Immaculata Seminary Washington, D. C.
- Name: Currently American University Washington College of Law
- Year Built: 1904
- Architect: A. O. Von Hurbulis
- Built By: Brennan Construction Co.
In 1904 The Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, with the support of Cardinal Gibbons and St. Ann’s pastor, Father Mallon, purchased the property on which they built Immaculata Seminary. The Sisters of Providence focused on education and members of the order had been in Indiana since 1840. Immaculata was to be a select school for both boarders and day students. In addition to the wide range of academic subjects, students benefited from the cultural opportunities in the Capital, as well as from the extensive grounds available for games. Classes were provided to students from elementary through junior college level. By the mid-1980s, the members of the Sisters of Providence were declining in number, and those that remained were advanced in years, one of the significant realities that led the Sisters to close the school.
The Baroque Classical Revival building is three stories tall and clad in limestone. The facade is divided into five parts, a narrow central entry pavilion with wider projecting end wings connected by long, five-bay, three story hyphens. The chapel, no longer used for its original purpose, is a double-height basilican-plan structure and has a gable roof.
Shortly after acquiring the land for Immaculata, the Sisters of Providence acquired Dunblane and adapted the building for use as its elementary school.
(Listed in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites, 2011)
