ARCHITECTS

(listed alphabetically by last name )

A E L
Abel, Joseph H. Edwards, Harry L. Landvoigt, Albert E
Allard, William C. Lepley, Matthew G.
Archer, Romulus C., Jr. F Lockie, Joseph A.
Atkinson, Albert S.J. Fleming, Robert I. Locraft, Thomas H.
Aubinoe, Alvin L. Luquer, Lynch
G
B Germuiller, Julius M
Bagley, Marion L. Giles, Lewis W. MacNeil, Gordon E.
Barrington, Edward Goenner, Albert Marsh, William J.
William S.C. Gray, W. Bruce Marshall, J. Rush
Baxter, Harvey P. Grimm, Nicholas R. McGill, James H.
Beers, Albert H. Groff, Diller B. Medford, Thomas M.
Bell, George N. Meline, Louis D.
Beresford, Robert F. H Mesrobian, Mihran
Berla, Julian E. Hadfield, George Meyers, B. Frank
Bibb, Albert B. Haislip, Thomas M. Meyers, John G.
Bogardus, James Haller, Nicholas T. Milburn, Frank P.
Bohn, Joseph A., Jr. Hallett, Marcus Mindeleff, Victor O.
Brent, Calvin T.S. Hardenbergh, Henry J. Moss, Louis R.
Breuninger, Henry L. Harding, Clarence L. Mullett, Alfred B.
Brown, Glenn Head, Robert T. Murphy, Frederick V.
Brown, Leon Heaton, Arthur B.
Heister, Michael N
C Hill, James G. Norton, Claude N.
Chapman, Josephine W. Hornblower, Joseph C.
Chatelain, Leon, Jr. Howser, William E. O
Clark, Appleton P., Jr. Hunter, Ernest C. Olmsted, Walter B.
Cluss, Adolf
Cobb, Henry Ives I P
Cooper, George S. Ittner, William B. Page, Harvey L.
Cooper, James E. Palmer, William J.
Corning, E. Burton J Pelz, Paul J.
Johannes, Dana B., Jr. Peter, Walter G.
D Johnson, Joseph C. Pittman, William S.
De Ladurantaye, Louis Justement, Louis Plager, William S.
De Sibour, Jules H. Plowman, Thomas M.
Dessez, Leon E. K Poindexter, William M.
Didden, Clement A. Keferstein, Carl B. Porter, Irwin S.
Dillon, Charles E. King, Charles W. Pyle, Frederick B.
Donn, Edward W., Jr. King, Nicholas
Dreyfuss, Edmund W. Kirkhuff, Daniel
Dwyer, Philip N.
 ARCHITECTS
(listed alphabetically by last name )

Q-R
Ray, George N.
Robinson, Hilyard

S
Santmyers, George T.
Schneider, Thomas F.
Scholz, Robert O.
Schulze, Paul
Simmons, B. Stanley
Smith, Delos H.
Smithmeyer, John L.
Speiden, Albert
Stead, Robert
Stern, David L.

T
Taylor, James Knox
Taylor, W. Waverley
Thornton, William
Tomlinson, Frank
Totten, George O., Jr.
Trumbauer, Horace
Turner, Samuel R.

U-V
Volland, Edward O.

W
Waggaman, Clarke
Warwick, Harvey H.
Weihe, Edwin A.
Wenig, Julius
West, Claughton
White, Frank R.
Williams, Lucian T.
Woltz, Edward
Wood, Waddy B.

X-Y-Z
 DC Architects Directory

Joseph Henry Abel

Biographical Data
Birth: 05/20/1905 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 11/28/1985 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married to Dorothy Abel; one son. Remarried to Marjorie B.
Abel after Dorothy’s death in 1956.
Education
High School: Central High School (DC) - 1923
College: The George Washington University - 1932
Graduate School:
The Architectural Firm of Berla & Abel
Apprenticeship: George T. Santmyers Abel is seated third from left
Source: Best Addresses
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 374 Date Issued: 05/31/1940
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1927 Latest Permit: 1943 Total Permits: 602 Total Buildings: 2,173
Practice Position Date
George T. Santmyers Draftsman 1923-1928
H. M. Bralove Draftsman 1928-1931
Arthur Heaton Draftsman ca. 1932-1935
Dillon & Abel Draftsman/Designer 1935-1939
Berla & Abel Partner/Architect 1939-1968
Abel & Weinstein Partner/Architect 1969-1974
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1941 Fellow of the AIA: 1968
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Board of Trade and the Washington Building Congress; Served as
Treasurer for the Washington Chapter of the AIA.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types:
Styles and Forms: Tudor Revival, Art Deco, International Style
DC Work Locations: Kalorama
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
2101 Connecticut Ave., NW 1927 Kalorama Triangle Historic Dist.
The Broadmoor 3601 Connecticut Ave., NW 1928 Cleveland Park Historic District
The Shoreham Hotel 2500 Calvert Street, NW 1930 NRHP DC Historic Site
2929 Connecticut Avenue, NW 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site

Abel, Joseph H. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

The Governor Shepherd 2121 Virginia Avenue, NW 1938 Demolished in 1985
2100 Connecticut Ave., NW 1940 Sheridan-Kalorama Hist. Dist.
Significance and Contributions

Joseph H. Abel was born in Washington, D.C. in 1905 and

graduated from Central High School in 1923. He began
his architectural career as a draftsman for George T.
Santmyers. At the age of twenty-two, he contributed to
the design of 2101 Connecticut Avenue (1927), which
James Goode has deemed “the finest apartment house to
appear in Washington between the two World Wars.”
Santmyers and Abel designed 2101 Connecticut Avenue
for developer Harry M. Bralove at a cost of two million
dollars. Although modernist in massing and façade
composition, the building’s architectural treatment is
elegantly consistent with the historic styles of other nearby
apartments and features whimsical gothic ornamentation
and rooftop statuary.

When the D.C. law was changed to require architects to

hold a college degree, Abel enrolled at The George
Washington University. After graduating in 1932, he
worked as a draftsman for Arthur Heaton. In 1932, he
The Governor Shepherd, 2121 Virginia Ave., NW also joined the practice of architect Charles E. Dillon.
(now demolished) Goode, Best Addresses, p. 347 Dillon & Abel were the first architects to introduce the
International Style to Washington. Their apartment building designs for 2929 Connecticut Avenue (1936) and the
Governor Shepherd (1938) were early examples of this modernist style. These buildings were functionalist structures
with severe facades that lacked ornamentation. Dillon & Abel designed numerous residences throughout the city, but
gained recognition for their trademark light tan brick apartment houses that featured ribbon windows, unadorned
facades, and glass block detailing around their entrances.

In 1938, Abel formed a partnership with Julian

E. Berla, a renowned architect and expert in
public housing design. The firm of Berla &
Abel was known for its apartment buildings,
commercial shopping centers, and many
residences. Through their work, Berla & Abel
gained a reputation as Washington’s most
notable modernist architectural firm. In
partnership with Berla, Abel continued to design
distinctive apartment buildings. In 2100
Connecticut Avenue (1939-40) the architects
carved out a traditional C-shaped box to create a
distinctively new architectural appearance for the
city. The façade is comprised of strip windows,
glass block and light brick, and the projecting
bays and receding balconies establish a rhythm
of solids and voids. Berla & Abel avoided
ornamentation, instead making a statement with 2101 Connecticut Avenue, NW
the pure volume of the building. NCinDC, May 25, 2008,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2591525285/

Abel, Joseph H. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Abel gained recognition as a national expert on apartment buildings. In 1947, he coauthored of a book called
“apartment houses.” Abel also contributed articles on apartment buildings to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Although
the firm’s most prolific work occurred during the boom years after World War II, Berla & Abel continued to practice
together until Berla’s retirement following an
automobile crash in 1972. Their later work
included designing buildings for the Southwest
Redevelopment Authority. In 1960, they
designed The James—the first apartment
building was a rooftop swimming pool. In 1969,
Berla and Abel welcomed a new partner to the
firm, Jesse Weinstein. After Berla’s retirement,
the firm became known as Abel & Weinstein.
Abel retired in 1974 and died at the age of 80 in
1985.

The Broadmoor, 3601 Connecticut Ave., NW

Goode, Best Addresses, p. 274

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory 1956 1
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 4 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 1
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 39-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Post Date: 11/30/1985 Page: F4
Other Sources:
Abel, Joseph H. and Fred N. Severund. Apartment Houses. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corp, 1947.
“A Profile of Work by Berla & Abel.” Architectural Forum August 1946, 82-94.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Straight, Susan. “Small, Stable Neighborhood Near the Park.” Washington Post, 19 November 2005.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Abel, Joseph H. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Percy Crowley Adams

Biographical Data
Birth: 4/4/1869 Place: Randolph, NY
Death: 9/8/1953 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married Amy Farmer in 1899; two children: Theodora
Frances (b.1901) and Thomas Edwin (b.1910).
Education
High School: Chamberlain Institute, Randolph, NY (1884-1888)
College: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (1889-1893); B.S. in
Architecture
Graduate School:
National Photo Company Collection, 1916-1917
Apprenticeship: LC-DIG-npcc-32688

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 71 Date Issued: 9/24/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1909 Latest Permit: 1931 Total Permits: 21 Total Buildings: 22
Practice Position Date
Percy C. Adams Independent architect, Buffalo, NY 1895-1897
Office of the Supervising Architect of the
Draftsman 1897-1909
Treasury
Averill, Hall & Adams Architect 1909
Averill & Adams Architect 1910-1915
Percy C. Adams Architect, collaborated with Upman 1916-1924
Upman & Adams Architect 1924-1945
Allied Architects Architect 1925-???
Independent Architect 1945-1951
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1911-1953 Fellow of the AIA: n/a
Other Societies or Memberships: President of the Washington, DC Chapter of the AIA (1920-1921); President of
the Washington Architectural Club (1909); Washington Board of Trade; Civitan Club; University Club; Cornell Club;
Piney Branch Citizen’s Assn.; National Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. and Chapel of the Transfiguration (Protestant
Episcopal)
Awards or Commissions: Won the competition to design the “court of honor” and reviewing stands for Woodrow
Wilson’s 2nd Inauguration (1918).
Buildings
Building Types: Schools, Banks, Courthouses, Residences, Apartment Buildings, Movie Theaters, Commercial,
Manufacturing Facility, Office Buildings, Automobile Showrooms
Styles and Forms: Neo-Classical Revival;
DC Work Locations: Chevy Chase, Cleveland Park, Sixteenth Street, Capitol Hill, Mt. Pleasant, Brightwood, Shaw,
Cleveland Park, LeDroit Park.

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 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings Location Date Status

Village Building Village of Randolph, NY 1898 NRHP DC Historic Site
NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment Building 1509 16th Street, NW 1909
Sixteenth Street Historic District
Robert Bowman Residence The Plains, VA 1917 NRHP DC Historic Site
Court of Honor for 2nd
Inauguration of President Near the White House 1917 Demolished (temporary)
Woodrow Wilson
NRHP DC Historic Site
Avalon Theater 5612 Connecticut Ave., NW 1922
Chevy Chase Historic District
Rixey Mansion Marymount U., Arlington, VA 1919-1920 NRHP DC Historic Site
Longworth H.O.B. (with Allied NRHP DC Historic Site
New Jersey Avenue SE 1932
Architect, Inc.) Capitol Hill Historic District
NRHP DC Historic Site
Auto Show Room 1365 (1367) H Street NE 1927
Mott Motors/Plymouth Theater
Significance and Contributions
Born in 1869 in Randolph, New York, Percy Crowley Adams became a successful and well-regarded architect in
Washington, D.C. Between 1896 and 1951, he designed numerous buildings throughout D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
He and his long-time business partner, Frank Upman, specialized in the design of suburban schools, but throughout
his career Adams designed all building types, most of
which were in the Classical Revival style.

Adams was born to Theodore Edwin and Mary Lennett

(Crowley) Adams in the small town of Randolph in far
western New York State. His father was a merchant,
and Adams was educated at the local public school and
at the Chamberlain Institute. In 1893, he graduated
from Cornell University’s School of Architecture. He
spent his early years in private practice in Buffalo, New
York. His earliest known design was for a school
building at his alma mater, the Chamberlain Institute
(1896).

In 1897, Adams moved to Washington, D.C. to take a

drafting position in the Office of the Supervising
Architect of the U.S. Treasury (then led by Supervising
Architect, Lyman J. Gage); he remained there until
1909. While with the Treasury, Adams worked on the
design of courthouses and post offices.
Apartment Building, 1509 16th Street, NW. Averill, Hall &
In 1909, Adams joined with two colleagues to form the Adams, 1909.
firm of Averill, Hall & Adams, which was soon Photo courtesy of Google Street Views
shortened to Averill & Adams (1910-1915). During his practice with this firm, Adams worked on a seven-story,
Classical Revival-style apartment building on 16th Street in Northwest Washington (1509 16th Street NW; 1909), and a
residence for Robert Bowman in The Plains, Fauquier County, Virginia. In addition, Averill & Adams executed two
commissions for the Arcade Amusement Company, which converted a former trolley car barn at Park Road and 14th
Street into The Arcade, an extensive, mostly indoor amusement complex with a 300-seat movie theater, 14 bowling
alleys, and a ballroom.

In 1917, Adams won a competition to design the presidential and Lafayette Square reviewing stands for President

Adams, Percy C. Page 2 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

Woodrow Wilson’s second inauguration ceremony. Known as the “Court of Honor,” Adams designed the temporary
structures in an elaborate Beaux Arts style. The committee in charge of the design, including prominent architects
Appleton P. Clark and Ward Brown, praised Adams for his “untiring, unselfish, and conscientious labor.” [Report of
the Committee on the Court of Honor to Col. Robert N. Harper, Chairman Inaugural Committee, 28 March 1917.
Published in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, Issue 7261 – Senate Documents, Vol. 7 (1918).]

Adams spent most of his career in partnership with

Frank Upman in Washington, D.C. The firm of Upman
& Adams was officially formed in 1924; however, the
two had been collaborating for several years prior. The
two maintained an office in D.C. designing many
residences, school buildings, apartment buildings, and
commercial structures until 1945, when the partnership
was dissolved. One of their most prominent
commissions was the Chevy Chase Theater (renamed
the Avalon Theater in 1929, 5612 Connecticut Avenue
NW). Erected for the Chevy Chase Amusement
Company at a cost of $100,000, the brick building was
carefully designed in a Classical Revival style. It remains
Court of Honor, Pennsylvania Avenue near White House &
as a significant example of 1920s motion picture theater Lafayette Square, 1917.
architecture and the longest, continuously operating United States Congressional Serial Set, Issue 7261 – Senate
movie theater in Washington, D.C. Documents, Volume 7 (1918).
Online: Google Books
Among the many single-family dwellings that Upman & Adams designed for upper- and upper-middle-class patrons
was the Rixey Mansion, built in 1919-1920 in Arlington, Virginia for Assistant Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy, Dr.
Presley M. Rixey. In 1948, the Religious Order of the Sacred Heart of Mary purchased the grand house and
surrounding acreage; it now serves as the main building on the campus of Marymount University. Upman & Adams
also designed more modest residences in Washington, D.C. mainly in the Colonial Revival style. One example is the
house that Adams designed in 1922 for Mrs. Maud F.
Gibbs at 4900 16th Street NW.

Upman & Adams executed several commercial

commissions as well. Two distinct examples are the
Eclectic Revival automobile showroom built at 1367
(now 1365) H Street NE (now the H Street Playhouse
building) in 1927, and another showroom designed for
owner Thomas E. Clark in Cleveland Park in 1930
(3407 Connecticut Avenue NW; recently housed a
McDonald’s restaurant). The latter is a modest,
attached commercial building designed in the Art Deco
style and clad in limestone.
Rixey Mansion, Arlington, Virginia. Built 1919-1920.
http://virginiaroomarlingtonva.blogspot.com/2007/11/rixey- Contemporary sources reported that Upman & Adams
mansion.html were best known for their design of many area school
buildings. The 1930 book Washington: Past and Present, A
History edited by John Clagett Proctor asserts that the firm had designed “practically all the schools in Arlington
County, Virginia.” Between 1924 and 1926, Upman & Adams completed commissions for at least six schools in
Arlington County, including an addition to the Woodrow Wilson Elementary School (1601 Wilson Boulevard; 1925),
the John W. Barcroft Elementary School at 625 South Wakefield Street (1924), the Robert E. Lee Elementary School
(now Lee Community Center at 5722 Lee Highway; 1926), and the original Washington-Lee High School at 1300
North Quincy Street (1924). Upman & Adams also designed educational facilities in the Maryland suburbs, including
the old Bladensburg High School. Built in two phases (1930 and 1936-1937) and funded through a local bond issue
and Public Works Administration funds, Adams featured the project in his March 1937 “Verbal Senior Examination”

Adams, Percy C. Page 3 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

administered by the D.C. Board of Examiners & Registrars of Architects. The exam was administered for the purpose
of updating the credentials of architects who were initially registered “by exemption” in 1925 when the registration law
for architects was first implemented.
Along with partner Frank Upman, Percy Adams was a
member of an innovative collaborative design firm
established in D.C. in the mid 1920s. In 1925, Horace
Peaslee and other prominent members of the D.C. Chapter
of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) formed the
Allied Architects of Washington, D.C., Inc., a loose
confederation of prominent local architects who banded
together to pursue large public and semi-public
commissions in the city. Modeled on a similar architectural
group started in Los Angeles in 1919, the Allied Architects
worked collaboratively, sometimes holding internal design
competitions and then selecting and combining the best
Former Robert E. Lee Elementary School, 5722 Lee elements of the winning designs. The group’s bylaws
H wy, Arlington, VA (Upman & Adams, 1926) provided for one-fourth of the corporation’s net proceeds
History Matters, November 2011 to be spent on efforts to advance architecture in the District
of Columbia and to educate the public about good design.

The Allied Architect’s most prominent commission was the design for the Longsworth House Office Building (first
design submitted 1925; completed 1933). Other designs and studies pursued by the group included the never-built
National Stadium on East Capitol Street; the D.C. Municipal Center; designs for a downtown Naval Hospital; the
Naval Academy Memorial Gates; a D.C. National Guard Armory proposal; design and planning studies of
Georgetown; alleys in D.C.; and a study for the beautification of East Capitol Street. The Allied Architects disbanded
in 1949. The known members of Allied Architects were: Horace Peaslee, Louis Justement, Gilbert LaCoste Rodier,
Frank Upman, Nathan C. Wyeth, Percy C. Adams, Robert F. Beresford, Fred H. Brooke, Ward Brown, Appleton P.
Clark, William Deming, Jules Henri deSibour, Edward W. Donn, Jr., William Douden, W.H. Irwin Fleming, Benjamin
C. Flournoy, Charles Gregg, Arthur B. Heaton, Arved L. Kundzin, Luther M. Leisenring, O.Harvey Miller, Victor
Mindeleff, Thomas A. Mullett, Fred V. Murphy, Fred B. Pyle, George N. Ray, Fred J. Ritter, Delos H. Smith, Alex H.
Sonneman, Francis P. Sullivan, Maj. George O. Totten, Leonidas P. Wheat, Jr., and Lt. Col. George C. Will [member
information from C. Ford Peatross, ed., Capital Drawings: Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C., from the Library of
Congress (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University
Press, 2005), pp. 36-38 and fn 39].

In addition to his architectural practice, Adams

remained active in professional and civic organizations.
He served as president (1920 and 1921) and vice-
president (1918) of the Washington D.C. Chapter of the
AIA. He also led the Washington Architectural Club
(1909) and was a member of the Washington Board of
Trade, the Civitan Club, the University Club, the
Cornell Club, and the Piney Branch Citizens’
Association.

Adams retired from practice in 1951; at the time he was Mott Motors/Plymouth Theater, 1365 H Street NE; 1927
the oldest practicing architect in Washington, D.C. He Photo courtesy of Google Street Views
died two years later at age 84 in his home at 3319
Quesada Street NW. He was survived by his two children who both lived in D.C.

Adams, Percy C. Page 4 of 5

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article: “Low Cost
v. 42, no. 1 pp. 40-41.
Suburban House at Randolph, New York,” Building Age
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 2, 10, 115
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital 21-22; 23-23; 26-27
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Publication: Washington Post Date: 9/9/1953 Page: 22
Obituary
Washington Star 9/9/1953
Other Sources:
Barsoum, Eve Lydia (DC Historic Preservation Division). “Chevy Chase Theater” National Register of Historic Places
Nomination Form. National Park Service, Prepared June 1996.
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Percy C. Adams Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Percy C. Adams correspondence with the Board. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Headley, Robert K. Motion Picture Exhibition in Washington, D.C. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.,
Publishers, 1999.
Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
Liccese-Torres, Cynthia and Laura Bobeczko. Arlington County Register of Historic Places Historic District
Designation Form: “Fort Myer Heights School; Woodrow Wilson Elementary School.” January 2009.
Proctor, John Clagett, ed. Washington Past and Present: A History, Volume IV. New York: lewis Historical Publishing
Company, Inc., 1930.
Snyderman, Lois and the Couture/Denig Partnership. Historic Resources Survey: 18 Early-Mid-Twentieth Century School
Buildings in Arlington County, Virginia. Prepared for the Arlington County Department of Planning, Housing
and Community Development. December 1991.
Wells, John E. and Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955. Richmond, VA: New South Architectural
Press, 1997.

Notes: All of the building permits counted were issued when Adams was part of a partnership. Adams was
registered also as an architect in Virginia from 1931-1949.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.
Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Adams, Percy C. Page 5 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

William Clinton Allard

Biographical Data
Birth: 12/23/1866 Place: Baltimore, Maryland
Death: 12/4/1945 Place: Takoma Park, Maryland
Family: Married Elizabeth Carroll in 1898; two sons, one daughter
Education
High School: Baltimore
College: Maryland Institute
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, 2/24/1907
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Exempted Date Issued: 8/8/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1902 Latest Permit: 1930 Total Permits: 176 Total Buildings: 620
Practice Position Date
William C. Allard Carpenter and builder 1897-1904
Allard & Appleby Architect, builder 1904-1912
William C. Allard Architect 1915
William C. Allard Contractor 1917-1928

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Row houses, low-rise apartment houses, small commercial buildings
Styles and Forms: Colonial revival, Classical revival, Queen Anne, Crafstman
DC Work Locations: Adams Morgan, Brookland, Capitol Hill, Columbia Heights, Dupont Circle, Eckington,
Kalorama, Petworth, Shaw, Woodley Park
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Rowhouses 1850-58 Kalorama Road, NW 1910 Washington Heights Hist. Dist.
Rowhouses 1733-37, 1745-47, 1751-77, and 1905, 1906 Strivers’ Section Historic
1742-1762 T St. NW District
Rowhouses 15-25 V Street, NE 1906 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 3521-43 13th St. NW 1909 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 2825-35 and 2813-23 27th St., NW 1911, 1912 Woodley Park Historic District
Rowhouses 123-139 Randolph Place, NW 1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Woodbine apartment house 2839 27th St., NW 1920 Woodley Park Historic District
Allard, William C. Page 1 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

William C. Allard was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1866 and attended grammar
school there. He studied architecture at the Maryland Institute’s evening
classes from 1887 to 1891. He began practicing as an architect in 1897 but was
principally a contractor and builder. In the 1900 Census Allard described
himself as a carpenter and builder residing on 5th Street, N.E. Allard had not
trained in an architect’s office. When the District of Columbia began registering
architects in 1925, Allard stated that he had not had any drafting experience in
an office and could not supply any recommendations from architects because
he had not worked for any. He qualified to practice architecture on the basis of
his years of experience but he did not seek the higher qualification of registered
architect. Over the course of his career, Allard designed numerous speculative
rowhouses for investors John M. Henderson, F.A. Blundon, and George C.
Pumphrey among others, and for himself.

Early in his career, Allard formed a partnership, Allard & Appleby, with W.
Braden Appleby. Between 1904 and 1912 the firm constructed speculative
dwellings, principally row houses, both on property it owned and for other
developers. The firm advertised itself as builders and contractors and Allard did
1106 9th Street, N.W. Store with
the design work for the firm. Among the properties the firm developed as two six-room apartments above,
owner, architect and builder were Nos. 123-139 Randolph Place, N.W. (1910) designed by W.C. Allard and
and Nos. 1-9 and 2-12 Girard Street, N.E. (1911). No permits were issued to constructed by Allard & Appleby,
the firm after 1912. 1908.
D.C. Permit # 2315, 2-28-1908,
Allard listed himself as an architect in the 1915 Boyd’s Directory but from 1917 to National Archives, College Park, Md.
1928 he listed himself as a contractor. However, he continued to design
speculative housing, principally row and semi-detached houses, for other
developers as well as for his own speculative developments. Much of his work
was in northwest Washington neighborhoods including Kalorama Triangle,
Adams-Morgan, Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, and Sixteenth Street Heights.
Many of Allard's row houses were two-story, two- or three-bay dwellings with a
front porch and relatively little architectural detail. Some, including 1343-1355 Washington Post, 2/24/1907
Shepherd St., N.W., owned and built by Allard & Appleby (1912) include
ornamental architectural details in various classical revival styles. Allard employed neoclassical design motifs as well as
Craftsman elements on two rows of Woodley Park houses he designed for George C. Pumphrey: 2825-2835 27th St.,
N.W. (1911) and 2813-2823 27th St. N.W. (1912).

Allard designed only a few flats and apartment

buildings, the largest of which was a four-story
apartment building, the Woodbine, at 2839 27th Street,
N.W. (1920), inspired by the English classical tradition,
with pedimented central pavilion and side wings. After
1925, Allard’s work output, as reflected in D.C.
building permits, declined sharply. His name appears
on only six permits issued between 1925 and 1930.
One of his last buildings was 1108 9th Street, N.W.
(1927), a two-story building with store and apartments,
which he owned, designed and built. Although almost
all the buildings Allard designed were residential, the
2800 Block 27th St., NW (East side) two last buildings for which he received permits were
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010 gas stations.
Allard, William C. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Allard resided in Takoma Park, Maryland in the latter part of his career.. Because Montgomery County does not retain
building permits it is not possible to determine whether Allard constructed housing in that area.

4407-4413 15th St. N.W.

Washington Post, 8 August
1915.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 12/6/1945 Page: 12
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 4
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. William C. Allard Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
EHT Traceries, Inc. “Square 369: Development of Southeast Quadrant.” Report prepared for Marriott International
Design and Construction Services, Inc., June 2008.
Progressive Washington Edition, Washington Post, February 24, 1907.
Traceries, Inc. “Old Woodley Park Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 1990.
Allard, William C. Page 3 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1900.

Notes: W.C. Allard will on file at D.C. Archives, 1946 Box 1809
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Allard, William C. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Romulus C. Archer, Jr.

Biographical Data
Birth: 3/11/1890 Place: Norfolk, Va.
Death: 11/29/1968 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Father, Romulus C.; mother, Mary E.; sisters, Mary E. and
Carrie V.; brothers, Eddie and Andrew E.; first wife, Louise Williams;
second wife, Nettie Archer
Education
High School: Norfolk High School (grad. 1908)
College: Norfolk Mission College 1908-10; International
Correspondence School of Scranton, Pa., 1911-13; Columbia
University 1913

Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: JET Magazine, June 16, 1955, p. 21.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 117 Date Issued: 1/15/1926
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1921 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 254 Total Buildings: 406
Practice Position Date
Archer & Archer, Norfolk, Va. Civil Engineer and Architect 1917-1920
Office of the Supervising Architect (U.S.
Draftsman 1921
Treas.)
Individual Practice Architect 1923-28
Individual Practice Architect 1931-60
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Florida Avenue Baptist Church
Awards or Commissions: Award for Superior Design in Architecture, Washington Board of Trade, 1954; Citizen of
the Year, Young Men’s Christian Association, 1964
Buildings
Building Types: Duplexes, semi-detached houses, detached houses, churches, apartments, commercial buildings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Modern Movement
DC Work Locations: Mount Vernon Square, Cleveland Park, LeDroit Park, Greater U Street Historic Districts; all
four quadrants of Washington
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
St. Paul AUMP Church 401 Eye St., S.E 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site
Eastland Gardens Houses Eastland Gardens, S.E. 1936-49 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 617-631 21st St., N.E. 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site

Archer, Romulus C., Jr. Page 1 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Romulus Cornelius (R. C.) Archer, Jr., was an African American architect born and raised in Norfolk, Va. He was the
oldest of five children and is listed along with his parents and his four siblings as living on Lee Street in Norfolk in the
1900 Federal census. His father, Romulus Archer, was a plasterer and probably sparked his interest in architecture.
Archer attended public schools in Norfolk and graduated from Norfolk Public High School in 1908. He then went
on to Norfolk Mission College for two years of study until 1910. He spent several years studying at the International
Correspondence School in Scranton, Pa., and then went to New York for a final year of formal architecture education
at Columbia University in 1913.

In the early 1910s, Archer was designing buildings in several parts of Virginia, including churches in Norfolk and
Danville and a Baptist school in Lynchburg. He was based in Norfolk, and he worked as a civil engineer and architect
as an owner of Archer & Archer from 1917 to 1920. He
presumably ran this business with his father, who was listed as
a self-employed plasterer and contractor in the 1920 census. In
1918 R. C. Archer enrolled in the U.S. army and, because of
his late entrance into World War I, did not see combat. He
was assigned to the regimental band and promoted to the rank
of corporal; he was honorably discharged in April 1919.
Archer worked briefly in 1921 as one of the few black
architects at the U.S. Treasury Department in the Office of the
Supervising Architect. He joined the Florida Avenue Baptist
Church in the same year and was then a lifetime member of
the congregation.

R. C. Archer was the second black architect to register in the

District of Columbia, the first being John A. Lankford. When St. Paul AUMP Church, 401 Eye St., S.E., 1924
Archer applied for registration as an architect in 1926, District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004
Lankford wrote to the Board of Examiners and Registrars on his behalf, saying, “he has a reputation for truth and
veracity, and splendid ability along architectural and building lines.” Archer was also registered as an architect in
Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.

Many of Archer’s designs were for buildings in the northeast quadrant of the District, particularly in the Brookland
neighborhood, bound by Taylor Street to the north, Rhode Island Avenue to the south, South Dakota Avenue to the
east and Catholic University to the West. Permits indicate, however, that he worked in all four quadrants of the city
and designed a variety of building types. He designed residential buildings including rowhouses, detached dwellings,
and apartment buildings. He also designed several moderately sized commercial buildings, and the Washington Star
credits Archer with designing one of the first motels built in the District of Columbia. He designed several religious
buildings during his career, including the St. Paul AUMP
Church in southeast Washington, D.C., dated 1924.

Between 1936 and 1949, Archer designed eight detached

houses in the Eastland Gardens community. Eastland
Gardens in northeast Washington was a neighborhood
development of detached dwellings that was begun in 1928
and grew until 1955. Eastland Gardens, Inc., purchased the
property bordered by Ord Street, Kenilworth Avenue, Lee
Street, 40th Street, and Anacostia Avenue in 1928. African
American architects and builders were preferred for the
development and, by 1955, 16 black architects and seven
black builders had designed and built over 100 of the 166
Eastland Gardens house, 4425 Nash St., N.E., 1949 structures that stood in Eastland Gardens at that time.
District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004 Archer worked with the development’s most prominent
Archer, Romulus C., Jr. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

builder, Randolph Dodd, on four properties. One of the houses built by the Archer-Dodd team was demolished
during the construction of I-295, but Archer’s seven other Eastland Gardens houses remain extant on 42nd St., Meade
St., Lane Place, and Nash St., N.E. Archer’s houses are Minimal Traditional forms mainly in red brick.

Archer suspended his private practice in Washington during World War II when he returned to active duty for the
U.S. as a mechanical drafting instructor. After the war he resumed his architecture practice and worked extensively
with Master Builders, Inc. within the District. Between 1939 and 1947, Archer is listed as architect on over 100
permits for owner/builder Master Builders, Inc. The
properties are all extant and are located on Oakwood St.,
Orange St., and Valley Avenue in Southeast Washington.
These buildings are primarily duplexes and semi-detached
houses, generally modest and built in brick and concrete
block, though the Colonial Revival style duplexes on Orange
Street have protruding central bays faced in stone.

In 1954, R. C. Archer was the recipient of the Washington

Board of Trade Award in Architecture for Superior Design.
Archer was known for the numerous apprenticeships he
provided for young black architects in his office and, because
of this, he received the “Citizen of the Year” award from the
Young Men’s Christian Association in 1964. He was 501 and 503 Oakwood St., S.E., 1940
involved with the American Art Society and with the District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004
National Trade Association, where he was Treasurer of the
Washington, D.C., chapter for many years.

Archer was married twice, and twice he became a widower. He did not have any children. R.C. Archer died of a heart
attack at the age of 77 on November 29, 1968, at the Beverly Nursing Home in Washington. He is buried in
Arlington National Cemetery.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Other Repositories:
Quest; Ancestry.com
Publication: Washington Post Date: Dec. 1, 1968 Page: B6
Obituary:
Washington Star Dec. 1, 1968 unknown
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 6-7
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it

Archer, Romulus C., Jr. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Other Sources:
Eastland Gardens Flower Club History Committee. Eastland Gardens Brochure. Design by Megan Gilbert, 2009.
“D.C. Architect Cited.” JET Magazine, Vol. VIII, No. 6. June 16, 1955. A Johnson Publication, p. 21.
Romulus Cornelius Archer, Jr., Application for Registration to Practice Architecture. District of Columbia Archives,
Washington, D.C., 1925.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, Norfolk, Va., 1900, 1920.
Wilson, Dreck Spurlock, ed. African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. New York: Routledge,
USA, 2004.
Notes: The latest permit listed is 1949, but this is the final year included in the database so there may have been
permits to Archer after 1949.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Archer, Romulus C., Jr. Page 4 of 4

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Biographical Data
Birth: Place:
Death: Place:

Family: .

Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: Latest Permit: Total Permits: Total Buildings:
Practice Position Date

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: Fellow of the AIA:

Other Societies or Memberships:

Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types:
Styles and Forms
DC Work Locations:
Notable Buildings Location Date Status

Page 1 of 2
 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Significance and Contributions

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 4 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 39-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Date: Page:
Other Sources:

Notes:
Prepared by: Last Updated:

Page 2 of 2
 DC Architects Directory

Albert Sidney Johnston Atkinson

Biographical Data
Birth: 10/2/1878 Place: Selma, N.C.
Death: 11/17/1945 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: First wife, Sarah Belle (d. 1921).; three sons, two daughters;
second wife, married Marie Dalzell, October 1925
Education
High School: Smithfield, North Carolina
College: Soule College, New Orleans, La.
Graduate School: Y.M.C.A. Institute, Washington, DC
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, 12/17/1923, 16
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: By exemption Date Issued: 3/12/1926
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1903 Latest Permit: 1945 Total Permits: 206 Total Buildings: 262
Practice Position Date
D.C. Building Inspector’s Office Superintendent of construction 1903-1905
D.C. Building Inspector’s Office Assistant Building Inspector 1905-1917
Board for Condemnation of Insanitary
Inspector, secretary, executive officer 1917-1932
Buildings, D.C. Engineer Department
D.C. Building Inspector’s Office Assistant Building Inspector 1932-?
Albert S. J. Atkinson Individual practice 1910-1945
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Warehouses, small stores, laundries, gas and service stations, public and private garages, apartments,
row and detached dwellings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Modern
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Upper Northwest, Mount Pleasant, Capitol Hill,
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Garage 645 Maryland Ave. NE 1906 Capitol Hill Historic District
Nowell-Mayerburg-Oliver
Johnston County, Selma, N.C. 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site
House
Arcade-Sunshine Plant 735 Lamont St. N.W. 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Manhattan Laundry, west
1326-1346 Florida Ave. N.W. 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
building addition
Store and offices 500 K Street, N.W. 1931 Mt. Vernon Historic District

Atkinson, Albert S. J. Page 1 of 4

 DC Architects Directory
Significance and Contributions

Albert S. J. Atkinson was born on October 2, 1878, in Selma, North Carolina. His father was a farmer. He attended
high school in the nearby town of Smithfield and then went to Soule College, a business and commercial school in New
Orleans. The 1900 census recorded Atkinson as living with his older brother, a civil engineer, in New Orleans and
working as a rodman (responsible for carrying the leveling rod used in surveying).

By 1903 Atkinson had moved to Washington, D.C. When registering as an architect in 1926, Atkinson said that he had
studied architecture at the Y.M.C.A. in Washington D.C. The Y.M.C.A. Institute offered a range of academic,
vocational, and professional courses including architectural drafting. In 1903, Atkinson became a superintendent of
construction in the D.C. Building Inspector’s Office. Two years later he was appointed an assistant inspector.
Approximately eight assistant inspectors, working under the District’s building inspector, were responsible for
inspecting all new buildings under construction in the District in addition to inspecting existing buildings and
condemning unsafe ones. In the 1911 annual report of the District Commissioners, Atkinson described the scope of his
work. He was responsible for the territory bounded by Pennsylvania and B Street on the south, Connecticut Avenue,
18th Street, Adams Mill Road and Rock Creek on the west, 14th Street, to Colorado Avenue and Georgia Avenue on the
east and the District line on the north. During the year ending June 30, 1911 he made visits to 5,706 new buildings,
2,404 old buildings, 792 visits “of miscellaneous character” and condemned 30 buildings or parts thereof.

For most of his professional career, Atkinson worked for the District of Columbia’s Engineer Department. He was an
assistant building inspector from 1905 until 1917. He was then assigned to the Board for Condemnation of Insanitary
Buildings within the Engineer Department. From 1917 to 1932 he served the Board in various capacities including
inspector, secretary and executive officer. The Board had been created in 1906 in response to public concern about the
seriously substandard living conditions in the city’s numerous overcrowded and insanitary alley dwellings. Throughout
the early decades of the twentieth century social reformers sought to find ways to condemn or improve alley dwellings
without leaving the generally impoverished inhabitants homeless. In 1923 Atkinson conducted a survey of alley
dwellings that found over 9,000 residents living in about 275 alleys in the District. In 1932, the District Commissioners
proposed to eliminate Atkinson’s position as an inspector for the Board for Condemnation of Insanitary Buildings in
order to fund a different position in the Department. After protests from Members of Congress, the Federation of
Citizens Associations, the Building Trades Employers Association and others, Atkinson was reassigned to a position as
assistant building inspector in the Engineer Department. How long he remained in that position is unclear.

Atkinson was first listed in the D.C. permit database as architect in 1903, the year he was first employed by the District’s
Engineer Department and his last entry was 1945, the year of his death. He stated on his 1926 registration application
that he had been practicing architecture since 1905. He first listed himself in the city directory as architect in 1910, using
his home address at 3801 Macomb Street, N.W., and he remained at that address to the end of his life. Although for
most of his architectural career Atkinson was also working full-time for the District of Columbia, he designed a large
number of buildings. When he applied to register as an architect in the District on the basis of his twenty year career
(rather than by examination), he estimated that he had acted as architect “on approximately four hundred different
operations.”

Single family dwellings designed by Albert S. J. Atkinson

1927 17th St., NW 3717 Morrison St., N.W.

1524-28 E St, N.E. (1907) 1611 Decatur St., N.W. (1939)
(1920) (1922)
Washington Post,District
2/1/1942, 11
of Columbia Office of Planning, PropertyQuest, 2004

Atkinson, Albert S. J. Page 2 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

In the first years of his practice, Atkinson’s work was predominantly residential. Two surviving Capitol Hill rows are
the five Queen Anne style two-story brick dwellings with projecting bays at 1520-1528 E Street, S.E. (1907) and the five
two-story flat-fronted dwellings with full width-front porches at 1318-1326 A Street, S.E. (1909). He continued to
design dwellings throughout his career.

Beginning in 1911, Atkinson began designing commercial buildings and within a few years these dominated his practice.
Many were one-story buildings to house small neighborhood stores, including laundries and dry cleaners. In 1913 he
designed an addition to the White Cross Bakery (later the Wonder Bread factory) at 637 S Street, N.W. and he also
designed steam laundries, warehouses, a machine shop and other industrial buildings. Atkinson’s most important
commercial building was the four-story Arcade-Sunshine dry cleaning and laundry plant at 735 Lamont Street, N.W.
(1925) which Atkinson described in his registration application as probably the largest operation of its kind in the
District. He also designed an addition in 1926 to the west building of the Manhattan Laundry, 3326-46 Florida Avenue,
N.W. which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Over the course of Atkinson’s career he designed many buildings for

automotive uses. He designed his first garage in 1906 which, a century
later, still survived as an automobile repair shop at 645 Maryland Ave.,
N.E. Its permit was the eighth permit issued for the construction of a
garage in the District and it is the oldest public garage still in automotive
use. Beginning in 1912, Atkinson was commissioned to build numerous
private and public garages for the automobiles that were just coming into
general use. In urban areas there was a demand for garages to house and
service automobiles that, in the early years, were not designed to be stored
outdoors. Over two decades he designed a number of public garages, few
of which have survived. In 1924 he began designing gas stations and he
built at least twenty-five more in Washington, D.C. over the course of his
career along with repair shops, show rooms, tire stores, and car washes. He
designed similar buildings in the Washington suburbs.

Arcade-Sunshine Cleaning and

Laundry Plant; 735 Lamont St., NW
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Ancestry.com, Historical Washington Post searched through Proquest.
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 11/19/1945 Page: 10
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 8
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it

Atkinson, Albert S. J. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“Alley Law Evicts Only 92, He Finds.” Washington Post, May 16, 1923, 4.
Commissioners of the District of Columbia. Annual Report of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, Year ended June
30, 1911. Vol. 2, Engineer Department Reports, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 191-193.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Albert S.J. Atkinson Application for Registration. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
“District Will Keep Pair after Protest.” Washington Post, February 3, 1932, 3.
“News of the Personnel of the Government Departments, Washington Post, October 18, 1925, B10.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910, 1920, 1930, District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1900, Louisiana.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1880, North Carolina.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Atkinson, Albert S. J. Page 4 of 4

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Alvin L. Aubinoe
Biographical Data
Birth: 2/12/1903 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 6/20/1974 Place: Bethesda, Md.
Family: Wife, Dorothy; son, Alvin L. Jr.; daughter, Dorothy Griffith
Education
High School: McKinley Technical High School
College: University of Maryland (1922-24)
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Goode, Best Addresses, p. 328.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 490 Date Issued: 1/18/1946
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1927 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 78 Total Buildings: 344
Practice Position Date
Rust Engineering Company Engineer 1923
Joseph Younger Draftsman 1925-1928
Washington Railway and Electric Company Engineer 1926
Cafritz Construction Company Engineer, Draftsman, Architect 1926-30, 1932-38
Alvin L. Aubinoe, Inc. Engineer, Builder, Architect, Developer 1930-32, 1938-60
Aubinoe, Edwards and Beery Principal c. 1945-1958
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 11/15/1946 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: President and director of Home Builders Association of Metropolitan
Washington, director of National Association of Home Builders, director of National Metropolitan Bank of
Washington, director of Federal City Council, director of American Security and Trust Co., director of Washington
Real Estate Board, Washington Building Congress, Washington Board of Realtors, Building Owners and Managers
Association of Metropolitan Washington, Associated Builders and Contractors of Maryland, Suburban Maryland
Home Builders Association, D.C. Building Code Advisory Committee, Commissioners’ Zoning Advisory Committee,
Washington Urban Redevelopment Corporation, Republican Party of Montgomery County, trustee of Suburban
Hospital, United Community Services of Washington, Bethesda Presbyterian Church
Awards or Commissions: Washington Board of Trade awards for the Wire Building, the Dupont Plaza Hotel, and
the Abingdon Apartments in Arlington, Va.
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings, office buildings, industrial buildings, hotels, shopping centers, detached
dwellings
Styles and Forms: Modern Movement, Streamline Moderne
Work Locations: Sheridan-Kalorama, Capitol Hill, Sixteenth Street, Dupont Circle, Massachusetts Avenue;
Arlington, Va., Bethesda, Md.

