Longworth House Office Building

The Longworth House Office Building is one of three office buildings used by the United States House of Representatives. The building is located south of the Capitol, bounded by Independence Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, C Street S.E., and South Capitol Street, in southeast Washington. It covers an area of 599675sqft and has a total of 251 congressional offices and suites, five large committee rooms, seven small committee rooms, and a large assembly room now used by the Ways and Means Committee.The building was named in 1962 in honor of the former Speaker of the House, Nicholas Longworth of Ohio. He served as Speaker from 1925 until Republicans lost their majority in 1931, the same year he died, and the same year the building was authorized.HistoryPlans to provide the House of Representatives with a second office building were begun in 1925. Severe overcrowding in the Cannon House Office Building (completed in 1908) led to the renovation of the Cannon Building and the construction of the Longworth Building". It is the smallest House office building, with a floor area of just under 600000sqft. Under the direction of Architect of the Capitol David Lynn, preliminary designs for the building were prepared by a local firm known as The Allied Architects of Washington Inc. The principal architects were Frank Upman, Gilbert LaCoste Rodier, Nathan C. Wyeth, and Louis Justemente. They produced "two schemes for a simple, dignified building in harmony with the rest of the Capitol Complex. In January 1929 Congress authorized $8.4 million for acquiring and clearing the site and for constructing the new building. The foundations were completed in December 1930, and the building was accepted for occupancy in April 1933".