Overlooking Meridian Hill Park, the Josephine Butler Parks Center is an 18,000 sq ft, 40-room Renaissance-revival style mansion. Washington Parks & People operates the Parks Center as a “greenhouse” for advancing Washington’s parks and public spaces. The Center houses 12 community-based non-profit culture and service organizations. The Center houses 12 community-based non-profit culture and service organizations. As a Nonprofit Center for Shared Space, Parks & People provides more than 12 community-based non-profit culture and service organizations office space and an array of other benefits on the basis of partnership and an alignment of mission.

Once the home of the Hungarian Embassy to the United States, the Josephine Butler Parks Center has been transformed into an Embassy of the Earth, with a global mission that radiates out from our home here in Washington, DC. As home to a growing coalition of partner organizations, the Parks Center is a beacon of green urban revitalization and cooperation.

The Center has undergone a landmark restoration to its former glory of the 1927 Renaissance Revival design, with adaptations to serve a broad range of modern needs and environmental retrofitting. The facility, which is a recognized non-profit center for shared space, provides the opportunity to host performances and special events of all kinds (both indoors and out) as well as the program activities of Parks & People and its many non-profit partners resident in the building. The Center provides art exhibition and gallery space, a visitor center and a non-profit incubator loft, demonstration site for green catering, and training and employment center for our Green Corps graduates. Limited on-site event parking is also available for use and rental.