Visit Cosmos Club as NPC reciprocal member
The National Press Club offers a summer reciprocity with the Cosmos Club that runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This summer, visit the historic club for dinner, happy hour or just the chance to visit.
Founded in 1878, the Cosmos Club is known as the long-standing club for the scholarly and accomplished — a place for members to gather and celebrate.
It is located in historic Townsend house on Embassy Row, founded by a group of scientists with a vision for “a center of good fellowship, a club that embraced the sciences and the arts, where members could meet socially and exchange ideas, where vitality would grow from the mixtures of disciplines, and a library would provide a refuge for thought and learning.”
National Press Club reciprocal members can experience this atmosphere when visiting the Cosmos Club through an upscale dinner, distinguished functions, or simply enjoying happy hour. To visit the Cosmos Club, notify the NPC Membership Department and specify your planned date(s). A letter of introduction will be sent on your behalf.
The four-story mansion, designed in a Beaux-Arts French style, features an awards hall with portraits of all the members who have received Nobel Prizes, Pulitzer Prizes and the Cosmos Club Awards. The club boasts a variety of dining spaces, primarily centered around the elegant Garden Dining Room, the more casual 1878 Grille, the classic Garden Bar and the outdoor West Garden terrace.
The menu offers traditional American fine dining with Western European influences, features seasonal rotating options, highlighted by their signature oversized popovers, fresh seafood, and refined meat entrees. On the second floor is the stunning Rococo-inspired Warne Ballroom hosts private events and receptions.
Across the ballroom is the library, a richly preserved, wood-paneled haven, decorated more in the manner of the French Renaissance. It has over 130 publications of the most comprehensive collections of magazines and scholarly journals in any private library in the area.
Books written by living Cosmos members are displayed on special shelves; members often use the tranquil space to work, read or unwind. The library is also known for its classic tradition of serving sherry to members during member’s week in June. Events and updates of the ongoing events are published in the monthly Cosmos Club Bulletin and on the website.
In addition to its historic spaces, the mansion offers a periodical room, several parlors, a billiards room, a fitness center and more. Overnight accommodations are available only to club members, sponsored guests, and members of reciprocal clubs.
When visiting, it is important to note that the club has a dress code. It allows business casual attire from May through September. For men includes slacks, collared long-sleeved, tucked-in shirts that button down the center. For women includes dresses, or slacks or skirts with tops of appropriate formality.
“It is one of the last vestiges of old, old Washington and it has all the sort of splendor and decorum that used to be part of old Washington,” said Sally Quinn, an author and Washington Post journalist who has attended events at the club over the years.