The Keystone
The Art Deco-style Keystone Apartment Building offered housing for DC's growing middle class in the interwar years.
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With the continued and rapid population growth in D.C. between world wars, buildings like the Keystone were necessary and an economic solution to house workers and their families. The Keystone's conventional-high rise style maximized the amount of units inside and made it possible for large numbers of middle-class residents to occupy its units. The building's Art Deco-style by Robert O. Scholz was certainly a draw, but even more influential was the affordable housing it provided during this era.
Located in Foggy Bottom, the Keystone was a major indicator of city residents' acceptance of apartment buildings, as well as the demographic changes the city had undergone. Many residents were younger, had small families, and worked for the government. One of the largest apartment buildings at the time of completion, the Keystone helped establish Foggy Bottom as a prime location for middle-class households to reside. While the building is now owned and operated by the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, a non-profit, it still hosts the legacy of Washingtonians accepting apartment living.
DC Inventory: January 28, 2010
National Register: June 18, 2010
This site is a stop on the D.C. Apartment Buildings tour as an example of a Conventional High-Rise apartment building.
