Holy Name College and the James Sherwood Farmhouse sit on 10-acres in the Brookland neighborhood. The two-story, wood-frame farmhouse was completed by farmer James Sherwood in 1886 within what had historically been “Cuckhold’s Delight,” a land patent dating to 1686. The Queen Anne style residence, with its corner tower, porch, and decorative wood shingling, is a remnant of the once rural area, when it was known as Washington County. Sherwood lived and worked at his farm, with his wife and five children, until at least 1910. During these years, James, along with his brother Jesse, were also involved in real estate, constructing many houses in the “Sherwood’s Addition to Brookland” subdivision. The land was purchased by the Franciscans’ Holy Name Province in 1920, but James Sherwood continued to live in Brookland (at another address) and eventually became a bank vice president.
Various Catholic monastic orders and institutions were attracted to the area around The Catholic University of America (1889), giving the area its nickname of “Little Rome.” This included the Franciscan Monastery, Marist College, St. Paul's College, St. Joseph’s Seminary, and Holy Redeemer College, amongst other institutions. Almost a decade after the land's purchase, Holy Name College was constructed by Turner Construction Company for the Franciscans between 1929 and 1930. The building was designed by Buffalo-based architect Chester Oakley in a Romanesque Revival style, with Art Deco detailing. The building is rectangular in shape, with a central cloister (or courtyard) and north and south wings extending from the east elevation. The main entrance pavilion is located on the west elevation.
Holy Name College included classrooms, a two-story chapel, a dining room and kitchen, laundry facilities, and dormitories for students and faculty. At the time of the college building's construction, the farmhouse was moved just to the south of the new building, where it was reoriented and renovated, and connected to the college building by a brick arcade. The farmhouse was converted into a convent for the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, and later provided additional dormitory, meeting, office, and storage spaces.
In 1957, enrollment peaked at Holy Name College with 147 students, and then declined as the structure of Catholic theological education changed. In 1984, Howard University purchased the property and then made some alterations to the historic buildings, most notably infilling the enclosed cloister of the former Holy Name College building. The former Holy Name College building was rededicated as Benjamin E. Mays Hall in 1987. Mays was the first dean of Howard University’s School of Religion. From the mid-1980s until 2015, the buildings housed the university’s School of Divinity.
The former college building is connected to 14th Street NE by a long driveway and allée of trees, which terminates at the building’s entrance pavilion, located at the building’s northwest corner. This driveway also aligns with the building’s tower, at the northeast corner, which is capped by a bronze statue of Jesus Christ. The entrance pavilion includes arched doors and windows in the Romanesque Revival style. The building is clad in textured, polychromatic brick in contrasting bonds. The building’s west elevation is notable for its terra-cotta “Heroic Figures” that stand on brick buttresses. The southwest corner features another pavilion, called the Friar’s Entry (St. Francis Corner).
DC Inventory: October 30, 2025
National Register: January 8, 2026
]]>Marist Hall began as Marist College and served as a hub of advanced studies for the Society of Mary, one of the earliest Roman Catholic religious orders. The Society of Mary was legally incorporated in DC in 1896 with the goal of training young men in theology, philosophy, canonical law, priesthood, and missionary work. The Society of Mary’s first permanent administrative center and house of studies was Brookland’s historic Brooks Mansion.
Marist College was constructed just four years later, opening in 1900. Along with Holy Cross College (now known as O’Boyle Hall, 1899), Marist College was one of the first purpose-built seminaries to affiliate with the Catholic University of America. It embodies the goals and aspirations of the Society of Mary – to enhance Catholic education in partnership with the Catholic University of America, which was founded in 1887.
Marist College was designed in the Romanesque Revival style by Lemuel W. Norris, an esteemed architect who later worked for the DC Office of the Building Inspector and the Office of the Municipal Architect. Norris was also one of three architects who designed some of the first buildings for the Catholic University of America and its affiliated orders. Many Catholic institutions were established near the campus, giving Brookland the nickname of “Little Rome.” Marist College was sited atop a high ridge directly north of the then-campus.
