Up until the early twentieth century, the Brightwood area was mostly rural. In the 1820s, Brightwood contained important transportation routes until the road network changed during the Civil War for a line of defensive fortifications. Eventually, the Highway Act promoted construction of streetcar lines and the neighborhood’s population growth took off.
During the interwar period, streetcars, bus lines, and cheap land values induced considerable construction of multi-family buildings. The housing demand and government financing pushed the production of apartment units well beyond that of houses. Constructed and opened in 1939, The Glade Apartments is a three-story building designed by George T. Santmyers (1889-1960) for the the Standard Construction Company. Santmyers designed at least 440 apartment buildings, in addition to single-family homes and other building types; The Glade was one of several of his commissions in Brightwood.
The most notable feature of this site is the unusual orientation of the building oblique the to the street, a consequence of fitting it onto a modest parcel carved out of an irregular "square" bounded by 14th Street, 13th Place, Peabody Street and Fort Stevens Drive. These streets are remnants of the nineteenth-century roads of rural Brightwood.
DC Inventory: November 17, 2016
National Register: January 31, 2017
]]>The Lexington is a conventional low-rise apartment building, erected in 1928 by developer Charles Sager to house a portion of the city's expanding middle class at the eastern edge of Capitol Hill. The Classical Revival style building is one of the earlier apartments designed by the prolific residential architect George T. Santmyers.
Completed in 1928, the Lexington Apartments is historically significant for its reflection of early twentieth century development patterns in the District of Columbia. It developed with the emergence of street car lines on Capitol Hill. Its design contributes to the evolution of the apartment building form in Washington.
DC Inventory: November 19, 2015
]]>Built in 1936, 1937, and 1938, respectively, these four low-rise buildings in Brightwood are representative of the modest apartment buildings constructed to address the city’s explosive population growth in the interwar period. The buildings are designed with Moderne stylistic elements, including geometric brick patterns, stone ornamentation, and glass blacks illustrate the development of architect George T. Santmyers’ (1889-1960) architectural vocabulary away from strictly classical revival forms. The Concord Apartments represent the efficient housing solutions for a rapidly expanding population in DC. Between 1930 and 1940, the city’s population expanded by 176,000—more than one-third of the previous population. Modest, efficient, and affordable apartment buildings like these were intended to serve a growing federal workforce. Their concentration in Brightwood is representative of the neighborhood’s evolution from rural to urban following the extension of transit lines and the adoption of a new zoning ordinance.
DC Inventory: July 28, 2016
National Register: October 18, 2016
]]>Vizcaya Apartments, formerly known as the Chilchester Arms, is a conventional low-rise apartment building, built in 1936. Designed with Moderne stylistic elements, such as geometric brick and stone ornamentation and Deco-inspired setbacks, these elements illustrate the restrained emergence of architect George T. Santmyers’ (1889-1960) style away from strictly classical revival forms. The location of the building also reflects the growth of transportation networks and residential construction patterns in the interwar period, as the population of the city expanded north from the center of DC. The building’s location along the bustling corridor of Fourteenth Street is representative of the efficient housing solutions in response to the rapidly expanding DC population. Between World War I and World War II, the federal government’s expansion brought many employees to the area. Without adequate numbers of single-family houses, architects constructed apartment buildings as suitable alternatives, effectively reshaping DC’s once-rural landscape north of Florida Avenue.
DC Inventory: June 8, 2016
]]>Built between 1936 and 1937, the Metropolitan Apartment Building was designed by George T. Santmyers, one of the most prolific architects of apartment buildings in the District of Columbia. Built following a period of transition in which the Art Deco style begins to influence Santmyers’ work, the Metropolitan is the first completely Art Deco-style mid-rise apartment building in his portfolio. The original interior finishes in the main lobby, elevator lobbies, hallways, and apartments remain largely intact.
The Metropolitan exemplifies the mid-rise apartment buildings that were constructed in DC to relieve the housing shortage that developed as federal employment increased with expansion of New Deal programs. The conventional mid-rise apartment type was an important measure in solving the problems that came along with the rapidly expanding population of the District, allowing for land to be used more efficiently in areas that were already being served by available public transportation rather than driving development further out into the sprawl.
Located at 200 Rhode Island Avenue, NE, the Metropolitan stood just two blocks from the streetcar line that ran along North Capitol Street and two blocks from the Mount Ranier line into downtown DC. As automobile usage increased in the 1930s, Rhode Island Avenue developed into a major transportation corridor in northeast DC, and the Metropolitan included garages where residents could park their cars.
DC Inventory: May 22, 2014
National Register: May 12, 2014
]]>Designed by renowned Washington architect George T. Santmyers, the Fort View Apartments complex, also known as Fort Stevens Place, is comprised of two three-story brick and cinder block buildings built between 1938 and 1939. The conventional low-rise apartment buildings incorporate both Art Deco and Moderne stylistic components.
DC Inventory: November 19, 2009
National Register: January 21, 2010
]]>Both buildings of Dahlgreen Courts reflect architect George T. Santmyers' preference for the Classical Revival style, although the building at 2520 10th Street is less ornate than its counterpart at 2504 10th Street.
The stylized ornamentation applied to the exterior of 2504 10th Street is the result of its close proximity to Rhode Island Avenue, which was a highly-traveled transportation corridor carrying vehicular and streetcar traffic. The more modest ornamentation of 2520 10th Street is complementary of the rowhouses fronting 10th Street to the immediate north, thus marrying the multi-family building to the existing single-family neighborhood.
DC Inventory: September 23, 2010
National Register: November 20, 2010
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