The Turkish Ambassador's Residence and the Cultural History Of
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. C . D THE TURKISH ON, T AMBASSAdor’s RESIDENCE AND THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF SHING A WASHINGTON, D.C. Skip Moskey ORY OF W Caroline Mesrobian Hickman T IS John Edward Hasse H L A Forewords by Ahmet Davutoğlu and James M. Goode UR T UL C “Everett House has long been a source of curiosity for those who viewed it from the outside, HE and a source of wonder for those lucky enough to have seen it from the inside. With the T publication of this volume, historians and the general public will be able to more fully ND A appreciate the importance of the house and the people who have been fortunate to call it home. Everett House has at last been fully documented and interpreted in a way that is fitting to its stature as one of the premier residences in the nation’s capital.” ESIDENCE James M. Goode R dor’s A SS A THE TURKISH AMB ISBN: 978-605-4763-07-8 The Turkish Ambassador’s Residence and the Cultural History of Washington, D.C. Skip Moskey, Caroline Mesrobian Hickman, John Edward Hasse Forewords by Ahmet Davutoğlu and James M. Goode The Turkish Ambassador’s Residence and the Cultural History of Washington, D.C. Skip Moskey, Caroline Mesrobian Hickman, John Edward Hasse Forewords by Ahmet Davutoğlu and James M. Goode Copyright © 2013 Istanbul Kültür University All Rights Reserved. Printed in Istanbul Some of the illustrations in this volume are a copyright of their owners. The copyright notations provided in the captions of those illustrations constitute an extension of this copyright page. Grateful acknowledgement is given for the use of all images appearing in this volume. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and scholarly articles. The views expressed in this book belong to the authors, and they may not necessarily concur partially or wholly with those of either Global Political Trends Center (GPoT Center) or Istanbul Kültür University (IKU). Project Coordinators Mensur Akgün and Sylvia Tiryaki Prepared by Duygu Alpan Istanbul Kültür University Publication No. 193 ISBN: 978-605-4763-07-8 First Published May 2013 Istanbul Kültür University Atakoy Campus, Bakirkoy 34156 Istanbul, Turkey Phone: +90 212 498 41 41 Fax: +90 212 498 44 05 www.iku.edu.tr Production MYRA www.myra.com.tr Book Design Rauf Kösemen, Deniz Kurşunlu Coordination Sibel Doğan, Damla Özlüer Page Layout Gülderen Rençber Erbaş Prepress Harun Yılmaz Printing İmak Ofset Basım Yayın San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti. Atatürk Cad. Göl Sok. No: 1 Yenibosna Bahçelievler/Istanbul, Turkey Tel: +90 212 656 49 97 CONTENTS ON BEHALF OF ISTANBUL KULTUR UNIVERSITY 4 Bahar Akıngüç Günver foreword 5 Ahmet Davutoğlu foreword 6 James M. Goode authors’ note 8 acknowledgments 9 Acknowledgments from the Project Coordinators 12 Sylvia Tiryaki and Mensur Akgün CHAPTER 1 14 MR. EVERETT’S WASHINGTON Skip Moskey CHAPTER 2 32 THE BOTTLE KING COMES TO WASHINGTON Skip Moskey CHAPTER 3 48 A CENTURY OF ARCHITECTURE, ART, And DIPLOMATIC HISTORY Caroline Mesrobian Hickman CHAPTER 4 94 the swinging scions: how the ambassador’s sons jazzed washington and the nation John Edward Hasse WORKS CITED 131 ABOUT THE AUTHORS 136 DIPLOMATIC RESIDENTS OF THE HOUSE 137 INDEX 139 The idea for this work emerged as a result of the On behalf admiration of two academicians from Istanbul Kültür University for the Embassy Residence in Washington of the Republic of Turkey where they of Istanbul were invited after a meeting that they attended in 2011 at the Carnegie Endowment. They were Kültür captivated by the narratives told about the residence. We, as the University Administration, University supported and contributed to the actualization of the project as much as we could. Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver After almost two years of work, we are very Chair delighted and proud of the book written by three IKU Board of Directors important authors. We strongly believe that their work will contribute to the understanding of the depth of relations between the two countries. It will transform Turkey from a geographic location to an architectural, social and even musical reality, in the minds of Washingtonians. We, as Istanbul Kültür University, greatly appreciate those who have contributed to this book, especially the authors, Skip Moskey, Caroline Mesrobian Hickman and John Edward Hasse. We are also grateful to Ambassador Namık Tan who passionately opened the doors of his house and shared its treasures with his real and virtual visitors. If he hadn’t told the story behind his residence to our colleagues Mensur Akgün and Sylvia Tiryaki, we would never have had the opportunity to publish this book today. We would also like to thank the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoğlu, for giving us a chance to actualize this project. Istanbul Kültür University, attributes special importance to culture, music, art and architecture, has contributed to various projects. However, only a few of these projects have pleased us as much as publishing this book. We hope that the reader will be just as enthralled as were while turning the pages of the book and reading the history of Everett House. 