Wardman Tower and Arcade (Wardman Park Annex, Interior Lobby, and Hotel Entrance Piers)

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Built in 1928, the Wardman Park Annex peers onto the road below from its hilltop site at the intersection of Woodley Road and Connecticut Avenue NW.

Its height—140 feet above street level—has made it a landmark along Connecticut Avenue since its erection and provides its residents with spectacular views across Rock Creek Park. The structure is composed of four eight-story wings radiating, spoke-like, from a central octagonal tower. The arrangement provides all rooms with exterior views and gives the building its distinctive cruciform shape.

The Annex was designed by Mihran Mesrobian, an architect in the firm of builder Harry Wardman. Mesrobian designed many significant buildings in Washington, including the Hay-Adams Hotel, Carlton Hotel, and Sedgwick Gardens — the latter of which also includes a rare interior designation. Mesrobian used English Colonial Revival details in contrasting white wood and stone to ornament the eight nearly identical facades of his red brick building. The choice of style, colors, materials, and the radiating wing design were part of a conscious effort to blend the new building into the main red brick hotel building that had been erected by Wardman between 1917 and 1918 immediately to the west.

Initially added to the National Register in 1984, recent amendments in 2019 have expanded the boundaries of the landmarked site to include the interior lobby and the entrance piers that first welcomed guests to the hotel in the early 20th century. 

DC Inventory: January 5, 1979
DC Inventory (Amendment, including interior designation of lobby): November 15, 2018
National Register: January 31, 1984
National Register (Boundary Increase): May 15, 2019
National Register (Additional Documentation): May 17, 2019