Enrollment at Marist College grew steadily until the early 1960s, but a sharp decline the following decade left much of the building vacant. The neighboring Catholic University, however, was growing rapidly and needed space. Thus, in 1975, the Marists and Catholic University agreed to a trade. Marist College would be transferred to the university and become Marist Hall in exchange for nearby real estate. Marist Hall became an integral academic building at the university, thanks to its location and legacy as a meeting place for students and faculty. Until the mid-2010s, Marist Hall housed large classrooms and around 70-80 faculty offices. Other than minor exterior repairs, Marist College remained largely untouched between 1900 and 1975. Following its acquisition by Catholic University, the interior of the building underwent extensive renovation.
DC Inventory: July 24, 2025
National Register: September 22, 2025
]]>Constructed in 1933, architect Anthony A.F. Schmitt designed Holy Redeemer College as a residential home for members of the Redemptorist religious order while they pursued studies at nearby Catholic University of America (CUA). The building has been continuously owned and operated by the religious order since its erection.
The college is architecturally significant as a prominent example of the Romanesque Revival style in the District. Located in the Edgewood neighborhood of DC, the building is distinguishable by a solid masonry exterior, a central tower, and its placement on an artificial rise that echoes the noble stature of a Medieval Italian palazzo.
Historically, the institution is associated with the rise of Catholic establishments and religious culture in the neighborhoods around CUA. The prominence of a thriving Catholic university, various catholic businesses, and an increasingly Catholic demographic in Northeast DC prompted the nickname “Little Rome” for the surrounding area. Between 1900 and 1940, more than fifty Catholic institutions popped up around CUA in the neighborhood of Edgewood.
Holy Redeemer College contributed to the history of this “Little Rome” within the city, and continues to serve its religious community through offering mass and housing clerical workers.
DC Inventory: March 28, 2019
National Register: May 17, 2019
]]>Located in the Georgetown Historic District in Northwest Washington, the Capital Traction Company Union Station (Capital Traction) property includes the central structure (also referred to as the Georgetown Car Barn), the adjacent stone retaining wall, and the inset stone stairway used in the 1973 film The Exorcist (colloquially known as the Exorcist Steps).
Developed between 1894 and 1897, this property is historically significant as a streetcar station, storage garage, and turn around for four independently owned streetcar lines in the District. Designed in the Romanesque Revival style by prominent Washington architect Waddy B. Wood, Capital Traction Station was the first of its kind in the District—and initially provided the only cable loop in Washington. The building retains most of its signature elements, such as the arched streetcar entrances, a projecting tower, and the monogrammed pediment labeling the station. Not only did Capital Traction provided a crucial transportation service for residents in Maryland, Virginia, and DC, but it completed a unique feat of engineering. Faced with a steep 60-foot descent from Prospect Street to M Street, the construction of the station required an extensive excavation to remove soil and “rotten rock” from the building site. For this reason, the site may be archeologically valuable and could contain nineteenth century artifacts.
Today, the once bustling hub of transportation remains useful as one of Georgetown University’s educational buildings—and one of DC’s tourist attractions. After the stone stairway’s 1973 appearance in the internationally recognized film The Exorcist, the steps became a prominent destination and well-known tourist stop. In 2015, Mayor Muriel Bowser placed a plaque on the retaining wall to acknowledge the significance of the steps to the District’s tourism industry.
DC Inventory: January 24, 2019
National Register: August 9, 2019
Within Georgetown Historic District
]]>The Homestead Apartments were constructed in 1939, one of many multi-unit buildings erected to house working-class and middle-class Washingtonians during the interwar period. Much of this development followed the streetcar lines radiating from downtown, seeking lower land costs to accommodate a burgeoning labor force. This building was designed by French architect Louis de LaDurantaye (1885-1956). LaDurantaye designed dozens of buildings in the District but is not well known.
