If these walls could talk...
There are houses with history, and then there are houses that are history. The British Ambassador’s Residence in Washington DC is the latter – and Susan Nemazee Westmacott calls it home.
As the wife of the British Ambassador to the United States of America, Sir Peter Westmacott, she has lived in this extraordinary property – described by the Washington Post in 1929 as ‘the finest [embassy] in the world’ – since 2012 and is now behind an exquisite book, The Architecture Of Diplomacy, which offers a peep through the keyhole into its very colourful past and present.
We meet in the sunshine over a glass of lemonade at the Royal Overseas League in London and she tells me what it’s like to be the lady of this glorious piece of British heritage. For, as she is quick to point out, the embassy isn’t only remarkable, but unique: the only building on the American continent to be designed by esteemed British architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944).
American-born Susan and her husband, Sir Peter Westmacott, the Brtish Ambassador to the United States
Lutyens, who also shaped the sharp new capital of British India, New Delhi, and crafted London’s Cenotaph, was commissioned to design the new British embassy in 1925. He was presented with an awkward, sloping, rather meagre plot – budgets were stretched then as now – and tasked with creating a building emblematic both of Britain’s special relationship with the United States and our nation’s role as a global power.
‘First of all, he wanted, I believe, to impress – and he certainly does that,’ says Susan. Combining the feel of an English country house with elements of American colonial architecture, the embassy was opened in May 1930 and has been a fulcrum of transatlantic relations ever since.
But what’s it like to live in? ‘We don’t just live upstairs,’ says Susan, ‘we live as much as possible in the whole house, and we walk through it and we feel very comfortable having guests.’ Which is just as well.
A reception for cast members of Downton Abbey was held at the Residence
Susan and her husband share the Residence with a staggering 15,000 visitors a year, many of whom are entertained in the ballroom, beneath Andy Warhol’s 1985 portrait of the Queen – who, incidentally, may also come calling.
‘If Her Majesty comes to Washington, she is on an official State visit and so she stays in the official [US] State guest house,’ says Susan. ‘But she will hold a banquet at the Residence, where she is the host; the menu cards are printed in French and come from Buckingham Palace. Certainly for Her Majesty’s visits, the lead time is a couple of years, so everyone knows that she is coming, an official invitation has been issued, the preparations begin and a team from the Palace will come to oversee everything.’ And you thought hosting your own Fridaynight dinner parties was stressful.
From left: An elaborate centrepiece comprising three musicians, created by silversmith Paul Storr in 1815, graces the table in the Dining Room; The Residence's Main Corridor, with a floor made of Vermont marble and Pennsylvania slate, stretches nearly 165 feet from end of end; Afternoon tea is set out on a giltwood table in the Drawing Room
‘Some people never actually come to terms with it [living in an ambassador’s residence], because no matter how considerate everyone is, you are giving up a certain amount of your privacy for the privilege of living in some of these houses. If you do not like having anyone in your space, I guess you can stay in your bedroom – and lock the door.
‘But we have a programme, and I know when people are in the house, generally… it is not as if they appear out of nowhere. So I have come to terms with it. Occasionally, there are times when I wouldn’t mind going downstairs in my pyjamas but I know that I can’t.’
Besides, things have certainly changed for the better for the wives (and husbands) of Britain’s ambassadors. ‘In the old days, it was almost a three-line whip – the ladies did the flowers and the Ambassador’s (usually) wife would make all the arrangements and would get the deputy’s wife and all the other ladies to help. This system has changed over the last couple of decades.
A view of the Ballroom looking across the Main Corridor and into the Garden
‘I feel myself – and I speak only for myself – that I do what I want. If I am attending a reception I am there because I wish to be there. No one has forced me. My husband has not said to me “You must be there” – no, he does not. He could do the job without me… I feel that it is a lot of fun.’
