1621 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC
Helen Churchill Candee (b. October 5, 1858; d. August 23, 1949) was an American journalist and one of the country's first professional interior decorators. She is best known, however, as being a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. Candee was researching a book on tapestry in Europe when she was called back to the U.S. on emergency because her son had been injured in a car accident. When the ship sank, Candee managed to escape in a lifeboat. Accounts that she had had a romantic encounter while aboard were said to be inspiration for the 1997 motion picture Titanic. Candee had always been a survivor, however. After her husband left her, she earned a living as a journalist, amassing $20,000 to build this brick townhouse on New Hampshire Avenue in Washington DC in 1905.
Resources
- Residence information sourced from The House History Man (http://househistoryman.blogspot.com/2012/02/titanic-survivor-helen-candee-of-1621.html)
- Photo courtesy of personal collection of Randy Bryan Bigham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Helen_candee_1901.jpg)
- Biographical information sourced from Biography (http://www.biography.com/people/helen-churchill-candee-283810) and encylopedia titanica (http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/helen-churchill-candee.html)