Longworth House Office Building
About this object Though smaller in scale than its neighbors, the new House Office Building was intended to enhance the overall look of the Capitol campus.
In 1929, Congress appropriated $8.9 million for the building of a neoclassical revival style building. Congress appropriated an additional $400,000 for the building’s interior design, a job undertaken by New York architect Barnet Phillips. In 1962 the building was renamed the Longworth House Office Building after late Speaker Nicholas Longworth, who authorized the building during his term as speaker.
On June 25, 1932, Speaker John Garner presided over the cornerstone laying ceremony for the construction of the seven-story, 600,000 sq. ft. building. Photographs of Garner and Longworth, members of the House Office Building Commission and Capitol Architect David Lynn, who supervised the project, were all included in the traditional cornerstone time capsule. Less than a year later and more than $1 million under budget, the new House Office Building opened on April 20, 1933.