บ้านท่านทูตสหรัฐฯ ที่กรุงเทพฯ
ประวัติฉบับย่อ (มาก) เกี่ยวกับบ้านพักของท่านทูตฯ ที่เพิ่งฉลองครบรอบ 70 ปี แห่งการเป็นทำเนียบของเอกอัครราชทูตสหรัฐอเมริกาประจำประเทศไทยอย่างเป็นทางการ
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A (very) brief history of the U.S. Ambassador Residence:
This historic Wittayu Road home just celebrated its 70th year as a residence for U.S. Ambassadors to Thailand. Built in 1914, it was a home of Englishman Horatio Victor Bailey who moved to Kingdom of Siam to work as an engineer.
Being an avid horseman, he picked this space so he could raise horses to be raced at the nearby Royal Bangkok Sports Club. The architecture is a combination of European colonial and tropical Malaysian designs.
Due to his sudden death, his family had to leave the property in 1922 as they could no longer afford the upkeep.
Over the years, it was leased to a Belgian minister, and then sold to the Ministry of Finance. The house was then made an official residence for Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ American advisor, Raymond B. Stevens.
The house became unoccupied in 1940, after the last American advisor to Siam Frederick R. Dolbeare resigned. In 1941, during World War II, Japanese broke into the unoccupied estate and used it for storage.
The house received considerable damage from the occupation. It was Josephine Stanton, wife of United States Minister to Thailand Edwin F. Stanton, who worked to restore the home.
The Crown Property Bureau drew up a contract for the house “to be used as a diplomatic residence” in 1947. In April 1947, Minister Stanton officially became an Ambassador.
The “Chief of Mission Residence” has been home to 20 United States ambassadors.
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