Construction for The Edmond J. Safra Family Lodge at NIH began in the spring of 2003. It was designed by Amy Weinstein, Weinstein Associates of Washington, DC, in conjunction with the architectural firm Louviere, Stratton and Yokel of Greenbelt, Maryland.
The Clinical Center initiated the pilot NIH Guest House, which opened in 1996 in the old Apartment House (Building 20). With the demolition in 1998 of Building 20 to make way for the new Clinical Research Center, the 6-unit Guest House moved to a nearby apartment building on Battery Lane in Bethesda and continues today in a combination of local hotel rooms and two apartments.