DC Architects To Know Series: Part Two

Curated by DC Preservation League

This interactive map shows the buildings designed by the five architects featured in Part Two of the DC Architects To Know Series, which can be found on the DC Preservation League website. These buildings are historically-designated and are on the DC Inventory of Historic Sites and/or the National Register of Historic Places.

Albert Cassell (1895 - 1969): Howard University's Founders Library, Mayfair Mansions, Prince Hall Masonic Temple

— Cassell served as Howard University's official architect from 1922 to 1938, and was responsible for the university's 1930 Master Plan.

Appleton P. Clark (1865 - 1955): St. Phillip's Baptist Church, Second Baptist Church, Owl's Nest, Victor Building, Homer Building, Denrike Building, Second National Bank, Hebrew Home for the Aged and Jewish Social Service Agency, Episcopal Home for Children, 1644-66 Park Road NW, Civil Service Commission

— Clark designed buildings in a variety of eclectic styles, from Renaissance Revival to Tudor Gothic Revival.

Alfred Mullett (1834 - 1890): State, War, and Navy Building (Old Executive Office Building), Baltimore Sun Building, Central National Bank (Apex Building), Mullett Rowhouses

— Mullett served as the Supervising Architect for the U.S. Treasury from 1863 to 1874. The Office of the Supervising Architect was responsible for the design of federal buildings — post offices, custom houses, courthouses, and the like — between the 1850s and 1930s.

George T. Santmyers (1889 - 1960): 3901 Connecticut Avenue NW, Meridian Manor, Lexington Apartments, Fort View Apartments, Glade Apartments, Park Vista and Pine Manor (Concord Apartments), Dahlgreen Courts, Metropolitan Apartments, Hampshire Gardens (with James E. Cooper)

— Santmyers designed nearly 450 apartment buildings in a variety of styles throughout the District.

George Oakley Totten, Jr. (1866 - 1934): Christian Hauge House, "Pink Palace," Old French Embassy, Charles Evans Hughes House, United Mine Workers of America (The University Club), Meridian Hall, Embassy Building No. 10, Old Hungarian Embassy, Congressional Club, Warder-Totten House (reconstruction)

— As Mary Foote Henderson's official architect, Totten designed many embassy buildings in the Meridian Hill neighborhood, as well as many mansions for wealthy Washingtonians.

Howard University

These three buildings on Howard University’s Main Yard are nationally significant as the setting for the institution’s role in the legal establishment of racially desegregated public education, and for its association with two nationally recognized…

Mayfair Mansions

Mayfair Mansions, built between 1942 and 1946, was designed by Albert I. Cassell, a Black architect who conceived of a park-like setting, citing the 17 buildings of the complex on angles about a central common mall space. The buildings occupy only 18…

Prince Hall Masonic Temple

Founded in 1825 by both enslaved people and free Black people, Prince Hall Masonic Temple became the headquarters to the nation’s earliest and largest Black fraternity. When the Prince Hall Masonic Temple decided to move its original headquarters,…

Saint Phillip's Baptist Church

Saint Phillip’s Baptist Church has stood on the corner of North Capitol and K Street, NE since its dedication in 1892.  With its deep red brick façade, brownstone trim, and pitched gable roof, the Church is reminiscent of Queen Anne styled…

Second Baptist Church

Second Baptist Church sprang from the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church and is noted in the Baptist movement as the mother church for many other area congregations. The church was first located on this site in 1856, and served, according to oral…

Owl’s Nest

Built as a rural country house for journalist William L. Crounse, Owl’s Nest and its exceptional wooded grounds illustrate the gradual transition of the former Washington County from farmsteads, to scattered suburban country houses on large lots, to…

Victor Building

Standing at the corner of G and 9th streets NW in the heart of the city, the Victor Building’s construction made it even more convenient for the original owner, Victor Evans, to complete his work. One of the preeminent patent attorneys in the…

Homer Building

The Homer Building appears to have been named for Homer Guerry, a Washington lawyer who had previously owned much of the property on which it was erected. It was opened for occupancy during World War I, which created a shortage of office space in the…

Denrike Building

Located just north of McPherson Square in what was historically considered the northern limit of the city’s financial district, the Denrike Building is an 11-story office building designed by local architect Appleton P. Clark, Jr. The structure,…

Second National Bank

The Second National Bank stands among a group of banks in the vicinity of the Treasury Department that contribute to DC's financial district. It is one of the last of the classically inspired structures, built during a sustained boom in Washington…

Hebrew Home for the Aged and Jewish Social Service Agency

The Hebrew Home for the Aged was constructed in 1925 to provide social support for destitute Jews, many of whom were immigrants who neither spoke nor understood English. The Hebrew Home, located in what was at the time considered the northern fringe…

Episcopal Home for Children

Originally located in Colonial Beach, Virginia, the Episcopal Home for Children (EHC) got its start as a convalescent home for children between the ages of six and sixteen. Initially known as the Bell Home for Children, daily programs involved…

1644‑66 Park Road, NW

1644-1666 Park Road, built in 1906, consists of twelve red brick, three-story, semi-detached Colonial Revival row houses facing north. The six duplex buildings, which are divided vertically, rest on raised basements and are topped with mansard roofs…

