pm
My grandfather was Basil Malof who founded The Bible House. He was ethnically Latvian. I remember faintly The Bible House because I was a toddler. I had a game with my grandfather. I would tell him I wanted to go out. I seem to remember there was a kind of balcony once you exited the front door, and I liked to go and look out over the balcony like I was on a ship. So I would ask him and he would let me out. But then I became cold or afraid and started banging on the door. He was waiting for me. He opened the door, smiling, and I ran down the central hallway to his office which I remember on the left. He had a big desk and a big chair (everything was big to me then) and I would climb into his chair. He would come and then I would tell him I wanted to out again. After about the third time he told me I had to make up my mind what I wanted to do. I guess I was maybe 3 or 4 at the time. And I remember my parents always dressing me in a silly sailor suit with short pants when we visited. I do remember the DPs (displaced people) there from Eastern Europe. And I remember the kitchen in the basement, I believe it was, and a big woman stirring a steaming pot of soup. Anyway, nice to learn about the history. I’m 72 now. John Hartsock