Washington Loan and Trust Company

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The Washington Loan and Trust Company Building is prominently situated across from the Old Patent Office. It was home to the city's first trust company, originally organized in 1889 by Brainerd H. Warner, and acquired by Riggs Bank in 1954. The building is one of the city's first skyscrapers, built prior to height limitations.

The building, designed by James G. Hill and completed in 1891, boasts a Romanesque Revival facade of rock-faced granite with arched windows, and a mixture of stone masonry bearing walls and cast-iron construction. The influence of H.H. Richardson can be seen in the building's rock-faced stone masonry and Romanesque features. Some original interior features remain, including ornamental cast-iron stairs. The main banking room was enlarged and remodeled in the Classical Revival style in 1911‑12. The Corinthian columns are still visible. An addition, designed by Arthur B. Heaton, was constructed in 1926‑27, which expanded the building's presence along F Street.

In more recent years, the building has served as a hotel, first as a Courtyard Marriott and currently as the Riggs Washington DC (the name being a reference to its former use), which opened in 2020 following a major rehabilitation project led by the architecture firm of Perkins Eastman.

DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: May 6, 1971
Within the Downtown Historic District