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South façade of the restored house, with universally accessible entrance.

experience in creating iconic civic and commemorative spaces
such as the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, the
National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism during
World War II, and the National Law Enforcement Museum.
“We had a wonderful collaboration with our partners on
this project,” said Davis Buckley, FAIA. “It was clear to all of us
the building was not in good condition and was going to require
a high level of technical skill to bring it back.”
The first step was to move the house. The structure had
already been relocated once in 1915 when it was shifted about
50 feet west to accommodate the extension of 17th Street, NW.
Now, the house needed to be relocated once again, this time
40 feet southwest in order to pull it back from the encroaching South façade before the latest relocation and restoration,
Constitution Avenue and to create a suitable entry plaza for with steps leading to the door.
Constitution Gardens. alteration, were carefully taken down. The entire structure was
“The biggest challenge was that the original building was repointed to provide stability as well as to reveal any cracking
constructed of various materials, some soft stone and some that might occur as a result of the move. A new concrete
hard, and joining the old foundation to the new required special foundation and basement were built to receive the house and the
detailing,” recalled Buckley. To stabilize the structure and 220,000-pound stone structure was braced, hydraulically lifted
prepare it for the move, the team disassembled windows and three feet, and finally guided to its new site. Recalling moving
temporarily filled their openings with masonry block. The two day, the architect said, “Some people watching held their breath,
stone chimneys above the roofline, the result of an earlier but we knew it was going to work. We weren’t afraid.”

18 A KEY TO HISTORY