Fairly conventional in its H-shape plan and four-story height, the Homestead Apartments has quirky, Gothic/Romanesque decoration in the form of corbeling, round arches, basket-weave brick panels, and peaks on the roofline. There are elements that could be interpreted as Art Deco and Moderne as well, such as a stepped parapet at the central bar and projecting brick streamlining at corners and suggested pavilions, but the streamlining is presumably intended as a modern take on quoins, which picks up the classicism of the most notable exterior element of the building, the Renaissance-style hemi-octagonal entrance bay.
The most interesting functional element is the basement-level garage reached via openings off a rear alley, and the at-grade garage supports an exterior patio on its roof. The building’s landscape is notable for the intimate courtyard enclosed by the low stone walls punctuated by piers, the taller of which support a wrought-iron arch. These are echoed by stone piers and gates controlling admittance to the side yards. Stone steps stand at the entrance and at the sidewalk, and one of DC’s typical rustic granite retaining wall supports the central portion of the front yard as the land slopes away to the west.
DC Inventory: November 16, 2017
National Register: February 14, 2018
]]>Designed by D.C. architect George S. Cooper and completed in 1899 as part of the first wave of apartment building construction, the Jefferson's conventional low-rise style utilized Romanesque Revival features for its middle-class residents working and residing in the city. Even with its architectural detailing, it still took many years and continued construction of apartment buildings for Washingtonians to fully accept apartment buildings. However, around the turn of the century, buildings like the Jefferson pushed city residents toward multi-unit buildings. The Jefferson's presence on H Street allowed more middle-class residents to move closer to work downtown without the larger expenses of owning a home. The growing population and increase in construction of apartment buildings indicated that future housing developments and demographic trends within D.C. would continue to shift, especially in the coming decades of the twentieth century.
DC Inventory: February 21, 1990
National Register: September 7, 1994
This site is a stop on the D.C. Apartment Buildings tour as an example of a Conventional Low-Rise apartment building.
]]>When the Atlantic Building was completed in 1888, it was the largest commercial structure in the city and one of the first with a passenger elevator. Located on F Street in the heart of downtown, the speculative office building was designed in a Romanesque Revival style by James G. Hill, who had served as Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury and was also the designer of numerous fine private buildings in Washington. The eight-story building featured two large assembly rooms, the location of numerous important public meetings, including one at which the National Zoo was founded. In 1889, the top floor office space served as the home of President Benjamin Harrison's inaugural committee, while the US Forest Service was headquartered here from 1905 to 1940.
Towards the end of the 20th century, the DC Preservation League's offices were located within the Atlantic Building, and, in 1980, the 9:30 Club began on the first floor of the original building, taking its name from the 930 F Street address. Many Washingtonians have fond memories of attending concerts here in the 1980s and 1990s.
Unfortunately, redevelopment brought about the demolition of all but the detailed red brick masonry and terra cotta facade. The current Atlantic Building is a 10-story office complex completed in 2006. It includes the facades of several historic buildings, including the original Atlantic Building.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
Omitted on July 24, 1968; redesignated on August 28, 1973
Within Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site and Downtown Historic District
]]>The Samuel M. Bryan House was built in 1885 and designed by architect W. Bruce Gray. Samuel M. Bryan worked in various capacities, starting at age 15 when he served as a drummer boy in the Union Army during the Civil War. From there, he went on to work at the Treasury Department, the Post Office Department, the Universal Postal Congress on behalf of Japan, and then eventually he became the President of the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, a position in which he served until 1889.
After this time, Bryan moved out of Washington but it is unknown where he went or when he died. In 1895, the house was sold to Washington philanthropist, Bessie J. Kibbey. She added a third story to the existing back of the building in 1904.