Civil Service Commission

Erected in 1911 by the Samuel J. Prescott Company to a design by prominent Washington architect Appleton P. Clark, Jr., the Civil Service Commission building exemplifies the early-20th century office buildings developed privately for long-term use by…

Baltimore Sun Building

The Baltimore Sun Building (also known as the Sun Building or American Bank Building) was designed in 1885-87 by nationally recognized architect Alfred Bult Mullett for A.S. Abell, publisher of the Baltimore Sun, as the paper's Washington news…

Central National Bank (Apex Building)

The Central National Bank, also known as the Dorothy I. Height Building or Apex Building, is now the national headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women. The twin-turreted, former bank was one of a cluster of financial buildings that…

Mullett Rowhouses

Designed in 1889 by architect Alfred B. Mullett (1834-1890), the Mullett Rowhouses can be found in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. This row of Queen Anne style residences were built of red brick with sandstone trim. Each building features large…

3901 Connecticut Avenue NW (and Lobby)

The garden-style construction at 3901 Connecticut Avenue NW fulfilled many of the aesthetic and logistic needs of the residents that lived there. The building had direct streetcar access that allowed commuting workers to easily travel to and from…

Meridian Manor

Meridian Manor is a significant example of the speculative middle-class apartment buildings that were constructed in the 1910s and 1920s along the 14th Street streetcar line. Noted architect George T. Santmyers' design is characteristic of the…

Lexington Apartments

The Lexington is a conventional low-rise apartment building, erected in 1928 by developer Charles Sager to house a portion of the city's expanding middle class at the eastern edge of Capitol Hill. The Classical Revival-style building is one of the…

Fort View Apartments

Designed by renowned Washington architect George T. Santmyers, the Fort View Apartments complex is comprised of two three-story brick and cinder block buildings built between 1938 and 1939. The conventional low-rise apartment buildings are designed…

Glade Apartments

Up until the early twentieth century, the Brightwood area was mostly rural. In the 1820s, Brightwood contained important transportation routes until the road network changed during the Civil War for a line of defensive fortifications. Eventually, the…

Park Vista and Pine Manor (Concord Apartments)

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…

Dahlgreen Courts

Both buildings of Dahlgreen Courts reflect architect George Santmyers' preference for the Classical Revival style, although the building at 2520 10th Street is less ornate than its counterpart at 2504 10th Street.The stylized ornamentation applied to…

Metropolitan Apartments

Built between 1936 and 1937, the Metropolitan Apartment Building was designed by George T. Santmyers, one of the most prolific architects of apartment buildings in the District of Columbia. Built following a period of transition in which the Art Deco…

Hampshire Gardens

Completed in 1929, this garden-style apartment building was meant to have a distinctly British aesthetic with its Tudor Revival style construction. Hampshire Gardens, in addition to its attention to the natural landscape, was also a…

Christian Hauge House (Embassy of the Republic of Cameroon)

Found at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and 24th Street NW, the Christian Hauge House’s intricate architecture is exemplary of the neighborhood’s elegant aesthetic. Designed by George Oakley Totten, Jr. – known for his many designs in the…

Old French Embassy

This former embassy is among the finest of nearly a dozen Meridian Hill mansions built by Mary Foote Henderson (1841-1931), in collaboration with her favorite architect, George Oakley Totten Jr. (1866-1939). Built in 1907, the project was her first…

Charles Evans Hughes House (Chancery of Burma)

Built in 1907 for A. Clifford and Alice Pike Barney by George Oakley Totten, this house is most notable as the home of Charles Evans Hughes—a statesman and juror of the highest order, a leader in the Progressive movement, and the holder of a…

United Mine Workers of America (The University Club)

Built in 1912 as the University Club, this building is now more closely associated with the legendary union leader John L. Lewis (1880-1969). A self-made man, Lewis was president of the United Mine Workers of America for more than forty years. In…

Meridian Hall

Meridian Hall, like several other mansions in the Meridian Hill Historic District, was commissioned by Mary Foote Henderson, who was the guiding force behind the development of the area as an enclave of embassies and mansions. She advocated for the…

Embassy Building No. 10

In 1928, Embassy Building No. 10 was designed by architect George Oakley Totten Jr. (1866-1939), which was built in the following years. The building was designed to incorporate both public and private domestic activities, as the building is one of…

Old Hungarian Embassy

Like Meridian Hall and several other mansions in the Meridian Hill Historic District, this building was part of Mary Foote Henderson's plan to beautify the area. She commissioned renowned architect George Oakley Totten, Jr. to design this building,…

Congressional Club

The Congressional Club is a distinctive classical building with a prominent domed rotunda at the corner of Sixteenth Street and New Hampshire Avenue. Designed by architect George Oakley Totten Jr. (1866-1939), the 1914 building exemplifies the vision…

Warder-Totten House

The Warder-Totten House is the only structure designed by the firm of Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1866) remaining in DC. Commissioned in 1885 by American businessman Benjamin Warder (1824-1894) at 1509 K Street NW, the building was razed in 1923 to…