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Photo: AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Department of State offers guided tours of its formal reception rooms, used for official meetings with foreign representatives. The rooms are a trove of antiques and gifts, old and new, given by foreign governments to the U.S. Tours only by appointment, must show valid ID to be admitted.
The diplomatic reception rooms at the United States Department of State are forty-two principal rooms and offices used by the United States Secretary of State in the conduct of diplomacy. Located on the seventh and eighth floors of the Harry S Truman Building in Washington, D.C., the diplomatic reception rooms include one of the nation's foremost museum collections of American fine and decorative arts.
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Fabric heaven. Everything is very thoughtfully exhibited and this museum happens to have one of the finest collection of fabrics in the world.
D.A.R. Constitution Hall is a smaller venue which hosts theatrical and musical performances, although the acoustics are known to be subpar. It is also home to the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, which displays fine arts, ceramics, quilts, and other items, and period rooms. Special events held at Constitution Hall have included filming of the popular game shows, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Architect John Russell Pope designed the building, which was completed in 1929 and is designated a National Historic Site. It was built to house the annual D.A.R. convention, and was home to the National Symphony Orchestra prior to the opening of the Kennedy Center.
The Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University hosts various events including concerts and dance performances.
Designed by William C. Thornton, and completed in 1800, the Octagon was owned by Colonel John Tayloe, a Virginia plantation owner. A few years later, the Tayloes offered the house for use as the French Embassy, where the Treaty of Ghent was signed by President James Madison to end the War of 1812 (he was working there temporarily following the 1814 burning of the White House). The house was sold in 1855, and since used as a military hospital during the Civil War, an apartment building, a girl's school, and has been owned by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) since 1902. The house is now used as a museum.
Dacor-Bacon House
The Ringgold-Carroll House was built in 1825 for Tench Ringgold, who was part of a three-member team in charge of restoring public buildings in the District of Columbia, following the War of 1812. From 1832-1833, Chief Justice John Marshall resided with Ringgold in the house. In 1835, the house was sold, and a number of prominent people have since lived in the house, including William Thomas Carroll, a clerk at the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Melville Fuller, Senator Joseph Medill McCormick, and Congressman Robert Low Bacon. The Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired (DACOR) now occupy the house, which is not open to the public except for special events.