May 6, 2017: Twin Oaks-TECRO Guided Tour

The AIChE National Capital Section invites you to join us for a Guided Tour of Twin Oaks - Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U. S. (TECRO), located at 3225 Woodley Road, NW, Washington, D.C.

 

Cost: Free for the Twin Oaks Guided Tour at 10am; Dutch for lunch at Meiwah Restaurant at 12:30pm.

 

When: A guided tour will start at 10am, May 6th (Saturday), 2017, from the visitor check-in. The tour will end at 12noon. After the guided tour, you are welcome to re-group at 12:30pm for lunch at Meiwah Restaurant located at 4457 Willard Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 (Tel: 301-652-9882).

 

Check-in & Parking: Please bring an ID (driver's license, passport). Meet at the visitor check-in.

 

Advance Registration Required. Open to AIChE/NCS members and their guests. Please RSVP at https://twinoaks-tecro.eventbrite.com by April 23rd (Sunday night). Registration is capped at 40 participants on a first-come, first-serve basis.

 

About Twin Oaks - TECRO (copied from http://www.roc-taiwan.org/us_en/post/27.html )

 

"Twin Oaks, a 26-room English Georgian Renaissance-style mansion situated on 18.24 acres in Northwest Washington, D.C., was constructed in 1888. It originally served as the summer residence for Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the founder of the National Geographic Society, who named the estate Twin Oaks after the two beautiful oak trees located in front of the house. The mansion also bears a historic connection to Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, who was Mr. Hubbard’s son-in-law. The Republic of China (ROC) Government, after renting the property for ten years as the official residence of its ambassadors to the U.S., purchased the estate from the Hubbard family in 1947. The mansion hosted several U.S. presidential figures, among many other celebrities, such as Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George W. Bush, before each became president. Madame Chiang Kai-shek also stayed here during her visits to Washington, D.C. in the 1950s and 60s. The mansion houses a number of priceless antiques, including a painting allegedly by Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi (1835-1908, who wielded real power in China during the late Ch’ing period) as well as a set of imperial furniture carved with dragon motifs reportedly sent by the order of the Empress Dowager to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair."

 

"...In official recognition of its historic and cultural significance, Twin Oaks was placed on the National Register for Historic Sites by the United States Department of the Interior in February 1986."

 

"For nearly eight decades, twenty-three ambassadors and representatives have served as the estate’s official hosts, witnessing a number of critical moments in the ROC’s diplomatic history and U.S.-Taiwan relations. Their gracious hospitality, along with the mansion’s exquisite beauty and historical background, has earned this cultural landmark a sterling reputation among its numerous guests who depart with fond memories."