Aubinoe, Alvin L. Page 1 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings Location Date Status

DC Historic Site; Sheridan-
Apartment Building 2000 Connecticut Avenue, NW 1936
Kalorama Historic District
Cafritz Residence 2301 Foxhall Road, NW 1937 NRHP DC Historic Site
Mount Pleasant Historic
The Majestic 3200 16th St., NW 1937
District
DC Historic Site; 16th
The Hightowers 1530 16th Street, NW 1938
Street Historic District
DC Historic Site; Capitol
The Congressional 215 Constitution Avenue, NE 1939
Hill Historic District
DC Historic Site; Dupont
Winthrop House 1727 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1940
and Mass. Ave. Hist. Districts
1500 New Hampshire Ave., DC Historic Site; Dupont
Dupont Plaza Hotel 1947
NW and Mass. Ave. Hist. Districts
Wire Office Building 1000-1014 Vermont Ave., NW 1948 NRHP DC Historic Site

Significance and Contributions

Alvin Love Aubinoe was born in Washington, D.C., in 1903, the

son and grandson of local builders. The developer, architect, and
builder was educated as an engineer at the University of Maryland.
He then joined Rust Engineering Company in 1923 where he
worked in various capacities as engineer, architect, and builder. He
was an engineer for the Dam, Filtration and Water Works of
Patton, Pa., and the Ford Assembly Plant of Norfolk, Va., and he
helped design Rust’s Pittsburgh office. Aubinoe worked for the
Washington Railway and Electric Co. for a brief period in 1926.

In 1926 Aubinoe joined the Cafritz Construction Company.

Apartment Building, 2000 Connecticut Avenue, NW.
Morris Cafritz was one of the most successful builders in Library of Congress, LC-814-T-2391-046
Washington, D.C., during the twentieth century. His real estate
office operated from 1920 to 1964, outlasting the Depression while many contemporary firms, like Wardman’s, did
not survive. While working for the Cafritz Company, Aubinoe worked as an architect in a team with fellow employee
Harry L. Edwards. James Goode calls Aubinoe and
Edwards “one of Washington’s most important teams of
designers of Art Deco apartment houses in Washington
during the 1930s and early 1940s.” These men were
responsible for the firm’s large-scale apartment building
designs and, between 1926 and 1938, completed six
major buildings: 2000 Connecticut Avenue, NW, (1936);
the Majestic (3200 16th Street, NW, 1937); Park Crescent
(2901 18th Street, NW, 1937); Ogden Gardens (1445
Ogden Street, NW, 1937); Otis Gardens (1445 Otis
Place, NW, 1937); and the Hightowers (1530 16th Street,
NW, 1938). Cafritz was one of the most successful
Washington builders of Streamline Moderne apartment
buildings. Many of his buildings, like the Hightowers,
focused the Moderne detailing on double entrance doors
The Majestic, 3200 16th Street, NW. with large round windows framed by glass blocks and
Best Addresses, p. 343. aluminum.

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 DC Architects Directory

Edwards and Aubinoe also designed single-family dwellings, including a private residence for Morris and Gwendolyn
Cafritz, located at 2301 Foxhall Road, NW, in 1936 (now part of the Field School) and the neighborhood of
Greenwich Forest in Bethesda, Maryland. Greenwich Forest, determined eligible for National Register of Historic
Places, is a suburban neighborhood constructed largely between 1933 and 1941 by the Cafritz Corporation. The
predominant architectural styles found in the neighborhood are Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival with limited
illustrations of French Eclectic, Neoclassical, and the Modern Movement. Aubinoe designed many of the houses in
the Greenwich Forest subdivision, and he chose to build a house there for himself at the northwest corner of the
intersection of York Lane and Overhill Road (8000 Overhill Road) where he resided until his death. Aubinoe was
listed as the engineer on all of the subdivision plats for Greenwich Forest from 1935 until 1938, when he left Cafritz
Construction Company.

In 1938, Aubinoe began designing and developing apartment buildings independently, often retaining ownership and
managing them. These include the Congressional Apartments (215 Constitution Avenue, NE, 1939), the Winthrop
House (1727 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 1940), the Dupont Plaza Hotel (1500 New Hampshire Ave., NW, 1947),
Parkside Apartments in Bethesda, Maryland, and the Abingdon Apartments and Washington and Lee Apartments in
Alexandria, Virginia. He also acted solely as a developer on some projects, organizing construction and managing the
properties but commissioning other architects to design the buildings, as with 4801 Connecticut Avenue, NW (1938
by David Stern and Joseph Abel) and the Commonwealth Building at 1625 K Street, NW (1941 by Harvey H.
Warwick, Sr.).

After World War II, architects Harry L. Edwards and Edgar Carroll Beery, Jr., were associated with Aubinoe and
practiced as Aubinoe, Edwards and Beery. The firm designed the Wire Building at 1000 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
(1948) and a luxury apartment building in Leopoldville (1951)
commissioned by the Belgian Government in the Belgian Congo, now
Zaire. After Edwards' death in 1958 Aubinoe and Beery continued to
practice together. Aubinoe served as a director and as president of the
Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Washington and was also a
director of the National Association of Home Builders. He designed the
Association's headquarters at 1625 L St., N.W. He also served for many
years on the D.C. Commissioners Zoning Advisory Committee.

In the early 1950s, Aubinoe began development of the Wildwood Manor

subdivision in Bethesda, Maryland, with his son Alvin Jr. Aubinoe
designed and built this 300-unit neighborhood with a shopping center and
office building on 155 acres. It still exists as a community of mostly one-
story frame and brick contemporary houses on Grosvenor Lane and
Berkshire and Cheshire Drives. Wildwood Shopping Center and Medical
Center, both on Old Georgetown Road, are still active as well. Aubinoe
also developed, designed, and built Decatur Homes at 8th and Decatur
Wire Building, 1000 Vermont Avenue, NW. Streets, NE.
Paul H. Bolton. “A Finger Pointing to the Sky!,”
Home Builder’s Monthly 7, no. 1 (January 1950): 15.

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 DC Architects Directory

Alvin L. Aubinoe died of cancer on June 20, 1974 at

Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. He was 71. After Alvin Sr.’s
death, Alvin Jr. became president of Alvin L. Aubinoe, Inc.
property management and development company; a firm
which still operated in Bethesda, Maryland as of 2010.

Cafritz Residence, 2301 Foxhall Road, NW.

Art Deco Society of Washington, www.adsw.org.

Wildwood Manor, Bethesda, Md. Washington Post 6/17/1951, p. R1.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Other Repositories:
The Washington Post (1877-1990). Proquest Historical Newspapers.
Publication: Washington Post Date: 6/21/1974 Page: B12
Obituary:
Washington Star-News 6/21/1974 unknown
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory 1956 18
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 9-10
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“1000-Window Home Building Nearly Ready.” Washington Post, December 3, 1936, R7
“A. L. Aubinoe Enters Contract Business.” Washington Post, August 14, 1938, R5.
Aubinoe, Alvin L. Biography of Alvin L. Aubinoe. EHT Traceries Vertical Files.
“Aubinoe Chosen Cafritz Manager.” Washington Post, December 14, 1930, R1.
“Builder Asks Permit to Erect 40 Homes.” Washington Post, June 10, 1951, R4.
EHT Traceries, Inc. "Greenwich Forest Historic District." Maryland Historical Trust, Maryland Inventory of Historic
Properties, June 2009.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.

Aubinoe, Alvin L. Page 4 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

“Modern Apartment Project of Cafritz Co.” Washington Post, June 14, 1936.
“Several New Developments Starting Here.” Washington Post, June 17, 1951, R1.
Sullivan, Leo. “Builder Aubinoe Helped Give New Look to District.” Washington Post, November 27, 1955, C9.

Notes: Permit statistics are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2, by Brian D. Kraft and only include
permits until 1949. They do not include Aubinoe’s work in the latter part of his career.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Aubinoe, Alvin L. Page 5 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

Marion Leroy Bagley

Biographical Data
Birth: 1/22/1902 Place: David City, Nebraska
Death: 1/30/1990 Place: Bethesda, Maryland
Family: Wife, Dorothy S.; daughters Norma and Lois
Education
High School: Lincoln, Nebraska public school
College: University of Nebraska, 2 years in architectural engineering
Graduate School: University of Pennsylvania, 2 years (1926-27) of a 3
year special course in architecture
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 375 Date Issued: 6/25/1940
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1938 Latest Permit:1949 Total Permits: 212 Total Buildings: 1340
Practice Position Date
Davis & Wilson, Lincoln, Nebraska Draftsman, Supt. of Construction 1922-1926
Brown & Whiteside, Wilmington, Delaware Draftsman, Designer 1928
Edmund B. Gilchrist, Philadelphia, Pa. Chief Draftsman 1929-1932
Chevy Chase Land Company Architect 1933-1940?
Kirkhuff & Bagley Partner, Architect 1938-1947 (?)
M. Leroy Bagley Principal, Architect 1942-1958
Bagley-Soulé & Associates Partner, Architect 1958-1984
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 3/7/1941 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: D.C. Zoning Advisory Comm, 1947
Awards or Commissions: Washington Board of Trade award, 1946 for G. W. Carver apartments, awards from the
Washington Star, Bethesda Chamber of Commerce, and Federal Housing Administration merit award for single family
housing, Georgetown South, Manassas, Va., 1964.
Buildings
Building Types: Single family, semi-detached and rowhouses, apartment buildings, planned developments.
Styles and Forms: Colonial revival, modern
DC Work Locations: Cleveland Park, upper Northwest, Kent, Kingman Park, Marshall Heights, Southeast
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
The Hamlet Chevy Chase, Md. 1933-36, 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
Yates Gardens Alexandria, Virginia 1940-41 NRHP DC Historic Site
George Washington Carver Apt East Capitol and 47th St., S.E. 1944 NRHP DC Historic Site
Chevy Chase Bank & Trust Co. Chevy Chase, Md. 1969 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Marion Leroy Bagley was born and raised in Nebraska. He graduated from high school in Lincoln Nebraska and
studied architectural engineering at the University of Nebraska for two years. He then went to work for a local
architectural firm, Davis & Wilson, where he was a draftsman and superintendent of construction. The firm was
impressed with his work and helped to finance Bagley’s studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 1926-1927. From
1929 to 1932 Bagley worked for the Philadelphia architect Edmund B. Gilchrist. Bagley described his work for
Gilchrist as architectural practice because, although his title was chief draftsman, he was given full charge of many
projects including residences ranging in cost from $50,000 to $400,000 and a downtown women’s club.

In 1933 Bagley moved to Maryland to accept a position with the Chevy

Chase Land Company. There he worked closely with architect Dan
Kirkhuff who had been brought in from Nevada where he had worked
on affiliated Newlands family projects. Bagley was still in the company’s
employ in 1940 when he applied to register as an architect in the District
of Columbia and described his responsibilities there, writing that, “since
1933 I have been retained in an architectural capacity by the Chevy
Chase Land Company, carrying on research, planning and supervision of
the Company’s interests as related to the aspects of community
planning, subdivision and land use as well as construction in connection
with their holdings….Its policy of devoting especial attention towards
improving the quality of residential architecture in the unfortunate
speculative field is well known and the results though modest have been
commended by members of the Architectural profession. The ‘Hamlet,’ Washington Post, May 19, 1935, R5
a group of nine houses in Chevy Chase built by the Company in 1934-5-
6 was one result of this policy.” Bagley and Kirkhuff designed the Hamlet and then also designed three houses on
Reno Road, N.W., (Nos. 4600, 4610, 4618) for the Chevy Chase Land Company.

Bagley and Kirkhuff, in addition to working for the Chevy Chase Land Company, formed a partnership and went into
practice as Kirkhuff & Bagley. Their first District building permits were issued in 1938. From 1938 through 1941
they worked for a number of different developers in upper northwest, including Barkley Brothers and the Barnaby
Woods Development Company, designing single family dwellings. Kirkhuff and Bagley also designed some of the
rowhouses in Yates Gardens in Alexandria, Va. In the same time period some permits were issued to Bagley in his
own name.

In 1942 and 1943, after the United States had entered the Second World War, Kirkhuff & Bagley shifted to designing
low-cost apartment housing. The federal government had allocated scarce building materials to projects that would
meet the great need for modestly priced housing for Washington's burgeoning population of war workers. Two of
the firm’s wartime apartment complexes were the
Colonial revival style Ordway Village in the 2700 block
of Porter Street, N.W., and Halley Gardens at First and
South Capitol Streets, S.E. The firm also designed the
1944 George Washington Carver apartment complex at
East Capitol and 47th Streets. In 1946 Bagley received an
award from the Board of Trade for these apartments. In
1944 the firm also began designing large developments
of low-cost, semi-detached, single-family housing in
Northeast and Southeast Washington, principally for
East Hills Inc., and Shipley Corp.

5171 Manning Place, N.W. Kirkhuff & Bagley 1941 The duration of the Kirkhuff & Bagley partnership is
EHT Traceries, 2010 unclear. Bagley, in his 1956 entry in the A.I.A.’s American
Bagley, M. Leroy Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Architects Directory gives the partnership’s dates as 1933-1941 and states that he began practicing under his own name in
1942. However, D.C. building permits were issued to Kirkhuff & Bagley as late as 1947. Kirkhuff definitely was not
involved in the firm’s work in the final years. In October 1945, Kirkhuff wrote to the American Institute of Architects
from Reno, Nevada, to say that he was discontinuing the practice of architecture and resigning from the A.I.A.

Bagley continued to design developments of modestly priced housing developments in the District of Columbia
through the end of the 1940s and into the early 1950s at a time when the Federal Housing Administration and
Veterans Administration mortgage insurance programs were facilitating construction to address the housing shortage
that had developed during World War II and to meet the housing needs of returning veterans. At the same time
Bagley was designing both residential and commercial projects in suburban Maryland and Virginia. The principal
works he listed in the 1956 Directory included the Glenayr Apartments (1945) in Arlington, Va. and the Lake
Apartments (1948), Lake Shopping Center (1952), and Chevy Chase Shopping Center (1954) in Chevy Chase, Md.

In 1958, Bagley entered into a

partnership, Bagley-Soulé &
Associates with Charles
Beckler Soulé with offices in
Chevy Chase, Maryland. The
firm later became Bagley,
Soulé and Lee. In his 1970
entry in the A.I.A. Directory,
Bagley’s list of his principal
works included the Fenwick
Apartments, Baltimore, Md.
(1963); the Fairmont Office
Building, Bethesda, Md. Washington Post, April 10, 1949, R7
(1964); the Gaithersburg Square Shopping Center, Md. (1966); and the Chevy Chase Bank & Trust Co. (1969). Other
works included the Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church, the Preston Place town houses and the Hamlet Place
commercial building in Chevy Chase. Bagley retired in 1984. After World War II Bagley lived in Dickerson, Md., and
he raised cattle in addition to conducting his architectural practice. He died in 1990.

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 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through Proquest
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date:1/30/1990 Page: D6
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
1956 21
American Architects Directory 1962 27
1970 36
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 11
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-3-, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“A Model Block of Houses.” Architectural Forum 53, No. 5 (November 1935): 526-527.
“Antique House Reproductions.” Architectural Forum 74 No. 5 (May 1941) 378-380.
Display Advertisement, Washington Post, May 19, 1935, R5.
Display Advertisement, Washington Post, April 10, 1949, R7.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Marion Leroy Bagley Application for Registration. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Von Eckardt, Wolf. “SW Project a Winner for Design Excellence.” Washington Post, October 23, 1964, B8.
Notes: See entry for Dan Kirkhuff.
The permit statistics included both 63 permits issued between 1938 and 1949 for 453 buildings listing Bagley as
architect and 149 permits issued between 1938 and 1947 for 887 buildings listing Kirkhuff & Bagley as architect.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Bagley, M. Leroy Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Edward William St. Cyr Barrington

Biographical Data
Birth: 2/22/1894 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 6/24/1976 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Niece, Emily Reichard
Education
High School:
College: Lynthicum Institute, Georgetown (1913-1915)
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Jules Henri de Sibour Source: Washington Post, 10/31/1934, p. 11
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 817 Date Issued: 1/17/1952
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1924 Latest Permit: 1942 Total Permits: 45 Total Buildings: 108
Practice Position Date
Jules Henri de Sibour Draftsman 1907-1919, 1933-35
William St. Cyr Barrington Principal 1920-1929
B. Stanley Simmons Draftsman 1929-1931
Home Construction Corporation Designer 1938-39

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Holy Trinity Church, Georgetown; Vincent B. Costello Post of the American
Legion
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Attached and detached dwellings, rowhouses, duplexes, condominiums, apartment buildings, night
club interiors
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival, Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, Art Deco
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle Historic District, Georgetown Historic District, Anacostia Historic District
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Office Building 1332 Wisconsin Avenue, NW 1924 Georgetown Historic District
The Spanish Village Night Club
1304 G Street, NW 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Interior
Stanley Arms 1125 12th Street, NW 1925 Shaw Historic District
The Bari-Arms 1727 R Street, NW 1939 Dupont Circle Historic District
116-138 53rd Street, SE; 5333-
Rowhouses 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
5361 Astor Place, SE

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 DC Architects Directory

Rowhouses/Semi-detached 4815-4845 Reservoir Road, NW 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site

4814-4836 MacArthur Blvd,
Rowhouses 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
NW

Significance and Contributions

Edward William St. Cyr Barrington was an architect best known for his night club interiors and the houses he
designed in the Washington, D.C., neighborhoods of Georgetown and Kalorama. A native Washingtonian, he went by
William or Billie St. Cyr Barrington. He began practicing as an independent architect in Washington, D.C., in March
1920. As a child, his family friend Jules Henri de Sibour, prominent Washington, D.C., architect, encouraged his
artistic tendencies and Barrington flourished under the master’s tutelage. Barrington worked as a draftsman for de
Sibour from the age of thirteen to twenty-five—de
Sibour’s grand dwellings and embassy buildings in the
Beaux-Arts style influenced Barrington’s aesthetic.

From 1917 to 1918, Barrington spent six months in the

armed forces during World War I. The first building
permit that lists Barrington as architect was issued in
1924 for the office building at 1332 Wisconsin Avenue,
NW. The design of this two-story brick building was
influenced by the Classical Revival style; the building is
an early and relatively modest example of Barrington’s
work.
1332 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, 1965.
Historical Society of Washington PR 1150A.
In 1925, Barrington began working in the field which
would define his career. He designed the interior of the Spanish Village night club at 1304 G Street, NW. Barrington
went on to design elaborate interiors of other clubs and restaurants including the Lotus Restaurant, Heigh-Ho Tap
Room, the Press Grill, Lucky Strike Tap Room, and the Press Grill. These interiors were all elaborately ornamented in
keeping with the themes of the institutions.

From 1929 to 1931, Barrington worked for prolific Washington architect B. Stanley Simmons, gaining experience in
designing large apartment buildings and hotels. He then worked independently for most of the 1930s, designing
buildings like the Art Deco styled Bari-Arms in 1939 (1727 R Street, NW) in Dupont Circle. Also in 1939, Barrington
was working with the Home Construction Corporation to move the houses along Conduit Road when it was widened
and renamed MacArthur Boulevard. He designed many of the rowhouses along the new boulevard, including 4814-
4836.

Barrington’s work represents a diversity of styles

and forms. The last building for which he was
issued a permit was 1612 Van Buren Street, NW,
in 1947. This is a modest, one-story brick mid-
Century Modern dwelling. While his last permit
was issued in 1947, Barrington was listed in the
DC architects directory through 1960. He died of
a heart attack on June 27, 1976, at Georgetown
The Press Grill, National Press Club, 529 14th St, NW, 1930.
Washington Post 4/10/1930, p. 4.
University Hospital.

Barrington, Edward W.S.C. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Bari-Arms, 1727 R Street, NW, 2008.

NCinDC, July 21, 2008, 1417-1415 Whittier Street, NW, 2004. DC PropertyQuest.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2690688742/

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Flickr.com, DCPropertyQuest.com
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 6/27/1976 Page: 26
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 15
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“Apartment Building Under Construction.” Washington Post. Aug. 20, 1939. R3.
“3 Homes Sold From Blueprints.” Washington Post. Mar. 12, 1939. R4.
Display Advertisement. Washington Post. Apr. 10, 1930. 4.
“Medical Science Building Sold.” Washington Post. Apr. 6, 1952. R14.
“Pastry Animals First Models Of Decorator.” Washington Post. Oct. 31, 1934. 11.
World War I U.S. Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Ancestry.com.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Barrington, Edward W.S.C. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Harvie (Harvey) Paul Baxter

Biographical Data
Birth: 8/4/1892 Place: Petersburg, Virginia
Death: 2/4/1964 Place: Washington, D.C.
No photograph available.
Family: Married: Ruth Dreher
Education
High School: Petersburg High School, graduated June 1912
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: R.A. Munden, Petersburg, Va., 1913-1916 Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 152 Date Issued: 11/26/1926
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1927 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 320 Total Buildings: 974
Practice Position Date
Harrison Construction Co., Petersburg, Va. Chief draftsman, designer, supervisor 1916-17, 1919-20
Navy Department, Bureau of Yards and Docks Draftsman 1917-1919
C. Gilbert Humphrey, Winston-Salem, N.C. Designer, supervisor 1920-1922
Parks and Baxter, Washington, D.C. Partner/Architect 1922-1930
Harvey P. Baxter Architect 1931-1960
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions: Washington Board of Trade Certificate for Meritorious Design in Architecture, 1940.
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, apartment buildings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Tudor Revival
DC Work Locations: Upper Northwest, Petworth, Anacostia
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Tilden Gardens 3000 Connecticut Ave., N.W. 1927-1929 NRHP DC Historic Site
Residence – Washington Post
4517 28th Street, N.W. 1933 NRHP DC Historic Site
model home
Hampshire Gardens, landscape 4912 New Hampshire Ave.,
1929 NRHP DC Historic Site
design N.W.
Anacostia, north of Good Hope
Fairlawn Village 1938-1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
Road

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Harvie Paul Baxter was born in Petersburg, Va., graduated from the local high school in 1912 and then worked for
three years in the office of Petersburg architect R. A. Munden. In 1916 he started work at the Harrison Construction
Company, also in Petersburg. There he was the chief draftsman and was also a designer and supervisor. From 1917 to
1919 he worked as a draftsman in the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks. For the years 1919-1922, Baxter listed
several employers in his 1926 application to register as an architect in the District of Columbia: draftsman for R.H.
Hunt, Chattanooga, Tenn., 1919; designer and supervisor for Harrison Construction Co., Petersburg, Va., 1919-1920;
draftsman for C. Gilbert Humphreys, Winston-Salem, N.C., 1920-1922 and also draftsman for Milburn, Heister and
Co. and George Ray in Washington, D.C., 1921-1922.

Baxter began practicing in 1922 in partnership with Granville H. Parks (c. 1864-1950) a longtime architect for the
Department of Agriculture who continued to work there as a sanitary engineer until 1925. Baxter’s association with
Parks may have come through Parks’ brother, Rear Admiral Charles W. Parks, who was chief of the Bureau of Yards
and Docks at the time Baxter worked there. The firm, Parks & Baxter, apparently produced little in its first five years.
When Baxter registered as a D.C. architect in 1926, the buildings he listed as his work were constructed between 1916
and 1921 in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Petersburg, Va. (Although Baxter registered as Harvie P. Baxter, he shortly
thereafter adopted the alternative spelling Harvey.)

No D.C. building permits were issued to

Parks & Baxter until 1927 but in that year
the firm, with Harry L. Edwards, associate
architect, began work on an apartment
project that would establish Baxter’s
reputation as an apartment architect.
Brothers Monroe and R. Bates Warren,
who pioneered the construction of
cooperative apartment buildings in
Washington, D.C., in the 1920s, selected
Parks and Baxter and Edwards to design
Tilden Gardens, a complex of six buildings,
totaling 200 units, on a five-acre site
bounded by Connecticut Avenue and
Sedgwick and Tilden Streets, N.W. Its Tilden Gardens, 1930
landscaped gardens occupy three of the site’s James Goode, Best Addresses
five acres. James Goode, in his book Best
Addresses, ranks the Tudor Revival style apartment complex among the five largest and most luxurious apartment
houses of its era.

Parks and Baxter were also involved in the design of another innovative apartment building of the late 1920s,
Hampshire Gardens, located at 4912 New Hampshire Avenue, and described by Goode as Washington’s first true
garden apartment complex. The Tudor Revival style complex was developed by J.B. Shapiro and Edmund J. Flynn in
1929 as a moderately priced apartment cooperative. Although, because of the Depression, only one block of the
planned 25 was completed, it is nevertheless a notable, landmarked, complex of 9 buildings with landscaped grounds
that occupy two-thirds of the site. Goode credits Parks and Baxter as associate architects for the landscape design.
This project gave Baxter, early in his career, the opportunity to work with leading Washington architects James E.
Cooper who designed the façades and George T. Santmyers who was responsible for the plan and interior design.

The Parks and Baxter partnership dissolved circa 1930 but Baxter’s association with developer Monroe Warren was a
productive one that continued until 1940. Warren was known for quality construction. After recouping from the
Depression-caused bankruptcy of his Kennedy-Warren apartment house project, Warren formed a new company,
Meadowbrook, Inc., in 1932. He selected Baxter as the architect for its first project of over 50 single family houses in
Chevy Chase, Md., south of the Columbia Country Club. These six-room, Colonial Revival style dwellings with three
Baxter, Harvie P. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

bedrooms and two baths on large lots were designed for

a well-off clientele. Baxter was also the architect for
Warren's Grasslands development at 44th and Yuma
Streets in American University Park. Begun in 1935, it
was offered as the "first highly restricted project of
detached homes offered in Washington at moderate
prices." The three-bedroom, two-bath Colonial Revival
dwellings were modestly enough priced to qualify for
mortgage insurance offered through the newly created
Federal Housing Administration. In the same period
Baxter also designed row houses and two-story flats for
Warren developments in Petworth at 1st Street and New
Hampshire Avenue, N.W. Meadowbrook was Baxter's
principal client in the 1930s but he also designed Fairlawn Village, 1939
numerous speculative single and multi-family dwellings Washington Post, November 19, 1939
for other major developers including Boss& Phelps, L.E.
Breuninger & Sons, Madison Building Co., and Frank S. Philips, sometimes working in the same neighborhoods for
different developers. In 1938 to 1940 Baxter designed Meadowbrook's Fairlawn Village in Anacostia, one of the
largest FHA-insured low cost single-family housing projects in the Washington area. Both before and after World War
II Baxter designed houses for developer Frank S. Philips and for individual owners in Kent and other upper income
neighborhoods. He designed dwellings for developer Claude G. Johnson in Barnaby Woods and elsewhere.

Baxter's opus ranges from the luxury apartment buildings of Tilden Gardens to modest two-story, four family
Colonial revival apartment houses and from a fourteen-room Tudor Revival Washington Post model home in Forest
Hills to low cost housing in Anacostia. Working as architect for various successful developers, he weathered the
Depression. In the post war boom years of the late 1940s and the 1950s he designed upper income housing in
Northwest Washington and Bethesda.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Office of Public Records, D.C. Archives; Washington Post searched through Proquest
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 2/7/1964 Page: C 3
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 17, 217
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“Deaths Reported.” Washington Post, 8 July, 1950, B2
“Design Awards are Announced.” Washington Post, 24 March 1940, R8.
“FHA Business Increase Shown.” Washington Post, 7 August 1938, R.4.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
"Homes Sell Fast at Meadowbrook." Washington Post, 30 October 1932, R1.
“Model Home, Opened by Post Today, Architectural Triumph.” Washington Post, 22 October 1933, R1.
“Rear Admiral Parks Rites.” Washington Post, 27 June 1930, 5.

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 DC Architects Directory

“New Post Home to Open today at Grasslands.” Washington Post, 1 March 1936.
Notes:
The statistics from the permits database include the 13 permits issued to Parks and Baxter between 1927 and 1930.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Baxter, Harvie P. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Albert H. Beers
Biographical Data
Birth: 1859 Place: Bridgeport, CT
Death: 11/23/1911 Place: Baltimore, MD
No Photo Available
Family: Married with three children
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1899 Latest Permit: 1912 Total Permits: 609 Total Buildings: 2433
Practice Position Date
Bridgeport, Connecticut Architect 1886-1901
Private Practice (DC) Chief Architect for Harry Wardman 1903-1911
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Private Residences, Row Houses, Apartment Buildings
Styles and Forms: Arts and Crafts, Mediterranean Style, Beaux Arts, Italian Renaissance
DC Work Locations: Georgetown, 16th Street, Mount Pleasant, Woodley Park, Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, U Street,
14th Street
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Wardman House 2640 Woodley Road, NW 1909 Demolished in 1928
Dresden Apartments 2126 Connecticut Ave., NW 1909 Sheridan-Kalorama Hist. Dist.
Northumberland Apartments 2039 New Hampshire Ave., NW 1909-1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Wardman Row 1416-1440 R Street, NW 1913-1914 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Born in 1859 to parents Henry and Cornelia Beers, Albert H.

Beers began his architectural career in Bridgeport, Connecticut
in 1886. Although he only practiced in Washington for a
short period, Beers had a profound effect on the development
of the city; he was an extremely prolific designer. This was
due to Beers employment as Chief Architect for developer
Harry Wardman, the man largely responsible for introducing
mass-produced residential development to Washington in the
early twentieth century. Wardman converted large tracts of
vacant land outside the old city into blocks of rowhouses,
flats, and apartments. Beers first collaborated with Wardman
in 1905 on a series of rowhouses from 1616-1626 9th Street,
NW (now demolished). As chief architect for Wardman,
Beers designed approximately a thousand dwellings between
1905 and 1911. Beers is credited with promulgating the front
porch rowhouse design that is now ubiquitous in many
neighborhoods beyond downtown such as Columbia Heights
and Brightwood.

Beers also designed more than 70 apartment buildings for

Wardman. These apartments represent the evolution of the
building type in Washington: from three-story apartment
houses that integrated into the single-family residential fabric
Entrance, Northumberland Apartments,
to larger scale apartment buildings such as the Dresden (1909) 2039 New Hampshire Ave., NW
and the Northumberland (1909-1910). Beers also designed NCinDC, June 27, 2008,
Wardman’s own Spanish-style house in Woodley Park in 1909. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2619709680/
In addition to working with Wardman, Beers also collaborated
with other prominent developers including Franklin Sanner, L. E. Brueninger, Thomas H. Pickford, T. J. Kemp,
Charles Sonne, Chester A. Show, Walter A. Dowd, and C. B. Hight. According to the DC Building Permit Database,
Beers was responsible for more than 2,400 buildings in Washington. His fruitful career was cut short when Beers died
suddenly of pneumonia at the age of 52 in 1911. He was buried in Mount Grove Cemetery in Fairfield, Connecticut.

The Dresden Apartment Building 1620 G Street, SE with front porch rowhouse design
Source: Library of Congress/National Picture Co. EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Obituary Publication: Evening Star Date: 11/24/1911 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 19
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of Architects – not in it

Other Sources:

Adams, Anne. Wardman Row National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.: Historic Preservation
Division, Dept. of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs, 1984.
Berk, Sally Lichtenstein and Caroline Mesrobian Hickman, Curators. Wardman’s Washington (Exhibit at the Historical
Society of Washington, D.C.), 2005.
Field, Cynthia, Emily Hotaling Eig and Katherine Grandine. Old Woodley Park Historic District National Register of Historic
Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.: 1990.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 1988.
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Helwig, Anne H. The Northumberland Apartments National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form.
Washington, D.C.: D.C Historic Preservation Division, 1979.
Hogan, William. “The First Tycoon: Harry Wardman Won and Lost a Fortune Changing the Face of Washington Real
Estate.” Regardie’s (May/June 1981), 60-65.
Harris, Laura. The Apartment Buildings of Albert H. Beers 1905-1911. Thesis for Master’s in Historic Preservation,
University of Pennsylvania, 1988.
Trieschmann, Laura V., et al. Washington Heights Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form.
Washington, D.C.: EHT Traceries, 2006.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Beers, Albert H. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

George Neal Bell

Biographical Data
Birth: Sept. 1879 Place: New Berne, N.C.
Death: 11/10/1956 Place: Alexandria, Va.
Family: wife: May A.; no children
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, 02/24/1907, 24.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1902 Latest Permit: 1938 Total Permits: 338 Total Buildings: 924
Practice Position Date
Hunter & Bell Partner, architect 1902-1918
Rich & Bell Partner, architect 1919-1926
Variously listed as architectural designer,
George N. Bell architect, carpenter and, according to 1930 1926-1941
census, worked for a construction company.
Samuel S. Spruce (real estate company) Clerk, office manager, office secretary 1942-1948
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Single family dwellings, principally row and semi-detached houses, and apartment buildings
Styles and Forms: Renaissance Revival, Colonial Revival, Spanish Mission Revival
DC Work Locations: Adams Morgan, Lanier Heights, Kalorama Triangle, Woodley Park, Cleveland Park,
Bloomingdale, Capitol Hill, Barney Circle, American University Park.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Apartment 2029 Connecticut Ave. N.W. 1915 Kalorama Triangle Hist. Dist.
Norwood 1868 Columbia Road, N.W. 1916 NRHP DC Historic Site
Netherlands 1852 Columbia Road, N.W. 1909 NRHP DC Historic Site
Stafford 1789 Lanier Place, N.W. 1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Gainsborough (New Plaza) 1115 12th St., N.W. 1905 Shaw Historic District
Twelve row houses 2617-2641 Garfield St., N.W. 1907 Woodley Park Historic District
Carthage 2301 Connecticut Ave., N.W. 1919 Kalorama Triangle Hist. Dist

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

George Neal Bell was born in North Carolina in 1879, probably in New Berne where his family lived at the time of
the 1880 census. His father was a bank clerk. The family moved to Washington, D.C., sometime between 1884 and
1894 and Bell's father worked as a government clerk. At age 20 George Bell worked as a clerk at the [Naval]
Observatory according to the 1900 Census. Two years later Bell began investing in real estate. He was both an
investor and an architect. His name first appears in land records and the permit data base in October 1902 when he
bought lots and obtained a permit for construction of 15 row houses, which he did not design, in the Moore and
Barbour Addition to Bloomingdale. In the same year he and Ernest C. Hunter founded an architectural firm,
Hunter & Bell, which was in business from 1902 until 1918. The partners became known as specialists in the field of
apartment design although initially the firm designed only single family housing.

In 1903 and 1904 the principal work of the Hunter & Bell partnership was designing single family semi-detached
dwellings on lots owned by Bell. However, they also designed a number of semi-detached and row houses for other
investors, notably John L. Warren, to whom Bell was related by marriage. Both John L. Warren and his brother, Bates
Warren, were lawyers who became prominent developers in Washington, D.C. Bates Warren had married Bell's sister
Lisette in 1897 and the firm’s connection with the Warren family shaped the course of its practice. In 1902 Bell and
John L. Warren both invested in Squares 2886 and 2887 bounded by Girard Street on the south and Harvard Street
on the north between Georgia and Sherman Avenues. Hunter & Bell designed all the dwellings constructed in the two
squares. In 1904 Hunter & Bell designed the firm’s first apartment building, a four-story brick apartment building at
1343 Clifton Street, N.W. (demolished), commissioned by John L. Warren. It was the first of a large number of
apartment buildings commissioned by John L. Warren or Bates Warren. Between 1904 and 1917, Hunter and Bell
designed 53 apartment houses ranging from luxury buildings to modest flats, most of which were commissioned by
one or the other of the Warren brothers.

Among Hunter & Bell’s early major apartment buildings was the
Gainsborough (soon renamed New Berne and now New Plaza) at
Massachusetts Avenue and 12th Street, N.W. (1905). It was the first building
the firm designed for Bates Warren and its first mid-rise building. The
seven-story building was described in the Washington Times as a “thoroughly
modern seven-story apartment house containing twenty-eight suites of three,
four and five rooms each.” The two-story base of the Renaissance revival
style building is faced with Indiana limestone and the upper stories are gray
hydraulic press brick. Other notable Hunter & Bell apartment buildings
include the Netherlands at 1852 Columbia Road (1909) and the Stafford at
1789 Lanier Place (1910). Most of Hunter & Bell’s apartment buildings were
two to four stories in height and John L. Warren commissioned the majority
of them. Bates Warren commissioned Hunter & Bell to design only a few
apartment buildings but they were the firm’s largest ones, including the
seven-story Norwood at 1868 Columbia Road (1916), built at an estimated
cost of $200,000.

Hunter & Bell’s most important apartment building was 2029 Connecticut
Avenue, designed for Bates Warren in 1915 and built for an estimated 2029 Connecticut Ave.
$300,000. It was constructed in an area already noted for having some of HSW SPL 127.06
Washington’s finest luxury apartment buildings, on Connecticut Avenue south of the Taft Bridge. It is included in
James Goode’s book, Best Addresses. The rusticated base and top floor of the tripartite façade are finished with terra
cotta. Goode notes that its elaborate entrance porches are based on the Alwyn Court, “the most elaborate terra cotta
New York apartment house ever built” and described both buildings as “Renaissance-inspired buildings with an
overlay of Francis I ornament” including the “pilasters, spandrels, panels and salamanders.” Interior decoration
includes both Beaux Arts Classical revival and Tudor elements. The building attracted prominent residents including
William Howard Taft (1917-18) and General John J. Pershing (1922-1926).
Bell, George N. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

While Hunter and Bell are best known for their apartment buildings,
much of their design output consisted of row or semi-detached
speculative housing in both expensive neighborhoods such as Lanier
Heights, Adams-Morgan and Woodley Park and more modest areas
including Bloomingdale and southeast Washington. They also
designed detached single-family dwellings including a number of
residences in Cleveland Park.
Building permits indicate that the firm was actively designing until
August 1917. The United States’ entry into World War I and the
resulting limitations on building supplies may have curtailed its
activities and led to the termination of the partnership. Only one
permit was issued to Hunter & Bell after August 18, 1917: a permit
dated June 15, 1918 for a single family dwelling commissioned by a
builder.

After the Hunter & Bell firm was dissolved in 1918, Bell continued
to practice in Washington. In the 1920 census, he is listed as an
architect with his own business and he was still single and living with
his parents. In 1919 Bell had formed a partnership, Rich & Bell, with
Alfred S. Rich which lasted until about 1926. In this period Bell is
2301 Connecticut Avenue, NW listed as architect on some permits as Rich & Bell. However, he is
NCinDC, August 24, 2008, listed as Neal Bell on permits for several small apartment houses and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2794934716/ some detached dwellings in Cleveland Park commissioned by
members of the Warren family. Bell's most notable building designed in partnership with Rich is the 8-story Carthage
apartment building at 2301 Connecticut Avenue (1919). By 1922, Bell was designing for the second generation of
Warren investors, Monroe and R. Bates Warren, and, in the early 1930s, for his nephew Earle L. Warren.

In 1925, when the District began requiring architects to register, Bell did not seek to qualify to practice as an architect
rather than simply as a designer. Between 1925 and 1935 Bell's name was on no more than three D.C. permits a year.
On the 1930 census Bell described himself as an architect working for a construction company. He had married by
that time. In 1936, Bell started designing substantial detached Colonial Revival style dwellings in American University
Park for developer and builder Samuel S. Spruce and he worked for Spruce in various capacities for the remainder of
his career. Between 1942 and 1948, he was listed in city directories as clerk, office manager or office secretary for
Spruce’s firm. Bell's name does not appear on D.C. building permits after 1938. At the time of his death in 1956, Bell
was living in Alexandria, Va.
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 11/13/1956 Page: B2
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 20, 144
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it

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 DC Architects Directory

Other Sources: “Architects Labor for City Beautiful.” Washington Post, February 24, 1907, 24.
Eig, Emily and Laura Harris Hughes. Apartment Buildings in Washington, D.C. 1880-1945. Washington, D.C.:
Traceries, 1993.
"Gainsborough Apartment House." Washington Times, January 28, 1906.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
“Obituary.” Washington Post, November 13, 1956, B2.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, North Carolina, 1880.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, District of Columbia, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930.
Notes: See also biography of Ernest C. Hunter. The total number of permits given for Bell includes permits listing
Hunter & Bell, Rich & Bell (also Bell & Rich), George N. Bell and Neal Bell as architect or designer.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Bell, George N. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Robert Francis Beresford

Biographical Data
Birth: June 2, 1879 Place: Audenried, Pa.
Death: Dec. 19, 1966 Place: Buffalo, N.Y.
Family: Sister, Grace; wife, Jessie Grange Adams
Education
High School: Hotchkiss Preparatory School (Conn.), Grad. 1898
College: Princeton University, 1898-1900
Studied architecture at Boston Architectural Club, Washington
Architectural Club Atelier, and Atelier Pietch. Also studied painting.
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, February 18, 1924, 9.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 22 Date Issued: 4/6/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1920 Latest Permit: 1946 Total Permits: 47 Total Buildings: 98
Practice Position Date
Jules Henri de Sibour 1909-14
United States War Department Draftsman 1918
Appleton P. Clark, Jr. Draftsman 1919
Individual practice Architect 1917-56

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1921 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: D.C. Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects, 1928-48; American
Institute of Architects, President of Washington-Metropolitan Chapter, 1927-28
Awards or Commissions: Board of Trade Award of Merit for Tower Building; Certificate of Award in Recognition
of Distinguished Service, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, detached houses, office building, hotels, apartments, commercial buildings, gas stations
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Craftsman, Art Deco
DC Work Locations: Petworth neighborhood, Downtown Washington, Jocelyn Street N.W., 2nd Street N.W.,
Georgia Avenue N.W.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Petworth Gardens Apartments 124, 126, 128, 130 Webster St.,
1921 NRHP DC Historic Site
(Webster Gardens Apartments) N.W.
Hotel Mayflower, associate
1127 Connecticut Ave., N.W. 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
architect to Warren and Wetmore
The Tower Building 1401 K St., N.W. 1928-29 NRHP DC Historic Site
Fort George G. Meade Chapel 1934 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Robert Francis Beresford was born in Audenried, Pa., on June 2, 1879. He boarded at Hotchkiss Preparatory School
in Connecticut for high school and graduated from Hotchkiss in 1898. Then Beresford studied at Princeton
University for two years from 1898 until 1900. Following early advice, that an architect should build his technical
skills upon a liberal arts foundation, he studied foreign languages and history as well as mathematics and science as an
undergraduate. After his sophomore year Beresford left Princeton and did freehand sketching and watercolor work in
Boston while taking two years of evening classes with the Boston Architectural Club. He then moved to Washington,
D.C. and studied for two years in the Atelier Pietsch, two years in the Washington Architectural Club Atelier, and one
year in evening classes at the Corcoran Art Gallery. Finally, he continued his study of watercolor for a year of evening
classes from Professor Albert B. Bibb at George Washington University.

While continuing studies in Washington, Beresford also gained experience in several architectural offices. He worked
in the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury from 1903 until 1905, when he moved to the Office of the
Architect of the Capitol (then called the Office of the Superintendent of the Capitol Building and Grounds). From
1909 to 1914, Beresford worked for one of Washington’s most prominent Beaux-Arts school architects, Jules Henri
de Sibour. According to the Washington Star, Beresford had his own office as of 1915, but his World War I draft
registration card from 1918 lists his occupation as a draftsman for the War Department, and he worked as a draftsman
for Appleton P. Clark for a short time in 1919. Sources agree that he had officially established his own practice in
1920.

In 1921 Beresford designed Petworth Gardens Apartments

(now Webster Gardens Apartments) on Webster Street,
N.W. Petworth Gardens was the earliest garden apartment
complex in the District of Columbia, and was added to the
National Register in 2008. Allan E. Walker Investment, Co.
was the owner and builder for the project. Petworth
Gardens was inspired by the small Tudor Revival rowhouse
development named Pomander Walk, also from 1921, on
the Upper West Side of Manhattan, but the two
developments are by no means identical. Pomander Walk
was designed to resemble an English village within the city,
and Beresford executed this same idea with a group of
apartment buildings perpendicular to the street rather than
Home for W. R. Meadows; Northwest corner of rowhouses. Additionally, Beresford’s design was not strictly
Jocelyn and 39th Streets, N.W., 1922
Tudor Revival, as it also incorporated Craftsman and
Washington Post, August 27, 1922, 38
Mediterranean Revival styles.

