You don’t have to travel to Europe to see European architecture!
Hi everyone, ken here, welcome to this house.
Today we are exploring the Pink Palace in Washington DC.
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Marshall Field was born in 1834 in Conway, Massachusetts.
At the age of 17, he left school to work for his brother in his dry goods store where he
would gain a lot of experience with retail.
With a solid resume, he moved to Chicago where he landed a job with Cooley, Farwell and Company
selling dry goods.
By 1862, at the age of 28, he had worked his way up to the title of Partner.
He found he wasn’t a good fit for the company culture and decided to sever ties and go into
business with Potter Palmer whose mansion we covered in a recent video.
Together with an additional business partner, they pioneered the retail industry with new
business tactics that revolved around customer service, allowing customers to test products
at home before purchasing, and implementing a no questions asked return policy.
Together, they paved the way for the future of retail.
By 1881, Marshall had acquired the entire company and named it Marshall Field and Company.
By 1905, he had amassed a fortune of 125 million dollars, or the modern day equivalent of about
4.2 billion dollars.
Marshall had become one of the wealthiest men in the world, so it was only fitting that
he would spend his time with some of the world’s most elite.
In 1904 he married Delia Spencer.
Delia was the daughter of a hardware wholesaler magnate and was known for throwing lavish
parties.
She would set a theme for a ball and require guests to arrive in costume.
She would hire artists to transform her house to fit the themes including painting murals
and brining in new furniture to capture the ambiance.
On several occasions, her guests included members of the British Royal Family.
Realizing he had his hands full with his eccentric wife, he sat down with his estate planner
to draft up a new provision in his will saying that if Delia outlived him, 1 million dollars
from his estate was to be paid out to whomever she remarried.
When the estate planner asked why, Marshall simply replied “because he’ll need it.”
It was good of him to think ahead, because just a few months later, On new years day
in 1906, Marshall was playing a round of golf with Abraham Lincoln’s oldest son, Robert
Todd Lincoln.
It was a particularly cold and misty day and Marshall ended up contracting pneumonia.
He fought for his life over the next 16 days, but his body was no match for the disease.
On January 16th he passed away at the age of 71 years old leaving his entire estate
to his widow, Delia.
She stuck around in Chicago until 1912, when she leased the Pink Palace in Washington DC
from Mrs Henderson.
The pink Palace had been built in the Pallazzo style and was modeled after the 15th century
Gothic Palazzos in Venice.
It’s 4 story gothic façade included a first story wrapped in limestone with limestone
quoins stacked to the roofline.
The gothic windows rose to pointed arches with elaborate balustrade creating Juliet
balconies between them.
Elaborate gardens were contained by a wrought iron fence surrounding the house on 3 sides.
Though the house had been true to it’s venetian inspiration, Delia began remodeling the interior
of the house to be more to her liking.
The stair Hall was decorated in antique European tapestries and the staircase itself boasted
a mix of wood and wrought iron crafted together to form the newel posts and bannisters.
A ballroom was added with neo classical elements including large fluted columns with Corinthian
capitols.
The ceiling rounded out over a mezzanine set behind an elaborate archway.
The space doubled as a an art gallery and featured Delia’s most prized collections.
Her dining room featured built in cabinets for displaying her porcelain collection and
the walls were crafted from wood panels set below a coffered ceiling.
Instead of having chandeliers hung in the middle of the room, 6 chandeliers were suspended
around the perimeter of the room.
The breakfast room was every bit as ornate with paintings, statues, and china decorating
the walls.
Many of the architectural features such as arching millwork were covered by her decorations.
The smoking room contained a brilliant parquet wood floor set with varying light and dark
wood types.
Floral wall paper stretched floor to ceiling and was layered with floral drapes over the
windows.
For all of this grandeur, Delia wanted to also create a less formal space.
Her Informal Salon was meant to be a more relaxing roof with low ceilings, painted millwork,
and a more modest fireplaces.
Here she displayed portraits of family members and would have more intimate conversations
with her guests.
In 1920, Delia purchased the home and lived out the rest of her days in it until her passing
in 1937.
She never had any children, so she left her entire estate to her niece, Catherine Beveridge
who sold the Pink Palace to the Order of the Eastern Star.
But it would only be used as a lodge for a few years before being sold again.
By 1951, the house had been sold to The Inter American Defense Board.
The organization painted the Pink Palace white and renamed it to Casa Del Soldado meaning
House of the Solider.
By 1984, the house’s façade began to fall into disrepair.
One of the balconies had started to crumble, so rather than fix it, the organization had
all of the balconies removed, even using sledge hammers and torches to remove the other balconies,
which many believe could have lasted another century without maintenance.
The organization has made several changes to the interior, but the house continues to
exist to this day, a rare example of the Palazzo style in the united states.
Which room was your favorite?
Let me know down below in the comments section.
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