5 Fun Facts About Jeff Bezos's New D.C. Home The historic house is the largest in the city.
By Nina Zipkin
Jeff Bezos, the world's second-richest person, no longer needs to stay in a hotel when he visits Washington, D.C., to drop in on The Washington Post or visit the White House.
The founder of Amazon and owner of the Post was revealed as the newest resident of the biggest house in our nation's capital, a nearly 27,000 square-foot mansion (that is actually two buildings put together) that he bought for $23 million.
Until 2013, the property housed The Textile Museum. George Washington University took on its collection and the museum's new location opened in the university's campus across town during the spring of 2015.
Here's some fun facts about Bezos's new home.
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1. It's big. Like, really big.
The property is four stories high, has 10 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms and 11 fireplaces. That's 24 Amazon echo devices before you include the kitchen, living rooms and any other rooms that you think would be in a 100-year-old mansion.
Just to get a sense for its sheer scale, a 27,000 foot aquarium recently opened in Fort Worth, Utah. The D.C. single family home could ostensibly hold a plethora of ocean life, including a handful of sharks.
2. It's good for entertaining.
While it was still the Textile Museum, it was considered an ideal wedding venue. If Bezos was so inclined, the space would certainly let him throw all the 200-person dinner parties his heart desires.
3. The neighborhood is POTUS-approved.
When Bezos takes up residence in his new home, he'll have a pretty famous neighbor: President Barack Obama. A few other presidents were fans of Kalorama too: Warren G. Harding, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson all had homes there.
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4. The house has a historic pedigree.
The property is in the National Register of Historic Places for a pretty cool reason.
In 1912, the Textile Museum's founder, George Hewitt Meyers, asked architect John Russell Pope to build him a mansion. In 1915, Meyers and his family moved in, and 10 years later, he opened the museum after he purchased the property next door to house his massive collection of textiles from all over the world.
Pope was responsible for a few other buildings you might have heard of, such as the National Gallery of Art and the Jefferson Memorial. That neighboring building was designed by Waddy Butler Wood, who was also behind well known D.C. landmarks such as Woodrow Wilson House and the headquarters of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
5. The first owner was a bit of a renaissance man.
George Hewitt Meyers had a variety of interests. He was an academic, had a passion for the environment and worked for the U.S. Forest Service and was world traveler. When he died in 1957, he had amassed a collection of nearly 5,000 textiles. Perhaps Bezos, with his interest in media and exploring new worlds with Blue Origin, found a kindred spirit in the home's original owner.