Beresford designed many buildings for Allan E. Walker throughout his career. In addition to Petworth Gardens, he
designed more than 50 rowhouses and detached dwellings
owned by Walker Investment, Co. in Maryland and in the
District. In 1921 and 1922 he worked on several houses in
Chevy Chase that were developed and sold by Walker,
including a large blue granite house on the northwest
corner of 39th and Jocelyn Streets, N.W., that was
purchased by W. R. Meadows, an officer in the US
Department of Agriculture. In addition to residential
buildings, Beresford designed commercial properties. He
designed several gasoline filling stations in the northwest
quadrant of Washington, including one in 1924 at the
intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Ordway Street
called “Lord Baltimore Filling Station No. 6.” Most of the Lord Baltimore Filling Station No. 6, 1924
filling stations have been demolished. Shorpy Historic Photo Archive, retrieved July 30, 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

From 1922 to 1925 Beresford was involved in designing

the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. The property was
originally owned by Walker, and it was advertised to open
as Walker Hotel and Apartments. The New York
architectural firm Warren and Wetmore was the primary
design firm for the Mayflower, but Beresford worked as
associate architect on the project and contributed
considerably. When building costs exceeded $11 million,
mounting debts forced Walker to sell the property to the
American Bond and Mortgage Company. The new
ownership changed the name of the hotel to the Mayflower.
It opened in February 1925 and the Washington Post reported
it as the largest hotel or private building ever erected in
Washington up to that time. The Beaux-Arts building was
Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave., N.W., 1924
designed to fill the trapezoidal plot with two massive
Shorpy Historic Photo Archive, 1927
asymmetrical towers. The Mayflower was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

In 1928, Beresford’s next major building design was the impressive

Tower Building on K Street. It was Beresford’s most significant
project for which he was solely responsible, and it was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places in 1995. When the building was
completed in 1929 it was the tallest office building in the District of
Columbia, and it was the first office building in Washington designed
in the Art Deco style. It is a 12-story building with an H-shaped plan,
a limestone veneer façade, and a tiered pyramidal crown. It was
featured in the American Architect periodical when completed.

Beresford’s successful career in Washington led to his involvement in

several architectural organizations. In 1927 and 1928 he served as the
President of the Washington chapter of the American Institute of
Architects (AIA). He had joined the AIA in 1921. From 1928 to
1948 he served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Board of Examiners
and Registrars of Architects of the District of Columbia. The
National Council of Architectural Registration Boards issued
The Tower Building, 1401 K St., N.W., 1928 Beresford a certificate of award in recognition of distinguished service.
National Register Nomination Form, 1995 Thomas H. Locraft was elected to succeed Beresford on the Board of
Examiners and Registrars when he retired in 1948.

In 1905 Beresford married Jessie Grange Adams in Glen Ridge, N.J., but the couple did not have any children, and
Jessie died in 1952. Beresford was living in Buffalo, N.Y., under the care of his sister, Grace B. Wells, when he died in
December 1966 at the age of 87 after battling a long illness.

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 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Washington Post, searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning,
Other Repositories:
PropertyQuest; Shorpy Historic Photo Archive
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 12/21/1966 Page: B6
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory 1956/1st 38
1962/2nd 49
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 21-22
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Barsoum, Eve Lydia. Tower Building National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.: Historic
Preservation Division, 1995.
Barton, Carrie and Laura Hughes. Petworth Gardens National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.:
EHT Traceries, 2008.
“Construction of First Unit of Petworth Gardens Begun.” Evening Star, October 8, 1921, Business Section.
Dennée, Tim, staff reviewer. Petworth Gardens Apartments nomination. Historic Preservation Review Board, Washington,
D.C., 2008.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Maxwell, Shirley. Mayflower Hotel National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Alexandria, Va.: Massey Maxwell
Associates, 1983.
McClinsey, Keith. Washington DC’s Mayflower Hotel. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2007.
“New Residence Purchased by Official.” Washington Post, August 27, 1922, 38.
“R.F. Beresford, Was Architect for Notable Buildings.” Washington Star, December 21, 1966.
Robert Francis Beresford Application for Registration to Practice Architecture. District of Columbia Archives,
Washington, D.C., 1925.
Beresford, Robert. Princeton University Archives, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library. Nanci A. Young to Andrea
Lowery, research correspondence, July 1995.
Notes: The total number of permits and buildings combines listings for “Beresford, R.F.” (43 permits, 94 buildings),
and for “Beresford, Robert F.” (4 permits, 4 buildings).
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Julian Emerson Berla

Biographical Data
Birth: 04/04/1902 Place: Newark, NJ
Death: 02/16/1976 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married to Freda Berla; one son
Education
High School: Central High School (Newark, NJ)
College: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1923)
Graduate School: Harvard University (1924)
The Architectural Firm of Berla & Abel
Apprenticeship: Bertram G. Goodhue, New York (1922) Berla is seated second from left
Source: Best Addresses
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 334 Date Issued: 07/29/1938
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1938 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 94 Total Buildings: 876
Practice Position Date
Edward S. Hewitt (New York) Draftsman 1923-1924
Goodhue Associates Job Chief 1924-1927
Mayers, Murray & Phillip, New York Designer 1927-1929
New York University/Metropolitan Museum Lecturer 1930-1932
U.S. Resettlement Administration Architect 1936-1937
Kastner & Berla Partner/Architect 1937-1938
Berla & Abel Partner/Architect 1938-1969
Berla, Abel & Weinstein Partner/Architect 1969-1971
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1939 Fellow of the AIA: 1954
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Board of Trade and the Washington Building Congress.
Chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Preservation of the Capitol; active in the National AIA and the
Washington Chapter of the AIA; served as President of the Washington Chapter in 1946 and 1947. Member of the
Cosmos Club.
Awards or Commissions: Public housing consultant to various federal agencies; Member of the Baltimore Urban
Renewal and Housing Authority design review committee; served as a visiting architecture critic at the University of
Virginia and M.I.T following his retirement from private practice in 1971.
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment Buildings, Commercial Buildings, Public Housing
Styles and Forms: Modernist, International Style
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Upper Northwest

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 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings Location Date Status

2100 Connecticut Ave., NW 1940 Kalorama Triangle Historic Dist.
Tiffey Townhouses 4000-4100 Arkansas Ave., NW 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Boston House 1711 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1951 NRHP DC Historic Site
Crestview Apartments 3601 Wisconsin Avenue, NW 1952 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions

Julian E. Berla graduated from the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology in 1923 with a degree in site
planning. After completing post graduate work at
Harvard University, he was employed as a draftsman
and designer in New York City. Between 1930 and
1932, he lectured at New York University. In 1936,
Berla moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the
New Deal’s Resettlement Administration, designing
the federally-planned town of Greenbelt, Maryland.
He also served as a consultant to various public
agencies including the Public Housing Information
Office, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S.
Housing Authority, and the National Youth
Administration. Through his consulting work, Berla
became renowned as an expert in public housing
design. In the 1950s, he would also serve as a 2100 Connecticut Avenue
consultant to Denmark on public housing issues. Source: EHT Traceries, 2009

In 1937, Berla joined the practice of German-born architect Alfred Kastner. Their brief partnership lasted until 1938,
when Berla established the firm of Berla & Abel along with Joseph Abel, an early proponent of the International Style
and a notable apartment building designer. The firm became known for its apartment buildings, commercial
shopping centers, and many residences. In 1939, Berla and Abel designed 27 homes on the 4000 and 4100 blocks of
Arkansas Avenue for developer J. B. Tiffey and Sons. The “Tiffey Townhomes” were envisioned as an affordable
new housing type for Washington. The Architectural Record reported, “imagination, ingenuity, and experience make
possible a group of most economical housing units that take full advantage of the interesting terrain and the sloping
site…. Apartments are judiciously planned for modern living and tenants have access to outdoor terrace and garden
areas.” The three-story red brick townhouses featured architectural elements that distinguished them from the
surrounding rowhouses, including large, open, second-story balconies, expansive windows, generous use of glass
block, and trellises climbing up the front facades.

Through their work, Berla & Abel gained a reputation as Washington’s most notable modernist architectural firm.
The Berla & Able-designed apartment building at 2100 Connecticut Avenue (1939-40) was an early example of the
International Style in Washington, D.C. The architects carved out a traditional C-shaped box to create a distinctively
new architectural appearance for the city. The façade is comprised of strip windows, glass block and light brick, and
the projecting bays and receding balconies establish a rhythm of solids and voids. The architects avoided
ornamentation, instead making a statement with the pure volume of the building.

In 1969, Berla and Abel welcomed a new partner to the firm, Jesse Weinstein. Berla retired from private practice in
1972 following an automobile accident. Following his retirement, he served as a visiting architectural critic at the
University of Virginia and M.I.T. Julian E. Berla died in Washington in 1976.

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 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 02/19/1976 Page:
Publication: Evening Post Date: 02/18/1976 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory 1956/1962/1970 40/51/66
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 22
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:

“A Profile of Work by Berla & Abel.” Architectural Forum August 1946, 82-94.

Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.

Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.

“Improved Housing for Washington, D.C.” Architectural Record Vol. 103 No.2 (May 1946), 132-134.

Straight, Susan. “Small, Stable Neighborhood Near the Park.” Washington Post, 19 November 2005.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Albert Burnley Bibb

Biographical Data
Birth: 6/8/1853 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 12/23/1942 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Married Julia Hanson circa 1880; four children.
Education
High School: First year of high school at Georgetown College’s
preparatory program.
College: Georgetown College (now University), 1869-70
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Special Collections, Gelman Library, G.W.U.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1886 Latest Permit: 1892 Total Permits: 10 Total Buildings: 11
Practice Position Date
Topographer, hydrographer
U.S. Life-Saving Service Ca. 1885-1890
and presumably, initially, a draftsman
1888-1894,
Individual practice Architect (city directory listings) 1900-1908, 1911-12
George Washington University Professor 1905-1933
Catholic University of America Instructor, professor 1913-1939
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Cosmos Club, Architectural Club
Awards or Commissions: Benemerenti Medal, Catholic University, 1940
Buildings
Building Types: Life-saving stations, townhouses
Styles and Forms: Shingle style, vernacular Romanesque Revival
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Point Allerton Life-Saving
Hull, Massachusetts 1890 NRHP DC Historic Site
Station
Marquette Life-Saving Station Marquette, Michigan 1890 NRHP DC Historic Site
Klipsan Beach (Ilwaco Beach)
Klipsan Beach, Washington 1890 NRHP DC Historic Site
Life-Saving Station
Residence 2021 H Street N.W 1890 NRHP DC Historic Site
John Darzell Residence 1605 New Hampshire Ave. NW 1892 Dupont Circle Historic District

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Albert Burnley Bibb was born in Washington, D.C., in 1853. Early in his career, in the 1880s, he designed Life-Saving
Stations for the Treasury Department and these stations constitute most of his surviving work. For much of his long
life he taught architecture at George Washington University and Catholic University and thus taught many of the
architects who were educated in Washington, D.C., in the first decades of the twentieth century.

Bibb briefly attended Georgetown College where his step-father, John Caulfield, was a music professor in the Civil
War era. At that time Georgetown College was both a preparatory school and a college. Bibb was a first-year
preparatory student in the academic year 1865-66 and returned as a first year college student for the year 1869-70.
According to the 1870 census he was residing at the College at that time but his family home was in Hyattsville,
Maryland. He did not stay to earn a degree. Bibb was largely self educated. At the time of his appointment as
instructor at Catholic University in 1913 he wrote that, “I have no degrees, and no academic record worth the
printing” but his personnel files at both universities where he taught attest to his erudition.

Bibb became a Post Office clerk in 1871 and by 1873 he was working as a clerk in the Fourth Auditors’ Offices in the
Treasury Department. At some point in the 1870s he went out west, worked for a mining company headquartered in
San Francisco and he became the resident manager of a mine in Silver City, Idaho. At the time of the 1880 Census he
was residing in Idaho and the New York Times reported May 28, 1880 that President Garfield had nominated him to be
agent for the Indians of Malheur Agency, Oregon. According to subsequent censuses he married about 1880.

Bibb’s earliest known architectural work was done

for the Life-Saving Service in the mid-1880s. It is
not known when or in what capacity Bibb began
working for the Life-Saving Service of the Treasury
Department which was created by Congress in
1878 to expand and improve upon shoreline
lifesaving services on the nation’s coasts and on the
Great Lakes. In 1882 Bibb wrote an article, “The
Life-Savers on the Great Lakes” for Frank Leslie’s
Popular Monthly, and Life-Saving Service experts
Ralph Shanks and Wick York speculate that he may
have been an inspector. The 1887 Official Register of
federal employees listed him as topographer and
hydrographer, one of the five top positions in the
Office of Life Saving-Service. Beginning no later
than 1885 he had been working in the Office of
Construction, designing life-saving stations and he
designed stations throughout his career at the Point Allerton Life-Saving Station, Hull MA
Service. These stations housed both lifesaving U.S. Life-Saving Service, p. 56
crews and their boats and were located along treacherous stretches of the coastline to rescue passengers and crews of
shipwrecked vessels. Bibb’s earliest known designs were remodelings of early 1870s buildings constructed by a
predecessor agency. He adapted the Shingle Style, inspired by the shingled buildings of the New England coast and
popularized by William Ralph Emerson and Henry Hobson Richardson, to the enlargement of older rectangular boat
houses. As described by Wick, “Bibb is noteworthy in that his alteration plan was such a successful statement of the
Shingle Style. By adding a storage lean-to on either side of the original boathouse and extending the main roof over
each addition in a sweeping unbroken line from peak to eave, Bibb converted what originally had been a vertical
structure into a low, horizontally massed building. Rows of long horizontal windows and the application of scallop-
shaped and straight-edged shingles over the entire exterior surface completed the transition.” Of these twenty-nine
alterations, six survive. Bibb also designed new stations and his first known new design is known as Bibb #2 and at
least 22 stations were built to this design between 1887 and 1892. As described by Wick, the buildings, “looking like a
cottage residence,” had a steep gabled roof with two hipped dormers while a lookout tower “topped an intersecting
Bibb, Albert B. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

roof. Queen Anne detailing included clapboarding on the first floor,

straight-edged shingles on the gables and roof, small-paned windows,
molded four panel exterior doors and turned porch columns.” Bibb’s design
#3, of which eleven were built on Lake Michigan, had a gable dwelling with
a semi-detached boathouse. Bibb is thought to have left the Life-Saving
Service in 1890 but buildings were constructed to his designs for another
decade. He is credited with designing the 1890 Marquette, Michigan station
and this design was used for twelve additional stations from Maine to
Washington over the next twelve years. Of approximately fifty stations
designed by Bibb, half survive, including the Point Allerton Life Saving
Station in Hull, Massachusetts, which has become the Hull Lifesaving
Museum and several others listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

While working for the Service, Bibb also designed dwellings for private
clients. He was first listed on a District building permit in 1886 and he listed
himself as an architect in Washington, D.C., city directories for the years
1888 through 1894. In this period Bibb was listed on ten building permits,
almost all of which were for substantial city residences ranging in estimated 1605 New Hampshire Ave, N.W.
D.C. Office of Planning, 2004
cost from $6,700 to $23,000. His first was a three-story brick dwelling at
1028 16th Street, N.W., with an estimated cost of $15,000. The dwellings Bibb designed were located in fashionable
residential sections of Washington near the White House and Dupont Circle and most have been replaced by
subsequent development. Two that survive are the 1890 dwelling at 2021 H Street, N.W. and the 1892 John Dalzell
residence at 1605 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., built at an estimated cost of $18,000. One other surviving building
is at 9 Hillyer Court, N.W., which originally was a large private stable constructed in 1892. Half the permits issued for
Bibb-designed buildings date from 1892 and none were issued thereafter.

It is probable that Bibb went abroad in 1894 and remained there until about
1900 when he was again listed in Boyd’s city directory as an architect. A friend,
A.S. Riggs, wrote at the time of Bibb’s death that “he gave up his office to go
abroad because of the health of his family. There, after residence in England
and both wanderings and residence in Italy and other parts of the continent,
always keenly observant and studious, he settled at Meran in the Austrian
Tyrol…. Almost at once his professional qualities came to the fore, and more
than one stately mansion on the snowy Tyrolean hillsides is the work of his
brain and hands.”

Although Bibb is listed as an architect in city directories for all but one year
between 1900 and 1907, no record has been found of work done in those
2021 H Street, N.W. years. In June 1905 he was appointed Professor of Architecture in the
D.C. Office of Planning, 2004 Division of Architecture at George Washington University and began a
distinguished thirty-year teaching career. Later his title was Professor of Art and Architecture and he became
Professor Emeritus in 1933. In 1913, Bibb was appointed as an instructor at Catholic University, rising to professor,
circa 1926, in the Architecture Department headed by Frederick V. Murphy, and retiring in 1939. At both universities
and also at Trinity College he taught the history of architecture and of art as well as occasional courses in drawing and
historic ornament. As professor in two Washington, D.C., universities he taught many of the architects who were
educated in the city before World War II. According to Riggs, Bibb once told his former student, architect Delos H.
Smith, that, “he wished he had not given up the practice of his profession for teaching.”

Bibb published a number of articles in both the professional and general press on architecture and art. These
included contributions, illustrated with his own drawings, to an American Architect and Building News series on Georgian
architecture in 1900, articles in House and Garden on Mount Vernon, the remodeling of the White House and the
Octagon, and articles in Studio (London) on various artists.

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 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
University Archives, Catholic University of America
Other Repositories: Special Collections Research Center, Gelman Library, George Washington University
Special Collections Research Center, Lauinger Library, Georgetown University
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 12/16/1942 Page: B4
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 4 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 24
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24 1938-39 74-75
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Albert B. Bibb file, RG0004, Vice President for Academic Affairs Records, Series 20, Box 6, Folder 7, Special
Collections Research Center, Gelman Library, George Washington University.
Albert B. Bibb Personnel Files. Records of the U.S. Coast Guard, RG 26, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Albert B. Bibb to James S. Forreus, 10 October, 1913. A.B. Bibb file, CUA Office of the Rector/President, University
Archives, Catholic University of America.
Miller, Elizabeth J. “The John Dalzell Residence, 1605 New Hampshire Ave., N.W.” Typescript, 1980-1985. Pamphlet
Collection, Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
“Nominations and Confirmations.” New York Times, May 28, 1880
Riggs, Arthur Stanley. “The Post Impressionist: Arthur Burnley Bibb.” Washington Post, December 31, 1942, 8.
Shanks, Ralph C., and Wick York; Lisa Woo Shanks, editor. U.S. Life-Saving Service: Heroes, Rescues & Architecture of the
Early Coast Guard. Petaluma, CA: Costaño Books, 1996.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1870, 1900, 1910, 1930, District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1870, Maryland
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1880, Idaho
U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Official Register of the United States, 1887. Vol. 1, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing
Office, 1887.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Officers and Agents, Civil, Military and Naval, in the Service of the United States on the 30th of
September, 1873. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1874.
York, Wick. “The Architecture of U.S. Life-Saving Stations. The Log of Mystic Seaport (Spring 1982), 3-20.

Notes: Although Bibb stated that he was an A.I.A. member on at least one form in the Catholic University personnel
file, the A.I.A.’s archivist could not find his name in a search of both national and Washington Chapter records.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

James Bogardus
Biographical Data
Birth: 3/14/1800 Place: Catskill, N.Y.
Death: 4/13/1874 Place: New York, N.Y.
Family: Married Margaret McClay, 1831
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Source: from photo by E. W. Bogardus,
Apprenticeship: Cole Thompson, “My Inwood: Street Names”
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: n/a Latest Permit: Total Permits: Total Buildings:
Practice Position Date
James Bogardus Machinist, inventor, architect, manufacturer 1825-1874
Bogardus & Hoppin Partner 1850-53

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Fire towers, cast-iron building fronts, shot towers, printing plants, lighthouse
Styles and Forms: Cast-iron façades, cast-iron towers and commercial buildings
DC Work Locations: Pennsylvania Avenue, NW; 7th Street, NW
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Washington and Murray Streets,
Laing Stores 1849 No longer extant
New York, NY
Baltimore and South Streets,
Sun Iron Building 1850 NRHP DC Historic Site
Baltimore, Md.
Adams Express Office (iron
514 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 1851 No longer extant
facade)
Iron Hall (iron facade) 925 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 1851 No longer extant
Coyle Warehouse 519 7th Street, NW 1851 No longer extant
Harper Plant 331 Pearl Street, New York, 1854 NRHP DC Historic Site
NY

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Significance and Contributions

James Bogardus was born in Catskill, New York, on March 14, 1800. He received only his elementary education in a
formal setting and then was apprenticed to a local watchmaker in Catskill. Bogardus moved to New York City about
1825, where he used his understanding of mechanics and engineering to excel as an inventor. As a young man he
received patents for innovations in clocks, machinery for spinning cotton thread, sugar mill technology, mechanical
pencils, an award-winning engraving machine, and various others. He continued with his diverse mechanical
inventions until he began focusing on the structural arts in 1848. In this year he established a foundry in New York
for casting structural, utilitarian, and decorative details for buildings.

In the 1850s, prefabricated units for cast-iron building

fronts became popular on façades of commercial
buildings, mostly those standing shoulder-to-shoulder
on city blocks. They were usually made to look like
stone richly carved in Classical, Renaissance, or Baroque
Revival styles, and Bogardus completed several such
façades during his career. His first architectural work
was in 1848, constructing an iron front for John
Milhau’s drug store at 183 Broadway in New York. He
obtained a patent in 1849 for the first building
completely made of iron, but there is no evidence that
the patented design was ever executed. Following the
success of the Milhau store façade, Bogardus worked on
the group of Edgar Laing stores on the corner of Laing Stores, Washington and Murray Streets, NY, 1849.
Washington and Murray Streets in New York City. Library of Congress HABS NY,31-NEYO,76-1.
Bogardus cast one iron front for the five individual
stores at this location. The store front was four stories high and featured a simple design of windows separated by
fluted Doric pilasters. This building was taken apart in 1971 to be later reassembled, but the components were stolen
in the late 1970s.

In 1850 Bogardus began working outside New York and was listed as a contractor for the famous Sun Iron Building,
owned and occupied by the Baltimore Sun. At the southeast corner of Baltimore and South Streets in Baltimore, Md.,
the Sun Iron Building was thought to be the first iron-supported structure in the United States. Robert G. Hatfield of
New York was the architect. This building was a milestone in the careers of those who worked on it, and contributed
to the rapid expansion of Bogardus’ business in 1850 and 1851. His major works appeared in New York, Baltimore,
Washington, Chicago, and San Francisco.

While Bogardus was finishing his work on the Sun Iron

Building in 1851, he received commissions for three
buildings in Washington, D.C. He worked with his
partner, Hamilton Hoppin, on all three buildings. The
first commission was 514 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
He constructed the cast-iron façade of this building,
which housed the Adams Express Office of downtown
Washington. Bogardus & Hoppin’s second Washington
building front was for the Iron Hall, owned by Michael
Shanks and located in the business district at 925
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Two store fronts occupied
the first floor of the building, and the second story had
high ceilings and an open plan to accommodate
Iron Hall, 925 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 1851. meetings or concerts. The façade appeared to be made
Cast-Iron Architecture in America, 109. almost entirely of glass – only delicate cast-iron columns
Bogardus, James Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

interrupted floor-to-ceiling casement windows. The second and third floors included cast-iron balconies. This
building became known as Metzerott Hall, and was used for large events including concerts and speeches. Finally,
Bogardus & Hoppin designed the front of 519 7th St., NW, between Pennsylvania Avenue and D Street. It was
occupied by Fitzhugh Coyle, a hardware and lumber merchant. This was the third and final commission for Bogardus
in Washington. He bid on a project to refit the interior of the Library of Congress with fireproof ironwork after a fire
in the building at Christmas, 1851, but Janes, Beebe & Co. of New York won the job.

In 1854 Bogardus worked to erect the Harper and

Brothers printing plant per the designs of architect John B.
Corlies. This project is considered the most important
work in which Bogardus was involved, as it was one of the
most prominent commercial structures in Manhattan at the
time it was built. It was erected at 331 Pearl Street and
faced Franklin Square. The Harper plant was a glass shell
held in a cast-iron frame of columns, arched lintels, and
spandrels.

Bogardus emphasized his portfolio of cast-iron facades,

but his influence on the course of American architecture
arose from the engineering and design innovations of his
iron towers. The exploitation of the use of iron in the
structure of multi-story buildings is what set Bogardus
apart from many other iron manufacturers involved in the
structural arts. The concept of achieving building height
through the use of iron structural elements is evident in
Bogardus’ collection of two fire towers, a lighthouse, and
two shot towers. The fire towers and shot towers were
located in New York, and the lighthouse was erected in
Bogardus’ second fire tower, near the corner of
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. These projects all
MacDougal and Spring Streets, New York, 1853.
clearly emphasize verticality, and Bogardus’ construction of Drawings by Winslow Homer, published in Harper’s Weekly, 1874.
free-standing iron structures contributed to the
development of the skyscraper in the United States.

Bogardus is listed as a “machinist” in the 1850 population census for New York rather than as an architect or builder.
Then in 1870 he was listed as “architect.” But despite these labels, Bogardus called himself an inventor. Labeling
Bogardus as an architect does not fully, and often would not accurately, describe his role and contributions. Many of
his commissions involved executing the designs of other architects using his capabilities with cast-iron.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 22 entries
Dictionary of American Biography Vol. I Pt. 2 - 406
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects Volume I 233-235
Bogardus, James Page 3 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it

Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Bannister, Turpin C. “Bogardus Revisited, Part I: The Iron Fronts.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, XV,
No. 4, pp. 12-
Bannister, Turpin C. “Bogardus Revisited, Part II: The Iron Towers.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, XVI,
No. 1, pp. 11-19. March, 1957.
Bogardus, James. National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Volume 8, p.193.
Gayle, Margot and Carol. Cast-Iron Architecture in America: The Significance of James Bogardus. Pp. 107-108. New York: W.
W. Norton and Company, 1998.
Gray, Christopher. “Streetscapes/James Bogardus; Inventor as an Architect and a Cast-Iron Pioneer.” New York
Times, August 20, 1995.
Hall, Clayton Colman. Baltimore: Its History and its People, Vol. 2. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1912.
Historic American Buildings Survey. “Edgar Laing Stores, Washington & Murray Streets, New York, New York,
NY.” HABS NY,31-NEYO,76.
Schneider, Daniel B. “F.Y.I.: Architectural Gem Theft.” The New York Times, March 7, 1999.
Thompson, Cole. “My Inwood: Street Names.” www.myinwood.net, accessed 8/16/2010.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, New York, 1850.
Winston Weisman Collection of Architectural Photographs, depicting structures c.1850-1970. The New-York
Historical Society. Call Number PR 073.
Notes: Image of Bogardus from photo by E.W. Bogardus
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Joseph A. Bohn Jr.

Biographical Data
Birth: January 1877 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: June 17, 1910 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Unmarried
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1900 Latest Permit: 1910 Total Permits: 101 Total Buildings: 449
Practice Position Date
Joseph Bohn Jr. (self-employed?) Draftsman 1896?-1908
Joseph Bohn Jr. Architect 1909-1910

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Mason; National Union, Congressional Council
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Row houses, detached single family dwellings.
Styles and Forms: Classical revival, Richardson Romanesque
DC Work Locations: Bloomingdale, Capitol Hill, Mount Pleasant, Park View, Woodley Park
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
2300-1330 1st Street, and
Rowhouses 1902 NRHP DC Historic Site
100 Bryant St., N.W.
Rowhouses 1919-1941 Calvert St. N.W. 1902 Kalorama Triangle Hist. Dist.
German-American Building
124 3rd Street, S.E. 1908 Capitol Hill Historic District
Association
McIntire residences 716-720 East Capitol St., N.E. 1908 Capitol Hill Historic District
Woodley Park row houses 2228-2242 Cathedral Ave. N.W. 1909 Woodley Park Historic District
Rowhouses 740-762 Newton Place, N.W. 1908 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Joseph A. Bohn, Jr., was born in Washington, D.C., in

December 1877. His parents were also natives of
Washington. His father was a salesman who worked in
a cigar store and later in a furniture store. His paternal
grandparents had emigrated from Bavaria. The family
resided at 215 D Street, N.W., and, according to the
1910 Census, Bohn, who was not married, continued
to live with his parents on D Street. Bohn was listed as
a draftsman as early as 1894 in Boyd’s Directory. He did
not list himself as an architect in the city directory until
the years 1909 and 1910. From the 1900 Census it
appears that Bohn was self-employed. He was first
listed as architect on a D.C. building permit in 1900.

The majority of Bohn’s work consisted of row houses

designed for Middaugh & Shannon (Ray E. Middaugh German American Building Association, 124 3rd St., S.E.
Washington Times, March 13,1909, 3
and William E. Shannon) who were developers and
builders. They pioneered the development of
Bloomingdale and were active in developing several
other middle class neighborhoods, including Woodley
Park. The firm obtained its first building permits for
construction in Bloomingdale in 1900. Initially it used
the services of noted Washington architect B. Stanley
Simmons. However, beginning with a row of eight
houses at First and S Streets, N.W., permitted
December 17, 1902, the firm relied exclusively on
Joseph Bohn Jr. as its architect. The firm, in its
promotional entry in the Washington Post’s 1903 History
of the City of Washington, claimed that it had “taken
advantage of every opportunity to raise the standard
of excellence in the building of moderate priced
private homes” and that it had originated and
copyrighted an arrangement “for the perfect lighting
716, 718, 720 East Capitol Street
of the dining room…completely overcoming the usual Washington Times, October 18, 1908, 7.
difficulty of the dark dining room, when built between
party walls.” In 1906-1907 Bohn designed the row and semi-detached dwellings in Middaugh & Shannon’s Park View
development immediately west of the Old Soldiers Home, including virtually all the dwellings constructed in the two
squares (3044 and 3036) between Park Place and Warder Street, N.W. and bounded by Newton Place on the north
and Lamont Street on the south. Bohn’s final works (1909) for Middaugh & Shannon were two rows in Mt. Pleasant
at 19th Street (3201-3215) and Park Road (1844-1860) and a row of Colonial Revival dwellings along Cathedral Avenue
in Woodley Park (2228-2242).

Bohn also designed dwellings for individuals and for small scale speculative owners. He may have had an
arrangement with the prominent local German-born builder, August Getz, who built many of the individual or small
groupings of dwellings designed by Bohn. One of the most significant of Bohn’s individual buildings was designed
for the German-American Building Association at 124 3rd Street, S.E. Now known as the Germania, it was built by
(August) Getz & Son in 1908. The building of Hummelstown brownstone and pressed brick had shops and offices on
the ground floor and the second and third floors each had two apartments. Elwood McIntire commissioned Bohn to
design and oversee the construction of three ten-room, brick and stone residences at 716, 718 and 720 East Capitol

Bohn, Joseph, Jr. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Street in 1908.

Over the course of a decade Bohn’s name

appeared on 101 permits for a total of 449
buildings. In June 1910 Bohn
died, probably of meningitis, at the age of
33.

Woodley Park Rowhouses, 2200 Block Cathedral Ave., NW

Photo from Google Maps, 2010

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Publication: Washington Times Date: 6/19/1910 Page: 22
Obituary:
Washington Herald 6/19/1910 2
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 28
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“Good Eyesight,” Washington Post, January 14, 1912, 14.
“New Houses on Capitol Hill.” Washington Times, October 18, 1908, 7.
Slauson, Allan B., ed. A History of the City of Washington, Its Men and Institutions. Washington, D.C.: The Washington
Post, 1903.
“Sudden Death of Mr. Bohn.” Washington Herald, June 20, 1910, 2.
Traceries, Inc. “Old Woodley Park Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 1990.
“Two Recently Completed Buildings.” Washington Times, March 12, 1909, 3.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1900. District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910. District of Columbia.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Calvin Thomas Stowe Brent

Biographical Data
Birth: 1854 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 1899 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Father, John; mother, Elizabeth Edmondson; first wife,
Alberteen; daughter, Margaret; son, Calvin; daughter, Emma; second
wife, Laurelia Brown
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Source: African American Architects: A Biographical
Apprenticeship: Plowman and Weightman Dictionary 1865-1945, p. 57.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1883 Latest Permit: 1898 Total Permits: 60 Total Buildings: 91
Practice Position Date
Individual private practice Architect, draftsman 1875-1899

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Churches, rowhouses, semi-detached dwellings
Styles and Forms: Gothic Revival, Queen Anne
DC Work Locations: Strivers’ Section Historic District, Dupont Circle Historic District, Capitol Hill Historic
District
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
1514 15th Street, N.W. 1876-79 NRHP DC Historic Site
(probably assisted in design)
Metropolitan Baptist Church 1225 R Street, N.W. 1882 Demolished
Mount Jezreel Baptist Church 501 E Street, S.E. 1883 Capitol Hill Historic District
Third Baptist Church 1546 5th Street, N.W. 1893 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Calvin Thomas Stowe Brent was born in 1854 at his parents’ home near Dupont Circle in northwest Washington,
D.C. Brent’s mother, Elizabeth Edmondson, was the oldest sister of six siblings and attempted to escape enslavement
on the Potomac River aboard the schooner The Pearl in 1848. The escape attempt was the largest in U.S. history, but
it failed, and she gave birth to her son in the District six years later. Many contemporary sources agree that Calvin
T.S. Brent was the first African American architect in the District of Columbia. He began practicing as an architect in
1875 and was the only black architect consistently working in the District in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
Although Brent did not work alongside many other African Americans in his field, his legacy inspired many to pursue
a similar path, and he is considered a pioneer.

Calvin’s father John Brent was born enslaved but

earned enough money to buy his freedom and that of
his wife, Elizabeth Edmondson Brent. Brent’s father
was one of the nine founders of the John Wesley
AME Zion Church in 1847, thus establishing the
Brent family as an integral part of the African
American religious community. His father also
purchased the land and built the house where Calvin
was born, at 18th and L Streets, NW. Brent received a
formal education and was serving as an apprentice to
Thomas M. Plowman by about 1873. At the time,
Plowman was the Inspector of Buildings for the
District of Columbia. According to a 1909 article
Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, 1876 printed in the Washington Post, Brent took and passed
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Library of Congress, 1933. the examination for draftsman in the Office of the
DC,WASH,231
Supervising Architect of the Treasury but was not
appointed.

The earliest extant building with which Brent is associated is Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, located at 15th and
Church Streets, N.W. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in May 1976 and was designated a
National Historic Landmark at the same time. It stands in the Fourteenth
Street Historic District of Washington. The building is an early English
Gothic-style chapel with a gable roof and rough-cut bluestone walls. Red
and white sandstone trim boldly articulates the building’s lancet windows.
Brent probably drafted modifications of existing plans from England in
cooperation with Reverend Alexander Crummell, the church’s founder.
Brent was 22 years old at the time.

There are approximately 100 permits in Brent’s name from the 1870s
through the 1890s. His work spanned all quadrants of the District, but very
few of his buildings are extant. He is best known for the religious buildings
he designed in Washington, but he also designed many residences, most of
which were rowhouses. Many of the permits listing Brent as the architect
also list him as the builder. This is true for seven rowhouses that he
designed and built in the Queen Anne style in 1889 in the 400 block of E
Street, N.E. Washington. These rowhouses are among his few surviving
residential buildings, and are notable for the towers dominating the front
elevations which are cantilevered out at the second floor. They now stand
in the Capitol Hill Historic District, where much of his residential work was
located. He also worked a considerable amount in what are now the 409 E Street, NE
Dupont Circle, Strivers’ Section, and the Greater U Street Historic Districts EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

Brent, Calvin T.S. Page 2 of 4

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of northwest Washington.

Brent’s name has come up more than once since the last quarter of the twentieth century as churches he designed
have faced demolition. The Metropolitan Baptist Church at 13th and R Streets, N.W., was a good example of Brent’s
red brick Gothic Revival design style. Brent designed this church in 1882. Just over a century later in the mid-1980s,
the church was demolished despite opposition from community and congregation members who saw the church as a
monument not only to Brent’s pioneering career but
also to the former slave hands who built it. Brent
designed the Mount Jezreel Baptist Church at the
corner of 5th and E Streets, S.E. in 1883. The church
was nearly condemned in the 1980’s because of
extensive termite and water damage, and a Washington
Post article from 1990 said, “it was just the kindness
of the city government that kept it from being
condemned.”

The Third Baptist Church was listed in the National

Register of Historic Places in November of 2008 and
is the best remaining example of Brent’s dark red
brick Gothic revival designs. It stands at the
southwest corner of 5th and Q Streets, N.W., and is
the dominant building amidst the surrounding two-
story rowhouse streetscape. The church’s salient
Third Baptist Church, 1893 features include the front corner bell tower and
Nomination for District of Columbia Historic Landmark, 2008, Third Baptist traceried Gothic stained glass windows. The church
Church and D.C. Preservation League
is also significant for being the home of one of the
oldest and most socially active African American congregations in Washington. The structure’s only major alteration
occurred in 1919 with prominent African American architect Isaiah Hatton’s contributions of a new choir/organ loft
and Baptismal pool. Third Baptist was the final church design of Brent’s career, and is his most important surviving
work.

Over the course of his career, Brent lived at 1038 18th Street, N.W., 1006 19th Street, N.W., and for a short time at
1700 V Street, N.W. The 1880 Federal Census for the District of Columbia lists Brent at the 19th Street location with
his first wife, Alberteen, and his three children, Margaret, Calvin, and Emma. The V Street residence, where he lived
with his second wife, Laurelia, is still extant. Brent died suddenly of unknown causes in 1899 at the early age of 45.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Washington Post searched through Proquest; Ancestry.com; District of Columbia Office of
Other Repositories:
Planning, DCPropertyQuest.dc.gov
Date: December 2,
Obituary: Publication: Colored American Page: n.p.
1899
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 31
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it

Brent, Calvin T.S. Page 3 of 4

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Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it

Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Bonner, Alice. “A Landmark, or a Hazard? Congregation, Neighbors Argue Church’s Fate.” Washington Post,
September 29, 1982, DC1.
District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites, alphabetical version, 2009, 142, 156.
Downey, Kirstin. “The Parishioners, the Pulpit and the Property.” Washington Post, October 27, 1990, E1.
Fletcher, Patsy. Third Baptist Church Historic Landmark Designation Recommendation. D.C. Historic Preservation Review
Board, meeting September 25, 2008.
Paynter, John H. “A Tribute to Mr. Brent – Obituary.” Colored American, December 2, 1899, n.p.
Paynter, John H. “First Black Architect.” Washington Post, October 10, 1909, 12.
Schwartz, Nancy. “Calvin Brent: Washington's First African American Architect,” unpub. draft ms., in possession of
Cultural Tourism DC.
Schwartz, Nancy. “Calvin T.S. Brent.” In African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945, ed. by Dreck
Spurlock Wilson, 57-60. New York: Routledge, USA, 2004.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, District of Columbia, 1880.

Notes: Permit and building totals are a combination of listings in the Kraft database for “Calvin T.S. Brent” (49
permits, 76 buildings), “Calvin Brent” (7 permits, 9 buildings), “C. Brent” (2 permits, 4 buildings), and “C.T. Brent” (2
permits, 2 buildings). Additional permits may have been issued prior to 1883 that are not listed here.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Henry L. Breuninger
Biographical Data
Birth: 9/20/1890 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 5/4/1954 Place: Phoenix, Arizona
Family: wife, Marion W., no children; brother, Lewis T. Breuninger
Education
High School: McKinley Manual Training, Washington, DC, 1908-11.
College: George Washington University, 1911-1914
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: By Affidavit Date Issued: 1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1912 Latest Permit: 1935 Total Permits: 277 Total Buildings: 513
Practice Position Date
Private practice working primarily for his
H.L Breuninger 1911-1917
father
U.S. Army Civilian, commissioned officer 1917-1919
L. E. Breuninger & Sons Partner, vice president (until 1930), president 1918-1950
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Detached, semi-detached and row houses.
Styles and Forms: Colonial, Tudor, and Renaissance revival, Craftsman styles.
DC Work Locations: Berkeley, Glover Park, Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights, Crestwood, Park View, Shepherd
Park.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
14 dwellings 2200-2226 Hall Place, N.W. 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site
Hobart and Harvard Streets
80+ Dwellings 1913-1914 Mt. Pleasant Historic District
west of 16th Street, N.W.
14 Dwellings 1608-1634 Webster St., N.W. 1920 NRHP DC Historic Site
John Carter residence (now
4500 16th Street, N.W. 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site
Royal Cambodian Embassy
Colonial revival style dwelling 1300 Jonquil St., N.W. 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Henry L. Breuninger was born in Washington, D.C., in 1890, the son of Lewis E. Breuninger, and his career as an
architect was shaped by that of his father, a builder and real estate man. Lewis Breuninger, began his career in the
dairy business but in 1894 he began investing, as an owner, in the construction of single-family dwellings and some
apartment buildings. By 1903 he had founded a construction company which soon became very successful. He was
also involved in the founding of two savings banks in the first decade of the twentieth century. In 1923 he founded
the Real Estate Mortgage and Guaranty Corporation.

Henry L. Breuninger received his initial architectural

training at McKinley Manual Training School in
Washington, D.C., graduating in 1910. He started
practicing architecture in September 1911. At that
time he was living at home and had just entered
George Washington University. The first building
permit that bears his name as architect was issued on
April 27, 1912 for a row of fourteen Colonial revival
style two-story brick row houses in Glover Park on
Hall Place, N.W., that were owned and built by his
father. Thereafter, L.E. Breuninger, who had been North side of Harvard Street, N.W., 1600 block September
using outside architects, relied on his son for the 1949
design of his buildings. Henry studied at George Historical Society of Washington, D.C., Wymer 2288.37
Washington University for three years during which
time he designed numerous dwellings for his father, who was developing the 1400 block of Harvard Street, N.W., in
Columbia Heights and the 1600 blocks of Harvard and Hobart Streets, N.W., in Mt. Pleasant. The latter development
included detached houses, semi-detached two- and three-story houses and rows of two- and three-story dwellings
valued at over one half million dollars on a five-acre parcel near Rock Creek Park.

In 1914, Henry L. Breuninger first appeared on a permit as owner and builder as well as architect. Although he was in
business for himself in the pre-World War I years, most of his pre-War work was for his father. He designed his first
apartment building, a three-story brick building at 1352 Longfellow Street, N.W., in 1916 but almost all of his work
for his father and for himself was single family housing. In 1918, Lewis E. Breuninger reorganized his business as L.E.
Breuninger & Sons, formally bringing both of his sons into
his company. Henry L. Breuninger’s brother, Lewis T.
Breuninger, was trained as a lawyer. Both became company
vice presidents.

During World War I, Henry L. Breuninger first worked as

a civilian for the Army’s Quartermaster Department on the
plan for development of the buildings and grounds of
Walter Reed Hospital and he designed temporary buildings
for the site. After being commissioned in December 1917,
he became an assistant construction officer at the
Aberdeen Proving Grounds in charge of the $15 million
development of the grounds and buildings. He served as a
first lieutenant in the Army Ordnance Corps until February
1919.

After World War I, Breuninger continued to work for the

2200 Hall Place, NW family firm. Although he designed a few buildings for
DC Office of Planning, PropertyQuest, 2004 other owners and builders, most of the buildings he
designed throughout his career were owned and built by L.
Breuninger, Henry L. Page 2 of 4
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E. Breuninger & Sons. In the building boom years of the mid-1920s the majority of the dwellings designed by Henry
L. Breuninger were substantial detached dwellings in Northwest Washington, D.C., built at an estimated cost ranging
from $10,000 up to $40,000, the cost of 4500 16th Street, N.W. (now the Royal Cambodian Embassy). In the
Depression years of the 1930s, the firm shifted to construction of medium priced houses, generally with an estimated
cost below $10,000, many of which were located in Shepherd Park.

