The red-brick structure occupied by the United States Court of Claims stands on the northeast corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Seventeenth Street NW. Southward it faces the State, War and Navy Building, with the White House and Treasury to the southeast; eastward on same side of the Avenue is the Blair Mansion.
Time and the elements have not been kind to this building, which with its brownstone trappings and ornaments, its central pavilion and end=bays, appears drab beneath its high mansard roof. Designed in the Renaissance style by James Renwick, it was erected in1859 by W.W. Corcoran to house the Corcoran Art Gallery. Before the Gallery could be installed the Civil War broke out and the building was occupied by the Quartermaster General's Department. The Gallery was installed and opened to the public in 1873, and continued to occupy the building until 1897, when it was taken over by the Government as a home for the Court of Claims.
The Court of Claims was established in 1855 to provide an effective means by which persons having claims against the United States Government could obtain satisfaction. Formerly this could be done only through a toilsome appeal to Congress. Congressional appropriations are still necessary to satisfy the claims granted by the Court of Claims, but Congress usually accepts the rulings of the court and makes the required funds available.
At the time of its creation the court consisted of a single judge; the press of work necessitated the addition of two more judges in 1863. At present the court is composed of a chief justice and four associates. During its existence the court has disposed of actions involving billions of dollars. The claims arising from the World War alone have amounted to more than $2,000,000,000. -Washington, City and Capital, 1937, pg. 1029.
The United States Court of Claims remained in this building until 1964. The building was threatened with demolition when the Court outgrew the building. It was saved in 1963 by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. In 1965 the building was transferred to the Smithsonian by an executive order from President Lyndon Johnson. The Smithsonian restored the building and it is now the Renwick Gallery, a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum which opened in 1972. The building is scheduled to undergo a major renovation in 2014.
The building is listed as a National Historic Landmark.