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A brief history of the Chancery building The
Chancery of the Embassy of India in Washington is located at 2107
Massachusetts Avenue. The
Chancery building in Washington consists of two adjacent buildings, one
constructed in 1885, four floors were added in 1907, and the other (Depew
House) in 1901, making them probably the oldest properties owned by the
government of India abroad. T. Morris Murray,
a prominent
Washington physician, had built the adjacent building
based on eighteenth century French architecture style in 1901. It is constructed in granite and limestone.
This building over the years was occupied by some of the illustrious
families including that of U.S. Senator Peter Gerry (1914-1915),
Undersecretary of the Treasury Ogden L. Mills (1928) and the widow of U.S.
Senator Chauncey Depew, May Palmer Depew. It was during her stay, the building came to be known as
Depew House. After
her death in 1940, her cousin leased the Depew House to various tenants,
including the British Purchase Agency. Subsequently, the Indian government
had acquired the building in 1946 and connected it with other building to
create the Chancery. |