The firm designed and built both in Washington, D.C., and the surrounding suburban areas. By the mid 1920s, a
publication on prominent persons in Washington credited L.E. Breuninger’s firm with having “erected two thousand
homes and a number of apartment houses.” By the 1940s the firm described itself in city directories as, “Building and
contractors, real estate, loans and insurance.”

Henry L. Breuninger became president of L.E.

Breuninger & Sons after his father’s retirement circa
1930 and he continued in that position until about 1950
when he retired to Phoenix, Arizona because of poor
health. However, H.L. Breuninger’s name does not
appear on building permits as architect after 1935.
Beginning late in 1935 the firm used other architects,
including Harvey P. Baxter and George T. Santmyers,
to design almost all the speculative buildings it
constructed.

While Breuninger's professional life was based in 1703 Upshur St. N.W., 1926
Washington, D.C., he resided in Montgomery County Washington Post. January 23, 1926, R1.
where he raised cattle on farms in Norbeck and
Brighton.
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Ancestry.com
Date: May 9, 1954 Page: M16
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post
May 10, 1954 12
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 31
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources: Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory, 1942. Washington, D.C.: R.L. Polk & Co., 1942.
“Builder’s Estate Put at $723,784.” Washington Post, August 11, 1954, 5.
“Display Ad.” Washington Post, June 13, 1937, R7.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Henry L. Breuninger Application for Registration. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
“Half Million in Homes.” Washington Post, March 15, 1915, 41.
Maryland in the World War, 1917-1919; Military and Naval Service Records. Vol. I-II. Baltimore, MD, USA: Twentieth
Century Press, 1933. Accessed June 29, 2010 through Ancestry.com. Maryland Military Men, 1917-18 [database
on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.

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“Photo Standalone.” Washington Post, January 31, 1926, R1.

Proctor, John Clagett, ed. Washington Past and Present: A History. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc.,
1930. v. 3, s.v. Lewis E. Breuninger.
Prominent Personages of the Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C.: Washington Times Co., n.d. ca. 1925-1928, s.v. Lewis E.
Breuninger.
Notes: The statistics on permits listing H.L. Breuninger as architect do not include the four permits for five buildings
listing L.E. Breuninger as architect and the 13 permits for 19 buildings listing L.E Breuninger & Sons as architect
although it is probable that H.L. Breuninger was the architect for these buildings.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Glenn Brown
Biographical Data
Birth: 09/13/1854 Place: Fauquier County, VA
Death: 04/22/1932 Place: Newport News, VA
Family: Married Mary Ella Chapman (1876) two sons: Glenn Madison
and Bedford.
Education
High School:
College: Washington and Lee University
Graduate School: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Apprenticeship: Norcross Brothers (Hartford, Conn.) Source: Library of Congress
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1879 Latest Permit: 1928 Total Permits: 69 Total Buildings: 146
Practice Position Date
N. G. Starkweather Draftsman 1873-1875
Norcorss Brothers (Hartford, Conn.) Draftsman/Clerk 1876-1877
Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Draftsman/Engineer 1876-1879
Private Practice Architect 1880-1925
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1882 Fellow of the AIA: 1887
Other Societies or Memberships: National Academy of Design; President of the Washington Society of Fine Arts;
Institute of Arts and Letters; Cosmos Club; Director of the Chamber of Commerce; Corresponding Secretary of the
French and Belgian Architects and a Corresponding Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, Industrial Buildings, Office Buildings, Bridges
Styles and Forms: Romanesque, Beaux Arts
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Capitol Hill, Georgetown, Dupont Circle
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Simpson House 927 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1881 NRHP DC Historic Site
National Union Building 918 F Street, NW 1890 NRHP DC Historic Site
Glenwood Cemetery Chapel 2219 Lincoln Road, NE 1892 NRHP DC Historic Site
Joseph Beal House 2012 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1897 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dumbarton Bridge Q Street over Rock Creek Park 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Alderney Dairies Plant 929 D Street, NW 1884 Demolished in 1955
Significance and Contributions

Glenn Brown, son of Bedford Brown II and Mary E.

(Simpson) Brown was born in Fauquier County, Virginia
on September 13, 1854. After the Civil War, the family
moved to Washington, where Glenn Brown was educated
in private schools. Brown studied medicine at Washington
and Lee University, but returned to Washington in 1873 to
begin a career as an architect with the firm of N. G.
Starkweather. Brown left the firm in 1875 to complete
courses in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. After completing his studies, he worked as a
clerk for the Norcross Brothers in Hartford, Connecticut,
master builders for renowned architect H. H. Richardson.
In 1880, Brown returned to Washington and opened his
own firm.

Brown’s principal works over his fifty year career included

the Alderney Dairies Plant (1884; demolished in 1955), a The Joseph Beale House
six-story eclectic Victorian dairy plant in the center of Source: Historic American Buildings Survey - 1971
downtown; the Romanesque-Revival National Union
Insurance Company Building (1890); landscape architecture and shelter buildings at the National Zoological Park (no
longer extant); the renovation of the Holt House (1890-1901); the
Beale House (1897); the Washington School (1900) and the
Dumbarton Bridge which carries Q Street across Rock Creek Park
(1914). In 1921, Brown became the architect for the U.S. Marine
Corps. In 1926, he completed a master plan for the base at Quantico,
although it was never implemented. Brown’s son, Bedford Brown IV,
joined his father’s practice—renamed Brown & Brown—between
1907 and 1921.

While Brown’s work was equal with the best local talent, he was better
known for his civic contributions and his leadership in the profession.
An active historian, he authored a two-volume study of Capitol
Building, and a historic structures report for the Octagon. He also
served as correspondent for the American Architect and Building News
and published hundreds of articles in professional journals and
national magazines. Brown became a member of the national AIA in
1882 and was elected a Fellow in 1887. He served as the AIA’s
Secretary Treasurer from 1889 to 1913.

In 1887, Brown organized a meeting of all the national AIA members

in Washington for the purpose of organizing a local chapter. The
purpose of the Washington Chapter of the AIA was to “unite in
fellowship the architects of the city and to combine their efforts so as
to promote the artistic, scientific, and practical efficiency of the
profession.” Under Brown’s leadership—he remained the driving
National Union Building, 918 F St., NW force behind the Chapter even though J. L. Smithmeyer served as its
NCinDC, August 16, 2008, first president—the organization promulgated professional standards
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2838291543/ and led a national campaign for the advancement of “fine art.” This

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effort ultimately led to the establishment of the Commission of Fine Arts by Congress in 1910. Through these
efforts, Brown’s was instrumental in remaking Washington in the “City Beautiful” image.

In 1925, Brown retired to write his memoirs. After his death in 1932, the following tribute was offered at the annual
AIA convention: “His death marks the close of an era—a notable era in which the profession of architecture took the
responsibility for leadership in the movement for a better civic art. He was the last of that devoted group of architects
who started the movement for a harmonious development of Washington based on the needs of its founder
[L’Enfant], yet modified to accommodate the needs of modern activities.”

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: American Architect Date: June 1932 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 14 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects Vol. I 296-7
1908-09 56
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital
1923-24 58
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 81-82
Other Sources:
Bushong, William B. “Glenn Brown’s History of the United States Capitol.” House Document No. 108-240, pp. 1-21;
108th Congress, 2nd Session. Prepared by the Architect of the Capitol for the United States Capitol Preservation Commission.
Accessed October 26, 2010. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/cdocuments/hd108-240/index.html
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Bushong, William. National Union Building National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Washington, D.C., 1988.
Bushong, William. Glenn Brown, the American Institute of Architects, and the Development of the Civic Core of Washington, D.C.
Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of the George Washington University,
1988.
Bushong, William B. Updated by Catherine W. Bishir. “Brown, Glenn.” North Carolina Architects and Builders: A
Biographical Dictionary. Published 2009. Accessed October 2010. http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/
people/P000092
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Leon Brown
Biographical Data
Birth: 9/25/1907 Place: Blackville, S.C.
Death: 3/20/1992 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Parents, Sadie and Isador Brown; wife, Peggy Kahn; son, Warren
Education
High School:
College: Cornell University, 1924-25; Georgia School of Technology (B.S.
Arch., 1929)
Graduate School: University of Pennsylvania (Arch., 1932; M.S. Arch., 1933)
Apprenticeship: R. Brognard Okie, 1929-31 & 1933-34; Thalheimer & Weitz
Source: Washington Post, 6/21/1969, C12
Architects, 1934-42
Architectural Practice
D.C. Registration Number: 487
DC Architects’ Registration Date Issued: 12/20/1945
(Also registered in Pa., Va., Md.)
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1947 Latest Permit: 1949* Total Permits: 22 Total Buildings: 102
Practice Position Date
Leon Brown Principal 1946-50
Brown and Wright Partner 1950-62
Brown, Chapman, Taher & Miller Partner 1957-58
Brown, Chapman, Miller, Wright Partner 1962-63
Brown, Wright, Mano Partner 1968-70
Brown and Wright Senior Partner 1970-80 (retired 1980)
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1942 Fellow of the AIA: 1969
Other Societies or Memberships: D.C. Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects, President 1967-69; D.C.
Board of Appeals and Review, Licenses and Inspection, Chairman 1956-60; American Institute of Architects,
Washington Chapter, President 1954-55; D.C. Opportunities Commission; Institute for Learning in Retirement,
Lecturer at American University; Hillwood Museum, guide; Cosmos Club; Mended Hearts
Awards or Commissions: Centennial Award from Washington Chapter, AIA, 1991; D.C. Meritorious Public Service
Award; Appointed to American Arbitration Association’s National Panel of Arbitrators; Washington Star Award in
Residential Architecture, Residence for Dario G. Barozzi, 1957; Washington Star and Wash. Met. Chapter, AIA Award
in Residential Architecture, Residence for Roy Britten, 1955; Wash. Met. Chapter, AIA Maryland Division Award in
Architecture, Residence for Robert Black, 1954; Washington Board of Trade design award (to firm of Brown,
Chapman, Miller & Wright), Sheridan Terrace Public Housing Project, 1962
Buildings
Building Types: Detached dwellings, tract housing, multi-family housing and apartments, schools, chanceries,
correctional detention facility
Styles and Forms: Modern, Japanese-inspired; large-scale unit housing

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DC Work Locations: Southeast quadrant, embassy row

Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Glassmanor Apartments Oxon Hill, Md. 1952 NRHP DC Historic Site
Embassy of Israel 3514 International Drive, NW 1957 NRHP DC Historic Site
Chancery of Ghana 3512 International Drive, NW 1971 NRHP DC Historic Site
Sheridan Terrace Public
Anacostia, D.C. 1961 Demolished 1997, rebuilt
Housing
Ketchum Elementary School 1919 15th St., SE 1967 NRHP DC Historic Site
Epstein Residence Langley Forest, Va. 1956 NRHP DC Historic Site
Alan Kander House 3550 Williamsburg Lane, N.W. 1957 NRHP DC Historic Site
Capitol View Apartments 5901 East Capitol Street, SE 1973 NRHP DC Historic Site
D.C. Detention Facility (joint
venture with Jack A.
1901 D Street, SE 1972 NRHP DC Historic Site
Thalheimer and McDonald and
Williams)

Significance and Contributions

Leon Brown was a practicing architect in Washington, D.C., for more than 30 years, and a professor of architecture at
Howard University for over 25 years. He was highly regarded as a professional, as a mentor to young architects, and
as a community leader. Brown was instrumental in integrating the architectural profession in Washington when he
began hiring black graduates from Howard in the mid-1940s. He also established himself on the cutting-edge through
his firm’s modern architectural designs and his sociological approach to housing solutions.

Brown was born in Blackville, S.C., on September 25,

1907. He attended Cornell University (briefly, 1924-
25), and earned a B.S. in architecture in 1929 from
the Georgia School of Technology. He received his
Master’s degree in Architecture in 1933 from the
University of Pennsylvania. While he was pursuing
his advanced degree in architecture and living in
Philadelphia, Brown worked for R. Brognard Okie.
He worked as a draftsman and designer for Okie
from 1929-34. In 1955, in the midst of his career, he
co-authored the book “R. Brognard Okie, Architect
of Philadelphia.”. After finishing school, Brown
continued his training in Philadelphia as a designer
with Thalheimer and Weitz, Architects. He left the
practice in 1942 to enlist in the U.S. Army, and served
as a Captain in the Corps of Engineers during World
War II.
Capitol View Apartment Complex, 5901 East Capitol St., SE Brown began his own practice based in Washington,
AIA Archives, Leon Brown file D.C., in 1946. He became affiliated with the
Department of Architecture at Howard University shortly after World War II, and was one of the first white
professors appointed to the faculty at Howard. He was a valuable mentor to many students of architecture and
employed several black graduates of Howard in his professional practice. In doing so, Brown was an important
catalyst in the integration of architectural firms in the Washington metropolitan area. Additionally, he served as the

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faculty advisor to the student chapter of the AIA at Howard and helped to foster the relationship between the
Institute and the University. He was a professor at Howard until 1972.

Although Leon Brown started practicing

architecture in Washington under his own name
in 1946, he is best known for his 30-year
partnership with Thomas W. D. Wright, FAIA.
Brown and Wright formed a partnership in 1950
and, while several other architects joined them in
the late 1950s and 1960s, they were once again
the only partners in their firm from 1970 until
Brown retired in 1980. Brown and Wright
purposely kept their firm small so that they could
remain active in the practice of architecture and
mentoring rather than having to handle the
administration of a large company. This
approach worked well for small projects and most
building types, but they formed joint ventures to
handle larger commissions such as the D.C.
Detention Facility.
DC Detention Facility, 1901 D Street, SE, built 1972
AIA Archives, Leon Brown file
Brown and Wright designed buildings of almost
every variety. Some of their major works include: residences for Mr. Hans Adler (Langley Forest, Va.), Dr. Milton
Harris (4104 Linnean Ave., N.W.), and Mr. Robert Black (MacArthur Blvd., Md.); housing projects such as
Glassmanor Development (Oxon Hill, Md.), Capitol View Plaza (5901 East Capitol St., S.E.), and Sheridan Terrace
Housing Project (Anacostia, built 1961); Embassy of Israel (3514 International Drive, N.W.); Chancery of Ghana
(3512 International Drive, N.W.); and Bancroft School (1755 Newton St., N.W.). They worked as part of a joint-
venture with Jack A. Thalheimer and McDonald and Williams to design the D.C. Detention Facility at 1901 D Street
in Southeast Washington.

Brown and Wright won several awards for residential designs reflecting the influences of the Modern Movement.
Brown and Wright designed a house for Dr. and Mrs. Max Fischer in Washington that incorporated many Japanese
forms and materials. The firm also received acclaim for the Kander House, adjoining Rock Creek Park at 3550
Williamsburg Lane, NW, which also
included Japanese styles like shoji
screens as room partitions.

A sociological approach to low-income

housing projects also set Brown and
Wright apart from their peers. Their
designs for projects like Glassmanor
Housing and Capitol View Plaza were
marked by an overarching concern for
optimal livability, not just in square
footage and functionality but also in a
psychological sense. The firm’s modern
designs created large interior spaces and
amenities included community facilities
to allow for convenient health care, Chancery of Ghana, 3512 International Drive, NW
education and recreation. Photo from Google Maps, 2010

Brown traveled extensively during his career, giving lectures in such locations as Liberia and Ghana. He published
several scholarly articles in addition to co-authoring the 1955 book honoring R. Brognard Okie. He was a member

Brown, Leon Page 3 of 4

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and leader in many civic organizations and is remembered as a dedicated civic leader in the field of architecture. He
served as president of the Washington Metropolitan Chapter of the A.I.A (1954-55), President of the D.C. Board of
Examiners and Registrars of Architects (1967-69), Chairman of the Board of Appeals and Review, Licenses and
Inspection, D.C. Government (1956-60). He was elected to the A.I.A.’s College of Fellows in 1969.

Brown received the Washington Metropolitan Chapter AIA Centennial Award in 1991. When Sara P. O’Neil-
Manion, AIA, presented the award to Brown, she described him as “a person of unselfish, sterling character, with
creative, restless spirit; rejecting the status quo and reaching beyond the average, to influence others though the built
environment, as well as through example and experience.” These words were still fresh in the minds of many when
Leon Brown died in March 1992 of a heart ailment. He was 84 years old.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post, searched through Proquest; EHT Traceries architects files
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 3/23/1992 Page: C8
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
1956 67
American Architects Directory 1962 85
1970 110
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 34, 35, 36
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in America (not in Who’s Who in D.C. 23-24, 29-30,
1984-85/Vol. 1 418
38-39)
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Conroy, Sarah Booth. “The Id, the Ego…and the Superstructure.” Washington Post, November 24, 1991, F1.
Conroy, Sarah Booth. “Planning a ‘Spectacular, Distinctively Ghanaian Embassy.’” Washington Post, December 14,
1975, 129.
“House for Mr. and Mrs. Lionel C. Epstein.” Architectural Record. Vol. 119, No. 3 (March 1956).
Leon Brown, FAIA. Personal Resume, ca. 1980. Compiled in retirement. From AIA archives.
Leon Brown, Application for Fellowship. American Institute of Architects.
Senseman, Ronald S., Leon Brown, Edwin Bateman Morris, and Charles T. Okie. The Residential Architecture of
Richardson Brognard Okie of Philadelphia. 1955.
Notes: * Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include
permits until 1949. Leon Brown was active long after 1949, so his actual permit numbers are not reflected here.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Hugh A. Campbell
Biographical Data
Birth: 5/1870 Place: Maryland
Death: 3/10/1903 Place: Baltimore (vic.), MD
Family: Married Mary M. (Mamie) West in 1897 at North Presbyterian
Church, Washington, DC.
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1895 Latest Permit: 1902 Total Permits: 52 Total Buildings: 110
Practice Position Date
Hugh A. Campbell Architect 1894-1903

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA: n/a
Other Societies or Memberships: none known
Awards or Commissions: Architectural Award: 1901 Eckington Presbyterian Church, Washington, DC.
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, Apartments, Stores, Church Sunday School.

Styles and Forms: Queen Anne, Beaux Arts

DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, LeDroit Park, Sheridan-Kalorama, DuPont Circle, Mt. Pleasant, Massachusetts
Avenue, Greater U Street, 14th Street, 16th Street.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
1800 Connecticut Avenue NW,
NRHP DC Historic Site
Russia House 2031-2033 Florida Avenue NW, 1896
Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District
2101 S Street NW
Eckington Presbyterian Sunday
0 Q Street NE (not extant) 1895 NRHP DC Historic Site
School
Row Houses 27-55 U Street NW 1902 NRHP DC Historic Site
Row Houses & Apartment NRHP DC Historic Site
1900-1908 3rd Street NW 1902
Bldg. LeDroit Park Historic District

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Significance and Contributions

Hugh A. Campbell practiced architecture in Washington, D.C. from 1894 until his untimely death in 1903 at
the age of 33. During his short career, he primarily designed row houses, but his work included several
detached residences, a few apartment buildings, and one Sunday school.

Born in May 1870, Hugh Campbell was the fifth child of William and Susan Campbell. Campbell’s father,
William W. Campbell, was a Presbyterian minister, and the family moved frequently during Hugh’s
childhood. In 1894, at age 24, Hugh Campbell was living in Washington, D.C. and practicing architecture.
No information about his training or education has been located. In 1897, he married Mary M. West, who
was born in Maryland but moved to the District of Columbia before the age of six. Her father, William H.
West, was a brick mason, and may have worked with Campbell.

Early in his career, Campbell completed several jobs for Samuel J. Prescott, a local builder and developer,
and for J.H. Lane, another local architect and builder who was responsible for many of the original “villas”
in Eckington. By 1896, Campbell was purchasing properties and building single row houses or blocks of
row houses on spec. His affiliation with North Capitol Presbyterian Church led to work for Campbell. In
1895, he designed a Sunday school building for the Eckington church (no longer standing), and the
following year, he designed a dwelling at 1825 2nd Street NE for Irwin B. Linton (see photo), the Sunday
school superintendent.

Probably influenced by J.H. Lane, most of Campbell’s

frame buildings were free-standing Queen Anne-style
dwellings like the Linton House. Like many of his Queen
Anne dwellings, the Linton House incorporated multiple
projecting towers and bays, as well as a wraparound porch.
The Linton House was described in detail in the Washington
Post on July 26, 1896 (pg. 14); the newspaper article noted
the “beautifully designed stairway,” the interior archway
between the parlor and library, the wraparound porch, the
porte-cochere, the octagonal tower, and “ornamental
gables.”

Irwin B. Linton House, 1825 2nd Street NE; 1896The majority of Campbell’s documented work in
Washington, DC was row houses. He designed at least
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
one group of modest frame row houses (1901-1905 Capitol
Avenue NE) early in his career (1895), but most of his row houses were constructed of brick or brick and
stone. Common features include rectangular projecting bays, mansard roofs, triangular pediments at the
rooflines, towers capped by conical or pyramidal roofs, and the use of contrasting stone in window and door
surrounds. Extant examples of masonry row

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houses designed by Campbell include 1309-1319

South Carolina Avenue, SE (1895); 1900-1908 3rd
Street NW (LeDroit Park Historic District, 1902);
and 27-55 U Street NW (1902). The U Street
houses represent the largest block of row houses
designed by Campbell, and were associated with
the last building permit issued to him before he
died.

Built in 1896, the block of buildings at 1800

Connecticut Avenue, NW, 2031-2033 Florida
Avenue, NW, and 2101 S Street, NW are the most
well-known of Campbell’s D.C. buildings. Now
1900-1908 3rd Street NW; 1902 known as Russia House, the three, four-and-one-
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
half-story buildings stand in a U-shape at the
intersection of the three streets. The Beaux-Arts-
style, brick-and-stone buildings feature a rusticated
stone ground-level story, a flat roof, and a
prominent, modillioned-and-dentilled cornice. The
S Street and Connecticut Avenue buildings are
similar in design with turreted corners; oval
cartouches on the second and third stories; a
centered, round cartouche on the uppermost story;
and applied stone swags between the center
windows. The building at 1800 Connecticut
Avenue features steps up to the first story, arched
entrance with an arched window to its left, while
the 2101 S Street dwelling 27-55 U Street NW; 1902
features a rectangular, ground floor entrance with District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
an arched balcony door and arched window on the
first story. The five-bay dwelling at 2031-2033
Florida Avenue extends between and the end bays
step back to join the other two buildings. Each
story of the façade is architectural distinct. The
ground story contains two, plain, square entrances.
In the second and fourth bays, the first story
features paired, arched windows, the second story
features bay windows, and the third story features
Venetian windows. The uppermost story includes
a square cartouche, a round cartouche, and paired,
rectangular windows in the middle bays.

Building permit records indicate that Campbell

designed two apartment buildings; however, neither
is extant. The block of row houses that he built 1800 Connecticut Avenue NW and
and designed at 1900-1908 3rd Street NW in 2031-2033 Florida Avenue NW; 1896
LeDroit Park (1902) included one apartment Library of Congress Prints &Photographs Online Catalog
building, but from the exterior, it is

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indistinguishable from the adjacent dwellings.

In December 1902, Campbell became ill with what his obituary described as “nervous prostration.” In
February 1903, he visited Hot Springs, Virginia in hopes of regaining his health, but grew no better. He then
went to a sanitarium near Baltimore, Maryland, where he died on March 10. He is buried in Glenwood
Cemetery, in Washington, D.C.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article 1899
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 45
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Post 3/12/1903 Page 9
Other Sources:
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1900. District of Columbia.
Society of Architectural Historians. American Architectural Competitions. Compiled by Pam Scott. Available online at
www.sah.org.

Notes: The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project
phase; only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November, 2011

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 DC Architects Directory

Eimer Cappelmann
Biographical Data
Birth: 7/27/1901 Place: Charleston, SC
Death: 9/19/1965 Place: Washington, DC

Family: Married Mary Beverley Dudley in 1924; four children

Education
High School: Charleston, SC 1914-1915
College: Georgia Tech, 1920-1921
Graduate School:
Northern Virginia Sun, August 30, 1958; “Church
Apprenticeship: News,” page 2.

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 310 Date Issued: 6/16/1937
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1930 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 149 Total Buildings: 162
Practice Position Date
David L. Hyer (Charleston, SC) Draftsman 1918-1922
Herbert L. Cain (Richmond, VA) Designer 1922-1926
Eimer Cappelmann (Richmond, VA) Designer, draftsman, professional renderer 1926-1931
Eimer Cappelmann (Richmond, VA) Architect 1931-1934
Cappelman (Washington, DC) Architect 1934-1938
Cappellman & Hallett (Washington, DC) Architect 1935-1937
Eimer Cappelmann (Richmond, VA) Architect 1938-1949
Eimer Cappelmann (Arlington, VA) Architect 1949-1960
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA: n/a
Other Societies or Memberships: Grace Lutheran Church, Washington, DC; President of Congregation, 1952-53.
Awards or Commissions: n/a
Buildings
Building Types: Churches, dwellings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Gothic Revival
DC Work Locations: Palisades, Spring Valley, Wesley Heights, Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase, Shepherd Park.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
211 Ampthill Rd, Richmond,
Reconstruction, Ampthill 1929-1932 NRHP DC Historic Site
VA
Williamsburg Presbyterian Richmond Road, Williamsburg,
1930 NRHP DC Historic Site
Church VA

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Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Dwelling 1860 Redwood Terrace NW 1930 NRHP DC Historic Site

1st Baptist Church Arlington, VA 1951 NRHP DC Historic Site
Mount Olivet Methodist
Arlington, VA 1952 NRHP DC Historic Site
Church
Significance and Contributions
Born in Charleston, S.C. on 27 July 1901, Eimer Cappelmann attended high school there from 1914-1915.
Cappelmann worked as a draftsman for David L. Hyer in Charleston from 1918 to 1921, then he took a year of special
courses in designing, architectural history, and building construction from Georgia Tech. In 1922, Cappelmann
moved to Richmond, Virginia to work as a designer for Herbert L. Cain. In 1924, Cappelmann left Cain and set up
his own office in Richmond to perform drafting, designing, and delineating.

In the second half of the 1920s, Cappelmann designed several two-story, brick, mostly Colonial-Revival style houses in
Richmond. In 1926, he designed a two-bay, two-story, frame house as a model house for Better Homes in America at
2908 Northumberland Avenue in Richmond. His first large commission appears to be the 1929 relocation and
restoration of the Georgian house, Ampthill, from its James River location to 211 Ampthill Road in Richmond and its
restoration which was completed in 1932.

In June 1930, Cappelmann passed the State Board for the Examination and Certification of Professional Engineers,
Architects and Land Surveyors’ written examination to become certified as an architect in Virginia. In 1930-1931, his
work took him to Williamsburg where he designed the Presbyterian Church on Richmond Road, the Theta Delta Chi
Fraternity house, and a private residence. He continued to design residences in Richmond through the early 1930s,
and designed a residence and farm buildings for a location near Queenstown, Maryland and one in Loudoun County,
Virginia. In the 1930s, Ned Farrar of Warrenton, Virginia commissioned Cappelmann to design his house; the
resulting two-story, frame Farrar-Gray House is
Colonial Revival with a hipped roof and central
chimney.

In March 1930, the D.C. Board of Examiners and

Registrars of Architects became aware of several sets of
building plans in D.C. that Cappelmann prepared as an
architect; it notified him of the requirement to apply to
the Board for registration as an architect in D.C. In
May 1937, Eimer Cappelmann wrote to the Board,
apologizing for his belatedness in sending in the
application and pleading the financial necessity of
making a living for his family as an excuse. In June, the
Board approved his application based on the reciprocal
transfer of his registration as an architect in Virginia.
Farrar-Gray House, Warrenton, VA. 1930s
A Pride of Place, page 194.
In 1930, Eimer Cappelmann was issued his first permit
in Washington, D.C. for a substantial dwelling to be
constructed at 1860 Redwood Terrace NW, which was located north of the Shepherd Park neighborhood. Its eclectic
mix of Tudor-Revival and French-Eclectic style elements is unusual for his body of work in D.C. Most of the
residences designed by Cappelmann were Colonial Revival in style with varying degrees of formality. Some combine
Colonial Revival elements with other styles such as Tudor Revival. In addition, most of the houses he built were two-
story, brick dwellings three to five bays in width. The estimated construction cost for the dwellings generally ranged
between $10,000 and $20,000, but a number of buildings exceeded that. Particularly in the 1930s, the higher costs
represented significant investments by their owners.

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Most of Cappelmann’s work which included 162

buildings (149 permits) built in D.C. between 1930 and
1949 consisted of single dwellings designed for their
owners. Most stand northwest D.C. between Rock
Creek Park and the Potomac River in neighborhoods
such as the Palisades, Spring Valley, Wesley Heights,
Cleveland Park, and Chevy Chase. A few were located
in Shepherd Park, east of Rock Creek Park, as well.
Thirty-one of Cappelmann’s projects were constructed
by the firm of Korzendorfer & Brooks, which
occasionally owned the property and built on
speculation. Cappelmann also worked with builders
O.T. & W.A. Carr, Inc., Wesmond Building & 1860 Redwood Terrace NW, 1930
Investment Co., and Muhleman & Kayhoe on the same District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004
basis.

In 1934, Eimer Cappelmann moved to Washington, D.C. and established his office at 1644 Connecticut Avenue NW.
In 1936, his office relocated to 1147 Connecticut Avenue NW near Dupont Circle. From 1935 to 1937, Eimer
Cappelmann also worked with architect Marcus Hallett on seven projects (See entry for Marcus Hallett). Hallett was a
Richmond-based architect who Cappelmann may have known prior to Hallett’s moving his practice to Washington,
D.C. in 1926. During the late 1930s, Cappelmann also worked in surrounding areas such as Montgomery County,
Maryland where he designed projects such as the “Wishmaker’s House” model in the Indian Spring Village planned
residential development. According to a 1940 advertisement, the model combined “the beauty of Traditional Colonial
Architecture with the modern appointments so necessary in today’s higher standard of living.”

During World War II, Eimer Cappelmann worked as a civilian employee for the U.S. Navy at Solomon’s Island,
Maryland. No building permits were issued under his name during this period.

By 1945, Cappelmann’s office had moved to Arlington,

Virginia. In March 1945, Cappelmann applied for a
permit to construct a church at 3200 S Street SE. The
one-story, stone-faced church is Gothic Revival in style.
Cappelmann would go on to design more than 150
churches in the Washington area during the remainder
of his career. In 1949, Cappelmann designed the brick
church at 1600 Taylor Street NE in the Colonial Revival
style that he would repeat at the Fairlington
Presbyterian Church and First Baptist Church, both
constructed in 1954 in Alexandria, Virginia. In the
1950s, Cappelmann also designed the First Baptist
Church in Arlington, Virginia, Mount Olivet Methodist
Church in Arlington, and the Education Building for 1600 Taylor Street NE, 1949
District of Columbia Office of Planning 2004
the Leesburg Presbyterian Church in Leesburg, Virginia.
In 1963, Cappelmann contracted to design the
Manassas Baptist Church in Manassas, Virginia, but his death in September 1965 forced the church to contract with
another architectural firm.
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: DCPropertyQuest.com; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division; The Washington
Post (1877-1990); ProQuest Historical Newspapers; Ancestry.com.

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Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page

American Architects Directory 1956 82
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 13
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Publication: Washington Post Date: 9/21/1965 Page: n/a
Obituary
Washington Star 9/20/1965 n/a
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Eimer Cappelmann Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Eimer Cappelmann correspondence with the Board.
District of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Indian Spring Village, Montgomery County, Maryland; MIHP Form; Maryland Historical Trust website.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910. Charleston, SC.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. Richmond, VA.
Wells, John E. and Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955. Richmond, VA: New South Architectural
Press, 1997.
Williams, Kimberly Prothro. A Pride of Place. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2003.
Notes:
Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include permits until
1949. Eimer Cappelmann was active as an architect after 1949, so his actual permit numbers are not reflected here.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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Josephine Wright Chapman

Biographical Data
Birth: 8/20/1867 Place: Fitchburg, Ma.
Death: 1943 Place: Bath, England
Family:
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Source: Wolfe, Kevin. “Josephine Wright
Apprenticeship: Clarence H. Blackall, Boston, Ma. (1892-1897) Chapman.” Metropolis Magazine. July/August,
1992, Vol. 12, No. 1, pg. 19.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1901 Latest Permit: 1925 Total Permits: 3 Total Buildings: 3
Practice Position Date
Josephine Wright Chapman, Boston Architect 1897 – 1906
Josephine Wright Chapman, New York Architect 1907 - c. 1930
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: New York Society of Architects
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings, residences, churches, women’s clubs, public buildings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Arts and Crafts, English Revival, Shingle Style, Gothic Revival, Georgian
Revival, Classical Revival, Beaux Arts siting and layout, Italian Renaissance Rural Villa
Work Locations: Georgetown; Douglas Manor, Queens, New York; Boston, Ma.; Cambridge, Ma.; Leominster, Ma.;
Worcester, Ma.; Lynn, Ma.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status

Hillandale mansion and 3905 Mansion Court, N.W.; NRHP DC Historic Site
1922-25
gatehouse 3905 Reservoir Road, N.W. Georgetown HD
Craigie Arms (Chapman Arms)
Apartment Building for Cambridge, Ma. 1897-98 NRHP Historic Site
Harvard University
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Leominster, Ma. 1900 NRHP MA Historic Site
Boston Women’s Club Boston, Ma. 1899 NRHP MA Historic Site

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Worcester Women’s Club NRHP MRA NRHP

Worcester, Ma. 1902
(now Tuckerman Hall) Institutional District
New England Building, Pan NRHP NY Historic Site
Buffalo, New York c. 1901
American Exposition No longer extant
Kenmore Road, Douglas NRHP NY Historic Site
Residence for Alice Foster c. 1908
Manor, Queens, New York Douglastown HD

Lynn Women’s Club Lynn, Ma. 1909 NRHP Diamond District

Grosvenor Avenue, Douglas NRHP NY Historic Site

Residences for Alice Foster c. 1916
Manor, Queens, New York Douglastown HD

Hillcrest Avenue, Douglas NRHP NY Historic Site

Residence for Daniel Combs 1917
Manor, Queens, New York Douglastown HD

Significance and Contributions

Josephine Wright Chapman (1867-1943) was a distinguished and important early American woman architect. Her
success in the architectural community at the turn of the century was not only a milestone for women in architecture,
but a major contribution to the women's movement throughout the United States. Chapman pursued and successfully
established a career in architecture at a time when it was very difficult for a woman architect to be accepted or to gain
formal academic training in the field.

Little is known of Chapman's early life or education. She was born in 1867 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts to James L.
Chapman and his wife, the daughter of Isaac C. Wright. Chapman’s father was a partner in the Fitchburg Machine
Works. Chapman gained her architectural training during the years 1892 through 1897 as a draftswoman for the
noted Boston architect Clarence H. Blackall. Her family opposed her pursuit of a career in architecture and refused to
lend her moral or financial support, forcing her to pawn her jewelry to obtain the money needed to set out on her
own. Determined to become a successful architect, she dedicated many hours and all her efforts to gain the
experience necessary to establish her own practice. By 1898, Chapman was listed in the Boston City Directory as an
architect, with studios first located at the Grundmann Studios, a women artists’ collective, at 194 Clarendon Street and
later at 9 Park Street in Boston.
Chapman practiced at a time when Boston was at the
forefront of architectural development in the United
States. H.H. Richardson's Trinity Church on Copley
Square was widely considered by the public to be the most
beautiful building in America. Within this inspiring
environment Josephine Chapman established her small but
successful architectural practice. Her most important
commission resulted from a competition for the New
England Building at the Pan-American Exposition held in
Buffalo, New York, in 1901. Having read of the contest in
New England Building, Pan American Exposition, the Boston papers, and fearing that her modest reputation
Buffalo, New York, 1901 would not warrant a request to submit a design, she
100 Views of the Pan American Exposition, The Libraries approached the six governors on the evening before the
University of Buffalo competition was to begin. Making an appointment to
meet them the next morning, she was able to surmise from
their short acquaintance that they did not have any set guidelines or expectations other than that of the Exposition
which called for the novel use of a color scheme "rainbow" on all the structures. The next morning she presented the

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committee with specific plans for her design. The Governors were so impressed with her presentation and plan that
they decided that she should have the job.

After the commission for the New England Building at the Pan
American Exposition Ms. Chapman received numerous
commissions for churches, clubs, libraries and apartments. From
1897 to 1905, she designed as an independent practitioner several
notable buildings that establish her as one of the earliest successful
women architects in New England. Ms. Chapman's work in
Massachusetts includes the Craigie Arms (1897), built as a private
dormitory for Harvard students, the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in
Leominster, Massachusetts (1900), and three women's clubs in
Massachusetts: Boston (1899), Worcester (1902), and Lynn (1909).

In 1905, Chapman altered the course of her practice and accepted Worcester Women’s Club, Worcester, Ma.,
commissions only for houses. Her ensuing designs are reported as 1902
Massachusetts Cultural Resources Information System
being a mix of architectural styles, including English Revival, Arts
(MACRIS), 1980
and Crafts, Classical Revival, and Italian Renaissance villa style. In
1907, when the Boston architectural community experienced extremely hard times, Ms. Chapman moved to New
York where she worked successfully for the next eighteen years.

In New York, Chapman designed seven houses and one garage for
the garden suburb of Douglas Manor in Queens, New York.
Founded in 1909, the upper-middle-class development was planned
to incorporate cooperative ownership of the mile-long peninsula that
comprised Douglas Manor, a unique and radical idea at the time.
Chapman’s designs for the community include an eclectic mix of
architectural styles of the early twentieth century, including Queen
Anne, and Tudor and Colonial Revival, and is the largest collection
of her work anywhere.

Residence on Ridge Road, Douglas Manor, While still living in New York, Chapman was awarded the
Queens, New York, 1912 commission to design the mansion of Hillandale (1922-1925) in
Wolfe, Kevin. “Josephine Wright Chapman.” Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Constructed for heiress Anne
Metropolis Magazine. July/August, 1992, Vol. 12, Archbold, one of Washington’s most distinguished residents, the
No. 1, pg. 18.
building, a carefully conceived representation of a Tuscan villa in the
Italian Renaissance style, sits majestically atop a hill that was originally surrounded by over 70 acres of wooded forests,
landscaped grounds, and open meadows. The design for the
main house illustrates Chapman’s skill in composition and
stylistic knowledge, as well as fine craftsmanship. This
commission was quite substantial and one which offered her
exposure in a new city.

Little information is available on Chapman’s later career and

commissions, but it was clear that she was a successful,
ambitious and talented architect. Chapman was a member of
the New York Society of Architects, an association founded
by architects of Jewish and Italian descent, having been
refused admittance, presumably for being a woman, to the
American Institute of Architects and the Boston Architecture Hillandale, Washington, D.C., 1922-25
Club. Chapman died in 1943. EHT Traceries, Inc., 2003

Chapman, Josephine Wright Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
The New York Times (1851-2006). Proquest Historic Newspapers; Massachusetts Cultural
Other Repositories:
Resources Information System (MACRIS)
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:

Allaback, Sarah. The First American Women Architects. University of Illinois Press., 2008, s.v. Josephine Wright Chapman.
Byrtus, Nancy, Candace Jenkins and Paul Levenson. “Josephine Wright Chapman and Tuckerman Hall.”] Central
Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, 2002. www.tuckermanhall.com/monograph/monograph.html.
EHT Traceries, Inc. Vertical Files.
Knowlton, Elliot, ed. Worcester’s Best: A Guide to the City’s Architectural Heritage. Worcester, Ma.: Worcester Heritage
Preservation Society, 1984, pg. 78.
Massachusetts Committee for the Preservation of Architectural Records. Directory of Boston Architects, 1846-1970.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984.
National Register Nomination for Craigie Arms, Cambridge, Massachusetss. June 4, 1986. From the Cambridge
Historical Commission.
Traceries. Hillandale D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board Application for Historic Landmark.
Washington, DC: Friends of Historic Preservation, Inc, 1990.
Wolfe, Kevin. “Josephine Wright Chapman.” Metropolis Magazine. July/August, 1992, Vol. 12, No. 1, pgs. 17-22.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Chapman, Josephine Wright Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Leon Chatelain, Jr.

Biographical Data
Birth: 3/8/1902 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 5/6/1979 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Married Mary Wysong 1953, one daughter, two sons
Education
High School: McKinley Manual Training School, Washington, D.C.
College: George Washington U. night classes in architecture (1920-
1926).
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Leon Chatelain III, Chatelain Architects, P.C.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 262 Date Issued: 12/18/1933
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1925 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 105 Total Buildings: 484
Practice Position Date
Philip M. Jullien Draftsman 1920-1923
Arthur B. Heaton Draftsman 1923-1926
Waddy Wood Draftsman 1927-1930
Leon Chatelain Jr. Architect 1930-1956
Chatelain, Gauger & Nolan Partner/Architect 1956-1960
Chatelain, Samperton & Nolan Partner/Architect 1960-1974
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1930 Fellow of the AIA: 1953
Other Societies or Memberships: A.I.A. president, 1956-1958; Metropolitan Chapter, A.I.A., president, 1940, 1941;
Washington Building Congress, president, 1945; Washington Board of Trade, president, 1948.
Awards or Commissions: , French Superior Council Gold Medal, 1957, F. Stuart Fitzpatrick Memorial Award, 1966,
Washington Board of Trade Man of the Year, 1962, and eight awards for Excellence in Architecture.
Buildings
Building Types: Residential, office buildings, churches, institutional buildings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Stripped Classicism
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Northeast, Northwest
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Westmoreland Congregational Ch. Westmoreland Circle 1948-1955 NRHP DC Historic Site
Equitable Life Insurance Co. 3900 Wisconsin Avenue, NW 1957 NRHP DC Historic Site
Associated General Contractors of
20th and E Streets, NW 1958 NRHP DC Historic Site
America
Woodridge Branch Library 1801 Rhode Island Ave., NE 1955 NRHP DC Historic Site

Chatelain, Leon, Jr. Page 1 of 4

 DC Architects Directory
Significance and Contributions

Leon Chatelain, Jr., (1902-1979) was an award-winning architect and leader in the profession who served as president
of the American Institute of Architects. Over the course of his career, Chatelain designed a wide variety of buildings
ranging from residences and churches to office buildings.

Chatelain was born in Washington, D.C., and educated in public schools, graduating from McKinley Manual Training
School (later known as McKinley Technical High School). He attended night classes at George Washington
University from 1920 to 1926 while working as a draftsman for Philip M. Jullien and Arthur B. Heaton. He then
became a draftsman for Waddy B. Wood. In 1930 he went into private practice under the firm name Leon Chatelain,
Jr. Wood, who was not able to pay him in the depths of the Depression, gave Chatelain a telephone company project
to help him get started on his own, according to Chatelain's son, Leon Chatelain III. Much of Chatelain's early work
both before and after World War II was residential design for both individual clients and developers. He designed
numerous single family dwellings for Howard Homes, many of which were constructed in Northeast Washington. In
1936 he was one of the local Washington architects who formed the Architects Small Home Service under the
auspices of the Perpetual Building Association to produce plans for small, affordable houses available to the
Association’s members for a small fee. During the war he designed buildings for the U.S. Navy. Chatelain's residential
designs were always in traditional styles, most often Colonial Revival.

Chatelain's major works in the twenty-five years of his individual practice (1930-1956) include the Westmoreland
Congregational Church (1948-55); the Washington Gas Light Company headquarters (1945 and 1948); and the
McDonough Gymnasium (1952) at Georgetown University. Chatelain developed a long-standing relationship with
the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, which provided telephone service to Washington, D.C.,
designing its headquarters building in 1948 and various other structures in subsequent years including a 1964
telephone building.

