Dwight Davis Mansion- Portland and Westmoreland Places - St. Louis, Missouri
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 38° 38.819 W 090° 16.024
15S E 737840 N 4281147
Historic mansion in the Portland and Westmoreland Places Historic District in St. Louis, Missouri.
Waymark Code: WM6W71
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 07/26/2009
Views: 1
The Dwight Davis Mansion at 16 Portland Place was built in 1909 for Dwight and Helen Davis. The house is built on three lots which were purchased as a block of 6 lots by his father whose house was built at 17 Westmoreland Place. The Georgian Revival styled house was designed by James P. Jamieson. The more ornate face of the house actually faces away from the street and faces the other Davis house to it rear. The house has a clay tennis court besides it as would expected in consideration of the first occupant as outlined below.
From Wikipedia:
Dwight Filley Davis (July 5, 1879 – November 28, 1945) was an American tennis player and politician. He is best remembered as the founder of the Davis Cup international tennis competition.
Davis was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He was the runner-up for the men's singles title at the US Championships in 1898. He then teamed-up with Holcombe Ward won the men's doubles title at the championships for three years in a row from 1899-1901. Davis and Ward were also men's doubles runners-up at Wimbledon in 1901.
In 1900, Davis developed the structure for, and donated a silver bowl to go to the winner of, a new international tennis competition designed by him and three others known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, which was later renamed the Davis Cup in his honor. He was a member of the US team that won the first two competitions in 1900 and 1902, and was also the captain of the 1900 team.
He participated in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He was eliminated in the second round of the singles tournament. In the doubles tournament he and his partner Ralph McKittrick lost in the quarter-finals.
Davis was educated at Washington University Law School, though he was never a practicing attorney. He was, however, politically active in his home town of St. Louis and served as the city's public parks commissioner from 1911 to 1915. During his tenure, he expanded athletic facilities and created the first municipal tennis courts in the United States. He served President Calvin Coolidge as Assistant Secretary of War (1923-25) and as Secretary of War (1925-29). He then served as Governor General of the Philippines (1929-32) under Herbert Hoover. He married Pauline Sabin in 1936. He wintered in Florida from 1933 until his death, living at Meridian Plantation, near Tallahassee. Davis died in Washington, D.C. in 1945.