Park Vista and Pine Manor (Concord Apartments)
The Concord Apartments represent DC’s increasing population in the 1930s and its impact on the city’s architecture.
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Built in 1936, 1937, and 1938, respectively, these four low-rise buildings in Brightwood are representative of the modest apartment buildings constructed to address the city’s explosive population growth in the interwar period. The buildings are designed with Moderne stylistic elements, including geometric brick patterns, stone ornamentation, and glass blacks illustrate the development of architect George T. Santmyers’ (1889-1960) architectural vocabulary away from strictly classical revival forms.
The Concord Apartments represent the efficient housing solutions for a rapidly expanding population in DC. Between 1930 and 1940, the city’s population expanded by 176,000—more than one-third of the previous population. Modest, efficient, and affordable apartment buildings like these were intended to serve a growing federal workforce. Their concentration in Brightwood is representative of the neighborhood’s evolution from rural to urban following the extension of transit lines and the adoption of a new zoning ordinance.
DC Inventory: July 28, 2016
National Register: October 18, 2016
