The Northumberland, designed by Albert H. Beers and built between 1909 and 1910 by Harry Wardman, presents an eclectic classical facade that blends harmoniously with the buildings that surround it along New Hampshire Avenue. The building remains an unaltered element in a neighborhood whose architectural identity was created by Victorian row houses, large apartment buildings, churches, and institutional buildings.
The Northumberland embodies the distinctive characteristics of an early-20th-century luxury apartment building. It is a rare example of such a building that has retained its integrity of location, design, materials, and workmanship. Both its exterior and interior, which is notable for its rich variety of decorative detailing, sumptuous materials, and skilled craftsmanship, remain essentially unaltered from their original construction. The Northumberland is an early work of Harry Wardman.
In 1920, the building became a cooperative apartment building. As the oldest, continuously self-managed cooperative, it was a pioneer in a field of housing new to the District of Columbia in the early years of this century.
DC Inventory: November 21, 1978
National Register: March 25, 1980
]]>Bernard Danzansky, a former tailor and ice cream and stationery seller, established the first Jewish funeral parlor in DC in 1912, meeting the needs of a growing population of Jewish residents of the city. In 1923, Danzansky moved the business to this location, following the migration of Jewish residents to the area. The Danzansky Funeral Home operated on Fourteenth Street for more than fifty years, as Danzansky became a central figure in DC’s Jewish community. The establishment occupied a four-story corner rowhouse and its neighbor, which are part of a trio of brick rowhouses built in 1910 by prominent developer Harry Wardman (1872-1938), following designs by architect Albert H. Beers (1868-1911). In 1938, Danzansky customized his buildings by replacing the front porches with a Tudor Revival addition that expressed the business use and introduced a large corner entrance.
DC Inventory: April 26, 2007
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