When Chatelain was about to assume the presidency of the A.I.A. in 1956 and knew that he would have less time to
devote to his practice, he formed the partnership of Chatelain, Gauger & Nolan. The firm, with partners Earl V.
Gauger and mechanical engineer James A. Nolan, became known for its institutional buildings, especially those for
Georgetown University, and commercial office buildings. The firm also worked on several churches and facilities for
the armed services. Major projects included the Equitable Life Insurance Company (subsequently FNMA
Headquarters, 1957), the national headquarters of the Associated General Contractors of America (1958), the
International Monetary Fund Bank Buildings (1960-61), the Retail Clerks International Association (Suffridge
Building, 1969), and the Group Hospital Insurance Headquarters (1969).

Chatelain's work in his early years reflects the influence of Heaton and Wood, both masters of traditional styles. His
later office buildings exhibit the features of the Stripped Classicism style. Chatelain's son described his father as
probably most comfortable with the Colonial Revival style but said that he did not have a signature style. He was
open to new ideas and influenced by what he read and what he saw in his travels. He worked closely with his
designers and his buildings were the products of teamwork and exploration, his son said.

Chatelain’s buildings received numerous local, national, and international awards, including eight from the
Washington Board of Trade for Excellence in Architecture. Chatelain was also a pioneer in the movement to make
buildings accessible to the handicapped and helped establish the first approved design standards for constructing
barrier-free buildings. He lobbied extensively for the adoption of American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
accessibility standards, working with the Easter Seals organization.

In 1970, after Gauger retired from the firm, Chatelain merged the firm with another Washington architectural firm
under a new name. The new partnership, called Chatelain, Samperton & Nolan, specialized in institutional designs,
such as banks, churches, hospitals, and office buildings. Chatelain retired in 1974 and died in 1979. His firm, known
as Chatelain Architects, P.C., headed by Chatelain’s son Leon Chatelain III, and still in operation in 2010, eighty years
after its founding, is probably the oldest Washington, D.C., architectural firm continuously in business in the District
of Columbia.
Chatelain, Leon, Jr. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Chatelain was president of the American Institute of Architects from 1956 to 1958, president of the Washington
Metropolitan Chapter of the A.I.A. (1940-1941) and a founder and president of the Washington Building Congress.
President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Chatelain chairman of the National Commission on Architectural Barriers
to the Handicapped in 1966. Its recommendations led to the enactment of the 1968 architectural barriers law. He was
also a member of the President’s Committee for Employment of the Handicapped. In addition, Chatelain was active
in business and civic affairs in the community, serving as president of the Washington Board of Trade, the
Washington Kiwanis Club, the Metropolitan Police Boys Club, and the D.C. Society for Crippled Children.
Chatelain conducted numerous charitable campaigns in Washington and served on the board of directors of the
YMCA. Chatelain was also a member of the Capitol Hill Circus Saints and Sinners, and Congressional Country and
Cosmos clubs, as well as a Mason and member of the Almas Shrine.

Westmoreland Congregational Church Kiplinger (Editors’) Building Washington Gas Light Co., Perspective
Library of Congress LC-H814-2576-012 Library of Congress LC-H814-T-2638-003 Library of Congress, LC-H814- 2501-001

Chatelain, Leon, Jr. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: May 8, 1979 Page: C6
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
1956 91
American Architects Directory 1962 114
1970 151
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 3 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“AIA Names Chatelain as New President,” The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., May 20, 1956G4.
Arthur B. Heaton Architectural Drawing Archive, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Contains
drawings by Leon Chatelain Jr.
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Chatelain, Jr., Leon, "Architecture Of New Styles Meeting Favor," The Washington Post, 21 April 1935.
"Chatelain New President of Architects," Washington Post, May 20, 1956; D16
EHT Traceries, Inc., “Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church,” Report, July 2005.
EHT Traceries, Inc., “Embassy of the Republic of South Africa,” Report, December 2008
D.C. Public Library, “Woodridge Public Library, History.”http://www.dclibrary.org/node/744. Accessed 5/10/2010.
Leon Chatelain III telephone interview with EHT Traceries, Inc. October 19, 2010
Notes:

Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Chatelain, Leon, Jr. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Appleton Prentiss Clark, Jr.

Biographical Data
Birth: 11/13/1865 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 3/25/1955 Place: St. Petersburg, FL
Education
High School: Central High School (DC) - 1883
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: A. B. Mullet and Co. Source: Washington Past and Present
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 4 Date Issued: 4/13/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1886 Latest Permit: 1939 Total Permits: 386 Total Buildings: 961
Practice Position Date
A. B. Mullet and Co. Draftsman 1883-1885
Private Practice Architect 1886-1948?
Commissions: Architect for the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date Enrolled: 1916 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Board of Trade (Municipal Art and Architecture Committees) and
the Chamber of Commerce; Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Washington Hotel Company.
Awards and Prizes:
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment Houses, Commercial Buildings, Schools, Churches, Residences
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival, Late Victorian Styles, Renaissance Revival, Tudor Gothic Revival
DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, Georgetown, Logan Circle, Sheridan-Kalorama, Shaw, 16th Street
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
St. Phillip’s Baptist Church 1001 N. Capitol Street, NE 1891-92 NRHP DC Historic Site
Second Baptist Church 816 3rd Street, NW 1894-1901 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Owl’s Nest 3031 Gates Road, NW 1897 NRHP DC Historic Site
Victor Building 724-726 9th St., NW 1909 NRHP DC Historic Site
Homer Building 601 13th Street, NW 1913-1914 NRHP DC Historic Site
Denrike Building 1014 Vermont Avenue, NW 1925-1926 Designation Pending
Second National Bank 1331-1333 G St., NW 1927-1928 NRHP DC Historic Site

Clark, Appleton P. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Appleton P. Clark, Jr., was born in Washington in 1865 and

graduated from Central High School in 1883. He had no formal
architectural training beyond a course in high school. He made a
tour of Europe, studying different styles of architecture, and
served an apprenticeship under Alfred B. Mullett in the mid-1880s
before launching his own architectural practice at the age of
twenty in 1886.

Clark’s commissions included a wide range of building types:

office buildings, banks, churches, schools, theaters, apartment
buildings, and private residences. Among these are Foundry
Methodist Church (1903-04), the Washington Post Building
(1893; demolished 1954), the Jewish Community Center, 1424
16th Street (1910), additions to Riggs National Bank at 15th Street
and Pennsylvania Avenue, the Willard Office building (1902,
demolished 1964), and the Homer (1913) and Victor (1909) 1424 16th Street, NW (1917)
buildings. The 27 apartment houses he designed include the Goode, Best Addresses, p. 169
Presidential Apartments (1922), the Roosevelt Hotel (1919) and apartments for the Washington Sanitary Housing
Company. Large private residences designed by Clark include the Owl’s Nest, located at 3031 Gates Road, N.W.,
(1897), a Georgian Revival mansion at 2300 S Street, NW (Thomas M. Gales House, 1902) and a Craftsman style
house built at 1609 16th Street, NW, for H. Cornell Wilson in 1911. At least seven of Clark’s buildings have been
individually designated as District of Columbia Landmarks. In addition, approximately 30 buildings known to have
been designed by Clark are included in historic districts in the District of Columbia.

Clark served as the President of the Washington Chapter of the A.I.A in 1919. As president, he initiated the effort to
obtain a registration law for Washington architects. He was a real estate investor and a director of a number of local
business enterprises including the Washington Hotel Company, the Equitable Life Insurance Company, Citizen's
Savings Bank, and the Washington Sanitary Housing Company. Clark was active in the Chamber of Commerce and
the Board of Trade, and was often called upon to oversee matters of design and architecture. His publications include
The History of Architecture in Washington, and important and influential writings on institutional homes for children.
Through his architectural accomplishments and endeavors throughout the city, Clark became one of Washington's
most influential architects.

Although much of Clark’s later work is in Classical Revival

style, his early work, which includes the Washington Post
Building, houses on Capitol Hill and the Owl’s Nest,
provides examples of popular late Victorian styles inspired
by medieval and Jacobean prototypes. Clark held a
particular interest in the design of public schools. He
designed five schools for the District of Columbia,
including the Eckington (1897), Petworth (1901), Langston
(1901), Wheatley (1902-1903) and Eaton Schools (1909).
Because of Clark’s interest in public school construction he
was appointed by the District Commissioners, in 1909, to
chair a volunteer committee of architects and builders to
investigate conditions affecting the safety of children in
public schools. Clark died in 1955 at his winter home in St.
Homer Building, 601 13th Street, NW Petersburg, Florida. In his obituary, the Washington Post
Photo from Google Maps, 2010 deemed Appleton P. Clark the “Dean of Architects.”

Clark, Appleton P. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

The Presidential, 1026 16th St., NW (1922) The Presidential, stone portico
Goode, Best Addresses, p. 218 Goode, Best Addresses, p. 219

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, HABS/HAER Collection
Obituary Publication: Washington Post & Evening Star Date: 03/27/1955 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 10 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 50
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital 1923-1924 83
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 88-89
Other Sources:

Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Clark, Appleton P. “History of Architecture in Washington.” In Washington Past and Present: A History, edited by John
Claggett Proctor. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. Inc., 1930.
EHT Traceries. Heurich Mansion Amendment to the Historic Landmark Application. Washington, D.C.: Historic
Preservation Review Board, 2002.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Clark, Appleton P. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Adolf Cluss
Biographical Data
Birth: 7/14/1825 Place: Heilbronn, Germany
Death: 7/24/1905 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Wife Rosa; Sons Adolph, Carl, Richard, Robert; Daughters
Flora Lathrop, Anita, Lillian Daw
Education
Grade/High School: Heilbronn (1831-44)
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: William S. Shacklette, from Adolf-Cluss.org
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1872 Latest Permit: 1887 Total Permits: 31 Total Buildings: 52
Practice Position Date
Cluss and von Kammerhueber Principal c. 1863-1868
Cluss and Daniel Principal 1877-1878
Cluss and Schulze Principal 1879-1889
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1868 Fellow of the AIA: 1868
Other Societies or Memberships: Secretary of the Workers’ Council, Mainz, Germany; Society of Freemasons; D.C.
Board of Public Works
Awards or Commissions: Medal for Progress in School Architecture, World’s Exposition, Vienna (1873); Gold
medal for Progress in School Architecture, International Exhibition, Philadelphia (1876); Gold medal, Force School
plan, World Exposition, Paris (1878)
Buildings
Building Types: Government buildings, museums, churches, schools, markets
Styles and Forms: Renaissance Revival, Rundbogenstil/Romanesque Revival, Second Empire
DC Work Locations: National Mall, Dupont Circle, Downtown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Calvary Baptist Church 777 Eighth Street, NW 1864-1865 NRHP DC Historic Site
Smithsonian Castle Jefferson Drive between 9th &
c. 1865 NRHP DC Historic Site
reconstruction 12th Streets, NW
Benjamin Franklin School 925 13th Street, NW 1865-1869 NRHP DC Historic Site
Old Masonic Temple 901 F Street, NW 1868-1870 NRHP DC Historic Site
Charles Sumner School 17th & M Streets, NW 1871-1872 NRHP DC Historic Site
Eastern Market Seventh and C Streets, SE 1872-1873 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Old Patent Office Between F and G Streets and

1877-1878 NRHP DC Historic Site
reconstruction Seventh and Ninth Streets, NW
Arts and Industries Building 900 Jefferson Drive, SW 1879-1881 NRHP DC Historic Site
Army Medical Museum and Independence Avenue
1886 NRHP DC Historic Site
Library (demolished) and 7th Street, SW

Significance and Contributions

Adolf (also spelled Adolph) Cluss was one of the most successful architects in Washington, D.C., during the Civil War
and Reconstruction period. Cluss, born in Heilbronn, Germany in 1825, was an architect and engineer. The son and
grandson of architects, he left Heilbronn, after receiving his early education, to work as a traveling carpenter. In
Brussels, he met Karl Marx and joined the early Communist movement. He also traveled to Paris and Mainz,
Germany, where he began work as an architect in 1846. In Mainz, he worked as assistant engineer on the railroad
from Mainz to Ludwigshafen in the Rhine Valley. In the spring of 1848, Cluss became a central figure in the German
revolutionary movement as a co-founder and Secretary of the Workers’ Council. After the failed revolution of 1848,
Cluss sought refuge in the United States—he arrived in New York on September 15, 1848. In the U.S., Cluss
continued his revolutionary work, acting as a liaison between Marx in London and the exiled members of the
revolution of 1848 in the United States. By 1858, however, he had terminated his association with Marx and Friedrich
Engels.

After immigrating to New York, Cluss soon moved to Washington, D.C. He worked initially for the U.S. Coast and
Geodetic Survey, and then in the Office of Supervising Architect of the Treasury. Cluss became an American citizen
in 1855 and married Rosa Schmidt of Bavaria in 1859. At the onset of the Civil War in 1861, Cluss accepted a position
from his friend Admiral John Dahlgren in the Ordnance Office at the Navy Yard, testing weapons and inventions.
Cluss formed a partnership in the early 1860s with Joseph Wildrich von Kammerheuber, with whom he won the
competition for the Wallach public school (7th and Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, 1864; demolished). The Wallach school
commission ignited Cluss’s passion for public school design in Washington, which he would go on to pioneer. Cluss
designed the Franklin School in 1864-65 at the end of the Civil War, erected from 1865-69. The Wallach and Franklin
schools became prototypes for school designs and won medals at various expositions, including the 1873
International Exhibition in Vienna (for progress in education and architecture), the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia,
and the International Exposition in Paris in 1878. Of the seven District schools designed by Cluss, only Sumner and
Franklin survive.

From 1862 to 1867, Cluss also served as head of the municipal office of Washington, D.C., designing public buildings
erected by the government and implementing much-needed renovation of utilities such as covered vaults and sewage
and drainage systems. He was a member of the District’s Board of Public Works in the early 1870s and thus was
involved in street grading and paving, installation of sewers, tree-planting, and other improvements to the city’s
infrastructure. These improvements stimulated real estate investment and dramatically improved the appearance of
the city.

Cluss was asked to remodel the Smithsonian building (now the Castle) after a fire in January, 1865. The Smithsonian
Institution retained Cluss as architect and, with his partner Paul Schulze, he designed the National Museum (now the
Arts and Industries Building) at 900 Jefferson Drive, SW (1879-1881). Cluss designed the Calvary Baptist Church at
777 Eighth Street, NW (1864-65), the Masonic Temple at 910 F Street, NW (1868-70), the Central Market on B Street
(now Constitution Avenue) between Seventh and Ninth Streets, NW (1871-72; demolished), and the Eastern Market
at Seventh and C Streets, SE (1872-73). The residential buildings he designed in downtown Washington have all been
demolished. From 1890-1895, Cluss served as inspector of public buildings of the United States.

From before 1867 until 1894 he lived with his wife, Rosa, and children, born in the United States, on 2nd Street N.W.
near D Street. Cluss died in Washington, D.C., on July 24, 1905; he was eighty years old.

Cluss, Adolf Page 2 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Calvary Baptist Church, 777 Eighth Charles Sumner School, 17th & M Streets, Shepherd’s Row, K Street and
Street, NW, 1860s. NW, c. 1890. Connecticut Ave., NW.
Lessoff p. 78, from Calvary Baptist Church. DC Public Library. Demolished.www.Adolf-Cluss.org

National Museum (now Arts and

Eastern Market, Seventh and C Streets, Wallach School, 7th and D Streets, SE,
Industries Building), c. 1883.
SE, 1914. 1870s. Lessoff p. 78, from Charles Sumner
900 Jefferson Drive, SW,
www. Adolf-Cluss.org. School Museum and Archives. Smithsonian Institution Archives

Center Market, Between B Street (now

Constitution Ave) and 7th Street, NW, Franklin School, 925 13th Street, NW, Old Masonic Temple, 901 F Street, NW,
1920. Lessoff p. 161, from National Archives HABS DC-289-3, 1969 EHT Traceries, Inc., 2007
RG 83-G.

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 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Adolf-Cluss.org, a joint project of the Stadtarchiv Heilbronn, the Charles Sumner School
Museum and Archives (D.C.), the German Historical Institute (D.C.), the Goethe-Institut
Other Repositories:
(D.C.), the Historical Society/City Museum (D.C.), the Smithsonian Institution (D.C.), and
the D.C. City Council
Publication: Washington Post Date: 7/25/1905 Page: 2
Obituary:
AIA Proceedings Vol. 39 1905 255-56
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 15 articles
National Cyclopedia of American Biography 4 507
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 54-55
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 128
Other Sources:
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Beauchamp, Tanya Edwards. “Adolph Cluss: An Architect in Washington during Civil War and Reconstruction.”
Records of the Columbia Historical Society, 48 (1971-72), 338-358.
Lessoff, Alan and Christof Mauch. Adolf Cluss, Architect: From Germany to America. Washington, D.C.: Historical Society
of Washington, D.C., 2005.
Wermiel, Sara E, “Adolf Cluss: From Germany to America,” Technology and Culture 47 (2006): 570-577.

Additional references provided by the Goethe Institut:

McLellan, Diana. "Cluss: Forgotten Genius,"Washington Star, April 7, 1975, pp. D1-D2
Shribman, David. "The Marxist Who Left His Mark on the Capital," The New York Times, February 18, 1984, p. 9
Skranstad, Harold K. "The Engineer as Architect in Washington: The Contribution of Montgomery Meigs," Records of
the Columbia Historical Society(1969-1970), p. 269.
A bibliography of newspaper articles attributed to Adolf Cluss can be found in Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels, Works, (English), New York: International Publishers, 1983, vol. 39, pp. 725-6.
Notes: The permits listed here include those issued to Cluss individually and in partnerships.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Cluss, Adolf Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Henry Ives Cobb

Biographical Data
Birth: 8/19/1859 Place: Brookline, Mass.
Death: 3/27/1931 Place: New York
Family: Father, Albert Adams; mother, Mary Russell Candler; wife,
Emma S.; six sons and a daughter
Education
High School:
College: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S. from Harvard,
1881
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Pencil Points, for May, 1931, p. 386
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
DC Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1896 Latest Permit: 1905 Total Permits: 8 Total Buildings: 9
Practice Position Date
Peabody & Stearns (Boston, Mass.) Architect 1881-82
Cobb & Frost (Chicago, Ill.) Architect, senior partner 1882-88
Henry Ives Cobb (Chicago, Ill.) Principal 1888-98
Henry Ives Cobb (Washington, D.C.) Principal 1898-1902
Henry Ives Cobb (New York, NY) Principal 1902-31
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1889 Fellow of the AIA: 1889
Other Societies or Memberships: Vice President, Merchants Association of New York City, 1924-28; Arbitration
Society of America; Director, American Arbitration Association.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Skyscrapers, educational buildings (libraries, laboratories), dormitories, apartment buildings,
residences, offices, churches, department stores, sports clubs, observatories
Styles and Forms: Romanesque revival, Gothic revival, Classical revival
DC Work Locations: G Street, Downtown; Rhode Island Avenue, NW; American University campus
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Woodward & Lothrop building
(“Woodie’s Building”), G Street 1025 F Street, NW 1902 NRHP DC Historic Site
portion
McKinley Manual Training
650 Rhode Island Ave., NW 1902 NRHP DC Historic Site
School

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 DC Architects Directory

Ohio College of Government

and Pennsylvania Hall of Washington, D.C., American
c. 1897-99 NRHP DC Historic Site
Administration at American University campus
University
Union Club Chicago, Ill. 1882 NRHP DC Historic Site
Newberry Library Chicago, Ill. 1887 NRHP DC Historic Site
Owings Building Chicago, Ill. 1888 NRHP DC Historic Site
Chicago Athletic Club Chicago, Ill. 1887 NRHP DC Historic Site
Historical Society Building Chicago, Ill. 1887 NRHP DC Historic Site
Old Post Office Chicago, Ill. 1888-1905 NRHP DC Historic Site
University of Chicago buildings
(Kent Chemical Laboratory,
Chicago, Ill., University of
Ryerson Laboratory, Bartlett Pre-1895 NRHP DC Historic Site
Chicago campus
Gymnasium, Central Quad
Dormitories)
Fisheries Building at the 1891 (Expo
Chicago, Ill. NRHP DC Historic Site
World’s Columbian Exposition 1893)
Liberty Tower 55 Liberty St., NY 1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions

The 1896 Architectural Record described Henry Ives Cobb’s architectural career as one that, “in extent…has been as
remarkable as in diversification.” He designed buildings for both the public and private spheres, using his sense of art
and grandeur to elevate the styles of schools, residences, churches, office buildings and skyscrapers. Cobb also
worked quickly, establishing himself as an innovative and exciting designer just months after completing his formal
education.

Henry Ives Cobb was born in Brookline, Mass., in August 1859. He attended primary school and high school in
Massachusetts, where at the age of twelve he was chosen to take over for the ailing drawing master. This gave him
considerable experience and skill in draftsmanship. After a tour of Europe, Cobb returned to Massachusetts and took
a course in mechanical engineering at MIT. This was just a preparatory program, thus Cobb continued his studies at
the Laurence Scientific School of Harvard and received a B.S. from Harvard in 1881.

Upon graduating from Harvard, Cobb began his architectural career in Boston at the prestigious firm of Peabody &
Stearns. In 1881 he entered and won a design contest for a new Union Club in Chicago. When the commission for
the building was official in 1882, he moved to Chicago to oversee the project. He quickly entered a partnership with
Charles Sumner Frost, and Cobb & Frost practiced together until the end of 1888. While in Chicago, Cobb
demonstrated diversity in his ability and completed many significant designs. While his significant commissions began
before the Cobb & Frost partnership dissolved, many of Cobb’s most important designs in Chicago were completed
on his own. His Chicago work included: buildings at the University of Chicago (including the Walker Museum, the
President’s House, and the Yerkes Observatory), Chicago Historical Society Building, Owings Building (1888),
Chicago Athletic Club (1887), Newberry Library (1888), Old Post Office (1888-1905), Fisheries Building for the
World’s Columbian Exposition (1891), and several residences (e.g. for Dr. J.A. M’Gill in 1892, for the Cass family in
1893, and Pembroke Lodge for David B. Jones in 1895). By the mid-1890s Cobb was noted among leading Chicago
architects like Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler.

Cobb, Henry I. Page 2 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Fisheries Building (1893 World’s Walker Museum at the University of Chicago Owings Building, Chicago
Columbian Exposition in Chicago) The Architectural Record, Great American Architects Series, The Architectural Record,
The Architectural Record, Great American February 1896. Great American Architects
Architects Series, February 1896. Series, February 1896.

Cobb spent a short time living and working in Washington, D.C., at the turn of the twentieth century. He was
commissioned to work on a campus plan for American University in the District, as well as to design individual
buildings such as the Ohio College of Government and the Pennsylvania Hall of Administration buildings (only the
Ohio College of Government was constructed). Cobb also designed the original section of the Woodward and
Lothrop department store that occupies the G Street portion of the block between 10th and 11th Streets, NW. The
1902 Beaux Arts building was on the cutting edge of architectural design at the time it was constructed. In the same
year, Cobb designed the McKinley Manual Training School (650 Rhode Island Avenue, NW) in buff brick and
limestone. He added a Romanesque revival running arcade on the third story of the school, reflecting his experience
with Chicago architectural styles of the period.

In 1902 Cobb took his successful practice to New York and opened an office in Manhattan. He stayed in New York
for the remainder of his life. The majority of his designs in New York were for commercial structures and office
buildings. He was considered a pioneer in the use of steel in construction, recognition that he gained while working in

Woodward and Lothrop Building, built 1902 Mckinley Manual Training School, built 1902
G Street between 10th and 11th Streets, N.W. 7th St. and Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, HAB-DC 546-1 Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-09950

New York, where he designed his tallest buildings. Included in his designs in New York were the Harriman Bank
Building, the Sinclair Oil Building (later called Liberty Tower at 55 Liberty Street), the office building at 42 Broadway,
and the Booth Memorial Theater. While innovative with structural material and skeletal design, Cobbs continued to

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rely on historic styles for exterior design and ornamentation.

Cobb was living with his wife, Emma, and four of his seven children on Riverside Drive in Manhattan at the time of
the 1920 census. He died at his home in New York in 1931 at the age of 71.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post, searched through ProQuest; U.S. Census through Ancestry.com;
Publication: New York Times Date: 3/28/1931 Page: unknown
Obituary:
Pencil Points May 1931 386
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 117 articles
National Cyclopedia of American Biography 11 488
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in America (not in Who’s Who in D.C. 08-09, 23-24, 29-30) Vol. I
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 128-29
Other Sources:
Beauchamp, Tanya Edwards. Downtown Historic District National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form.
Washington, DC: Historic Preservation Division, Dept. of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs, 1983.
Coventry, Kim, Daniel Meyer and Arthur H. Miller. Classic Country Estates of Lake Forest: Architecture and Landscape
Design 1856-1940. Canada: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2003.
Great American Architects Series, Nos. 1-6; May 1895-July 1899. New York: Da Capo Press, 1977.
Griffith, Janice C. “Open space preservation: an imperative for quality campus environments.” Journal of Higher
Education, Nov-Dec, 1994.
Korom, Joseph J. The American Skyscraper, 1850-1940: A Celebration of Height. Boston, MA: Branden Books, 2008.
Pridmore, Jay and Peter Kiar. The University of Chicago: An Architectural Tour. New York, New York: Princeton
Architectural Press, 2006.
The Engineering Record, Building Record and the Sanitary Engineer. Volume 43. No. 23, p. 562.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1900. District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910, 1920. New York.
Williams, Kim Prothro. Shaw Junior High School National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form. Washington,
DC: D.C. Historic Preservation Office, 2008.

Notes: Permit and building totals are only for the District of Columbia.
Cobb was a Fellow of the Western Association of Architects (WAA) from 1884 until 1889, when the WAA merged
with the AIA. Since all WAA members were called Fellows, they were all made Fellows of the AIA in 1889.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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George S. Cooper
Biographical Data
Birth: 12/14/1864 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 03/12/1929 Place: Washington, DC
Education
High School: DC Public Schools
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: A History of the City of Washington
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1887 Latest Permit: 1914 Total Permits: 248 Total Buildings: 868
Practice Position Date
Gray & Page Draftsman 1880-1884
Hornblower & Marshall Architect 1884-1885
A. B. Mullet & Co. Architect 1885-1886
Cooper & Fenwick Architect 1886-1888
Private Practice Architect 1888-1918
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Washington City Club; Board of Trade; Director of the Southern Maryland Trust
Co.; President of the Damrosch Musical Society.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, Apartment Buildings, Luxury Apartments, Private Residences
Styles and Forms: Beaux Arts
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, 16th Street, Georgetown, Sheridan-Kalorama, Downtown, Foggy Bottom
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
The Jefferson 315 H Street, NW 1889 NRHP DC Historic Site
President’s Office - GWU 2003 G Street, NW 1892 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Lafayette Apartments 1605-1607 7th Street, NW 1898 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Gladstone & The Hawarden 1419 & 1423 R Street, NW 1900 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Balfour Apartments 16th and U Streets, NW 1900 16th Street Historic District
Bond Building 1404 New York Ave., NW 1901 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Born in Washington in 1864, George S. Cooper received

his education from the D.C. Public Schools. After
completing private courses in architecture, he began his
career as a draftsman in the Washington firm of Gray
and Page. In the 1880s, Cooper joined Gray and Page, a
leading firm in architectural design, and was responsible
for some of the city's most outstanding Victorian
buildings. In 1884, he went to work for Hornblower and
Marshall, one of most innovative firms in the District at
the turn of the century. Cooper stayed in the employ of
Hornblower and Marshall for about a year before joining
the firm of Alfred B. Mullett, former Supervising
Architect of the Treasury. In 1886, Cooper formed a
partnership with the mechanical draftsman B. Carlyle
Fenwick. Two years later, in 1888, he established
himself in independent practice.

In private practice, Cooper fostered relationships in the

real estate development community—relationships that The Bond Building – Undated Photo
would yield numerous commissions. His copious work Source: MLK Library Vertical Files
included office buildings, single-family dwellings, and
apartment buildings. Buildings attributed to Cooper include major office buildings such as the Bond Building and the
Davidson Building; the private residences of builder John H. Nolan, developer John L. Weaver, developer Bradley
Davidson, businessman Charles W. Simpson; stores for F.M. Criswell, and Dr. T.V. Hammond; blocks of speculative
dwellings for F.L. Hanvey, F.M Detweiler, John Sherman, Charles Early, Jones and Peters, Melton and Watts, John C.
Davidson and John W. Phillips. The Bond Building (pictured above) is recognized as DC’s first speculative office
building in the Beaux Arts Style.

Cooper is perhaps best recognized for his pioneering role in apartment building design. At least 23 apartment
buildings credited to
Cooper. They are
primarily of moderate
size, with the several
distinguished
exceptions. Notably,
they are among the
first buildings
designed to attract
Washington's middle
class and illustrate the
emerging acceptance
of the apartment as a
tenable housing type.
Cooper’s first
apartment building,
the Montrose Flats
(1115 9th Street, NW)
The Gladstone and Hawarden Apartments, 1419 and 1423 R Street, NW Washington D.C.
was built in 1892 (no
NCinDC, October 23, 2008, NCinDC, October 23, 2008,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2990160854/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2990161612/
longer extant),
followed the next year
Cooper, George S. Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

by the Analostan Flats (1718 Corcoran Street, NW). The Lafayette (1605 7th Street, NW) was his third design in
1898. In 1899, he designed the Jefferson (315 H Street, NW) In 1900, Cooper introduced the concept of multiple
construction based on a single design, resulting in the Gladstone and its sister building, the Hawarden (1419 and 1423
R Street, NW). That same year he oversaw the construction of the six-story luxury apartment building known as the
Westover, now the Balfour.

In 1903, a History of the City of Washington published by the Washington Post stated, “No young man has played a more
important part in the active growth and greater development of Greater Washington than George S. Cooper, who has
designed and superintended the construction of many of the handsomest office buildings, apartment houses, private
residences, and blocks of residences in and about Washington.” Cooper's artistic skills were not limited to
architecture. He was an accomplished singer and sang at services for two of Washington's most prestigious Episcopal
churches, the Church of the Incarnation, and St John's (Sixteenth Street). He also served as president of the
Damrosch Musical Society. After he retired, Cooper was involved in real estate finance with the Southern Maryland
Trust Co. Ever the designer, he was still working on plans for the Trust when he died in 1929.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: Evening Star Date: 03/13/1929 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 59
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24 1908-09 93
1921-22 86
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
A History of the City of Washington, Its Men and Institutions. Washington, DC: The Washington Post, 1903.
Barsoum, Eve Lydia. The Jefferson Apartment Building National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Washington DC,
The D.C. Historic Preservation Division, 1994.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Illustrated Washington: Our Capitol, 1890. New York: American Publishing and Engraving Company, 1890.
Traceries, “Historic Context of Downtown Survey Area,” 920-930 F Street, NW Program of Mitigation, June 1990.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Cooper, George S. Page 3 of 3

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James E. Cooper
Biographical Data
Birth: 2/7/1877 Place: Rockville, Maryland
Death: 1/11/1930 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Wife, Arline, no children.
Education
High School: Baltimore, Maryland
College: Calvert Hall College
Graduate School: Maryland Institute of Design, Ecole des Beaux Arts
Ateliers, New York
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Star, 1/13/1930
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 111 Date Issued: 1/13/1926
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1917 Latest Permit: 1930 Total Permits: 54 Total Buildings: 327
Practice Position Date
Baldwin & Pennington, Baltimore, Md. draftsman ca. 1893-97
Warren & Wetmore, New York, N.Y. draftsman ca. 1897-1905
d’Hauteville & Cooper, New York, N.Y. partner ca. 1905-1914
Simmons (Francis A.) & Cooper partner 1915-16
James E. Cooper principal 1917-1930
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1920 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions: Class One Award for distinguished architecture, D.C/ Architect’s Advisory Council
Buildings
Building Types: English Revival styles, principally Tudor Revival
Styles and Forms: Row houses, apartment buildings, detached houses, churches.
DC Work Locations: Cleveland Park, North Cleveland Park, Sheridan Kalorama, Foxhall Village, Upper 16th Street.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Greentree, Payne Whitney res. Manhasset, Long Island, N.Y. 1907 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment building (co-op) 1701-05 Lanier Place, N.W. 1923 NRHP DC Historic Site
Residence (Guyana Embassy) 2490 Tracy Place, N.W. 1924 Sheridan-Kalorama Hist. Dist.
Cleveland Park Apartments 3018-3028 Porter St. N.W. 1924 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Foxhall and Reservoir Roads, Foxhall Village Historic
Rowhouses, Foxhall Village 1925-1930
Q and 44th Streets, N.W. District
Façades, Hampshire Gardens 4912 New Hampshire Ave. NW 1929 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

James E. Cooper was known for his mastery of Tudor and other historical English revival styles. He began his career
at the turn of the twentieth century in New York where his focus was on the design of large country estates. Foxhall
Village, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, for which Cooper designed over two hundred
attached but individualized Tudor Revival style dwellings, was the culmination of his post-World War I career in
Washington.

Cooper was born in Rockville, Maryland in 1877. He attended public school in Baltimore and then went to Calvert
Hall College. He studied architecture at the Maryland Institute in Baltimore and began work as a draftsman at the age
of sixteen in the noted Maryland firm of Baldwin and Pennington. Seeking greater opportunities, he moved to New
York after four years. There he worked as a draftsman and designer for the nationally recognized firm of Warren and
Wetmore. The projects he worked on included the New York Yacht Club, the Belmont Hotel and numerous city and
country houses. At the same time he continued his
architectural education for six years at the Ecole Des
Beaux Arts Ateliers in New York which was modeled
on the French system of training students in the
drafting rooms of practicing architects. He worked
under French-born architect Emmanuel L.
Masqueray, who was associated with Warren and
Wetmore, and under Henry Hornbostel.

In 1903 Cooper began practicing on his own and by

1905 he had formed a partnership with Paul Grand
d’Hauteville. Their commissions included a number
of large country estates. In 1925, when Cooper
applied to register as an architect in the District he
listed two important works: the Payne Whitney
residence, Greentree, Manhasset, Long Island (1907)
and the Fitzhugh Whitehouse residence in Mt Kisco,
New York (1908). He worked briefly in Scranton,
3026 Porter St., N.W. Pennsylvania, on improvements consolidating the
D.C. Office of Planning, Property Quest, 2004 principal railroads of the city. Cooper moved to
Washington about 1910 and worked with several architects including Wood, Donn & Deming on competitive work
and with Architect of the Capitol Elliot Woods on the House and Senate Office Buildings. He worked as a designer
for Leon Dessez for almost eight years until Dessez’s death in 1918. Simultaneously, Cooper maintained his own
business for four of those years.

Cooper first appears in Washington city business listings in 1915 in partnership with Francis A. Simmons who had
established a Washington practice several years earlier. The principal work of the firm was an industrial building for
the White Cross Bakery at 637-641 S Street, N.W. During World War I Cooper worked for the Bureau of Standards
on housing improvements. After the war Cooper was employed as a designer by architect Phillip M. Jullien and
worked on the Chastleton apartment building.

Cooper had a business listing in the 1920 city directory as an architect but was also working as a designer for Jullien at
that time. The first post-war permit that listed him as an architect was issued in October 1922. Virtually all the
buildings he designed in Washington – about 330 -- were the product of the next seven and one half years. He died in
January 1930 at the age of 52.

Cooper's obituary highlights his career and accomplishments, noting that he was considered “one of the most
prominent architects in the National Capital, who designed many beautiful homes and other structures noted for their
architectural features.” Cooper's work in Washington imparts a strong understanding of, and interest in English
Cooper, James E. Page 2 of 4
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architectural traditions, particularly the Tudor Revival style. Designs in the Tudor Revival style dominate Cooper's
work in Cleveland Park, Sheridan Kalorama, downtown Washington, Hampshire Gardens and, most notably, in
Foxhall Village.

Initially, Cooper designed principally for

developers Monroe and R. Bates Warren.
Cooper’s 1923 design for the apartment
building at 1701-05 Lanier Place, N.W., is a
fine example of the Tudor Revival style. It is
also significant as the first apartment building
in Washington to have been constructed by
developers as a co-op and its success
stimulated the construction of other
cooperative apartment buildings. Cooper
designed twin three-story apartment buildings
for the Warrens at 3001 and 3025 Porter
Street, N.W., in 1923 and a complex of six
apartment buildings known as the Cleveland
Park at 3018-3028 Porter St., N.W., in 1924.
The present Guyana Embassy at 2490 Tracy
Place, N.W., in the Sheridan-Kalorama
Hamphsire Gardens facades, New Hampshire Ave., NW Historic District was also designed for the
Photo by Raymond Pelkey, from National Register Nomination, 1991 Warren brothers in 1924. Each of Cooper's
designs for the Warrens drew heavily from
vernacular English architecture. Using such elements as asymmetric massing, peaked gables, varied roof lines, multi-
paned windows in diverse arrangements, and elaborate stone entry porticoes, Cooper evoked traditional English
images. In 1923 and 1924 Cooper also designed several rows of townhouses for developer Winfield Preston in the
3500 Block of 16th St., N.W. ,and the 3500 Block of Hertford Place, N.W. Cooper received several commissions for
large private residences in this period including the three-story stone George T. Bell residence at 2718 32nd St, N.W.
and the Senator Thomas P. Gore residence at 2701 Albemarle St., N.W.

Cooper was selected to design a full-scale model home that was constructed for the 1926 Better Homes and Building
Exposition. In 1929, Cooper was commissioned to design the Tudor Revival style façades of Hampshire Gardens,
4912 New Hampshire Ave., N.W., described by James Goode in Best Addresses as, “Washington’s first true garden
apartment complex.” The ambitious plans
for 2,500 co-op apartments on 50 acres were
curtailed by the advent of the Depression
and only one block of nine two-story
buildings was completed. The project’s
primary architect was George T. Santmyers.

The principal work of the last five years of

Cooper’s life was the development of
Foxhall Village (Squares 1350, 1351, and
1352). Cooper was responsible for the
celebrated design of Foxhall Village together
with Washington developer Harry K. Boss,
of the development firm, Boss & Phelps. As
described in a history of Foxhall Village,
they “came up with designs for a whole
group of homes of Tudor architecture which
were different from one another, yet Foxhall Village Rowhouses, Greenwich Parkway and 44th Street, NW
managed to blend together harmoniously." Photo from Google Maps, 2010

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A promotional description published in the Washington Post stated that, “Through judicious variation of stone, brick,
and half-timber, widely divergent treatment of roofs and bays, and distinctly different and unique entrance effects, a
striking individuality of exterior appearance has been achieved. In mass, division, and details, these English homes
show much that merits the careful attention of the good architect. Its charms have not been secured from the
unguided hands of the average contractor and workman. It is rather the result of a thorough study on the part of an
exceptional architect, the late James E. Cooper, Esquire, who had the ability to incorporate real art into his work, and
showed real feeling for material and careful attention to every part of the development of the consistent and beautiful
whole.” One section, the Gloucestershire Group, begun in 1928, was awarded the Class One Award for distinguished
architecture by the Architect’s Advisory Council of the District of Columbia. Foxhall Village, placed in the National
Register for the significance both of its architecture and community planning, retains many of its village qualities and
stands as a tribute to the architectural accomplishment of James E. Cooper.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Historical Washington Post searched through Proquest
Obituary: Publication: Washington Star Date: 1/13/1930 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 59-60, 260
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 139
Other Sources:
Boss, Harry K. “Scrapbook of the construction of Foxhall Village and Colony Hill” 1920s-1930s. Original scrapbook
in the possession of Malcolm and Daphne Ross; pdf version of album complied by Cheryl Tlam Foster and
the Foxhall Community Citizens Association, April 2006.
Conn, Richard. Foxhall Community at Half Century: A Fond Look Backwards. Washington, D.C.: Foxhall Community
Citizens Association, 1979.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. James E. Cooper Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
EHT Traceries, Inc. “Foxhall Village Historic District.” (Washington, D.C.) National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form, 2007.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
MacKay, Robert B., Anthony K. Baker, Carol A. Traynor, eds. Long Island Country Houses and their Architects, 1860-1940.
New York, W. W. Norton & Co., 1997.
Robertson, Elizabeth Meacham. "Foxhall, Beautiful Village, is Built on Historic Farm." Washington Post, April 28, 1929,
R1.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Edward Burton Corning

Biographical Data
Birth: 8/14/1889 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: Dec. 1957 Place: Chevy Chase, Md.
Family: Wife, Margaret Whiteford; one daughter
Education
High School: McKinley Technical High School, 1902-1907
College: George Washington University, 1912-1915
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Arthur B. Heaton Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 192 Date Issued: January 16, 1929
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1934 Latest Permit:1949 Total Permits: 179 Total Buildings: 282
Practice Position Date
Arthur B. Heaton, Architect Associate, partner 1919-1932
Individual practice Principal 1932-1942
Corning & Moore Partner 1942-1957

Professional Associations
Date(s) Enrolled: 3/10/1921
American Institute of Architects Fellow of the AIA:
Terminated 12/31/1934 for nonpayment of dues
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Single-family dwellings, apartment buildings, commercial buildings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Art Deco, Modern
DC Work Locations: Principally Northwest Washington, also, northeast and southeast Washington, D.C.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling 3025 Woodland Drive, N.W. 1938 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Greenbrier 4301 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. 1950 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Brandywine 4545 Connecticut Ave. N.W. 1952 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Calvert-Woodley 2601 Woodley Place, N.W. 1954 NRHP DC Historic Site
Cleveland House 2727 29th Street, N.W. 1955 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

E. Burton Corning, a native Washingtonian, attended McKinley

Technical High School and trained in the office of Arthur B. Heaton
(one of Washington's most prolific architects), eventually becoming a
partner in the firm. While training in Heaton's office, Corning took
evening classes in architecture at George Washington University.

The buildings Corning worked on while a partner in Heaton's firm are

listed in the DC permit database under the firm name. When Corning
applied to register as an architect in the District in 1929 he listed several
of the most important projects that he had designed and supervised as a
partner in the firm. These were a National Geographic Society Annex
4431 Davenport St., NW
(office building) at the southwest corner of 3rd and Randolph Place,
N.E. (1923), the Methodist Home at 4901 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
(1926), the Y.W.C.A. at 17th and K Streets, N.W. (1927) (demolished),
and the addition to the Washington Loan and Trust Company at 9th and
F Streets, N.W. (1927). In his verbal examination before the District
Board of Examiners and Registrars he said that he was personally
responsible for certain jobs and Mr. Heaton was responsible for others.
For his examination he presented the plans of the Methodist Home and
the Calvary Baptist Sunday School as examples of his work.

3025 Woodland Dr., NW Corning went into practice on his own about 1932, in the depth of the
District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004Depression. The first permits which bear his name were issued in mid-
1934. Virtually all his commissions were for single family dwellings. He
designed detached dwellings in American University Park such as the eight Colonial Revival dwellings at 4411-4439
Davenport Street, N.W., and the seven rowhouses at 410-432 Evarts St. N.E. which display Art Deco details in the
brickwork. While much of the speculative housing he designed was relatively modest, he received some commissions
for substantial individually designed dwellings such as 3025 Woodland Drive, N.W. (1938).

