The elegant Lord House, located in the historic South Capitol Neighborhood, is one of Olympia's few genuine mansions. It was built in 1923 for banker Clarence J. Lord and his wife, Elizabeth. Lord was a powerful figure in the history of Washington banking - a man influential enough, it was said, to hand pick the State Treasurer. He served as Olympia's mayor in 1902-03 and was a staunch opponent of any attempt to move the state capital.

Lord engaged Olympia architect Joseph Wohleb to design his impressive new home. Raised and trained in California, Wohleb brought a distinct Southwest style to much of his work in south Puget Sound. The Lord Mansion, a Spanish Colonial villa surrounded by lush lawns and evergreen trees, is the grandest of all of Wohleb's stucco-and-tile residential designs. Exterior features include decorative friezes inset in the walls, carved brackets under wide eaves and an arched formal entry flanked by Doric columns. A matching "coach house" behind the home, complete with chauffeur's quarters upstairs, testifies to C. J. Lord's fondness for large motor cars.

After Lord's death in 1939, the mansion was donated to the state by Elizabeth Lord and converted to its present use as the State Capital Museum. Although the home's interior has been altered, its gorgeously paneled dining room and sweeping central staircase remain splendidly unchanged.

The State Capital Museum (Lord House) is located west of Capitol Way on 21st Avenue SW. It is listed on the both the National and Washington State Register of Historic Places, as well as on the Olympia Heritage Register. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Lord Mansion. Olympia Heritage Commission photo.

The Lord Mansion, built in the South Capitol neighborhood for banker C. J. Lord and his wife, Elizabeth, in 1924. It now houses the State Capital Museum. ©Jeffers Studio photo from the Susan Parish Collection.