4 Throughout the period after the end of the FOREWORD Second World War to the present, United States and Turkey have consistently held an Prof. Dr. Ahmet Davutoğlu individual critical importance for each other. The relationship between two countries was evolved The Minister of Foreign Affairs to a new dimension with USA’s effective security guarantees to Turkey in 1946 and six years later Turkey’s membership to NATO, founded under the leadership of the USA. The USA, as a global power, and Turkey, as a regional power maintain their intercourse in numerous fields. Besides contacts between the statesmen and politicians, I believe that the civil society, business people, think tanks and universities will play a major role as leading actors in flourishing the relationships. The work you read should be treated as a reflection of the role assumed by the universities and non- governmental organizations in this respect. Institutions such as Istanbul Kültür University have raised awareness our embassy residence, Everett House, which serves as an indicator of the fondness between the two countries and bringing it to the attention of wider audiences. As the following pages reveal, our residence is true in its value. With architecture dressed with traces of Turkish origins, the building has become a crucial entity for the architectural culture of Washington. However, architecture is not the only unique aspect defining the significance of the building. Besides, it’s the home where the jazz masters of the USA, more precisely, the jazz masters of the world, frequently visited and performed their art. The interior of the building reflects traces of the history of the American music, and therefore we feel that it is not an exclusive property of us. After all, the building hosts Turkey and USA, and reflects the cultures of both countries concurrently in a single space. I would like to extend my thanks to everyone, primarily the authors, who contributed to the evolution and publication of this book. I hope this would serve as a trigger in driving other institutions and universities to introduce to readers other common values in both countries. 5 The preservation of Washington, D.C.’s Beaux- FOREWORD Arts mansions, one of the finest collections of any American city, can be credited in large part to their James M. Goode purchase and maintenance over the years by foreign governments as their embassies and ambassadorial residences. One of the most architecturally important examples is the mansion built by the Ohio-industrialist Edward Hamlin Everett (1851- 1929), designed by George Oakley Totten, Jr., and built between 1910 and 1915 on Sheridan Circle. During the Great Depression, Everett’s widow sold the house, fully furnished, to the Turkish government for their embassy and residence. Fortunately, the Turkish government has carefully maintained this landmark for the past eighty years. Between 2001 and 2007, they undertook the restoration of the house and its contents, guided by the interior designer Aniko Gaal Schott and the architect Belinda Reeder. The house served a dual function as the embassy and the residence for many years. In 1999, with the opening of the new Turkish chancery five blocks north on Massachusetts Avenue, the Turkish government gained a second highly notable building on Embassy Row. To celebrate this restoration and to record the history of the house in depth, Istanbul Kültür University commissioned three local scholars, Skip Moskey, Caroline Mesrobian Hickman, and John Edward Hasse, to prepare this book. The current residents, Ambassador and Mrs. Namık Tan, initiated the idea for this publication. The first chapter, by Skip Moskey, on the intersection of politics, architecture, and social 6 structure in the early history of Washington, shows An important chapter in the history of the house how the city evolved from its primitive beginnings was the decade between 1934 and 1944, when in 1800 to its late 19th century status as the nation’s the sons of Ambassador and Mrs. Mehmet Münir winter Newport. The city took on more importance Ertegün, Ahmet and Nesuhi, brought noted African- at the conclusion of the Spanish American War in American musicians home for jazz sessions in the 1898, when the United States was recognized as a Embassy. There they broke racial barriers and world power. His subsequent chapter on Edward enriched Washington’s music scene through their Hamlin Everett draws on materials from archives in passion for African-American music. John Edward the United States and Europe and presents a new Hasse documents the musical history of the Ertegun and fuller understanding of Everett’s life.