Corning practiced alone until 1942. The last permit which bears his name was issued just after the United States had
entered World War II in December 1941. During the war the federal government controlled the allocation of scarce
building materials. It gave priority to the construction of modestly priced housing for war workers in the Washington
metropolitan area and other communities across the nation where there was an influx of war workers needing
housing. In 1942 Corning formed a partnership,
Corning & Moore, with Raymond G. Moore and
turned to apartment construction. The partnership,
which continued until Corning's death in 1957,
changed the nature of Corning's practice. In 1943 and
1944 Corning & Moore designed numerous two- and
three-story apartment buildings in Southeast and
Southwest Washington. Most were along Mississippi
Avenue and Trenton Place, S.E., and have been
demolished. In the immediate post-war period the
partnership continued to design low-rise apartment
buildings in Southeast, most notably in the 1000 block
of Barnaby Terrace. They also designed semi-detached
dwellings for developments along 35th Street, in North
Cleveland Park, in the 500 block of Nicholson Street,
N.E. and in various other neighborhoods. Calvert-Woodley, 2601 Woodley Place, N.W.
Washington Post, August 29, 1954, R 14
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In the early 1950s Corning and Moore began designing large eight- and nine-story apartment buildings and complexes,
often designated as luxury buildings, most of which were on the Connecticut, Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenue
corridors. Among the first of these were the Berkshire, 4201 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., and the Greenbrier, 4301
Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., both constructed in 1950. Newspaper publicity advertised such features as air-
conditioning, all-electric kitchens, parking space in the basement, telephone and secretarial service and high-speed
elevators. Corning & Moore also designed 4000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.

The Connecticut Avenue buildings included the Brandywine, 4545 Connecticut Ave., N.W., begun in 1952. It was
designed as a two-building complex with a total of 632 units and luxury features including individually controlled air
conditioning and underground parking for 500 cars. Others were the Livingston Apartments at 5437 Connecticut
Ave., (1953); the Calvert-Woodley, 2601 Woodley Place, N.W., (1954); and the Cleveland House, 2727 29th Street,
N.W. (1955). The Wisconsin House at 2712 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. was completed in 1957.

Corning and Moore also designed apartment buildings and other dwellings in Washington area suburbs. Among these
were the Fort Bennett Apartments in Roslyn, Virginia, on N. 22nd Street, and semi-detached ramblers in Oxon Run
Hills, both in 1953, and the Broyhilton Apartments at 20th and Woodrow Streets in Arlington, completed in 1954.

Washington & Lee Shopping Center, Arlington, VA. Drawing by Corning & Moore.
Peatross, Capital Drawings, p. 142

In addition to residential architecture, the firm’s work included bank buildings and retail shops, office buildings,
churches and shopping centers. Corning's obituary in the Washington Post noted that "he designed many prominent
buildings in this area during his 50-year career." In addition to apartment buildings the obituary listed the Chevy Chase
Baptist Church, the B'nai B'rith National Headquarters Building at 1000 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., and 1700 K
Street, N.W., , and the regional headquarters building of the National Capital Parks and Planning Commission, 8787
Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring.. Corning’s 1936 shopping center, the Colonial Revival style Massachusetts Avenue
Parking Shops at 4841-4861 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
He also designed the WTOP Transmitter Facility at 2201 University Boulevard in Wheaton, Maryland. This facility
was recommended for listing in the Montgomery County Historic Master Plan. The building was described as, “A
pure example of functional architecture embodying the spirit and character of the International style of architecture
prominent in the 1930s.” The 1957 M-NCPPC headquarters building is an example of Corning’s work in the Modern
style.

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Corning was described in his obituary as being “deeply

interested in music.” He played the piano and sang in the
National Cathedral’s Bethlehem Chapel Choir.

Corning died at the age of 68 in 1957. His firm continued

in business and later became Corning, Moore, Elmore &
Fisher.

National Geographic Annex, 3rd and R Streets, NE

D.C. Office of Planning, PropertyQuest, 2004
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: D.C. Office of Planning, DC PropertyQuest; Washington Post searched through Proquest
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 12/10/1957 Page: B2
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 60
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Arthur B. Heaton Architectural Drawing Archive, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Contains
drawings by E. Burton Corning.
“D.C. Gets New Elevator-Type Apartments,” Washington Post, July 16, 1950, R1.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. E. Burton Corning Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Group, Harold E. House of the Month Book of Small Houses. Garden City, N.Y. 1946.(Renderings and floor plans by eight
architects, including E. Burton Corning.)
Kennedy, Carol and Marcus, Gwen. "WTOP Transmitter Site Recommended for Historic Master Plan." The
Preservationist, Jan-Feb 1990, Vol.5. No. 3.
Lee, Antoinette. “Massachusetts Avenue Parking Shops.” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 1989,
updated by Kim Williams, 2003.

Notes: The number of permits listed in the DC data base includes 104 permits for a total of 167 buildings issued
between 1934 and 1941 naming E. Burton Corning as architect and 75 permits totaling 115 buildings issued between
1943 and 1949 which list Corning & Moore as architect.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Louis De Ladurantaye
Biographical Data
Birth: 9/23/1885 Place: St. Cloud, Versailles, France
Death: 10/9/1956 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Wife Corinne E.; Sons Victor, Archibald, Raymond, Robert;
Daughters Yolande, Louise
Education
High School: Versailles (1895-1899)
College: La Sorbonne, Paris, France
Graduate School: Polytechnique, Paris, France
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 761 Date Issued: 5/31/1951
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1923 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 77 Total Buildings: 87
Practice Position Date
Allen and Collins (New York and Boston) Architect 1914-1917
Clarence L. Harding Chief Draftsman 1917-1920
Fred Pyle Chief Draftsman 1920-1923
Louis de Ladurantaye Principal c. 1923-1949

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings, single-family dwellings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Modern Movement
DC Work Locations: Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights, Brookland, Southeast, Northeast, Downtown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Avignone Frères Restaurant 1777 Columbia Road, NW 1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment and Store 918 H Street, NE 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Swarthmore Apartments 1010 25th Street, NW 1938 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment Building 1439-1441 Euclid Street, NW 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Bader Apartments 2515 K Street, NW 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Homestead Apartments 812 Jefferson Street, NW 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site

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National Savings and Trust

1445 New York Avenue, NW 1948 NRHP DC Historic Site
Company remodeling

Significance and Contributions

Louis de Ladurantaye was born in Versailles, France in

1885. He studied at La Sorbonne and the Polytechnique in
Paris and traveled internationally before ultimately settling
in the United States. He stated in his D.C. Architects
registration application that, in 1904, he worked in the
office of Mr. Joseph Binard in Paris on the design of a
building at the University of Southern California for one
year. He then moved to the United States. The first
Washington, D.C., building permit that bears his name as
architect was issued in 1923 for a two-story dwelling
located at 2723 36th Place, NW. Most of his early
buildings were one- or two-story frame or masonry single-
family dwellings in the Colonial Revival style. Many of
these dwellings were constructed for the National Homestead Apartments, 812 Jefferson Street, NW.
Construction Company and the Woodbridge Realty D.C. Office of Planning, PropertyQuest, 2004
Company.

In 1935, de Ladurantaye designed his first known commercial building, an

automobile showroom and auto parts building, located at 3103 Rhode Island
Avenue, NE (demolished). De Ladurantaye designed his first apartment building
in 1933 at 1925 Minnesota Avenue, SE. He would later design many other
apartment buildings.

Between 1938 and 1939, de Ladurantaye designed at least four apartment

buildings, including the Swarthmore (1010 25th Street, NW ), an apartment
building at 1439-1441 Euclid Street, NW, the Bader (2515 K Street, NW), and
the Homestead (812 Jefferson Street, NW. These multi-storied buildings faced
The Bader, 2515 K Street, NW. with brick exhibited characteristics of the Colonial Revival and Modern
Washington Post 11/12/1939, pg. R12. Movement.

De Ladurantaye continued to design single-family dwellings

throughout his career. One of his biggest projects, however,
was the interior lobby renovation of the National Savings and
Trust Company at 15th Street and New York Avenue, NW, in
1948. This Queen Anne-style building was designed by James
H. Windrim in 1888 and is a Washington, D.C., landmark. De
Ladurantaye worked with builder William P. Lipscomb Co. on
this and several other projects at the time.

De Ladurantaye died in Washington, D.C., in 1956 at the age

of 72.

Dwelling at 3222 Vista Street, NE.

D.C. Office of Planning, PropertyQuest, 2004

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post, searched through ProQuest; Ancestry.com, DC Property Quest
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 10/10/1956 Page: 34
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 70
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Louis de Ladurantaye Application for Registration. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
“Magic Wand Transforms Bank Lobby.” Washington Post, Feb. 27, 1948, 18.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, District of Columbia. 1910, 1920.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Jules Henri de Sibour

Biographical Data
Birth: 12/23/1872 Place: Paris, France
Death: 11/4/1938 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Wife, Margaret Marie Clagett; sons, Henri L., J. Blaise, and
Jean Raymond
Education
High School: St. Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire
College: Yale University
Graduate School: atelier of Daumet and Esquie, Paris, 1899, not fully
registered in Ecole des Beaux Arts
Source: Goode Manuscript Files, Historical Society of
Apprenticeship: Washington
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number:: 12 (See note) Date Issued: 4/6/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1900 Latest Permit:1934 Total Permits: 45 Total Buildings: 55
Practice Position Date
Ernest Flagg, New York Architect 1896-1898
Bruce Price, New York Architect 1900-1902
Price and de Sibour, New York Partner 1902-1909
J.H. de Sibour, Washington, D.C. Architect 1909 or 1910-
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1907 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Washington Society of Fine Arts (Chairman 1921), Yale Alumni Association of
Washington, D.C. (2nd Vice Present 1919-1920), Order of Lafayette, Alibi Club, Metropolitan Club, Racquet Club,
Beaux Arts Society
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings, mansions and private residences, commercial structures, federal buildings
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival styles, drawing on English, French and Italian traditions
DC Work Locations: K Street, Dupont Circle, 15th Street Financial, Downtown, Massachusetts Avenue, Kalorama
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Investment Building 15th & K Streets, NW 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site
McCormick Apartments 1785 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1915 NHL DC Historic Site
Hotel Hamilton 14th & K Streets, NW 1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
Hammond Residence (French Sheridan-Kalorama Historic
2221 Kalorama Road, NW 1907
Embassy) District
Clarence Moore Residence 1746 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1906 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Recognized as one of Washington's most distinguished architects, Jules Henri de Sibour (1872-1938) enjoyed a
prominent career spanning thirty years in both New York and Washington, D.C. A master of the Beaux Arts style, de
Sibour's distinguished buildings grace the prominent residential sections of the Nation's Capital as well as the busy
commercial thoroughfares. De Sibour personified the title "gentleman" architect. His family background, education,
and social standing as well as his architecture symbolized the alliance of an individual's personal, business and social
life. His work won him great respect in business circles, and his charming personality, handsome demeanor and
amicable nature assured him invitations to Washington's important social functions.

Jules Henri de Sibour was born in Paris and came to the United States as a child. He was the second son of Count
Gabriel de Sibour and Mary L. Johnson of Belfast, Maine. De Sibour attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New
Hampshire, and graduated from Yale University in 1896. At Yale he was a member of the football team and was the
manager of the crew team. Although de Sibour's biographies and obituaries cite his attendance at the Ecole des Beaux
Arts, in actuality he returned to Paris in 1899 and took the 16-month course in the Atelier of architects Daumet and
Esquie of the Ecole des Beaux Arts. According to historian Richard Chafee, the architectural ateliers were "...drafting
rooms. Every student of architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts learned to design in an architectural atelier. A
student entered the atelier of their choice, and once in an atelier, the would-be architect enrolled at the Ecole des
Beaux Arts on the list of aspirants. The aspirant a L'Ecole des Beaux Arts then began preparing for the school's entrance
exams." Not all students in an atelier went on to study at the Ecole, it was easy to attend an atelier but very hard to get
into the Ecole. It is unknown whether de Sibour tried to attend the Ecole, or even attempted the difficult entrance
exam.

In 1900, de Sibour returned to New York and began work in the office of noted architect Bruce Price, joining Price as
a partner in 1902. Bruce Price was an established and prominent American architect at the time de Sibour joined his
practice. Price's notable designs include the American Surety Building in New York City, the International Bank
Building, and the fashionable Brunswick Hotel on 5th Avenue, as well as many large and elaborate homes and
suburban estates for New York's social elite. A
fellow in the American Institute of Architects,
Price's thirty year career reflected a quality of design
that secures his position as one of the country's
significant turn-of-the century architects. After
Price's death in 1903, de Sibour maintained the
office under the firm's name of Bruce Price and de
Sibour and successfully operated the practice in New
York and Washington until 1909. That year he
closed the New York office and moved to the
nation's capital where his prominence in the city had
steadily increased.

During his thirty-year career, de Sibour produced

designs in three distinct groupings. His earliest
commissions resulted in elegant townhouses and
apartment buildings for a wealthy clientele, followed 24th Street and Kalorama Road, NW, 1907
by commercial designs after World War I, and Residence of John Hays Hammond, Esq.
finally, late in his career, architecture for the United Architectural Catalogue, 1923
States government.

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Townhouse and Apartment Architecture

De Sibour specialized in town houses for the socially

prominent. The residences he designed, such as
Stewart House
(2200 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.), Moore House
(1746 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.), and Wilkes
House (1700 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.) hold their
own in a neighborhood that boasts works by
preeminent national practitioners of the Beaux Arts
school such as McKim, Mead and White, and Carrère
and Hastings.

De Sibour's French style mansions and townhouses

demonstrate his mastery of the design philosophies
and associated academic traditions of the Ecole des
Beaux Arts. De Sibour's buildings in this style are large
and exuberant in character with lively detail, often
sculptural in expression. The salient motifs of the style
are primarily derived from the architecture associated
2200 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 1907
Massachusetts Avenue Architecture, Vol. 1, 1973 with the reigns of Louis XIV through Louis XVI.
Typically de Sibour's Beaux Arts mansions are large in
scale. They are faced with light buff or white stone and brick, employ classically derived ornament in elaborately
conceived presentations; are carefully positioned to exploit geometric relationships between their massing, plan and
site; and clearly articulate the internal functions through their exterior composition.

De Sibour’s work is well represented among the Beaux Arts school mansions erection along Massachusetts Avenue at
the opening of the twentieth century. Constructed in 1906 in the style of Louis XV, 1746 Massachusetts Avenue,
N.W., was one of the most expensive residences built on Massachusetts Avenue. De Sibour designed 2200
Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. in 1908. This formal limestone block is five bays wide with an elaborate arched entry
and illustrates the use of motifs associated with Louis XV and Louis XVI.

The Wilkins residence at 1700 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. (1909), designed in the Italian Classical style, follows the
principles associated with the French academic
tradition yet displays characteristics directly
associated with the architecture of the
Renaissance period. De Sibour's design
employs the fine materials and elaborate
ornament associated with the Beaux Arts, and is
balanced by the overall perception of order and
control.

When a population influx mandated multi-

family dwellings, de Sibour answered with
scaled-down palatial apartments. If T. Franklin
Schneider's Cairo introduced the idea of the
Beaux Arts style apartment building to
Washington, D.C., de Sibour's McCormick
(1915) epitomized it. A model of Beaux Arts
sophistication, this five-story apartment
building occupies a site at the corner of McCormick Apartments (Mellon Building)
Massachusetts Avenue and Eighteenth Street 1785 Massachusetts Ave., NW
NCinDC, May 25, 2008,
(1785 Massachusetts Ave.). Instead of being
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2609411427/

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an anomaly amidst its stately, single-family residential neighbors, its French-inspired façade and classical detailing
complement the streetscape as the grandest of mansions. Responding to its site, the curved corner bay, with a
tripartite division and an iron and glass canopy, executes a smooth transition between Eighteenth Street and
Massachusetts Avenue. Its six units occupying 11,000 square feet were luxurious both in dimension and details.

In addition to the McCormick, de Sibour designed five other apartment buildings. His earliest commission was the
Warder at 1155 Sixteenth Street, N.W. (1906, demolished), designed in the Classical Revival style. The early 1920s
saw an increase in de Sibour's apartment building commissions: Hotel Martinique, 1209 Sixteenth Street, N.W. (1920,
demolished); The Jefferson, 1200 Sixteenth Street, N.W (1922); the Anchorage, 1523-29 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.,
(1924); and Lee House, 1409 Fifteenth Street (1912) all of which were replete with classical references. Although de
Sibour's apartment building oeuvre is rather limited, his simultaneous expansion and refinement of the luxury
apartment, handling of scale, and mastery of the Beaux Arts style assure his position in the cadre of master apartment
building architects.

Commercial Architecture

The building boom of the late nineteenth century continued into the
first three decades of the twentieth century. Large speculative office
building development and commercial enterprises dominated the real
estate market. De Sibour's position in Washington society provided
him opportunities to associate with Washington's leading financial and
business professionals. These men were building some of the city's
largest commercial structures and commissioned de Sibour to design
their office, hotel and bank buildings such as the Hibbs (Folger)
Building (1906), McLachlen Building (1910), Riggs Theater and Office
Building (Albee Building - Keith's Theater 1911), Wilkins Building
(1916), F.H. Smith Company (Bowen) Building (1920), Hamilton
Hotel (1922), Jefferson Hotel (1922), University or Racquet Club
(1922), Investment Office Building (1923), and the Federal American
National Bank (National Bank of Washington, 1924). All of de
Sibour's commercial office building and hotel designs are impressive in
presentation, materials and design vocabulary. They represent
monumental buildings designed in the Classical or Renaissance Revival
styles, employing rich materials such as marble and limestone, tripartite
elevations, and classical ornamentation.
Hamilton Hotel, 1922
Architectural Catalogue, 1923
One of de Sibour's earliest commercial ventures in the city, the
McLachlen Building at 1001 G Street, N.W., designed in 1910, is a nine-story buff brick, marble and terra cotta
commercial building. The Beaux Arts-inspired bank building combines skillful expressions of the Chicago
commercial style with classical elements and symmetry, producing a distinguished landmark building. The McLachlen
Building was individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The Albee Office Building and its
2000-seat Theater, considered “luxurious and ultra-modern,” was designed by de Sibour in 1912. Although altered as
part of a façade preservation project in the 1980s, the building's Beaux Arts-inspired design and the rich white marble
and terra cotta exterior remain intact. The core of the Renaissance Revival Bowen Building was designed by de
Sibour in 1922, with two additional phases of construction in 1935 and 1939 that are sympathetic to the original
character of the de Sibour design. The original structure was built as the headquarters for the F.H. Smith Company,
which sold the building in 1933. De Sibour collaborated with the F.H. Smith Company on numerous projects
including the Investment Building. The limestone and terra cotta Jefferson Hotel, 1200 16th St., N.W., was completed
in 1922. Originally designed as an apartment hotel the Renaissance Revival style building was converted to a hotel in
the 1940s and was renovated in 2007.

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The imposing Federal American National Bank (National Bank of Washington) is located at 615-21 Fourteenth Street,
N.W., in the heart of Washington's financial district. Designed by de Sibour in association with Alfred C. Bossom in
1924, the building is a concrete structure with limestone façades. Designed in the Classical Revival style, the building
exudes the monumentality and security of a strong financial institution. Two-story Ionic columns on pedestals mark
the elaborate entry of the bank on Fourteenth Street. The doorway has a segmental pediment with broken architrave
and is ornamented with a large shield, a female figurehead, cherubs and swags. A large two-story arched window rises
above the main entry and floods the banking room with light. The exterior and the interior ground floor vestibule,
lobby and staircase and upstairs banking room with mezzanine were designated a D.C. Landmark in July, 1990.

Federal Architecture

By the end of the 1920s, as the Depression drastically reduced private construction, de Sibour turned his attention to
the procurement of federal commissions. His work in 1917 as the consulting architect for the U.S. Naval Academy
for the addition to Bancroft Hall and Isherwood Hall laid the groundwork for much of his post office, embassy and
other federal government designs a decade later. De Sibour was a member of Allied Architects of Washington, a
group of architects who banded together to work on government commissions. He served as associate architect
during the first years of the 1930s for several U.S. post offices and courthouses including the federal courthouse in
Portland, Oregon, which housed a post office on the ground floor.

De Sibour submitted several designs for federal buildings that were never realized, including his designs for the
Government Accounting Office in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru. During initial stages of
planning for the Government Accounting Office
(GAO), the Public Works Branch in the Procurement
Division, Department of the Treasury, commissioned de
Sibour to prepare preliminary plans and estimates for
enlargement of the Pension Building. Although de
Sibour's actual designs have not been located, the
proposed work is outlined in a letter from the architect
dated May 24, 1934. Elements of de Sibour's design
included "replacement of the existing superstructure of
the Pension Building with two new setback stories,
subdivision of the interior court, construction of wings
at the east and west ends of the building, facing the
entire structure with stone ashlar, and the addition of
pedimented porticoes to the north and south elevations
of the original block.

His last completed work in 1934, was for the

administrative headquarters for the U.S. Public Health
Service Building on Constitution Avenue, N.W.,
between Nineteenth and Twentieth streets. Originally,
the building housed the Public Health Service offices
and library. Designed in a restrained manner, the white Federal American National Bank
marble building is four-stories in height, and is set in a 14th and G Streets, NW (SE corner)
terraced lawn with large trees surrounded by a balustrade Official Inaugural Program, 1929
at the base. The building is currently known as the
Department of the Interior - South Building.

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Publication: New York Times Date: 11/5/1938
Washington Post November 5, 1938 Page: 19
Obituary: Washington Star November 4, 1938
Washington Times November 5, 1938 Page A-14
Yale Obituary Record 1938-1939
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 72-73
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects v. 4 56
1921-22 105
1923-24 115
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital
1934-35 257
1938-39 229
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 553-4
Other Sources:
Alder, Gale Shipman. “1785: Architect and Image Maker Jules Henri de Sibour. Historic Preservation, July/August
1979.
Chafee, Richard. "The Teaching of Architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.” In The Architecture of the Ecole des
Beaux Art, edited by Arthur Drexler. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1977.
Davis, Janet L. “J.H. de Sibour: Five Buildings on Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, D.C.” M.A. thesis,
University of Virginia, 1980.
De Sibour, J.H. Letter and memorandum, to Procurement Division, Department of Treasury, January 3 and 4, 1934,
and May 24, 1934. Public Buildings Service, Record Group 121, Box 2947, General Archives Division,
National Archives, College Park, Md.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Moeller, G. Martin, Jr. AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, D.C., Fourth Edition. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2006.
Scott, Pamela. “Residential Architecture of Washington, D.C., and its Suburbs.” Library of Congress; Center for
Architecture, Design, and Engineering; Biographies and Essays.
<http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/adecenter/essays/Scott.html>
“The Prince of Beaux Arts: The Legacy of Washington Architect Jules Henri de Sibour.” Washington Life, October
2007, pg. 118.
“Treasury’s Losing Regal Old Friend.” Washington Post, July 22,1962, E5.
U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Massachusetts Avenue Architecture. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1973-1975. 2 v.
Notes: De Sibour’s registration number is written on his application with a flourish that makes it appear to be 120,
the number used in the Pam Scott directory, rather than 12. De Sibour was one of the first architects to apply for
registration in 1925 when the registration law went into effect.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Leon Emile Dessez

Biographical Data
Birth: 04/12/1858 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 12/25/1918 Place: Washington, DC
Family: married Bessie R. Semmes in 1885; four children
Education
High School: Wallach School (Southeast DC)
College:
Graduate School:
Chevy Chase: A Home Suburb for the Nation’s Capital
Apprenticeship: Hornblower and Poindexter
p. 38
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1884 Latest Permit: 1911 Total Permits: 78 Total Buildings: 149
Practice Position Date
Hornblower and Poindexter Apprentice ca. 1877-1880
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Architectural Assistant ca. 1880-1883
Department of the Navy Draftsman ca. 1883-1886
Private Practice Architect 1886-1918
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1896 Fellow of the AIA: 1896
Other Societies or Memberships: Founding Member of the Washington Chapter of the AIA; Served on the Fine
Arts Commission and the National Parks and Planning Commission; Member of the Cosmo Club
Awards and Commissions: Member of the Commission to Revise the D.C. Building Regulations
Buildings
Building Types: Single-family dwellings, schools, fire stations
Styles and Forms: Queen Anne, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, Chevy Chase, Georgetown, Takoma Park
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Cady-Lee House 7064 Eastern Ave., NW 1887 NRHP DC Historic Site
Admiralty House Naval Observatory 1893 NRHP DC Historic Site
Old Engine Co. No. 11 1338 Park Road, NW 1900 NRHP DC Historic Site
Miner Normal School 2565 Georgia Avenue, NW 1913-1914 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Leon Dessez was born in 1858 in

Washington, D.C. He attended private and
public schools in Washington and
graduated from the Wallach School. At the
age of 19, Dessez began his architectural
training at the firm of Hornblower and
Poindexter, later Hornblower and Marshall.
The young architectural assistant spent
three years with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers assisting Colonel Lincoln Casey
with the construction of the Washington
Monument. Dessez next worked for three
years as an architectural and engineering
draftsman at the Navy Yards. In 1886, he
opened his own practice with an office in
the Corcoran Building. In his practice, he The Miner Normal School
combined his skills as an artistic designer Source: National Park Service
with the engineering experience he acquired
with the Army Corps and in the Navy docks. The next year, Dessez was a founding member of the Washington
Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, a measure of his quick rise to local prominence in the architecture
profession. He would later serve as the Chapter’s Vice President and was a member that helped restore the Octagon
House, which became the organization’s headquarters.

Throughout the late 1880s, Dessez

designed a number of prominent
residences for well-to-do clients,
including Henry and Lucinda Cady, who
commissioned an elaborate Queen Anne
style house in Takoma Park. In 1893,
Dessez joined the Board of Directors of
the Chevy Chase Land Company. The
founder of the Land Company and the
developer of the new residential suburb,
The Chevy Chase, 5863 Chevy Chase Parkway, NW Senator Francis Newlands, also hired
Goode, Best Addresses, p. 92 Dessez to oversee construction of model
cottages. Impressed by his work,
Newlands appointed Dessez as the Chief Architect of Chevy Chase, a position Dessez would retain for 25 years. In
this capacity, Dessez designed a number of houses in and around Chevy Chase. Some of the best examples of his
work in Chevy Chase include the Colonial Revival-style Birney House (1893) at 9 East Kirke Street, and the
Neoclassical temple-front residence at 3 E. Lenox Street.

Dessez won the commission to design his most famous building, the Admiralty House on the Naval Observatory
Grounds—now the Vice President’s House—in 1893. In the Admiralty House, Dessez employed the vocabulary of
classical styles to create an unpretentious residence that allows for openness to light and air. This focus on circulation
was a recurring theme in Dessez’s buildings. In the late 1890s, Dessez became a pioneer in the use of steel reinforced
concrete. His eight-story Century Office Building (1899) located at 412 5th Street, NW (demolished) may have been
one of the first buildings in a major U. S. city to employ such a structural system.

In addition to his interest in innovative building techniques, Dessez became involved in municipal architecture around
the turn of the century. Before his death in 1918, he designed a number of important civic buildings including the
Dessez, Leon E. Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

D.C. prison at Occoquan, Virginia, the hospital at the Soldiers’ Home, 1 the Miner Normal school and other schools,
and a number of fire stations. In 1908, Dessez served on a commission to rewrite the District building regulations.
He also served on a committee to inspect the DC public schools to ensure their safety. Dessez died from influenza
during the 1918 pandemic.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 4 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 73
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 171
Obituary Publication: AIA Journal (Volume 7) Date: 1919 Page: 178
Other Sources:

Berk, Sally. Firehouses in Washington, D.C. National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form.
Washington, D.C.: D.C. Historic Preservation Office, 2006.
Cox, Rachel. “Tackling a Grand Victorian.” Historic Preservation, September/October 1987, 26-32.
Davidson, Jane. “Another White House.” New York Times Magazine, 11 January 1976.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Lampl, Elizabeth Jo and Kim Prothro Williams. Chevy Chase: A Home Suburb for the Nation’s Capital. Crownsville, MD:
The Maryland Historical Trust Press, 1998.

Notes: 1 Information from the Biographical Dictionary of American Architects, copyright 1956 by Henry F. Withey, A.I.A.,
and Elsie Rathburn Withey. The original hospital building at the Soldiers’ Home is now demolished.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Dessez, Leon E. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Clement August Didden

Biographical Data
Birth: 05/13/1837 Place: Brakel, Germany
Death: 09/20/1923 Place: Washington, DC
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School: Holzminder School of Architecture (Germany)
Apprenticeship: Source: Historical Society of Washington, DC
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1880 Latest Permit: 1916 Total Permits: 156 Total Buildings: 268
Practice Position Date
Fernbach, Hunt, and Post (New York) 1866-1870?
Fraser, Furness, and Hewitt (Philadelphia) 1871-1872
Fraser, Furness, and Hewitt DC Representative 1872-1876
Didden and Lauritzen Partner 1876
Private Practice Architect 1877-1921
C. A. Didden & Son Architect 1902-1921
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1881 Fellow of the AIA: 1889
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, Mansions, Apartments, Commercial Buildings
Styles and Forms: Generally characterized by brick construction, symmetrical design, and simple façades
DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, Downtown, Logan Circle, Mt. Pleasant
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling 1224 13th Street, NW 1885 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 801-809 Mass. Ave, NE 1890 Capitol Hill Historic District
Portner Apartments 15th and U Streets, NW 1902 Demolished in 1974
Charles Kraemer House 1841 Park Road, NW 1906 Mt. Pleasant Historic District

Didden, Clement A. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Clement A. Didden (1837-1923) was born in Brakel, Westphalia and he was trained at the Holzminder School of
Architecture near Minden, Germany. He was the sixth generation of his family to become an architect. His father,
Franz Anton Didden, was a master carpenter and architect. Didden left Germany in 1862 for England and went on
to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa where he practiced architecture until 1865 when he returned to Minden.
In 1866, Didden moved to New York and secured a position with firm of Fernbach, Hunt and Post (lead by
prominent architects Henry Fernbach, Richard Morris Hunt and George Brown Post) where he worked for about
four years.

Around 1870-71, Didden moved to Philadelphia and worked for the firm of Fraser, Furness, and Hewitt. John
Fraser, the firm’s D.C. representative and an architect responsible for a number of buildings in Washington, left the
firm in 1872. Following Fraser’s departure, Furness and Hewitt sent Didden to Washington to serve as its local
representative. As the representative of Furness and Hewitt,
Didden served as a connection between the architectural
communities of Washington, DC, and Philadelphia.
Although he never received the same level of national
recognition as those he worked for, such as Richard Morris
Hunt and Frank Furness, Didden was heavily influenced by
their designs.

Didden remained the DC representative of Furness and

Hewitt until 1876 when he formed a brief one-year
partnership with Peter J. Lauritzen. Afterwards, Didden
established his own practice, which later included his son,
George, and was then called C. A. Didden & Son. Didden
remained an independent practitioner until his retirement in
1921.

Didden was a Catholic and a parishioner of the German

church, St. Joseph’s, on Capitol Hill. Didden received a
number of projects from his friends in the German
community. For example, in 1887 Didden designed a
country estate for his friend and fellow German immigrant,
Albert Carry. Afterwards, Carry retained Didden to design a
number of buildings, including apartments, in Capitol Hill.
The architect was also frequently employed by the National
1224 13th Street, NW Capital Construction Company to erect blocks of rowhouses
NCinDC, August 11, 2008, throughout the city.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2757876109/
The earliest known DC buildings designed by Didden were two series of rowhouses at 1207-1219 Q Street, NW, and
1609-1615 13th Street, NW. These buildings were characterized by their patterned red brick, symmetrical fenestration
and absence of ornamentation. By the late 1880s, Didden’s rowhouses became more ornate with molded brick
cornices and sting courses, although they retained the elements of order and symmetry. His buildings often feature
arched openings and steep roofs articulated by dormers. The rowhouses between 801 and 809 Massachusetts Avenue,
NE may be Didden’s most detailed, but despite the varied window and roof treatments, the buildings form a cohesive
whole.

Didden is perhaps best remembered for the no longer extant Portner Flats, which he designed for brewer and real
estate investor Robert Porter between 1897 and 1902. At the time of its construction, it was the largest apartment
house in Washington. Although it had been initially nicknamed “Portner’s Folly” because its location on 15th Street
between U and V Streets was far removed from downtown, the first section of luxury apartments constructed on the
Didden, Clement A. Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

corner of 15th and U Streets in 1897 proved a success. Construction soon began on the northern wing, followed by
the Romanesque-style middle section in 1901. The building featured a range of projecting bays and the main
entrance, which was two stories taller than the flanking wings, was emphasized with an arched balcony. In Capital
Losses, James Goode notes that the Portner Flats were the last large-scale Victorian building erected in Washington.

The Portner Flats

Source: The Library of Congress

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: Washington Post, death notice Date: Sep. 22, 1923 Page: 5
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 44, 75, 168
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it

Other Sources:
Didden, Amanda. Telephone Interview with Andrea F. Schoenfeld (EHT Traceries). 15 July 2008.
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2003.
“Real Estate Gossip: New Apartment House on Capitol Hill.” Evening Star 10 May 1902, p. 17.
Taylor, Marye. “2013 H Street, Northwest, Erected in 1888, Today a Part of the George Washington University
Campus, Designed by C.A. Didden.” Graduate Thesis. Historical Society of Washington, DC, Collection, 1977.
Traceries, “Historic Context of Downtown Survey Area,” 920-930 F Street, NW Program of Mitigation, June 1990.
Williams, Paul Kelsey. “Scenes from the Past.” The InTowner August 2005, p. 13.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Charles E. Dillon
Biographical Data
Birth: 6/9/1891 Place: Chesterfield County, Va.
Death: April 1939 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Wife: Blanche R.; one son, three daughters
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1926 Latest Permit: 1939 Total Permits: 426 Total Buildings: 839
Practice Position Date
J.E. Cooper Draftsman 1926
L.E. Breuninger & Co. Salesman 1929
Charles E. Dillon Principal 1930-1932
Dillon & Abel Partner 1932-1939

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Single family dwellings, apartment houses
Styles and Forms: Tudor revival, Art Deco, International Style
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Connecticut Avenue, Upper Northwest
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Apartment house 2929 Connecticut Ave., NW 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Park Square apartment house 2407 15th St., NW 1937 NRHP DC Historic Site
Governor Shepherd apartment 2121 Virginia Ave., NW 1938 NRHP DC Historic Site
Row houses 1302-1308 Shepherd St., NW 1932 NRHP DC Historic Site

Dillon, Charles E. Page 1 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Charles E. Dillon, and his partner Joseph Abel, were among the first architects in Washington, D.C., to adopt the
International Style for apartment house construction. Their partnership, begun in 1932, was launched in the depth of
the Depression and they had worked together for only about seven years when Dillon died in 1939. Although several
Dillon & Abel apartment buildings were described in the architectural press, very little personal information about
Dillon has been published.

Census records show that Dillon was the son of a saw mill worker and was raised in Petersburg, Virginia. In 1910, at
about age 18, he was living at home in Petersburg with his widowed mother and working as an estimator for a supply
company. In June 1917 Dillon listed himself on his World War I draft card as an architect working in Salisbury, Md.,
for E.S. Adkins & Co., a lumber supply company. By 1918 he was working as an architect in Petersburg according to
the biographical dictionary, The Virginia Architects, 1835-1935, which has no further information on him.

The Washington Post reported in March

1932 that Dillon had come to
Washington in 1926 after practicing in
Virginia. Initially he was associated
with architect James E. Cooper and
later he worked for developer L. E.
Breuninger & Sons. Dillon never
applied to register as an architect in
the District of Columbia, presumably
because he did not have the required
diploma or certificate from an
architectural school that was a
prerequisite for taking the registration
examination, nor had he been
practicing in the District prior to the
1924 enactment of the registration
legislation which might have enabled
him to qualify under the grandfather
provisions of the law. In press Park Square Apartment House, 2407 15th Street, NW
accounts of his work Dillon was EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010
described as a designer.

The building permit index indicates that, beginning in October 1926, Dillon was listed as architect on numerous
permits for the construction of detached houses that were being constructed one or two at a time. Often the owner
was also the builder, an indication that these were probably speculatively built houses. The dimensions and estimated
cost suggest that many of Dillon's dwellings were constructed for a clientele that was quite well off. Many were
located in upper northwest Washington both east and west of Rock Creek Park. The Post reported in March 1932 that
Dillon had been in business for himself for the past two years and that he had just announced that he had drawn plans
for approximately 125 detached houses in the previous twelve months.

Dillon formed a partnership with Joseph H. Abel in 1932. Abel had worked as a draftsman for George T. Santmyers,
one of Washington’s most prolific designers of apartment houses. When the D.C. law was changed to require
architects to hold a college degree, Abel had enrolled at George Washington University, graduating in 1932. James
Goode, in Best Addresses, wrote that Dillon & Abel “were the first Washington architects to follow the guidelines of
the International Style—lack of ornament, severe facades, and functionalism.” Their first apartment in this style was
the nine-story 2929 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., (1936) which Goode described as “a forerunner of the International
Style of architecture in Washington. The red-brick façade with white concrete trim contains elements from three
styles—International, Art Deco, and Prairie….The chief decorative feature of the front façade…is a projection
pavilion counterbalanced by a tier of wide balconies.”
Dillon, Charles E. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

The five-story apartment building

at 2407 15th Street, N.W., (1937)
now known as Park Square and the
Governor Shepherd, 2121 Virginia
Avenue, N.W., (1938, demolished
1985) were other early examples
designed by Dillon & Abel in this
modernist style. These buildings
were functionalist structures with
severe facades that lacked
ornamentation. All three had Art
Deco elements. As described by
Goode, “All early International
Style—inspired Washington
apartment houses of the late 1930s
and early 1940s included Art Deco
lobbies, a local architectural
peculiarity,” of which the lobby at
2929 Connecticut is a particularly
Advertisement, Washington Post, April 30, 1939, R17 fine surviving example.

Dillon & Abel designed numerous residences throughout the city, but gained recognition for their trademark light tan
brick apartment houses featuring ribbon windows, unadorned facades, and glass block detailing around the entrances.

The Washington Post reported on April 5, 1939 that Charles E. Dillon, 46, had died at Walter Reed Hospital but did not
publish an obituary. Abel, in several subsequent partnerships, went on to become one of Washington’s best known
apartment house architects but much of Dillon’s life remains undocumented.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Ancestry.com searched for Census records and World War I draft records
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 76
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources: “125 Detached Home Plans Drawn by Dillon.” Washington Post, 6 March 1932, R7.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
“Vital Statistics.” Washington Post, 5 April 1939, 27.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census. Virginia, 1900, 1910.
Wells, John E., ed. The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955. Richmond, Va.: New South Architectural Press, 1997.
Notes: The 1900 Census gives Dillon’s birth date as June 1892 and his draft record lists it as June 9, 1891. If he was

Dillon, Charles E. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

born in 1892, he would have been 46 at the time of his death – the age given in the notice of the death of Charles E.
Dillon at Walter Reed Hospital.
Dates and numbers of permits issued include both those issued to Dillon (82 permits and 108 buildings) and those
issued to Dillon & Abel (344 permits for 731 buildings). Permits were issued to Dillon from 1926 to 1932. Thereafter
all permits which include his name were issued to Dillon & Abel.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Dillon, Charles E. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Edward Wilton Donn Jr.

Biographical Data
Birth: 4/2/1868 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 8/9/1953 Place: Bethesda, Md.
Family: bachelor
Education
High School: Central High School, Washington, D.C.
College: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S. 1891
Graduate School: Cornell University, 1891-1893
Apprenticeship: A. Burnley Bibb Source: Washington Star, 8/10/1953
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 2 Date Issued: 4/6/1925
Earliest Permit: 1895
Permit Database Latest Permit: 1922 Total Permits: 81 Total Buildings: 94
See notes
Practice Position Date
Donn & Peter Partner/Architect 1894-1896
E.W. Donn, Jr. Principal 1897-1901
Office of the Supervising Architect, Treasury Designer 1901-1903
Wood, Donn & Deming Partner/Architect 1903-1912
Donn & Deming Partner/Architect 1912-1924
Edward W. Donn, Jr., Architect Principal 1924-1952
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1901 Fellow of the AIA: 1909
Other Societies or Memberships: Washington Architectural Club, Washington Chapter, A.I.A.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Office buildings, schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, churches, libraries, residences.
Styles and Forms: Neoclassical, Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival, Spanish Revival
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Northwest Washington
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Union Trust Building 1500 H St., 740 15th St., N.W. 1907 NRHP DC Historic Site
Masonic Temple 1250 New York Avenue, N.W. 1908 NRHP DC Historic Site
Bachelor Flats 1737 H St., N.W. 1904 NRHP DC Historic Site
Cordova apartment building 1908 Florida Ave., N.W. 1905 Dupont Circle Historic District
Carnegie Institution
2801 Upton St., N.W. 1906 NRHP DC Historic Site
Geophysical Laboratory

Donn, Edward W., Jr. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Edward Wilton Donn, Jr., was born in Washington, D.C., in 1868. His father, Edward Wilton Donn (1837-1915), was
an architect and draftsman who worked for much of his career in the office of the Architect of the Capitol and the
Patent Office. Donn attended Central High School in Washington, D.C., and graduated from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Architecture in 1891. After two years of graduate study at Cornell University and
a year's apprenticeship in the office of A. Burnley Bibb, Donn joined with Walter G. Peter, who had been a fellow
student at M.I.T., to practice as Donn & Peter. Because of insufficient
business the partnership was dissolved in 1896. Donn spent some time
travelling abroad in the late 1890s, studying the architectural classics, and
also practiced on his own in Washington. In 1901 he entered the Office
of the Supervising Architect, Department of the Treasury, where he
worked for two and one half years, rising from draftsman to one of the
team of four designers producing the designs for numerous federal
buildings, principally post offices.

In 1903 Donn left the Supervising Architect's Office to enter private

practice with Washington architect Waddy B. Wood and William I.
Deming, a civil engineer and architect. This partnership proved to be
highly productive as a team with complementary skills. As described in
the National Register nomination for the Union Trust Building, "the
thorough, practical Donn and the highly intellectual Deming were a good
match for Wood. As chief designer and promoter of ideas, Wood was
Union Trust, 15th and H Sts., N.W. responsible for getting jobs and developing suitable design solutions,
Library of Congress, LC-F82- 530 while his partners resolved the practical problems." A 1940 Washington
Star retrospective on Wood stated, "Mr. Wood was fortunate in his
working associates — Edward W. Donn, Jr., also a Washingtonian,...a man of scholarly mind and artistic perception,
and William T. Deming, a graduate in construction engineering from Columbian College, now George Washington
University, a man of critical faculties and clear intelligence. There could not have been a better combination. Mr.
Wood, essentially creative, imaginative, full of enthusiasm, originality and inspiration, possibly was restrained by the
conservatism and scholarly integrity of his partners." In the decade Wood, Donn and Deming practiced together they
designed a number of buildings now on the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites. These include the Bachelor Flats (1905),
1737 H St. N.W.; the Carnegie Institution of Washington Geophysical Laboratory (1906-07), 2801 Upton St., N.W.;
the Masonic Temple, now the Museum of Women in the Arts (1907-08), 1250 New York Ave., N.W.; the Union Trust
Building (1907), and apartment buildings and residences located in several historic districts.

In 1912, Wood left the firm and Donn and

Deming continued to practice together
until 1924. This firm's most significant
works in the District of Columbia were
buildings for the National Bureau of
Standards at Connecticut Ave., and Van
Ness St., N.W., and the St. Sophia Church
at 8th and L Streets, N.W., all of which
have been demolished along with various
smaller commercial buildings they
designed in the downtown area.

After 1923 Donn practiced on his own,

pursuing his antiquarian interests. He
specialized in the restoration of nationally Carnegie Institution, Geophysical Laboratory; 2801 Upton Street, NW
significant historic buildings in Virginia EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010
and Maryland and was considered a pioneer in preservation. He undertook the reconstruction of George Washington's
Donn, Edward W., Jr. Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

birthplace, Wakefield, and he worked on the restoration of the Octagon, Woodlawn Plantation, Kenmore, the home of
Washington's sister, Mary Lewis, and the apothecary shop and George Washington schoolhouse in Fredericksburg, Va.
In 1932, as part of the George Washington Bicentennial Celebration, Donn designed Entrance Markers commissioned
by the Garden Club of America for important entrances to the city from Maryland. These markers, which are listed on
the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites and in the National Register of Historic Places, are located at Westmoreland
Circle, Wisconsin and, Western Avenues, Chevy Chase Circle, and Georgia Avenue at Kalmia Street, NW.