You certainly get to meet some spectacularly interesting people. ‘In December of 2012, PBS [America’s public television network] was launching the third season of Downton Abbey,’ recalls Susan. ‘A number of the stars came over to Washington so we did a reception for them, which was fun. People were thrilled to come and we got to know many of the cast.
‘Soon afterwards, Hillary Clinton was leaving her role as Secretary of State and the Foreign Secretary wanted to do a farewell for her… and the decision was taken that we would have the party in Washington. A mutual friend told us the Secretary of State was a great fan of Downton Abbey, so my husband got in touch with Hugh Bonneville and organised a little clip of farewell.
Nowhere in ther Residence is Lutyens's mastery of dimension and his generous use of space seen to better effect than in the dazzling Grand Staircase
‘We had a screen up, and wonderful guests – Mrs Clinton came with former President Clinton and their daughter – and after the first speech, my husband said: “We have a little something for you if you wouldn’t mind looking at the screen.”
‘When she heard the music of Downton Abbey – I was sitting next to Bill Clinton – she clapped her hand over her mouth and she was so delighted, and he was looking at her and he said: “You know, that’s Hillary’s favourite show!” That was probably the most amusing thing that has happened in our time.’
From left: Lutyens liked to design pavilions, temples and other structures as places of destination. This one marks the entrance to the swimming pool; the beautiful proportions of the Dining Room, which can seat 34 guests, are shown in this photograph of candles being lit for a dinner
But with so much history in the house, has she ever felt that she is also sharing it with a ghost or two? ‘You know, the answer is no – I would say it’s a happy house. It is not a house that has a lugubrious atmosphere or feels that it has had anything tragic happen in it. I don’t at all – if I am alone in the house, it doesn’t bother me. I feel perfectly comfortable.’
But there’s just one more question that I am dying to ask. Do they really serve Ferrero Rocher chocolates at the Ambassador’s receptions?
‘No, we don’t!’ she says with a smile. ‘It’s not British, is it?’
What will the Italians say?
The Architecture Of Diplomacy: The British Ambassador’s Residence In Washington, by Anthony Seldon and Daniel Collings, with photography by Eric Sander, is published by Flammarion, priced £45.
As the wife of the British Ambassador to the United States of America, Sir Peter Westmacott, she has lived in this extraordinary property – described by the Washington Post in 1929 as ‘the finest [embassy] in the world’ – since 2012 and is now behind an exquisite book, The Architecture Of Diplomacy, which offers a peep through the keyhole into its very colourful past and present.
We meet in the sunshine over a glass of lemonade at the Royal Overseas League in London and she tells me what it’s like to be the lady of this glorious piece of British heritage. For, as she is quick to point out, the embassy isn’t only remarkable, but unique: the only building on the American continent to be designed by esteemed British architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944).
American-born Susan and her husband, Sir Peter Westmacott, the Brtish Ambassador to the United StatesLutyens, who also shaped the sharp new capital of British India, New Delhi, and crafted London’s Cenotaph, was commissioned to design the new British embassy in 1925. He was presented with an awkward, sloping, rather meagre plot – budgets were stretched then as now – and tasked with creating a building emblematic both of Britain’s special relationship with the United States and our nation’s role as a global power.
‘First of all, he wanted, I believe, to impress – and he certainly does that,’ says Susan. Combining the feel of an English country house with elements of American colonial architecture, the embassy was opened in May 1930 and has been a fulcrum of transatlantic relations ever since.
But what’s it like to live in? ‘We don’t just live upstairs,’ says Susan, ‘we live as much as possible in the whole house, and we walk through it and we feel very comfortable having guests.’ Which is just as well.
A reception for cast members of Downton Abbey was held at the ResidenceSusan and her husband share the Residence with a staggering 15,000 visitors a year, many of whom are entertained in the ballroom, beneath Andy Warhol’s 1985 portrait of the Queen – who, incidentally, may also come calling.
