Inspectors have concluded that the Sherman Building at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington suffered significant damage in last week’s earthquake. The Sherman Building is part of the facility that houses the Lincoln Cottage. President Lincoln rarely left the District during the war and he often retreated to the cottage that now bears his name to enjoy the solitude and escape the miserable heat and humidity of downtown DC. The Sherman Building was built in the picturesque style of architecture, which incorporated classic building features into a modern, nineteenth century sensibility emphasizing the surrounding natural environment. The Sherman Building was originally named the Scott Building in honor of General Winfield Scott, who devised the plan to build the Soldiers’ Home after the Mexican War. In one of those ironies you come across when studying the American Civil War, it was Senator Jefferson Davis who steered the legislation creating the Soldiers’ Home through Congress in 1851.