Donn was active in professional organizations. He was president of the Washington Architectural Club, 1898-99. He
was involved in the founding of the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and served three
times as its president (1907, 1908, 1916). The Washington Chapter advocated the creation of a system for registering
architects and when registration was instituted by the District of Columbia in 1925 Donn was selected as the first
president of the D.C. Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Publication: Washington Post Date: 8/10/1953 Page: 14
Obituary:
Washington Star 8/1/1953
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
National Cyclopedia of American Biography Vol. 40 415
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 78
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
1921-1922 109
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital 1923-1924 119
1938-1939 239
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources: Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington
Chapter. Washington, DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Ganschinietz, Suzanne. “Union Trust Building. National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form.”
Washington, DC: Historic Preservation Division, Dept. of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs, 1983.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Lee, Antoinette J. Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2000.
Mechlin, Lila. "Waddy Wood." Washington Star, 14 September 1940.
Proctor, John Clagett, ed. Washington, Past and Present: A History. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., Inc.,
1930.
Notes: It is not possible to determine from the D.C. permit database how many buildings can be credited to Donn.
His father, with the same name, was also an architect. In the years 1886 to 1902 the name E.W. Donn or Edward W.
Donn is listed as the architect on nine permits for a total of twenty-seven buildings. Some of these permits date from
before the younger Donn had completed his studies but some were issued in the years he was practicing. The Donn &
Peters partnership applied for a total of three permits for three buildings in the years 1895-1896. The Wood, Donn &
Deming partnership applied for 69 permits totaling 80 buildings in the years 1902-1912. The Donn & Deming
partnership applied for 9 permits for 11 buildings in the years 1913-1922. From 1924 onwards Donn practiced under
his own name but there are no D.C. permits for this part of his career. His principal interest in the later years of his
practice was the restoration of historic buildings in Virginia and Maryland.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Donn, Edward W., Jr. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Edmund Woog Dreyfuss

Biographical Data
Birth: June 7, 1914 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: July 9, 1982 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Married Lorraine Steiner, two sons: Kenneth B., John L.
Education
High School: Central High School, Washington, D.C.
College: George Washington University, A.B. in Architecture, 1935
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Robert O. Scholz, 1935-1936 Source: Washington Post, 7/11/1982
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 728 Date Issued: 1/12/1951
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1936 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 146 Total Buildings: 519
Practice Position Date
Edmund W. Dreyfuss Principal, architect 1936-1940
Edmund W. Dreyfuss & Associates Principal, architect 1940-1981
Dreyfuss-Henry & Associates Principal, architect 1981-1982

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 5/15/1951 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Director, Big Brothers of America; D.C. Building Code Committee;
D.C. Engineering, Transportation and Parking Committee.
Awards or Commissions: National Capital Planning Commission, 1971-1977; Advisory Board, First American Bank
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings, garden apartments, single family housing, office buildings, commercial and
industrial buildings.
Styles and Forms: Art Deco, Modern, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Kalorama, Columbia Heights, Fort Davis, Greenway and Benning
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
William Penn apartment bldg. 2231 California St., NW 1942 Sheridan-Kalorama HD
Executive Building (altered) 1030 15th St., NW 1965 NRHP DC Historic Site
400 Army-Navy Drive Arlington, Va. 1967 NRHP DC Historic Site
Vermont Building 1100 Vermont Ave., NW 1965 NRHP DC Historic Site
Presidential Building (altered) 12th St. and Penn. Ave., NW 1968 NRHP DC Historic Site
Motor hotel (now Liaison) 415 New Jersey Ave., NW 1970 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Edmund Woog Dreyfuss, a Washington native, specialized in designing office, apartment and industrial buildings. He
was born in Washington, D.C., in 1914 and graduated from Central High School. He received an A.B. in Architecture
from George Washington University in 1935. He then trained as a draftsman in the office of Robert O. Scholz, a
Washington architect noted for his apartment buildings.

Dreyfuss went into practice for himself in 1936. In his initial

years of practice he designed row and semi-detached houses,
both low- and high-rise apartment buildings and some
commercial buildings. His early high high-rise apartment
buildings included 1916 R St. N.W. (1938) with 64 units, 2801
15th St., N.W., (1941) and the William Penn at 2231 California
St. N.W., (1942). His commercial buildings included the Penn
Bowling Center at 1207 Taylor St. , N.W., (1940) and a food
warehouse at 700 K St. S.W. (1941). Soon after the United
States entered the Second World War, Dreyfuss enlisted in
the Army Corps of Engineers and he served through 1945.
He became an Engineer Officer with the Air Force, serving in
the European war theatre and rising to the rank of Captain.

After returning to his practice in Washington, Dreyfuss's first

projects included numerous modest semi-detached dwellings
in Fort Davis, Benning and other neighborhoods east of the
Anacostia River and a five-story apartment building, Hastings
Court, at 2130 N St., N.W., in the Dupont Circle area. His
commercial buildings included a Giant Food store at 120
Kennedy St., N.W. and a five and dime store at 700 H St., The William Penn Apartments,
N.E. In the early 1950s Dreyfuss designed single family 2231 California Street, NW
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010
suburban housing, including ramblers in the Virginia suburbs
and the Freedom Manor subdivision of American University Park which claimed to be the largest subdivision in the
East with built-in air conditioning.

In the mid 1950s Dreyfuss designed several small apartment buildings for Jerry Wolman, who had just entered the
development field and expanded rapidly over the next decade. Wolman commissioned Dreyfuss to design many of his
major apartment and office projects in Washington and its suburbs. These included the $5.5 million Fort Ward
Towers apartments on Shirley Highway in Alexandria, Va., and the $15 million El Dorado Towers Apartments on
New Hampshire Ave. in Montgomery County, Md. Several of Dreyfuss’s most important office buildings were
designed for Wolman in the mid 1960s, including the Executive Building, 1030 15th St., N.W., the Vermont Building,
1100 Vermont Avenue, N.W., the Franklin Square Building, 1325 K St., N.W., and the Presidential Building at 12th St.
and Pennsylvania Ave, N.W. The Presidential Building (1968) was the first building to be constructed on
Pennsylvania Avenue with the 50-foot setback mandated by the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation.
Dreyfuss listed both the Executive and the Presidential buildings among his principal works in his entry in the 1970
American Institute of Architects Directory. Both have been refaced and no longer resemble their original design.

Dreyfuss, Edmund W. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Dreyfuss’s large body of work also includes numerous bank

buildings, large warehouses, and some suburban shopping centers.
In 1970 he designed a ten-story hotel at 415 New Jersey Avenue,
N.W. which was operating in 2010 as the Liaison Hotel. He
designed individual apartment buildings, and both low- and high-
rise apartment complexes throughout his career.

Presidential Building, 12th St. and Pa. Ave., NW

Washington Post, July 1, 1968
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Washington Post ( Historical) searched through Proquest
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 7-11-1982 Page: B6
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
1956 144
American Architects Directory 1962 179
1970 236
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 81
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Display Ad: “American Security And Trust Company’s Modernized Federal Triangle Office.” Washington Post, July 1,
1968, A8.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Edmund W. Dreyfuss Application for Registration. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
James M. Goode Architects in Washington, D.C., Collection. Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
Poole, Daniel. “Design is Only a Start.” Washington Star, March 20, 1963.
Willmann, John B. “He’s a $50-Million-a-Year Builder.” Washington Post, February 9, 1963.
Notes: The permit database does not include permits issued after 1949 and therefore the permit totals given represent
only the early years of Dreyfuss’s career.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Dreyfuss, Edmund W. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Philip N. Dwyer
Biographical Data
Birth: ca 1860 Place:
Death: ca. 1895 Place:
Family:
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1883 Latest Permit: 1894 Total Permits: 82 Total Buildings: 262
Practice Position Date
Private practice Architect 1881-1895 (?)

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, South Washington Citizens
Association, founding member of the Builders' Exchange of the District of Columbia.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Row and detached dwellings, ecclesiastical buildings
Styles and Forms: Gothic Revival, Queen Anne
DC Work Locations: Southwest, Foggy Bottom, Capitol Hill
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Rowhouses 914-918 S Street, N.W. 1886 Greater U Street Historic District
St. Joseph's Catholic Church 2nd and C Streets, N.E. 1888 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 423-429 New Jersey Ave., S.E. 1889 Capitol Hill Historic District
St. Paul's Catholic Church 15th and V Streets, N.W. 1893 NRHP DC Historic Site

Dwyer, Philip N. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Philip N. Dwyer was a builder and architect. The majority of his work was
residential, much of which consisted of row houses. Often, particularly in
the early years of his practice, he was the builder as well as architect.
However, he also designed churches and other ecclesiastical buildings
including schools for various Catholic parishes. These remain as some of
his most notable works.
Information on Dwyer’s early years and education has not been found but
he evidently was designing buildings at an early age and he appears to have
started his career owning considerable assets. The Washington Post, in
reporting in 1879 on the construction of the St. Dominic’s convent
(demolished) adjacent to St. Dominic’s Church (630 E St., S.W.), wrote
that, “The architecture is the design of Mr. Philip Dwyer, a young man not
yet twenty years of age, who has watched the erection step by step and all
without any remuneration. Indeed, the cost of the building has been
almost incredibly low, owing to much of the minor items of material being
donated and the fact of the work being closely supervised.”
By 1881, Dwyer was listed as an architect in Boyd’s city directory.
However, building permits reveal that by the time he was in his mid-
twenties he was also a developer who owned, designed and built
speculative housing, principally in southwest Washington where he St. Paul’s Church, 15th and V Sts. N.W.
resided. For example, he improved Square 541 (bounded by H and I, 3rd Ca. 1946-1952
and 4 ½ Streets, S.W.) with 17 two-story brick row houses between 1884 Historical Society of Washington, D.C. SD 092
and 1886. Later he designed and, in some cases, built additional houses for
other owners in Square 541. In 1886, he was reported to have bought 245,000 old English bricks from the walls that
had surrounded the Carroll estate, some of which he used in the construction of a row of nine houses on H Street,
S.W., between 3rd and 4 ½ Streets. The Historic Building Permits database lists Dwyer as architect on 82 permits
representing 262 buildings but the number of buildings he designed is probably higher because on a number of
permits for groups of dwellings he listed himself as owner but left the spaces for both builder and architect blank,
presumably because he was all three. Another indication of his active involvement in speculative development is an
1889 newspaper reference to his complaint to the board of assessors about tax increases on twenty-six unimproved
pieces of property he owned.
While the majority of Dwyer's residential work
was located in Southwest Washington, he also
designed both individual houses and rows of
dwellings in neighborhoods in the other three
quadrants of the city including Foggy Bottom
and Capitol Hill. Much of his work has been
erased by the 1960s urban renewal in Southwest
Washington and redevelopment of other central
sections of the city.
Throughout Dwyer's brief career, ecclesiastical
commissions from various Catholic parishes
were a significant part of his work. In 1885, St.
Dominic's appointed him to take charge of
rebuilding that church after a fire. Two of his
Rowhouses (Greater U Street), 914-918 S Street, NW most important commissions survive. He
D.C. Office of Planning, PropertyQuest, 2004 designed and supervised the construction of the

Dwyer, Philip N. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Gothic Revival style St. Joseph's Church at 2nd and E Streets, N.E., (1888-1891). It was described in contemporary
press accounts as the largest church on Capitol Hill, capable of seating 1,200. Dwyer's last work was St. Paul's Catholic
Church at 15th and V Streets, N.W., (now St. Augustine's). Begun in 1893, it was built in the Gothic Revival style with
rock-faced Vermont marble.
Dwyer was prominent enough to be listed in Washington's Elite List and he was active in his community, advocating
street improvements, protesting permits given to railroads to lay tracks through the Southwest section and raising
funds for various causes. He died in his mid-thirties but no death date was located. He was mentioned in a February
1895 article as supervising the construction of St. Paul's but no building permits were issued to him after 1894. In
1899 his name was included in list of members of the Order of Elks who had died in earlier years.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Chronicling America, Library of Congress
Obituary: Publication: none found Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 84
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
"Doings In Real Estate." Washington Post, January 3, 1891, 3.
"Elks' Memorial Services." Washington Post, November 27, 1899; 10
McKim, Randolph H.. "New Scheme Of Union." Washington Post, Feb 2, 1895, 10
"Mr. Dwyer Has Another Complaint." Washington Post, July 9, 1889, 7.
“South Washington.” Washington Critic, March 17, 1886, 4.
"St. Dominic's Church." Washington Post, Mar 14, 1885, 4.
“St. Dominic’s Convent,” Washington Post, 28 November 1879, 1.
The Elite List: A Compilation of Selected Names of Residents of Washington city, D.C., 1888. Washington, D.C.: The Elite
Publishing Company, 1888.
"Two Prospering Parishes." Washington Post, July 22, 1888, 10
Notes: The 1888 Elite List lists Philip N. Dwyer at 626 B St. S.W., and indicates that he was not married.
No entry in 1880 Census could be definitively determined to be Philip N. Dwyer. No will listed at D.C. Archives.
No entries found in business directories published by E.E. Barton (1884), or N.Y. Mercantile Illustrating Co. (1894).
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Dwyer, Philip N. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Harry L. Edwards
Biographical Data
Birth: 1/15/1902 Place: Aaron, Florida
Death:1/15/1958 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Parents, William Edmonds and Nettie Bush Edwards; wife,
Jane Tate; no children
Education
High School: McKinley Manual Training School, one year
College: George Washington University, Evening School 1921-22
Graduate School: Atelier Cunningham, 1923-24, International
Correspondence Schools Home Study, 1921-24
Apprenticeship: Office of Supervising Architect, 1921; James E.
Cooper , 1922; John W. Kearney, 1923; Robert F. Beresford, 1924; Source: Washington Post. January 17, 1958
Joseph Younger, 1927
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 455 Date Issued: 11/2/1939
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1925 Latest Permit: 1941 Total Permits: 29 Total Buildings: 121
Practice Position Date
Harvey P. Baxter Associate Architect 1928-1934
Cafritz Construction Co. Architect 1935-1945
Aubinoe, Edwards and Beery Partner 1946-1958
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 7/10/1945 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions: Washington Board of Trade awards for the Dupont Plaza Hotel, Dupont Circle,
Abingdon Apartments, Arlington, Virginia, Wire Office Building, 1001 K Street, N.W.
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings, garden apartments, residences, office buildings, hotel
Styles and Forms: Colonial, Tudor and other revival styles, Art Deco, modernistic
DC Work Locations: Connecticut and Massachusetts Avenues, American University Park, Downtown, Foggy
Bottom, Greenway, suburban Maryland, Northern Virginia
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Mass. Ave and Sheridan-
Army and Navy Apartments 2540 Massachusetts Ave. NW 1925 Kalorama Historic Districts
Hightowers 1530 16th Street, NW 1938 16th Street Historic District
The Majestic 3200 16th Street, NW 1937 NRHP DC Historic Site
Greenway Minnesota Ave, Anacostia Rd, SE 1940-41 NRHP DC Historic Site
Empire 2000 F St., NW 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site

Edwards, Harry L. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Harry L. Edwards designed stylish apartment buildings for two of Washington's leading developers in the 1920s and
1930s in Northwest Washington and, as demand for modestly-priced housing intensified in the immediate pre-World
War II years, he designed Greenway Apartments, a large low-income project in Anacostia, adapting aspects of his
earlier designs to the aesthetic of smaller-scale apartments.

Edwards was born in Florida, and spent most of his childhood in

Alabama, before coming to Washington, D.C. He graduated from
McKinley Manual Training School (later known as McKinley
Technical High School) in 1921 and from 1921 to 1924 he studied
architecture at George Washington University's Evening School,
Atelier Cunningham, and I.C.S. (International Correspondence
Schools) Home Study. In those years, he also worked as an
architectural draftsman in the Office of the Supervising Architect in
the U.S. Treasury Department and for several local architects
including James E. Cooper and Robert F. Beresford.

Army and Navy, 2540 Mass. Ave., NW In 1925 Edwards entered private practice. The first District building
Goode, Best Addresses permit on which his name appears as architect was for the five-story
Army and Navy apartment building at 2540 Massachusetts Avenue,
N.W., (1925) designed for developers Monroe and R. Bates Warren. The Georgian revival style building was built as a
cooperative and was considered the finest cooperative in Washington when it opened, according to James M. Goode
who included the building in his book, Best Addresses. In 1927 Edwards designed a Washington Star model home for the
Warrens at Leland and Elm Streets, Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Monroe Warren also employed Edwards to assist the principal
architects for the design of Tilden Gardens and the Kennedy-
Warren along Washington, D.C.’s, prestigious Connecticut
Avenue corridor.

Edwards joined Cafritz Construction Co. in 1935 and the

Washington Post noted that he was "now connected with the
architectural department...devoting special attention to the
planning of homes in Greenwich Forest." Greenwich Forest
was a development for an upper income clientele of Colonial
Revival and Tudor Revival
style houses on large
wooded lots in Bethesda
off Wilson Lane. He The Majestic, 3200 16th Street, N.W.
worked for the Cafritz Library of Congress, LC-H814-T-2391-023
Construction Company from 1935 to 1945. Initially he worked under the
Company's architect and engineer Alvin L. Aubinoe and then became its
principal architect after Aubinoe left the company in 1938.

Edwards worked with Aubinoe on Cafritz apartment buildings as well as single-

family houses. Together they designed the Majestic at 3200 16th Street, N.W. and
Hightowers at 1530 16th Street, N.W. Goode, in Best Addresses, described these
two apartment buildings as "among the finest streamlined Art Deco buildings in
the city" and Aubinoe and Edwards as "one of the most important teams of
designers of Art Deco apartment houses in Washington during the 1930s and
early 1940s." In 1936 and 1937 they together designed four other Cafritz
The Empire, 2000 F St. N W
EHT Traceries Inc., 2006
apartment buildings: 2000 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.; Park Crescent, 2901 18th
Street, N.W.; Ogden Gardens, 1445 Ogden Street, N.W.; and Otis Gardens,
Edwards, Harry L. Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

1445 Otis Place, N.W. They also designed Cafritz's own residence at 2301 Foxhall Road, N.W.

After Aubinoe left the Cafritz firm in 1938 to establish his own business, Edwards was the sole architect on a number
of Cafritz projects including the Empire apartment building, 2000 F St., N.W., (1939), and 1660 Lanier Place, N.W.,
(1940). In 1940-1941, he designed the low-income Greenway Apartments at Minnesota Avenue and Ridge Road,
S.E., successfully translating aspects of his more elaborate apartment building designs to the small-scale, modest
aesthetic of the housing project.

After World War II, Edwards left Cafritz to

join Alvin L. Aubinoe and Edgar Carroll
Beery, Jr., and practiced as Aubinoe,
Edwards and Beery until his death in 1958.
He was involved in the design of the Wire
Building at 1000 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
(1948), the National Association of Home
Builders headquarters at 1625 L St., N.W.,
and a luxury apartment building in
Leopoldville (1951) commissioned by the
Belgian Government in the Belgian Congo,
now Zaire. Greenway Apartments, ca. 1940
Library of Congress, LC-H814-T-2391-093

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 1/17/1958 Page: B2
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory 1956 152
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 86
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Harry L. Edwards Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
EHT Traceries, Inc. "Greenwich Forest Historic District." Maryland Historical Trust, Maryland Inventory of Historic
Properties, June 2009.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
"Harry L. Edwards Now with Cafritz," Washington Post, 16 June 1935, R5.

Notes: Building permits include permits listed under Harry L. Edwards and H.L. Edwards in the Brian Kraft
database.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Edwards, Harry L. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Col. Robert I. Fleming

Biographical Data
Birth: : 01/15/1842 Place: Goochland County, VA
Death: 09/11/1907 Place: Washington, DC
Family: married Bell Vedder (1886); two children
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Likely apprenticed with local carpenters Source: The Washington Post (July 27, 1905)
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1878 Latest Permit: 1900 Total Permits: 72 Total Buildings: 104
Practice Position Date
City of Richmond, VA Assistant City Engineer ca. 1865-1867
Private Practice Carpenter/Builder 1868-1884
Private Practice Architect/Builder/Real Estate 1885-1904
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the District Legislature; Colonel in the District National Guard;
Director of the Columbia Railway Company; President of the Master Builders Association; Member of the Scottish
Rite Masons and a Member of the Almas Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Institutional Buildings, Commercial Buildings, Rowhouses, Single-family Residences, Public
Buildings, Churches
Styles and Forms: Second Empire, Coronial Revival, Italianate, and Queen Ann; Fleming frequently incorporated
details from various styles into the same motif.
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Cleveland Park
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Kellogg Office Building 1418-1420 F Street, NW 1884 Demolished in 1917
The Newport 1618 21st Street, NW 1884 Dupont Circle Historic District
Anastasia Patten Residence 2122 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1885 Demolished in 1947
The National Safe Deposit and
New York and 15th Ave., NW 1888 NRHP DC Historic Site
Trust Company Building (Builder)

Fleming, Robert I. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Robert Isaac Fleming began his career as a

carpenter and builder in Washington in 1867,
but by the 1880s he was also designing
buildings. He described himself as "architect
and builder" and is credited with the design
and construction of institutional and
commercial buildings and the residences of
many prominent Washingtonians.

Fleming was born in 1842 in Goochland

County. In 1861, at age 19, he enlisted in the
Richmond Fayette Artillery and rose to
Lieutenant. At the close of the Civil War he
became Assistant City Engineer in
Richmond. Fleming moved to Washington
in 1867 and soon became one of the city's
leading builders. He worked on the first
buildings of Howard University. Within a The Patten Residence – 1940
few years he had become acquainted with Source: Massachusetts Avenue Architecture Vol. 2
Adolf Cluss, a leading architect and member
of the Board of Public Works, and was selected to build the Sumner and Seaton public schools. He also built the
British Legation on Connecticut Avenue. Two members of the syndicate that invested heavily in the development of
Dupont Circle, Curtis J. Hillyer and Senator William Morris Stewart, chose Fleming to build mansions for them in
that neighborhood in 1873. Afterwards, Hillyer engaged Fleming to both design and build speculative row houses for
him. The house at 1618 21st Street was one of eight speculative houses that Fleming built simultaneously for Hillyer
in 1884. Fleming also built commercial buildings and speculative housing for Henry A. Willard, another prominent
investor in Washington real estate.

In 1885, Fleming was commissioned by

millionaire Anastasia Patten to build a
house at 2122 Massachusetts Avenue
which helped to establish his reputation as
an architect. In the course of his career
he built, or designed and built, residences
for a number of Senators,
Representatives, judges, and high military
officials. Fleming's work comprised some
of the most expensive houses built in
Washington in the 1870s and 1880s. His
public and commercial buildings included:
the Church of the Covenant; All Souls'
Church (14th and L Streets, NW); The
Scottish Rite Hall (3rd and D Streets,
NW); the Kellogg Office Building (1418-
1420 F Street, NW); and the National Safe
Deposit and Trust Company's Building
(now the National Savings and Trust
National Safe Deposit and Trust Company, NY Ave. and 15th St., NW Company at 15th and New York Avenue,
Fleming was builder, James Windrim was architect designed by J.H. Windrim). He acted as
Ctankcycles, August 2, 2007, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctankcycles/1003937778/ real estate agent for former Vice-
Fleming, Robert I. Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

President Levi P. Morton (under Grover Cleveland 1889-1893) for whom he built a residence at 15th and Rhode
Island Avenue and an addition to the Shoreham Hotel at its 15th and H Street N.W. location. Fleming also invested in
real estate and developed and built speculative housing in the Dupont Circle area, some of which he retained as rental
property. Most of the residences Fleming built were urban, but he built two large suburban frame houses in
Cleveland Park, at 3141 and 3155 Highland Place.

Fleming was active in numerous organizations. He was elected to the District legislature in 1872 under the territorial
government. He entered the District National Guard, rising to the rank of colonel. He was president of the Master
Builders Association and was known as a proponent of better conditions for labor, including higher wages and shorter
hours, and encouraged organized labor.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: Washington Star Date: 9/11/1907 Page: 1
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 97
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital 1908-09 157
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Jennings, J. L. Sibley, Jr., Sue A. Kohler, and Jeffrey R. Carson, Massachusetts Avenue Architecture, Volume 2. Washington,
D.C.: The Commission of Fine Arts, 1975.
Mcloud, Melissa. Craftsmen and Entrepreneurs: Builders in late 19th Century Washington D.C. Dissertation to the Graduate
School of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University, 1988.
Proctor, John Clagett, ed. Washington Past and Present, A History. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company,
1930.
Robert Isaac Fleming Papers, 1856-1906. Historical Society of Washington, DC. MS 531.
Slauson, Allan B., ed. A History of the City of Washington, Its Men and Institutions. Washington, D.C.: The Washington
Post, 1903.
Traceries, 1618 21st Street. Prepared for the Phillips Collection, 1999.
Traceries, “Historic Context of Downtown Survey Area,” 920-930 F Street, NW Program of Mitigation, June 1990.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Fleming, Robert I. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Owen H. (Henry) Fowler

Biographical Data
Birth: 8/20/1874 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 1/3/1959 Place: Washington, DC

Family: wife: Elizabeth M.; 2 children: Elizabeth L. and Granville L.

Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School: George Washington University (law degree, 1898)

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1907 Latest Permit: 1923 Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1907
Practice Position Date
U.S. Patent Office? Patent Attorney 1900 (Census)
Private law practice (O’Farrell, Fowler &
Attorney, Government practice 1910 (Census)
O’Farrell)
Private law practice Attorney 1920 (Census)
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Kappa Sigma fraternity, Alpha Eta chapter; Incorporator of The American
Marble Company, Inc. (Washington, DC; January 1904 listing); Secretary of the North Chesapeake Beach Land &
Improvements Company (Washington, DC, 1909 Polk’s Directory.)
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, Grocery Stores, Social Hall, Dance Pavilion
Styles and Forms: Vernacular forms with Italianate, Colonial Revival & Craftsman influences
DC Work Locations: Deanwood, Brookland
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwellings 4600-4700 Kane Place NE 1907-1913 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwellings 4407-4411 Sheriff Road NE 1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 4300 Jay Street NE 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwellings 910-922 45th Place NE 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 4304 Jay Street NE 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site

Page 1 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Store 3301 12th Street NE 1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions
An attorney by training and profession, Owen H. Fowler played an active role in real estate speculation and residential
development in the Deanwood neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C. A descendant of one of the early 19th-
century owners of a Deanwood-area farm, Fowler made a living as a patent attorney and acted as builder and architect
for many speculative houses in the neighborhood. During the 1910s, Fowler frequently collaborated with skilled
craftsmen, builders, and other real estate developers, including Thomas H. Stokes, a prolific African-American
builder, and with white real estate investor, John L. Tepper. Between 1907 and 1923, Fowler completed over 120
buildings, mainly modest single-family dwellings in the
Deanwood neighborhood.

Born in 1874 in Washington, D.C., Fowler completed

his legal training at George Washington University in
1898. That year, he became a partner O’Farrell, Fowler
& O’Farrell, which specialized in patent law. He
continued to practice law through the 1910s and 1920s.
During World War I, he served as a captain in the U.S.
Army Quartermaster Corps.

In 1907, Fowler began to design and construct single-

family homes scattered throughout Deanwood. His
houses are very modest, exclusively frame buildings
with little-to-no architectural ornamentation. Fowler 4411 Sheriff Road NE; 1910
made use of standard, front-gable and hipped-roof District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
vernacular house types. He designed and built houses
for individuals and real estate speculators. Most of his houses cost between $300 and $1,000 to construct. They were
purchased mainly by the skilled laborers, craftsmen, and federal employees that made up the majority of Deanwood’s
growing population.

Good examples of Fowler’s modest, vernacular frame houses remain scattered throughout the Deanwood
neighborhood. Between 1907 and 1913, he subdivided and built a variety of small houses on Kane Place, NE (Square
5097). The all-frame houses range from what appear to be two or three-room, front-gable cottages to narrow, two-
story, detached row house-style houses with front gable or shed roofs. Fowler generally incorporated front porches in
his houses; simple Craftsman-style elements began to
appear on his buildings between 1910 and 1920.

Fowler designed several neighborhood grocery stores

(some paired with residences), a dance hall, and a social
hall for the Ancient United Order of the Sons &
Daughters of Moses, Mount Carmel Lodge No. 42 at
4407 Lee Street, NE (1909; razed 1950s); however,
none survive. Fowler’s only surviving non-frame
building is also his only building located outside of
Deanwood; it stands at the corner of 12th Street and
Kearney Street in the Brookland neighborhood in
Northeast D.C. The one-story, brick-and-tile structure
was built in 1922 for owner Julius E. Albrecht.
4701 Kane Place NE; 1911
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

In addition to his Deanwood development activities,

Fowler pursued other business opportunities. In 1904,
he and other partners founded the American Marble
Company, Inc. of Washington, D.C.; in 1909, he was an
officer of the North Chesapeake Beach Land and
Improvement Company that successfully developed the
resort community now known as North Beach in
Calvert County, Maryland.

Fowler died in January 1959. He is buried at Arlington

National Cemetery.

4304 Jay Street NE; 1912

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
.

3301 12th Street NE; 1922

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory—not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Not found Date: Page:
Other Sources:
Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia. 1897, 1898-1899.
Far East Community Services, Inc. “Final Report of Historical and Building Investigation of the Northeast
Washington, D.C. Community of Deanwood, Phase I.” September 30, 1987. On file at the D.C. Historic

Page 3 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Preservation Office, D.C. Office of Planning.

Other Sources (Cont.)

Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.

Longstreth, Richard, ed. Housing Washington. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2010.
National Cemetery Administration. U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca. 1775-2006 [database online] (via Ancestry.com).
Overbeck, Ruth Ann. “Final Report of Historical and Building Investigation of the Northeast Washington, D.C.
Community of Deanwood, Phase 1”, September 30, 1987.
Overbeck, Ruth Ann and Kia Chatmon, “Deanwood,” in Washington At Home, Kathryn Schneider Smith, ed.
Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010.
Smith, Kathryn Schneider, ed. Washington at Home. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1900, 1910, 1920. District of Columbia.
U.S. Veterans Gravesites. Ancestry.com.

Notes:
The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.
Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Page 4 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

John Fraser
Biographical Data
Birth:10/1825 Place: Scotland
Death: 12/26/1906 Place: Riverton, NJ
Family: wife: Sophia; son: Archibald A.; daughters: Sophia, Agnes,
Julia
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Harris & Ewing portrait of John Fraser, architect, ca.
Apprenticeship: 1905. (Library of Congress, LC-H25-35157-E).

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1873 Latest Permit: 1889 Total Permits: 27 Total Buildings: 39
Practice Position Date
John Fraser Independent practice (Philadelphia) 1850s
Fraser & Palles Partner 1856-ca. 1860
John Fraser Independent practice (Philadelphia) ca. 1860-1867
Fraser, Furness, & Hewitt, Philadelphia, PA Architect 1867-1871
John Fraser, Architects, Civil Engineers &
Principal 1872-1888
Surveyors (Philadelphia & Washington, DC)
U.S. Department of the Treasury Acting Supervisory Architect ca. 1878-1879?
John Fraser & Son (Philadelphia &
Principal 1888-1904
Washington DC)
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: March 1869 Fellow of the AIA: 1869
Other Societies or Memberships: Founding member of Philadelphia Chapter of the AIA (1869); American Institute
of Architects; T-Square Club (Philadelphia); Franklin Institute; St. Andrews Society.
Awards or Commissions: 1854 – Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA; 1866-1867—War Department Building,
Washington, DC; 1867—Masonic Temple, Philadelphia, PA; 1868 Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA;
1868—Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, Philadelphia, PA; 1873—Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Buildings
Building Types: Retail Stores, Social Club, Churches & Synagogues, Monuments, Dwellings, Fire Houses, Row
houses
Styles and Forms: Second Empire, Italianate
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Scott Circle, Downtown, Logan Circle

Fraser, John Page 1 of 5

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Notable Buildings Location Date Status

Burnett, Sexton and Swearingen
Philadelphia, PA 1854 NRHP DC Historic Site
Store
Union League Building S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 1865 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rodef-Shalom Synagogue Philadelphia 1869 Demolished
Competition drawings for
Washington, DC 1873-74 Not built.
Library of Congress
Connecticut Avenue and N
First British Legation 1872-1874 Demolished in 1931.
Street NW (NW corner)
Citizens Building Company NRHP DC Historic Site
914-926 French Street NW 1877
Row houses Greater U Street Historic District
Truck Company No. 1, D.C. East side of N. Capitol St. NE
Fire Department (attributed to betw. C St. & Constitution 1878 Demolished ca. 1916.
Fraser) Avenue
Truck Company No. 2, D.C.
New Hampshire Avenue & M
Fire Department (attributed to 1878 Demolished ca. 1960.
Street NW
Fraser)
2000 Massachusetts Ave.nue
James E. Blaine Mansion 1881-1882 NRHP DC Historic Site
N.W.
Kann’s Department Store, first 701 Market Space between 7th
1884 Burned 1979.
building (Saks & Co. building?) & 8th Streets NW
Significance and Contributions
Born in 1825 in Scotland, architect John Fraser immigrated to the United States at the age of nineteen, landing in
Philadelphia in 1845. His career spanned nearly 50 years and included important buildings in both Philadelphia and
Washington, D.C. It is not known where he trained, but by the 1850s, he was practicing independently as an architect
in Philadelphia. Fraser’s early work in Philadelphia includes two commercial buildings and a major remodeling of the
important Pine Street Presbyterian Church (1857). Beginning in 1856, Fraser formed a short-lived partnership with
civil engineer, Andrew Palles. After returning to independent practice in 1861, Fraser received one of his most
significant commissions—the Union League Building on Philadelphia’s South Broad Street (1862-1865). Executed in
a grand Second Empire style, it was an important
example of the newly popular style in the city.

Fraser was an influential and well-connected

practitioner. In 1869, he was among the six prominent
Philadelphia architects who founded the city’s chapter
of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Two of
the other founders were Fraser’s partners, one a former
apprentice, Frank Furness. Furness went on to develop
a distinctly robust, American architectural style and
practice in Philadelphia during the last three decades of
the 19th century; he is recognized as a major American
architect of the Victorian era whose designs influenced
the work of later, early modern architects including 19th century image of Union League Building, 140 S.
Chicago’s Louis Sullivan. In 1867, after working for Broad St., Philadelphia, PA (John Fraser, 1865)
Richard Morris Hunt in New York, Furness returned to Historic American Buildings Survey
Philadelphia and joined with his former instructor, (http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/PA0938/)
Fraser, and another young Philadelphia architect,
George Hewitt, to form the firm of Fraser, Furness, & Hewitt. One of the firm’s early commissions, the Rodef-

Fraser, John Page 2 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

Shalom Synagogue in Philadelphia (1869) helped establish the tradition of brightly-colored, Saracenic-styled
synagogues in eastern U.S. cities.

Circa 1870, Fraser began consulting with the federal government in Washington, D.C. An 1870 letter from Thomas
U. Walter, the former Architect of the Capitol, indicates that Fraser worked with the federal Committee on Public
Buildings & Grounds on the design of a jail in Washington, D.C. By 1872, Fraser had established an office in
Washington, D.C., while retaining his Philadelphia office. In addition to securing several important commissions in
D.C., Fraser pursued two architectural competitions for public commissions, the first of which was an 1873 design
competition for the Library of Congress. Fraser’s competition drawings are preserved at the Library of Congress,
Prints & Photographs Division (ADE – UNIT 2424). The second was an 1879 submission for a redesign of the
unfinished Washington Monument.

During the 1870s, Fraser won several important

commissions in this city. In addition to his designs for
the rectory (1875) for the Benjamin Henry Latrobe-
designed St. John’s Episcopal Church on Lafayette
Square across from the White House, and the now-
demolished British Legation on Connecticut Avenue
near Dupont Circle (1872), by 1875, Fraser had
designed what The National Republican newspaper
described as “decidedly the most beautiful buildings in
the District” (11 February 1875). These included
residences for local residents identified by the
newspaper as Mr. Lowrie, Mr. Pollock, and Walter S.
Cox. Vernon Row on Pennsylvania Avenue was also 916 French Street NW (1877)
listed among his important buildings. In 1877, Fraser District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
designed the three-story, brick, Second Empire-style
residence at 1433 Q Street NW for local real estate mogul, developer of the Eckington neighborhood, and, later, D.C.
Commissioner, Col. George H. Truesdell (1842-1921). That same year, Fraser also designed an elaborate, Second
Empire-style, brick residence for scientist and U.S. Patent Office examiner H.H. Bates at 1700 13th Street NW. In
1878, Fraser designed a corner row house located at the corner of 13th Street and K Street NW for businessman,
politician, and long-time clerk and business manager of the The National Republican newspaper Lewis Clephane (permit
#13, 10/20/1876). Fraser’s perspective drawing of the Clephane House was published in the September 1878 issue of
The American Architect and Building News (see image below). The house has since been demolished.

Circa 1878, Fraser’s connections with federal officials

led to his appointment to the position of
Superintendent of Construction for the new building
designed to house the Bureau of Engraving & Printing
(now known as the Auditor’s Building at Independence
Avenue & 14th Street SW, listed in the National Register
in 1978) for the Supervising Architect of the Treasury’s
office. While working as Superintendent of
Construction, Fraser’s boss, Supervising Architect of
the Treasury, James G. Hill, was suspended while being
investigated for fraud. During Hill’s suspension, Fraser
was appointed “Acting Supervising Architect of the
Treasury,” a position he held from December 1878 to
May 1879. Hill was reinstated, and Fraser left; however,
in 1883, Fraser’s name appeared on a list of men vying
British Legation near Dupont Circle (Connecticut & N to succeed James G. Hill as Supervising Architect of the
Streets NW), photo ca. 1920 (Built 1872-1874). Treasury (The National Republican, 25 September 1883).
Library of Congress LC-DIG-npcc-00219 The position eventually went to another architect.

Fraser, John Page 3 of 5

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Fraser continued to practice in both Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. through the 1880s. Three important
residential commissions that Fraser completed during the decade were the Italianate villa-style C.B. Tanner Mansion at
1501 16th Street NW (1881), the James G. Blaine Mansion at 2000 Massachusetts Avenue NW (1881-1882), and a
residence for Nebraska Senator Charles Van Wyck (served 1881-1887) at 1800 Massachusetts Avenue NW. The
Blaine Mansion at DuPont Circle is probably the best known of Fraser’s Washington, D.C. designs. Built for then
U.S. Secretary of State and three-time Republican presidential candidate, James G. Blaine, the house was later home to
George Westinghouse, founder of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The building is an exuberant example of
the High Victorian Second Empire Style. According to Frank Furness’ biographer, the portico decorations were
copied from Furness’ famous Guarantee Trust & Deposit building in Philadelphia (1872-1875).

In addition to his residential commissions, Fraser’s practice included commercial and public work. In 1884, Fraser
designed a five-story, brick store for Saks & Company (predecessor company of Saks Fifth Avenue) in the heart of
Washington’s downtown retail district at 7th Street and Market Space NW. The eclectic Romanesque-style building at
7th & Market Space was the birthplace of the famous Saks Fifth Avenue chain; in 1932, the building was incorporated
into Kann’s Department Store which burned and was demolished in 1979.

Two municipal buildings also have been attributed to John Fraser. They were the D.C. Fire Department’s Truck
Company No. 1 (near Union Station on North Capitol Street NE) and Truck Company No. 2 (at New Hampshire
Avenue and M Street NW). Erected between 1878 and 1879, their stylistic connections to Frank Furness’
contemporary work may account for historian James M. Goode’s attribution to Fraser who had worked closely with
Furness. They shared architectural similarities, including their relatively planar facades, and simplified, almost modern
Romanesque arches and other adornment. Both
buildings were razed in the 20th century.

In 1888, Fraser brought his son, Archibald Fraser, into

his practice and renamed it John Fraser & Son. The
firm maintained offices in Washington until 1890; after
that, it appears that John Fraser returned to
Philadelphia. Records suggest that Archibald Fraser
may have predeceased his father in 1895. Their firm,
however, stayed in business in Philadelphia until 1904,
when Fraser retired to his home in Riverton, New
Jersey. He died in 1906.

Residence of L. Clephane, Esq., Washington, DC (13th &

K Streets NW; Erected 1877)
Illustration from The American Architect and Building News, 7
September 1878, Pl. 141.

Fraser, John Page 4 of 5

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – “House of L.
Clephane, Esq., Washington, D.C.,” American Architect and Building 1878 Sept 7/v.4 85
News
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 102, 149
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects –not in it
Obituary Publication: Not found Date: Page:
Other Sources:
Clephane, Walter C. “Lewis Clephane: A Pioneer Washington Republican,” Records of the Columbia Historical Society
(Washington, DC: Vol. 21, 1918), pp. 263-277.
Dermin, Richard. John Fraser: Nineteenth Century Architect, Thesis prepared under James O’Gorman, University of
Pennsylvania, 1971.
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Jennings, J.L. Sibley, Jr., Sue A. Kohler, and Jeffrey R. Carson. Massachusetts Avenue Architecture, Volume II.
Washington, D.C.: The Commission of Fine Arts, 1975. (See pp. 119-121.)
Lee, Antoinette J. Architects to the Nation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
Scott, Pamela and Antoinette J. Lee. Buildings of the District of Columbia. New York: Oxford University Press,
1993.
Smith, Kathryn Schneider, ed. Washington at Home. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010.
Thomas, George E., Jeffrey A. Cohen, and Michael J. Lewis. Frank Furness: The Complete Works (Revised edition). New
York: Princeton Architectural press, 1996.
www.americanbuildings.org – American Architects and Buildings; A Project Supported by The William Penn
Foundation. [online database.]
Notes: Fraser’s drawings for the Library of Congress are located in the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs
Division.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.
Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Fraser, John Page 5 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

Emil S. (Sophus) Friedrich

Biographical Data
Birth: 1828 Place: Dankerode, Saxony, Prussia
Death: 1886 Place: Washington, DC

Family: wife: Caroline Maria A. Gebhardt (married 1852); 5 children

Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Plaque from Friedrich’s Burial Monument at Prospect
Apprenticeship: Hill Cemetery, Washington, DC
Photo courtesy of Ron Roberson & www.findagrave.com.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1877 Latest Permit: 1885 Total Permits: 27 Total Buildings: 41
Practice Position Date
Thomas U. Walter Draftsman, U.S. Capitol building extension 1855- ca.1860
Washington Navy Yard, Constructing
Draftsman 1868-1869, 1873-1874
Engineers Office
Emil S. Friedrich Architect 1875-1886
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Concordia German Evangelical Church, 20th & G Street, NW
(Foggy Bottom); stockholder in the German-American National Bank (1880)
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Educational, Religious, Dwellings, Dwellings/Stores
Styles and Forms: Second Empire, Italianate

DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Capitol Hill, Shaw, Logan Circle, Sixteenth Street, Anacostia
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Rowhouses 321-323 E. Capitol Street SE 1870s NRHP DC Historic Site
Old Primary Dept. and College NRHP DC Historic Site
Gallaudet University 1862-66
Hall (rear wing) Gallaudet College Historic
Capitol Hill Presbyterian 201 4th Street, SE (4th & NRHP DC Historic Site
1869-1872
Church Independence Ave., SE) Capitol Hill Historic District
House for Rear Adm. John H.
1721 Rhode Island Avenue NW 1877 Demolished.
Upshur, U.S. Navy
Dwelling & Milk Dairy for Mrs.
403 East Capitol Street SE 1882 NRHP DC Historic Site
Elisabeth Wagener

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 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Rowhouse for D. J. Partello 5 Logan Circle 1883 NRHP DC Historic Site
House for Theodore D. Wilson,
1631 16th Street NW 1883 NRHP DC Historic Site
U.S. Navy
Significance and Contributions
Born in Dankerode Prussia (now Germany) in 1828, Emil Sophus Friedrich arrived in Washington, D.C. in
1851 where he practiced architecture (and possibly engineering) until his death in 1886. Friedrich’s notable
works include several campus buildings that he designed in the 1860s for Gallaudet University. Little is
known about his early life and training. In 1852, Friedrich married Caroline Maria A. Gebhardt at Concordia
Lutheran Church in Foggy Bottom (1920 G Street, NW). The couple had five children before 1860, but
only two sons survived (Leon and Albert).

