The Lord Mansion.
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. 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 and Outreach Center. Although the home's interior has been
altered, its gorgeously paneled dining room and sweeping central staircase remain splendidly unchanged.