Asia Society Acquires Permanent Washington Home
India-West News Desk
WASHINGTON, DC – Asia Society has announced that its Policy Institute and Center for China Analysis will have a permanent home at the historic Blaine Mansion, here.
The 15,000-square-foot building at 2000 Massachusetts Avenue NW in Dupont Circle will house offices, conference facilities and meeting spaces, the organization said Oct. 22.
Asia Society Global President and CEO Kevin Rudd said the purchase was made possible by a lead gift from Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone and an Asia Society Global Trustee, along with support from other trustees and institutional supporters.
Schwarzman said the new location would provide a dedicated Washington presence for discussions on U.S.-Asia relations. He has supported Asia Society for more than two decades and founded the Schwarzman Scholars program at Tsinghua University in Beijing in 2013. The program is valued at more than $575 million.
Founded by John D. Rockefeller 3rd in 1956, Asia Society has maintained a Washington office since 1970. Rudd, a former Australian prime minister and Australia’s former ambassador to the United States, established the Policy Institute in 2014 and its Center for China Analysis in 2022.
Rudd said the mansion would house the institute’s policy work and provide a base for Asia Society’s arts, culture and ideas programs in Washington.
Built in 1882-83 and designed by architect John Fraser, the mansion was named after its first resident, James G. Blaine, who served as U.S. secretary of state, speaker of the House of Representatives and a senator from Maine. He was also a three-time presidential nominee.
Past occupants include inventor George Westinghouse, the Japanese Embassy from 1921 to 1925, the Rural Electrification Administration during the Great Depression and offices of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Former U.S. Ambassador to Italy John R. Phillips and former journalist Linda Douglass oversaw recent renovations.
Asia Society operates 16 centers and offices worldwide, including in New York, Delhi, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Houston.