The Church of the Saviour bought the house in 1950 and added a one story addition to the rear while also adding partitions on the third floor among other changes to convert the building from a residence to a church and offices. The solid, dark building dominates nearby structures. There is no superfluous ornamentation to distract from the strong influence of the tower, entrance portal and building height. Romanesque in detail, individual and linear elements are defined by boldly articulated materials and shapes. The interior, though more decorative, is related in style to the exterior. The single greatest elements are the central living halls and galleried stair. Similar details used throughout unify the chambers.
DC Inventory: February 22, 1972 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
Within the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District and the Dupont Circle Historic District
]]>Built between 1878 and 1880, the Auditor’s Building was the first facility designed and constructed by the federal government for the U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The complex housed the necessary materials for the engraving and printing of the currency that was to replace sterling as the universal standard of exchange by the middle of the twentieth century.
Architect James G. Hill’s (1841-1913) design reflects the different stylistic trends of the period. The Auditors Building shows restraint in its Romanesque Revival style, mixing contemporary English influences and elements of the Italianate style. The restraint imposed on the normally exuberant Romanesque Revival is also more clearly understood in the light of the conservative architectural taste in DC at the time of the Auditors Building’s construction. The Italianate had enjoyed widespread popularity from the 1840s through the 1860s. While this style of building was waning in most parts of the country by the mid-seventies, its characterizing elements still manifested in new DC constructions. Thus, the symmetrical massing, the bracketed cornice and the shallow pavilions of the Auditors Building can be seen as the late presence of the Italianate. The connection between work in England and the work of the architect of the Auditors Building can be more firmly established by the specific motifs used. The Queen Anne style manifested in architecture the dictates of the Aesthetic Movement, a precursor of the Art Nouveau.
An addition to the complex was built in 1891 but demolished in 1988. Another addition was built between 1900 and 1901. The main building of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was built in 1914.
DC Inventory: February 26, 1974
National Register: April 27, 1978
]]>The LeDroit Block was built after the completion of the large-scale municipal improvements undertaken by the Board of Public Works ibetween 1871 and 1874. It illustrates the renewed civic aspirations of the post-Civil War era with rich, animated facades that introduce a congenial human scale that enhances the monumentality of the L'Enfant Plan and the nearby General Post Office and Old Patent Office. The block includes one of the city's oldest office buildings and work by noted local architects; the buildings date from 1875 to 1892.
DC Inventory: August 28, 1973 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: April 2, 1974
Within Downtown Historic District and Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site
LeDroit Building (800-10 F Street)
This commercial office building was erected in 1875 by A.L. Barber & Co., builders of the suburban LeDroit Park. The building is a rare example of pre-elevator office building design and is a major work of noted local architect James McGill, who held an office in the building until 1882. Located on a corner site, the LeDroit Building features three stories with a raised basement of storefronts, as well as three main entrances. As a free Italianate adaptation of classical detail, the LeDroit Building has a bracketed cornice with alternating triangular and curved pediments, and applied lettering.
812 F Street
This is a commercial row building with the stories, a pressed brick facade, and a bracketed and pedimented cornice. The building was built 1875, probably by architect James McGill, and was occupied in 1877 by stationer J. Bradley Adams, a former tenant of the LeDroit Building.
Adams Building (814-16 F Street)
This is a commercial row building erected in 1878 by stationer J. Bradley Adams. It was used as store by Adams until 1888 and a residence until 1892. Like other buildings on the block, it was likely designed by James McGill.
818 F Street
Owner J. Bradley Adams erected this three-story commercial row building, possibly designed by James McGill, in 1881.
Warder Building (527 9th Street)
This early elevator building was erected in 1892 by B.H. Warder, a wealthy Ohio manufacturer of farm implements, who moved to Washington to invest in real estate. He intended to use the building as offices, apartments, and stores. The Warder Building was designed by architect Nicholas T. Haller and built in 1892. The building housed Haller's office in addition to those of several patent agents, labor unions, and the DC Communist Party during the 1940s.
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