[8] The site on which the Mayflower Hotel sits was, after the organization of the District of Columbia in 1792, initially owned by the federal government, which finally sold the property to Nathaniel Carusi for $5,089.

[13] By June 6, however, the cost of the hotel had risen to $8 million ($138,990,512 in 2023 dollars),[14][11] largely due to a sizeable expansion in the size of the ballrooms (the largest of which could now seat 1,600 people),[15] meeting rooms, and other public spaces on the first two floors and first basement level.

[23] The main lobby entrance on Connecticut Avenue had a stairway that led down to the first below-ground level, where public restrooms, the barber shop, and a shoeshine stand (made of marble) were located.

[20] The Italianate style[10] room featured a coffered ceiling done in copper, a marble fountain, plaster walls in warm pastel tints, alcoves designed to look like arbors, and murals of early Washington, D.C., and nearby Mount Vernon.

[16][e][26] The Mayflower Hotel's interior design was created by E. S. Bullock of Albert Pick & Co.[10] The furnishings, which cost $1.25 million ($17,808,159 in 2023 dollars), were antique and reproduction pieces in the Sheraton, Louis Quinze, and early Renaissance styles.

[29] Three marble statuary groups were also displayed in the lobby and public areas: La Sirene by Denys Puech; Flora by William Couper; and The Lost Pleiad (also known as Merope Married a Mortal) by Randolph Rogers.

If the Height Act remained in force, Cohen said the hotel's first two floors would be transformed into a shopping mall accommodating 40 to 50 small businesses.

[52] But the plan was abandoned later that fall when the Mayflower announced a five-year, $2.5 million renovation that would refurbish the retail stores on the Connecticut Avenue side of the structure.

Western International said the previously announced $2.5 million refurbishment would go to additional guest room renovations, and improvements to dining spaces, banqueting facilities, and ballrooms.

[59] The Rib Room lost its name (which had been trademarked by HCA, the previous manager), the facade was cleaned, and the air conditioning repaired and upgraded.

Meeting and private dining room space would be added to the structure; all plumbing and mechanical systems would be upgraded; and central air conditioning would replace the window units now in operation.

In October 1981, May-Wash Associates announced that Stouffer Corp., a division of Nestlé, was taking a minority interest in the Mayflower Hotel, and would assume management of the property on December 1, 1981, under a 20-year agreement.

[63] The hotel still attempted to narrow DeSales Street NW, proposing to use the extra space to build an enclosed outdoor café (something city laws did not permit).

Each room received updated, modern furniture, and the hallways were wallpapered in grey and white with a pattern reminiscent of the lobby mezzanine railing.

Shallow, circular domes surrounded by gilt plaster wreath moldings existed at the east and west ends of the room.

A baseboard of verd antique and a gray marble dado rail completed the wainscot, and a gilt plaster acanthus crown molding decorated the ceiling.

[82] Architect Shirley Maxwell has noted that the Mayflower's "block-long long lobby and promenade form what is probably the grandest indoor 'street' in Washington..."[33] At some point in time, the arches which led to the small meeting rooms along the north wall were filled in with gilt-edged mirrors.

[82] The hardwood floor featured a baseboard of verd antique, and a crown molding of gilt plaster acanthus leaves surrounds the ceiling.

A gilt plaster molding of wreathes surrounds the dome, while the rest of the ceiling is covered in chinoiserie paintings of animals, people, and trees.

[84] The Garden Terrace (Originally Named), located on the first below-ground floor,[20] featured Italianate[10] decor, a coffered copper ceiling, a marble fountain, plaster walls in warm pastel tints, alcoves designed to look like arbors, and murals of early Washington, D.C., and nearby Mount Vernon.

[85] Designed by Robert F. Beresford, one of the hotel's original architects, the rear of the room's stage was clad in glowing sapphire-blue glass brick.

A railing with an oak handrail and turned-wood balusters enclosed the gallery, and a shallow concave stage was added to the west wall.

[89] In 1956, with the change in hotel management, the front desk was moved to the north side of the lobby (occupying space previously used for phone booths).

[98][99][i][100] United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and former Governor of North Carolina Oliver Max Gardner and his wife, Fay Webb-Gardner, lived at the hotel from 1946 to 1947.

In June 1942, George John Dasch and seven other spies from Nazi Germany entered the United States after being transported to American shores via a submarine.

[102][103] Eighteen months later, a committee of the American Legion met in Room 570 at the Mayflower Hotel from December 15 to 31, 1943, to draft legislation to assist returning military members reintegrate into society.

[106][107][108][109] In 1948, President Harry S. Truman told a cheering audience of Young Democrats of America at a dinner at the Mayflower on May 14 that he intended to seek re-election in 1948.

[110][111] Former Peace Corps and Office of Economic Opportunity director Sargent Shriver announced his run for President of the United States at the Mayflower on September 20, 1975.

[92] The front of the Mayflower was where The Washington Post national editor Ben Bagdikian transferred copied portions of the Pentagon Papers, an internal DoD study of the history of the Vietnam War given to him by Daniel Ellsberg, to U.S.

[116] Monica Lewinsky stayed at the Mayflower Hotel when her affair with President Bill Clinton was in the news, and she was extensively interviewed by federal investigators about the scandal in the Presidential Suite.