Josephine Butler Parks Center, Renaissance Revival mansion in Meridian Hill, United States.
The Josephine Butler Parks Center is a 40-room mansion built in Renaissance Revival style by architect George Oakley Totten Jr., located at 2437 15th Street NW. The building contains both indoor and outdoor spaces that host performances, art shows, and community events.
Built in 1927 as a private home for Mary Foote Henderson, the mansion later served as the Hungarian Embassy from 1951 to 1977. These two chapters shaped the building's importance in the neighborhood's story.
The center serves as a hub for Washington Parks and People, supporting environmental work and helping new organizations get started. Visitors find it functions as a meeting point where people work on neighborhood improvement projects.
The center is located at 2437 15th Street NW and has both indoor and outdoor event spaces to explore. It functions mainly as a venue space, so checking ahead before visiting ensures you can access the grounds.
The ground beneath this mansion holds earlier stories worth knowing about: it once served as a spiritual site for Native Americans and later became a Union Army hospital during the Civil War. These layers of history add depth to the land beyond what the building itself shows.
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