The Ritz: When The Ritz was completed in the mid-1920s, Washington was growing rapidly and there was a need for high-density, middle-income housing.

When The Ritz Apartments was completed in the mid-1920s, Washington was growing rapidly and there was a need for high-density, middle-income housing. Buildings like The Ritz were constructed to meet this demand. This six-story apartment building was designed by Louis T. Rouleau in the Classical Revival style for the Ell & Kay Building & Investment Company, and completed in 1927.

The conventional mid-rise apartment building has four courtyards across its mirrored, E-shaped plan. The building is clad in red brick masonry on the first five-floors and tan stucco on the sixth-floor. The top-floor also includes arched window surrounds with shells, as well as spiraled corner columns, in terra cotta. Cast stone is visible on the first-floor, most notably around the grand main entrance on Euclid Street NW. The main entrance features fluted pilasters with Corinthian capitals and an entablature. Above the entablature are bas relief urns, scroll brackets, and four windows with triangular pediments.

The Ritz is located one block west of 16th Street NW in Adams Morgan, within the historic Meridian Hill subdivision. Rouleau also designed The Mozart, located one block to the north at Fuller Street.

DC Inventory: April 28, 2026

National Register: August 7, 2026