Park Tower illustrates the significant effort expended at the beginning of the twentieth century to develop Sixteenth Street as a prestigious avenue; this was a fashionable address for congressmen, professionals, and other notables during the 1930s. Designed by architect William Harris, Park Tower exhibits many of the qualities and details associated with Art Deco, while also reflecting important changes in aesthetic philosophies. Built in 1929, the structure was one of the first major buildings to break away from the city’s predominant Beaux Arts and Colonial Revival expression styles. The five-story apartment building features an irregular plan. The exterior is a series of repetitive bays covered in golden buff-colored brick, with a rooftop loggia which rises above squared bays. The building also features limestone and patterned brick with chevron, diaper, and oak leaf motifs. DC Inventory: January 20, 1988
National Register: October 30, 1989]]>Built in 1898, the Olympia is the only remaining apartment house from the first wave of construction along upper Fourteenth Street NW in Columbia Heights, spurred by the opening of the electric streetcar line in 1892. As is typical of most late-nineteenth century apartment buildings, Olympia Flats, its historic name, was designed with special amenities for its residents. The building included a billiard room, a barber shop, storerooms, laundry and bicycle rooms in the basement, a coat room, a large public parlor, reading rooms, and a café on the first floor. In addition to the amenities, the building was constructed to provide ample light into each unit, as well as an early air circulation system. With the new convenience of public transit uptown, the Olympia and surrounding buildings created the city’s first apartment corridor. Stylistically, the Olympia is notable as a transitional mixture of Victorian and Beaux Arts designs, reflecting the period from about 1895 to 1905 when monumental classicism again became popular in D.C.. In architect Albert B. Morgan’s design, the classical facade was also supported by fireproofing within the building, making it aesthetically pleasing and safer for residents. DC Inventory: February 28, 2002National Register: June 9, 2003
This site is a stop on the D.C. Apartment Buildings tour as an example of a Conventional Mid-Rise apartment building.
]]>This former embassy is among the finest of nearly a dozen Meridian Hill mansions built by Mary Foote Henderson (1841-1931), in collaboration with her favorite architect, George Oakley Totten Jr. (1866-1939). Built in 1907, the project was her first successful enticement of a foreign mission to Sixteenth Street, in keeping with her great ambition to create an “Avenue of Presidents” lined with lavish embassies and memorials. The building is a superb example of Beaux Arts residential architecture, ranking among Totten’s finest work. The embassy was planned and built under French ambassador Jean Jules Jusserand, who served from 1902 to 1925 as one of the most influential and admired foreign diplomats ever assigned to the DC corps. The Old French Embassy was the site of critical political conferences during and after World War I, and served as Jusserand’s residence until his retirement. When he retired, the estate was turned back over to Henderson as the embassy planned to move their offices in the following decade. Following Henderson’s death, the Old French Embassy became a boarding house/hotel, with a church renting out some of the space. Eventually, the newly formed government of Ghana headquartered their embassy in the building, before moving to a newer building in 1990s. Today, the Council for Professional Recognition occupies the building, keeping the building properly preserved.
DC Inventory: August 28, 1997
]]>This apartment building was one of a number of collaborations between architect Harvey Warwick (1893-1972) and developer Morris Cafritz (1888-1964). Originally named Hilltop Manor at the time of its opening in 1927, the apartments were renamed Cavalier Apartments in 1929. It was among the earliest cooperative apartments in the DC. Cooperative apartments were a housing phenomenon that arose to popularity in DC in the 1920s, promising to give more control to resident owners and afford a high level of services by spreading costs among them. Following historic renovation, the building today offers affordable apartment living. DC Inventory: June 28, 2007National Register: July 26, 2007
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