This building served as a home for the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Joseph Henry and his family and for many years housed all aspects of Smithsonian operations, including an exhibit hall from 1858 until the 1960s. In 1901, Washington’s first children’s room was installed in the Castle’s South Tower Room where the original decorated ceiling and wall stencils were restored in 1987.
another view
houses the Smithsonian Institution's administrative offices and information center. The Building is constructed of red sandstone in the Norman style (a 12th-century combination of late Romanesque and early Gothic motifs) and is appropriately nicknamed The Castle.
Arts and Industries Building
is the second oldest of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall
Arts and Industries Building
The building was designed to be symmetrical, comprised of a Greek cross with a central rotunda. The exterior was constructed with geometric patterns of brick.