‘If Her Majesty comes to Washington, she is on an official State visit and so she stays in the official [US] State guest house,’ says Susan. ‘But she will hold a banquet at the Residence, where she is the host; the menu cards are printed in French and come from Buckingham Palace. Certainly for Her Majesty’s visits, the lead time is a couple of years, so everyone knows that she is coming, an official invitation has been issued, the preparations begin and a team from the Palace will come to oversee everything.’ And you thought hosting your own Fridaynight dinner parties was stressful.
From left: An elaborate centrepiece comprising three musicians, created by silversmith Paul Storr in 1815, graces the table in the Dining Room; The Residence's Main Corridor, with a floor made of Vermont marble and Pennsylvania slate, stretches nearly 165 feet from end of end; Afternoon tea is set out on a giltwood table in the Drawing Room‘Some people never actually come to terms with it [living in an ambassador’s residence], because no matter how considerate everyone is, you are giving up a certain amount of your privacy for the privilege of living in some of these houses. If you do not like having anyone in your space, I guess you can stay in your bedroom – and lock the door.
‘But we have a programme, and I know when people are in the house, generally… it is not as if they appear out of nowhere. So I have come to terms with it. Occasionally, there are times when I wouldn’t mind going downstairs in my pyjamas but I know that I can’t.’
Besides, things have certainly changed for the better for the wives (and husbands) of Britain’s ambassadors. ‘In the old days, it was almost a three-line whip – the ladies did the flowers and the Ambassador’s (usually) wife would make all the arrangements and would get the deputy’s wife and all the other ladies to help. This system has changed over the last couple of decades.
A view of the Ballroom looking across the Main Corridor and into the Garden‘I feel myself – and I speak only for myself – that I do what I want. If I am attending a reception I am there because I wish to be there. No one has forced me. My husband has not said to me “You must be there” – no, he does not. He could do the job without me… I feel that it is a lot of fun.’
You certainly get to meet some spectacularly interesting people. ‘In December of 2012, PBS [America’s public television network] was launching the third season of Downton Abbey,’ recalls Susan. ‘A number of the stars came over to Washington so we did a reception for them, which was fun. People were thrilled to come and we got to know many of the cast.
‘Soon afterwards, Hillary Clinton was leaving her role as Secretary of State and the Foreign Secretary wanted to do a farewell for her… and the decision was taken that we would have the party in Washington. A mutual friend told us the Secretary of State was a great fan of Downton Abbey, so my husband got in touch with Hugh Bonneville and organised a little clip of farewell.
Nowhere in ther Residence is Lutyens's mastery of dimension and his generous use of space seen to better effect than in the dazzling Grand Staircase‘We had a screen up, and wonderful guests – Mrs Clinton came with former President Clinton and their daughter – and after the first speech, my husband said: “We have a little something for you if you wouldn’t mind looking at the screen.”
‘When she heard the music of Downton Abbey – I was sitting next to Bill Clinton – she clapped her hand over her mouth and she was so delighted, and he was looking at her and he said: “You know, that’s Hillary’s favourite show!” That was probably the most amusing thing that has happened in our time.’
From left: Lutyens liked to design pavilions, temples and other structures as places of destination. This one marks the entrance to the swimming pool; the beautiful proportions of the Dining Room, which can seat 34 guests, are shown in this photograph of candles being lit for a dinnerBut with so much history in the house, has she ever felt that she is also sharing it with a ghost or two? ‘You know, the answer is no – I would say it’s a happy house. It is not a house that has a lugubrious atmosphere or feels that it has had anything tragic happen in it. I don’t at all – if I am alone in the house, it doesn’t bother me. I feel perfectly comfortable.’
But there’s just one more question that I am dying to ask. Do they really serve Ferrero Rocher chocolates at the Ambassador’s receptions?
‘No, we don’t!’ she says with a smile. ‘It’s not British, is it?’
What will the Italians say?
The Architecture Of Diplomacy: The British Ambassador’s Residence In Washington, by Anthony Seldon and Daniel Collings, with photography by Eric Sander, is published by Flammarion, priced £45.