In 1855, Friedrich took a position as a draftsman

for the extension of the U.S. Capitol building under
Architect of the Capitol, Thomas U. Walter. By
1860, he was advertising his services as an architect
in the city directories. Between 1860 and 1870,
Friedrich may have designed a pair of three-story,
brick row houses on East Capitol Street, where he
lived and worked through much of his career (321-
323 East Capitol Street, SE). The paired row
houses at 321-323 East Capitol Street are late
examples of the Greek Revival style.
321-323 East Capitol Street SE; 1860s
Among Friedrich’s most important commissions District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
were his works for the fledgling Gallaudet College
(originally the Columbia Institution for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind). In 1862, Friedrich designed a
substantial addition to Gallaudet College’s first academic building known as Primary Hall or the Primary
Department Building. The addition was a three-
story, brick, Italianate-style building set atop a
raised foundation and featuring a square corner
tower and a double-height “loggia” across the
front. The building was demolished in 1916 when
the present Fowler Hall was erected. Friedrich
completed several other buildings for Gallaudet
during the 1860s. In 1863-1864 he designed and
refined plans for a new Main campus building.
Only the east wing of his planned Main Building
was erected (1865-66); it remains standing as a rear
wing of College Hall, which was designed and built
by architect Frederick C. Withers between 1874
and 1877. During the institution’s early years,
Emil Friedrich. Proposed design for Gallaudet College Friedrich also built a carriage house, a shop, and a
Main Building, 1864. Only the east wing was built. gasworks on Gallaudet’s campus.
Original at Gallaudet University Archives.
During the late 1860s and early 1870s, Friedrich
worked for the Constructing Engineers Office at the Washington Navy Yard. [No information on his dates

Friedrich, Emil S. Page 2 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

of employment or works there.]

By 1875, Friedrich had begun his own architectural

practice. Although he occasionally worked with
other architects, including Paul J. Pelz, Friedrich
executed most commissions by himself. The vast
majority of his private work was residential design.
In the 1870s and 1880s, he completed several large
residences for prominent naval officers, including a
three-story, red brick, Italianate-style residence for
the Chief Constructor of the U.S. Navy, Theodore
D. Wilson (1631 16th Street NW, 1883). In 1883,
he designed a three-story, brick row house for
diplomat and noted violin collector, Dwight J.
Main Building, Gallaudet College (now East Wing,
Partello. Located at 5 Logan Circle NW, this was a College Hall). Photo: 1866. Designed by Emil Friedrich,
fashionable, Italianate brick house at a prominent 1864. Built 1865-1866. Incorporated as rear “ell” of
residential address. Frederick Clarke Withers’ Gothic Revival College Hall,
1874-1877.
Original at Gallaudet University Archives.

During the 1880s, Friedrich worked for real estate

speculators and also speculated for himself. In 1880, he
erected three houses on P Street in Logan Circle; he sold or
leased the two- and three-story brick dwellings for
additional income (1303-1305 P Street, NW). The group of
three dwellings is simple in character; they feature segmental
arched brick lintels with keystones and bracketed cornices.
His work for real estate developers included a row of four,
two-story, brick row houses located on Capitol Hill at 707-
713 S Street SE. The row repeats the same unit design,
which consists of an entry bay next to a full-height,
projecting window bay that terminates in a shallow-pitched
pyramidal tower-like roof. Decorative brickwork and
deeply, stepped brick cornices adorn each unit. Designed
Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, 201 4th Street for Stancisi & Schneider, the buildings were completed in
SE, 1869-1872.
1884.
Photo courtesy of Steven Ainsworth, 2008 (PBase.com)

Friedrich designed one church, the Anacostia Baptist Church at 13th and W Streets in Southeast. Designed
in 1884, the church was a 42-foot by 55-foot, one-story, frame building set atop a brick foundation. Circa
1960, the congregation remodeled and expanded the building; it is now clad in brick, and most of its original
features are obscured.

Friedrich, Emil S. Page 3 of 5

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Friedrich appears to have been connected in the

local German-American community in
Washington, D.C. He was a member of the first
German congregation established in the city and a
stockholder in the German American National
Bank. One contemporary source indicates that he
collaborated with German-American architect Paul
J. Pelz. Friedrich died at his home on East Capitol
Street SE in 1886. He is buried at Prospect Hill
Cemetery, a historic German-American cemetery
located on North Capitol Street in Northeast
Washington, D.C.

707-713 D Street SE; 1884

Photo courtesy of Google Maps; 2010

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com; Gallaudet University Library and Archives – Photos, Vertical File material, Archival/Manuscript
material.
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 104
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects –not in it
Obituary Publication: Not found Date: Page:
Other Sources:
Brown, Glenn. History of the United States Capitol, 1903 (reprint 1970), pp. 203-204.
Brown, T. Robins and Patrick Andrus. “Gallaudet College Historic District” National Register of Historic Places
Nomination Form. National Park Service, June 1974.
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003 (p. 6).
Kowsky, Francis R. “College Hall at Gallaudet College,” Records of the Columbia Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
Fiftieth Volume (1980), pp. 279-289.
Prospect Hill Cemetery (Washington, DC). “Interesting People at Prospect Hill Cemetery” Available online at
www.prospecthillcemetery.org/Biographies.html.
Scott, Pamela and Antoinette J. Lee. Buildings of the District of Columbia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

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Notes: The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project
phase; only online records from the library were consulted.
Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Friedrich, Emil S. Page 5 of 5

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Julius Germuiller
Biographical Data
Birth: 03/18/1859 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 01/10/1929 Place: Washington, DC
No Photograph Available
Family:
Education
High School: St. Mary’s Catholic School
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1880 Latest Permit: 1928 Total Permits: 289 Total Buildings: 583
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Clerk 1876
Private Practice Draftsman 1877
Private Practice Architect 1879-1917
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, Churches, Commercial Buildings
Styles and Forms: Victorian Styles
DC Work Locations: Georgetown, Mount Pleasant, Bloomingdale, Brightwood Park, Capitol Hill, Downtown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
616 I Street, NW 1884 NRHP DC Historic Site
Germuiller Row 748 3rd St./300-302 H St., NW 1888-1891 NRHP DC Historic Site
Grogan Furniture Store 819-821 7th Street, NW 1891 NRHP DC Historic Site
800 7th Street, NW 1894 NRHP DC Historic Site

Germuiller, Julius Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Architect Julius Germuiller was born in Washington, D.C., March 18, 1859
and died here January 10, 1929. At the time of his death, he was a resident of
the Little Sisters of the Poor Home on H Street NE. His father, Francis
Germuiller, who operated a saddlery and harness business at 741 7th Street
NW, immigrated to Washington from Bavaria in 1850. The Germuiller family
is interred at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Washington, DC.

It is believed that Julius Germuiller received some of his early education at St.
Mary's Catholic School; however, that fact has not yet been confirmed.
Germuiller was first listed as an architect in the Washington City Directory of
1879, when he would have been only twenty years of age. He continued to
practice his profession until the mid 1920's. His various offices, located at 513
7th Street, NW, 615 E Street, NW, 456 Louisiana Avenue, NW and 402 6th
Street, NW, have all been demolished.

Germuiller's practice was largely confined to residential structures. Between

1879 and 1923, he designed over 300 houses which were built in every
quadrant of Washington city and also in Georgetown, Mount Pleasant, Grogan’s Furniture Store
Bloomingdale and Brightwood Park, both for individual owners and for 8197th St., NW
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2000
speculators. Chief among the latter were builder Diller B. Groff and real estate
man A. Behrends. Among his individual clients were John Sherman, Gen. A. D. Hazen, Philip Larner and William
Holmead.

Most of the Germuiller-designed structures in the near northwest have been demolished as have the buildings in
southwest. The largest group of Germuiller buildings extant is on Capitol Hill, primarily in the near northeast. A few
remain also in Georgetown and near Dupont, Logan and Washington Circles. Many of the Brightwood Park and
Bloomingdale houses are also extant. However, a small church which he designed in Brightwood Park was demolished
about 1950. A very few small commercial buildings are still to be found along D Street NW and H Street NE. A small
department store at the southeast
corner of 8th and I Streets SE also
remains as does a small apartment
house at 462 K Street NW. The home
which Germuiller designed for his
father at 611 I Street NW and his own
home at 122 Florida Avenue NW both
have been demolished.

Julius Germuiller's buildings are

distinguished by the use of ornamental
details executed in molded brick and
carved stone. He often used slate roofs.
Germuiller-designed buildings were
usually brick, although a number were
constructed of a combination of stone
and brick. The façade of one house on
Germuiller Row, 300-302 H St., 748 3rd St., NW N Street in Georgetown is built entirely
Photo by Eve Barsoum, DC SHPO, 1994 of stone. Several houses in Brightwood
Park were frame. An unusual feature of
some of his semidetached houses in Brightwood Park is the use of the hipped roof, a roof style seldom seen in
Washington architecture after the Civil War. Germuiller had considerable success in designing buildings for unusually
Germuiller, Julius Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

shaped corner lots, using to best advantage the corner tower, sometimes round and sometime octagonal. He was one
of the first architects to use the oriel on Washington row houses.

Most of the speculative houses Germuiller designed for Diller Groff were modest two- or three-story bayfronted row
houses. Even these have better than average architectural details. Probably the finest row of extant houses done for
Groff is located on the south side of the 600 block of Maryland Avenue NE.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 109
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Callcott, Stephen. Germuiller Row National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Washington, DC: DC SHPO, 1994.
Kreinheder, Hazel B. “Julius Germuiller.” Prepared for Traceries, 1979.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Germuiller, Julius Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Lewis Wentworth Giles, Sr.

Biographical Data
Birth:11/6/1894 Place: Amelia County, Va.
Death: 5/28/1974 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Married Gladys Wheatley in 1920, two sons: Julian W. Giles
and Lewis Wentworth Giles, Jr.
Education
High School: Armstrong Technical High School, Washington, D.C.
College: University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Wilson, African American Architects
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 747 Date Issued: 3/20/1951
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1921 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 817 Total Buildings: 1075
Practice Position Date
I. T. Hatton Draftsman/Architect 1918-1921
Lewis W. Giles Architect 1921-1974

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, low-rise apartment buildings, churches
Styles and Forms: Georgian, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Principally Northeast and Southeast, including Brookland, Capitol Hill, Capitol View,
Deanwood, Eastland Gardens, and also Northwest
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Alabama Courts 741, 747 Alabama Ave, S.E. 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Giles residence 4428 Hunt Place, N.E. 1929 NRHP DC Historic Site
Hirsch Apartments 1390 Nicolson ST. N.W. 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1401 Franklin St. N.E 1934 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 2901 14th St. N.E. 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 2804 McKinley St. N.W. 1935 NRHP DC Historic Site

Giles, Lewis W. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Lewis Wentworth Giles attended Armstrong

Technical High School in Washington, D.C.,
after his family moved from Amelia County,
Virginia. His father was one of the District of
Columbia's first African-American policemen.
Giles entered the University of Illinois in 1914
which was known for accepting African-
Americans in its architectural program. He
was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1917 at the
end of his junior year. He served in France in
the all-black 92nd Buffalo Division, 349th Field
Artillery.

When he returned to Washington, D.C., in

1918, Giles became a draftsman for Isaiah T.
Hatton (1883-1921). Hatton was the architect
of the Southern Aid/Dunbar Theater building Hirsch Apartments, 1390 Nicholson St., NW
at 1901-1903 7th Street, N.W., (1919) and Photo from Google Maps, 2010
Giles was the chief draftsman for the project.
Hatton maintained an office in the True Reformer Building at 1200 U Street, N.W. After Hatton’s sudden death in
1921, Giles continued to practice on his own at an office in the True Reformer Building until 1929 when he moved
his office to his home at 4428 Hunt Place, N.E.

Giles designed dwellings in all quadrants of Washington, D.C., including numerous two-story apartment buildings.
He designed 741 and 747 Alabama Avenue, S.E., as part of Alabama Courts in 1936. When Giles submitted a
registration application to the District of Columbia under a 1950 law, the examples of his work that he chose to list
included dwellings 1218 and 1224 Kearny Street, N.E., (1935): dwellings at 1401 and 1409 Franklin St., N.E., (1934,
1938); dwellings at 2901 and 2930 14th St., N.E.,
(1939, 1940), the Hirsch Apartments at 1390
Nicolson St., N.W., (1940); and his own residence
at 4428 Hunt Place, N.E., (1929). He designed a
total of forty five residences for Eastland Gardens.
He also designed several churches including Rock
Creek Baptist Church, 4201 8th St. N.W., and New
Mount Olive Baptist Church, 58th St. and Grant
Ave., N.E., and several church additions.

For ten years, 1953-1963, Giles worked in

partnership with his son, Lewis Wentworth Giles,
Jr., (b. 1923). He practiced until his death at age 79
following an injury sustained while inspecting a
building.
New Mount Olive Baptist Church, 58th St. and Grant Ave., NE
Historical Society of Washington, D.C., SD 186

Giles, Lewis W. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Office of Public Records, D.C. Archives, Architect Registrations
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 05/29/1974 Page: B6
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 109-110
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Capitol Hill Restoration Society, “Some Capitol Hill Architects and Builders.”
http://www.chrs.org/Pages/2_Issues2_BTB/2_Issues_BTB4.html, accessed 5/10/1010.
Cultural Tourism D.C. “A Self Reliant People: Greater Deanwood Heritage Trail,”
Cultural Tourism D.C. “Lift Every Voice: Georgia Ave./Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail.”
Deanwood History Committee. Washington, D.C.’s Deanwood. Images of America. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing,
2008.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Lewis Wentworth Giles Application for Registration.
District of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
“Eastland Gardens: African American Architects &Builders, 1928-1955.”
http://eastlandgardensdc.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Eastland_11x17_Brochure_FINAL_Oct7.331
63953.pdf Accessed 5/10/2010
Wilson, Dreck Spurlock. African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary (1865-1945). New York: Routledge, 2004
Notes: The permit database does not include permits issued after 1949 and therefore does not include the buildings
Giles designed in the last twenty-five years of his practice.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Giles, Lewis W. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Albert Goenner
Biographical Data
Birth: 10/6/1860 Place: Germany
Death: 1918 Place:
Family: Married ca. 1903, Bertha; two daughters, Marguerite, Icis
Education
High School:
College: Technical schools in Stuttgart, Wurttemberg, Germany and
Zurich, Switzerland
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Slauson, History of Washington
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1894 Latest Permit: 1913 Total Permits: 87 Total Buildings: 141
Practice Position Date
Unknown firms, New York City Architect 1880-1888
A. Goenner & Co., architects Principal 1890-1891
Schulze & Goenner Partner 1891-1895
1895-1900
Albert Goenner (except, see below) Principal
1902-1918
Autenrieth & Goenner Partner 1900-1902
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Librarian, Technical Society, Washington Saengerbund
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Classical revival styles, Gothic, eclectic European revival styles
Styles and Forms: Single family dwellings, apartment houses, stores, office buildings, warehouses, church
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Foggy Bottom, Capitol Hill
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Concordia Church 1920 G St. N.W. 1891 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 708 7th St. N.W. 1893 Downtown Historic District
Rowhouses 112-162 Duddington Place, S.E. 1895-1896 Capitol Hill Historic District
Apartment building 1415 Chapin St. N.W, 1900 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1218 16th St. N.W. 1907 Sixteenth Historic District
Oriental Building Association 600 F St.., N.W. 1909 NRHP DC Historic Site

Goenner, Albert Page 1 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Albert Goenner (1860-1918) was born in Germany in 1860 and educated at technical schools at Stuttgart,
Wurttemberg and Zurich, Switzerland. He immigrated to the United States in 1880 and worked for
“prominent architectural firms in New York who made a specialty of modern and convenient apartment houses," and
he "devoted his entire attention and endeavors to this subject," according to the 1903 History of the City of Washington.

Goenner listed a New York City address when he was

naturalized in November 1888, but he moved to Washington,
D.C., about that time. In April 1891, Goenner entered into a
partnership, Schulze & Goenner, with Paul Schulze (1828-
1897). The Prussian-born Schulze had been a partner of
Adolph Cluss. One of the firm's first and most important
commissions was to design a new building for Concordia
German Evangelical Church, 1920 G St., N.W., (1891) on the
site of its earlier church. Concordia was the first German
church established in the District of Columbia. The church,
which is listed in the National Register, is described in the
nomination as "one of the finest Victorian eclectic churches
still standing in Washington." The architectural details are
mainly Gothic Revival. D.C. building permits indicate that
most of the partnership’s subsequent commissions were for
substantial individually built dwellings. In April 1895,
Schulze’s health began to decline and he went to live with his
son, San Francisco architect Henry Schulze, in Oakland,
California, where he died in 1897. After Schulze’s death
Goenner practiced on his own in Washington except for a
brief partnership, Autenrieth & Goenner, with Charles M.
Autenrieth in 1900-1902

Concordia Church 1920 G St. NW Goenner’s individual name first appears as an architect on an
EHT Traceries, 2006 October 1894 permit for the construction of two dwellings at
310 and 312 North Carolina Avenue, S.E. Over the next two years he designed a number of speculative dwellings in
Southeast, on Capitol Hill, including 26 modest two-story brick rowhouses, 15' x 34', at 112-162 Duddington Place,
S.E. which are extant. He also designed substantial residences in the center city for individual clients including the
three-story brick and stone residence of Dr. F. E. Maxey at 1120 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W., constructed at an
estimated cost of $10,000 in 1895..

Drawing on the expertise he developed in New York, Goenner designed

at least eight apartment buildings in Washington on his own and three
with Autenrieth. He was noted for his apartment design in the early years
of apartment construction in the capital. Most have been demolished,
including his largest, the Driscoll, at First and B Streets, N.W. The
Driscoll and several other apartment buildings were designed for Alonzo
O. Bliss, a manufacturer of proprietary medicines who invested heavily in
Washington real estate and was a pioneer in the early development of
Washington, D.C., apartment buildings. The Kingman at 423-425
Massachusetts Ave., N.W., designed for Bliss in 1902, was listed as a D.C.
Landmark until its 1998 demolition. The buff brick Classical Revival style
building with round bays and central portico was noted for illustrating the
The Driscoll, 43 B St. N.W., in 1903
influence of wealthy investors on Washington real estate development.
Source: Slauson, History of Washington
Goenner also designed twelve speculative dwellings for Bliss in Square
Goenner, Albert Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

830 on Capitol Hill at 6th and K Streets, N.E. Two Autenrieth & Goenner apartment buildings survive: a five-story
building at 1415 Chapin St. N.W., which the firm owned and built, and a more modest building at 11 R St., N.E.

Although Goenner came to the United States later than many of the residents of Washington’s German community,
he was actively involved in it and was a member of its prominent singing group, the Washington Saengerbund. Many
of Goenner's clients were members of the German community. He designed two stores on the 700 block of 7th Street,
N.W.: Benjamin Salomon’s hat store at 708 7th Street and Abraham Herman’s stores and dwelling at 736-738 7th
Street. He designed additions to the Lansburgh Brothers’ department store.

The most significant surviving example of Goenner's commercial

buildings is the 1909 office building at 600 F Street, N.W.,
designed for the Oriental Building Association, a savings and loan
association established by members of the German community in
1861. The five-story building of buff brick and limestone is
designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. It is one of the
last office buildings remaining from the turn of the twentieth
century in the downtown business sector and was listed in the
National Register in 2004. He also designed a building for the
German American Fire Insurance Company at 511 7th Street,
N.W. (1912).

Goenner was listed in city directories as an architect until his

death in 1918 but the last building permit in the database on
which his name appeared was issued in May 1913. After 1905 his
Oriental Building Association, 600 F St. NW
practice consisted of individually designed and built residential, EHT Traceries, Inc.,
commercial and institutional buildings. He designed dwellings,
flats, apartment houses, a hotel, stores, business buildings and warehouses. Bliss continued to be one of Goenner’s
principal clients and his commissions included the four-story brick, stone and terra cotta residence (extant) at 1218
16th Street, N.W., (1906) and the final permit listed for Goenner, a wood frame dwelling at 4811 Blagden Avenue,
N.W., in 1913. Goenner also designed some buildings outside the District, including country residences and the
Arlington County Court House (1898, demolished).

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Ancestry.com; Historic Washington Post searched through Proquest; Library of Congress,
Other Repositories:
Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 2, 10, 111, 253
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Beauchamp, Tanya Edwards. Downtown Historic District National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form.

Goenner, Albert Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Washington, DC: Historic Preservation Division, Dept. of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs, 1983.
Committee of 100 on the Federal City. Oriental Building Association No. 6 Building. National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form, 1904.
EHT Traceries. "Historic Environs of Adas Israel." Prepared for the Jewish Historical Society, Washington, D.C.,
2007
Joint DC/NCPC Historic Preservation Office. Concordia German Evangelical Church and Rectory. National Register of
Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form, 1978
McFarland, Henry B.F. American Biographical Directory, District of Columbia, 1908. Washington, D.C. The Potomac Press,
1908.
“Personals.” Sunday Herald and Weekly National Intelligencer, April 5, 1891, 4.
Slauson, Allan B., ed. A History of the City of Washington, Its Men and Institutions. Washington, D.C.: The Washington
Post, 1903.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1900, 1910, District of Columbia.

Notes: Number of building permits listing Goenner include 8 for Schulze & Goenner and 9 for Autenrieth &
Goenner, each for one building.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Goenner, Albert Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

John Graham, Jr.

Biographical Data
Birth: 12/26/1888 Place: Camden, NJ
Death: 5/07/1957 Place: Falls Church, VA
Family: Married Elizabeth McGilvary in 1931, one child: Milla
Graham
Education
High School: Norfolk Academy, Norfolk, VA; Chestnut Hill
Academy, Philadelphia, PA
College: University of Pennsylvania, 1911 (Bachelor of Science in
Architecture)
Graduate School:
John Graham, Jr. Passport photo, 23
December 1920.
Apprenticeship: Duhring, Okie & Ziegler, Philadelphia (2 years); Day
Source: NARA, Washington, DC; Passport
and Klauder, Philadelphia (3 years) Applications. NARA Series: M1490, Roll 1444.
[available at ancestry.com]
Architectural Practice

DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a* Date Issued: n/a

Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1944 Latest Permit: 1945 Total Permits: 37 Total Buildings: 428
Practice Position Date
Duhring, Okie & Ziegler 1911-1913
Day & Klauder 1913-1916
John Graham, Jr. Independent architect 1916
U.S. Army Engineers Captain 1917-1919
Thomas, Martin, Kirkpatrick & Graham Architect 1919-1921
Folsom, Stanton & Graham Architect 1921-ca. 1929
John Graham, Jr. Independent architect 1930-1938
U.S. Housing Authority Project Planner for Public Housing 1938-1944
John Graham, Jr. Independent architect (Falls Church, VA) 1944-1957
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1934-39, 1946-57 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: American Institute of Architects; Philadelphia: AIA Philadelphia Chapter;
Philadelphia Cricket Club; T-Square Club; Franklin Institute; University of Pennsylvania Board. Washington, DC
Metropolitan Area: AIA Washington Metropolitan Chapter; Committee on the National Capital (1954-1957);
Episcopal Committee, Christian Association; Falls Church Planning Commission; Northern Virginia Regional
Planning Commission; National Capital Regional Planning Commission; Falls Church Rotary Club.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Single residences, housing complexes, apartment buildings; commercial buildings; schools

Graham, John, Jr. Page 1 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival

DC Work Locations: Deanwood
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
William C. Wetherill Residence Laverock, PA 1920 NRHP DC Historic Site

F.S. Whittaker Residence Chestnut Hill, Emmaus, PA 1923 NRHP DC Historic Site
10 W. Gravers Lane,
Chestnut Hill Post Office 1923 NRHP DC Historic Site
Philadelphia, PA
Charles Gibbons Davis Meadowbrook Lane,
1924 NRHP DC Historic Site
Residence (Windybrae) Philadelphia, PA (Chestnut Hill)
Suburban Heights housing Deanwood area, Washington,
1944-1945 NRHP DC Historic Site
development DC
Mount Daniel Elementary
Falls Church, VA ca. 1955 NRHP DC Historic Site
School
Oak Ridge Elementary School Arlington, VA Ca. 1950 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions
Note: Three John Grahams (including two who went by John Graham, Jr.) practiced architecture in DC during the period
when the large-scale Suburban Heights development was designed and constructed in Northeast, DC. None of the available
information on each architect definitely connects him to Suburban Heights. History Matters feels that John Graham, Jr. born
in 1888 in Camden, New Jersey is the most likely designer. The Picturing America book on Deanwood identifies Seattle-born
John Graham, Jr. as the architect of Suburban Heights.

Born in Camden, New Jersey in 1888, the son of John and Florence (Bede) Graham, John Graham, Jr.
trained to be an architect first at Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia and then at the University of
Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a degree in
architecture in 1911. He became a prominent
architect in
Philadelphia in the 1920s and, in the late 1930s,
moved to Washington, D.C. to design public
housing for the U.S. Housing Authority. In 1944,
he returned to the private sector, practicing in D.C.
and the surrounding areas.

After graduating from college, Graham apprenticed

for five years with two Philadelphia architecture
firms. After launching a brief independent practice
in that city in 1916, he became a Captain in the U.S.
Army Engineers division for the duration of World
War I. In 1919, Graham became partner in the
Philadelphia firm of Thomas, Martin, Kirkpatrick
& Graham. While there, Graham designed a lavish William C. Wetherill Residence (1916 drawing).
Charles Keefe. The American House. New York: U.P.C. Book Company,
Colonial Revival-style country residence for 1922. Plate no. 16.
William C. Wetherill, Esq. of Philadelphia. The
designs for the large, two-and-a-half-story,
whitewashed stone house were published in both the Architectural Record (1919) and in a collection of country
houses published by architect Charles S. Keefe in 1922. The exterior and interior featured faithful
Graham, John, Jr. Page 2 of 5
 DC Architects Directory

recreations of typical Georgian and Federal style architectural details and interiors. While with the firm of
Folsom, Stanton & Graham (1921-1929), Graham went on to design several more dwellings for wealthy
Chestnut Hill residents as well as the Chestnut Hill Post Office (1923).

In the mid-1930s, Graham worked as a technical

advisor on housing for the State of Pennsylvania.
In 1938, Graham moved to Washington, DC to
take a position with the United States Housing
Authority (USHA). Established in 1937 as part of
President Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” the USHA
loaned money to states and communities to fund
low-cost housing for people who had lost their
homes and jobs in the economic depression of the
1930s. Graham was a project planner for new
public housing projects in Baltimore, Washington,
D.C. and Wilmington, Delaware. During World
War II, he served as the USHA’s technical advisor
F.S. Whittaker Residence (1923 drawing) to the War Department on defense and war
Philadelphia Architects & Buildings database (online). housing.

In 1944, Graham left the USHA to return to private practice with his home and office located in Falls
Church, Virginia. That same year, he
designed a large-scale housing development in
northeast Washington, DC, in the Deanwood
neighborhood. Designed as housing for African
American soldiers returning from World War II,
the project consisted of over 400 duplex units laid
out on a series of curvilinear streets. The project
cost the developer, Suburban Heights
Development Company, approximately $1.7
million to construct. Graham’s design for the
duplexes emphasized economy. Each two-unit,
two-story building was constructed of a
combination of brick, frame, and concrete block.
The buildings have a simple, side-gable form with Standard Suburban Heights Duplex at 847-849 51st Street, NE
each unit displaying a door and a window bay on District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
the first story and a single window on the second.
On some of the units, the second-story front window sits within a shallow wall dormer. The duplexes lack
architectural decoration and could be described as minimal traditional in style.

Graham, John, Jr. Page 3 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

Later in his career, John Graham, Jr. collaborated

with two Arlington architects, A.J. Dickey and
James M. McHugh. During the 1950s, he designed
two elementary schools in Northern Virginia, Oak
Ridge Elementary School in Arlington (circa 1950)
and Mount Daniel Elementary School in Falls
Church, Virginia (circa 1955).

Graham maintained membership in the A.I.A.

throughout his career, except for the period during
which he worked for the U.S. government
(approximately 1938-1945). After leaving public
service, he joined the Washington Metropolitan
Chapter of the A.I.A. and served on several
committees, including the Committee on the
National Capital (1954-1957). Graham never
applied for registration as an architect in the
District of Columbia, though he maintained
registrations in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Graham
also participated in local civic activities in and
Aerial view of Suburban Heights Housing Development in
around his home in Falls Church, Virginia, and Deanwood neighborhood, Northeast Washington, DC. Rough
served on the Falls Church Planning Commission, boundary: Hayes Street, Sheriff Road, 50th Street, and Division
the Northern Virginia Regional Planning Avenue
Google Maps.
Commission, and the National Capital Regional
Planning Commission.

Graham authored two books. One was titled “Housing in Scandinavia” (1940) following a 1936 trip to
Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The other was an edited volume of the Letters of Thomas Carlyle to William
Graham (Princeton University Press, 1950), which included the 1820 to 1849 letters between Scottish writer,
Thomas Carlyle, and Scottish merchant shipper turned sheep farmer, William Graham.

John Graham, Jr. died unexpectedly in May 1957.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
“House at Laverock, Pa.,” Architectural Record 1919 Sept., v. 46 264-269
Obituary, Michigan Society of Architects Monthly Bulletin 1957 July, v. 31 13
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 p. 114**
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it

Graham, John, Jr. Page 4 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

Biographical Directories cont’d. Year/Volume Page

Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1956 p. 205
Publication: Washington Post; Washington Date: 05/09/1957;
Obituary Page: n/a
Star; Northern Va. Sun 05/08/1957; 05/08/1957
Other Sources:
Keefe, Charles S. ed. The American House. New York: U.P.C. Books Company, 1922. “Residence of William Chattin
Wetherill, Esq., Laverock, Pa.”
U.S. Passport Application for John Graham, Jr. Ancestry.com.
Wells, John E. and Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955. Richmond, VA: New South Architectural
Press, 1997.
World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 record for John Graham, Jr.. Ancestry.com.

Notes: * John Graham, Jr. (b. 1888) never registered as an architect in Washington, DC. He was registered in
Virginia and Pennsylvania.
** Note that the entry for John Graham, Jr. in Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 combines
biographical information about John Graham, Jr. born in 1888 (profiled in this entry) and a second architect by the
same name who was born in 1908 in Seattle, Washington. A third John Graham (John Hans Graham) also worked as
an architect during essentially the same period in Washington, D.C. The John Graham who practiced primarily in
Seattle was only a resident of D.C. briefly.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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 DC Architects Directory

William Bruce Gray

Biographical Data
Birth: March 1849 Place: New York (See notes)
Death: 9/14/1906 Place: Atlantic City, N.J.
Family: Married Sarah ca. 1878; son, William B. Jr.; daughter, Edna;
stepdaughter, Clara
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Total Permits:115
Permit Database Earliest Permit:1880 Latest Permit: 1893 Total Buildings:169
(See notes)
Practice Position Date
Gray & Page Senior partner, architect 1879-1885
W. Bruce Gray Architect 1885-1900

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Cosmos Club
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Large residences, row houses, some apartments, stores and hotels.
Styles and Forms: Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Dupont Circle, Sixteenth Street, Connecticut Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue,
generally south of Florida Avenue.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Richmond Flats (dem. 1922) 17th and H Streets, NW 1883 NRHP DC Historic Site
Albaugh Opera House (dem.) 15th and E Streets, NW 1884 NRHP DC Historic Site
Mass. Ave. and Dupont Circle
Samuel M. Bryan House 2025 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1885
Historic Districts

First Baptist Church (dem.1953) 16th and O Streets, NW 1889 NRHP DC Historic Site

Berry and Whitemore building 1101(1891) 1105 F St. (1893) 1891-1893 Downtown Historic District

Gray, W. Bruce Page 1 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

William Bruce Gray was born in New York in March 1849, the son of a British-born carpenter of the same name. In
the 1870 Census he was listed as an architect, living in Brooklyn, New York, with his parents. Little is known of his
early career. In 1874, the New York Sketchbook of Architecture published Gray's prize-winning design for a gate house in
the first Junior Members' competition of the New York Chapter of the Institute of Architects, according to
information collected by the Commission of Fine Arts. A promotional description of Gray's firm, Gray & Page,
written in 1884, states that W. Bruce Gray is “a native of New York, where he studied his art under the best masters,
and has a thorough and practical experience of over fourteen years."

Gray is known to have come to Washington, D.C., by 1879 when he entered into partnership with Harvey L. Page.
He was the senior partner. He must have entered the partnership with a well-established reputation because the firm,
Gray & Page, immediately received significant commissions for large dwellings in the newly fashionable Dupont
Circle area. The Commission of Fine Arts listed these as including the residence for J. Belden Noble, 1785
Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. (1880, demolished), considered one of the city's best examples of High Victorian
Gothic; the A.M. Gibson residence on Dupont Circle (1882, demolished); and the K Street residence of Jerome
Napoleon Bonaparte (1881, demolished), Gray's own residence at 1318 Nineteenth Street, N.W. (demolished), and
others which have also since been demolished.

Gray & Page also designed several larger buildings that were important landmarks in their day. It designed the
Richmond Flats at 801 17th St., N.W. (1883, razed 1922), a luxury brick and stone apartment building in the
chateauesque style inspired by the chateaux of the Loire Valley. Another large building designed by the firm was
constructed for the Washington Light Infantry with an armory and drill hall on the ground floor. Above was a 2,000
seat opera house. The Richardson Romanesque revival building became known as Albaugh's Opera House. The four-
story brick building with six-story corner tower was located at 15th and E Streets, N.W. Built in 1884, it was razed in
1930. Gray and Page designed a building for the Metropolitan Club (1882) which preceded the present Club building
on the site at 17th and H Streets, N.W.

Gray & Page, in a promotional description in an 1884 guide to Washington, D.C., advertised that its work was not
confined to the city. It claimed that, "Among the architects of this city there are none who enjoy a better
reputation…. There are to be found in this city and the States abundant evidences of their skill and ability in designing
private and public buildings. With natural aptitudes for designing, and close application to study, this firm, in the
introduction of the style of the renaissance blended with the
modern, have revolutionized the art. No city can show a more
harmonious structure and complete interior arrangements than
the Metropolitan Club House…and Richmond Flats…is
another fine specimen."

A contemporary architect, Appleton P. Clark, Jr., wrote that

Gray & Page often designed in a style "based on French
Normandy precedents with towers, surface pattern brickwork,
etc."

Gray withdrew from the practice in 1885 but continued to

practice on his own in Washington, D.C. Many of his
commissions were for large private dwellings in fashionable
residential areas such as Dupont Circle and 16th Street. A
notable surviving example is the Samuel M. Bryan residence,
2025 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., (1885) but most have been
razed to make way for subsequent redevelopment. He designed 2025 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., ca. 1889
some rowhouses which survive. Gray also designed some Historical Society of Washington, D.C., Seaman Coll.
stores along F Street and elsewhere, one of which still stands.
Gray, W. Bruce Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

He designed 1105 F Street for investor Henry Strong in 1891 and an

addition to it at 1105 F St. in 1893. One of Gray's most significant
buildings from this period was the Romanesque revival First Baptist
Church at 16th and O Streets, N.W., (1889 razed 1953).

Gray's last building permit recorded in the building permit database

dates from 1893 but he was listed as an architect in city directories until
1900. The 1900 Census lists Gray as an architect living with his wife
and children in a rented house on Sibley Avenue, Hyattsville, Prince
George's County.

1101-1105 F Street, NW
Shalom Baranes Associates, 2009

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Star Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 2 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 116
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Barton, E.E. Historical and Commercial Sketches of Washington and Environs -- Our Capital City. Washington, D.C.: E.E.
Barton, 1884.
Clark, Appleton P., Jr. "History of Architecture in Washington." In Washington, Past and Present: A History, ed. John
Claggett Proctor. New York.: Lewis Historical Publishing Company Inc., 1930.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, 50 (March 1885), 520-533 (illustrations of Noble, Bonaparte, Murray, McKee, Hawley
and Gray houses).
Jennings, J. L. Sibley, Jr., Sue A. Kohler, and Jeffrey R. Carson, Massachusetts Avenue Architecture, Volume 2. Washington,
D.C.: The Commission of Fine Arts, 1975.
Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
New York Sketchbook of Architecture, 1, No. 5 (May 1874)1, PL. XX.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census. New York, 1870; District of Columbia, 1880; Maryland, 1900.

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 DC Architects Directory

Notes: The number of permits given above for Gray include 64 permits for 84 buildings in Gray's name and 51
permits for a total of 83 buildings issued to the architectural firm of Gray & Page.
The 1900 Census, the first to ask for a month and year of birth, lists Gray's birth as March 1849. However, the ages
listed for him in previous censuses (22 in 1870, 32 in 1880) suggest that he was born in 1848.

Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Gray, W. Bruce Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Charles Gregg
Biographical Data
Birth: 6/8/1872 Place: Baltimore, MD
Death: 9/27/1950 Place: Washington, DC

Family: Aimee B. Gregg (wife); Stephen L. Gregg (son)

Education
High School: Baltimore, Maryland
College:
Graduate School:

Apprenticeship: Office Training 1891-1895

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 21 Date Issued: 4/15/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1902 Latest Permit: 1927 Total Permits: 38 Total Buildings: 50
Practice Position Date
Beecher, Friz & Gregg, Baltimore, MD Architect 1904-1907
Charles Gregg Architect 1908-1910
Gregg & Leisenring Architect 1910-1927
D.C. Municipal Architects Office Chief, Specifications Division 1925-1943
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1920-1950 Fellow of the AIA: n/a
Other Societies or Memberships: Architectural Club of Baltimore
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Automobile Club Building, Firehouse, Dwellings, Stores, Churches, Apartment
Styles and Forms: Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, Romanesque
DC Work Locations: Foggy Bottom, Greater U Street, Georgetown, Capitol Hill
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
M.A. Winter Company Office NRHP DC Historic Site
1436 U Street, NW 1908
Building Greater U Street Historic District
Apartment Building 1416 Chapin Street, NW 1903 NRHP DC Historic Site
Alexander Memorial Baptist NRHP DC Historic Site
2709 N Street, NW 1909
Church Georgetown Historic District
Post Office 1440 U Street, NW 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site
Engine Company No. 24
3702 Georgia Avenue NW 1911 NRHP DC Historic Site
Firehouse

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Charles Gregg was born on June 8, 1872 in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1891, Gregg began his architectural training in an
unknown Baltimore architectural office; his 1925 application to the D.C. Board of Examiners records that the training
lasted until 1895 while his 1920 application for American Institute of Architects (AIA) membership notes that it lasted
until 1904. In 1896, Gregg won a prize for an architectural project from the Baltimore Architectural Club, and he was
elected secretary-treasurer of the Club in 1898 and 1899.

In 1901, Gregg moved to Washington, D.C. to help with the design of the National Museum of Natural History, a
Hornblower & Marshall project. From 1902 to 1904, Gregg obtained D.C. building permits for a variety of building
types located on Capitol Hill and in the northwest D.C. areas of 16th Street, Georgetown, and Foggy Bottom. In the
Columbia Heights area he designed two brick apartment buildings of four and five stories with narrow façades and
deep sides. The building at 1416 Chapin Street NW featured a full-height, semi-octagonal bay that dominates half of
the façade. The three-story townhouse he designed at 1923 16th Street NW featured a full-height, bowed bay. Other
Gregg buildings from this period are no longer standing; they included a laundry, a lodging house, a stable and shop,
and a row of houses on the 2600 block of Virginia
Avenue NW that were replaced by the Watergate
Complex.

In 1904, Charles Gregg moved back to Baltimore to

form the practice of Beecher, Friz & Gregg (1904-
1907). In 1906, the firm designed “the most
distinguished and expensive” of the automobile related
buildings built along Mount Royal Avenue in Baltimore
in the early decades of the 20th century—the building
housed the headquarters of the Automobile Club of
Maryland (Hayward & Shivers, p. 235). The three-story
brick and concrete building included dining and
entertainments for members.
1416 Chapin Street NW, 1903
District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004 In 1907, the firm dissolved, and, in 1908, Gregg opened
his own practice in Washington at 1320 New York
Avenue NW. In 1909, one of the residences that he
designed was included in an exhibit sponsored by the Washington Architectural Club at the Corcoran Gallery. That
year, Gregg designed the two-story, brick church at 2709 N Street NW for Alexander Memorial Baptist Church. The
eclectic, late Italianate/Colonial Revival style church is
located in the Georgetown Historic District.

In 1910, Gregg designed the nine-story brick, steel, and

concrete storage building that still stands at 1420 U
Street NW (now known as the Security Storage
building) in the Greater U Street Historic District. The
six-bay, Classical Revival-style building features a
concrete façade on the first floor and concrete pilasters
that extend the height of the building to a concrete
cornice; red tapestry brick in a diamond pattern fills the
bays between pilasters.

In 1910, Charles Gregg and Luther Morris Leisenring

formed their architectural firm located at Gregg’s 1320
1420 U Street NW (Security Storage Building), 1910
New York Avenue NW office. In 1911 alone, the firm District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004
of Gregg & Leisenring designed a row of three, one-
story, brick stores on Georgia Avenue (3312-3316 George Avenue NW); a one-story, frame dwelling in the Chevy
Chase area (4123 Harrison Street NW); and three, Colonial-Revival style, brick row houses now located in the Mount

Gregg, Charles Page 2 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Vernon Square Historic District (455-459 Ridge Street NW), each of which contains two separate apartments. In
addition, Gregg & Leisenring designed Engine Company No. 24 at 3702 Georgia Avenue NW in the Petworth area; a
two-story, Italian Renaissance-style, brick building, it
featured two vehicle entrances and a tile roof.

Between 1912 and 1927, Gregg & Leisenring designed

the Neo-Classical style, stone U.S. Post Office at 1440
U Street NW (now 1438 U Street NW)(1912); the
original section of the sprawling, Colonial-Revival style,
three story, brick National Lutheran Home for the Aged
(1913) in Brookland; the stone, Gothic Revival
Lutheran Church of the Incarnation (1919) at 5101 14th
Street NW; and the St. Stephens Evangelical Lutheran
Church and Sunday School (1927) at 1611 Brentwood
Road NE. The firm also designed Colonial-Revival and
Tudor-Revival style dwellings in the northwest and
northeast areas of D.C.

In 1920, Charles Gregg was elected to membership in

the AIA and was assigned to the Washington, D.C. Engine Company No. 24, 1911
Chapter. In 1925, Gregg applied for and received his 3702 Georgia Avenue NW
registration with the D.C. Board of Examiners and Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Registrars of Architects.

Luther M. Leisenring and Charles Gregg were members of Allied Architects of Washington, D.C., Inc. In 1925,
Horace Peaslee and other prominent members of the D.C. Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)
formed the Allied Architects of Washington, D.C., Inc., a loose confederation of prominent local architects who
banded together to pursue large public and semi-public commissions in the city. Modeled on a similar architectural
group started in Los Angeles in 1919, the Allied Architects worked collaboratively, sometimes holding internal design
competitions and then selecting and combining the best elements of the winning designs. The group’s bylaws
provided for one-fourth of the corporation’s net proceeds to be spent on efforts to advance architecture in the District
of Columbia and to educate the public about good design.

The Allied Architect’s most prominent commission was the design for the Longsworth House Office Building (first
design submitted 1925; completed 1933). Other designs and studies pursued by the group included the never-built
National Stadium on East Capitol Street; the D.C. Municipal Center; designs for a downtown Naval Hospital; the
Naval Academy Memorial Gates; a D.C. National Guard Armory proposal; design and planning studies of
Georgetown; alleys in D.C.; and a study for the beautification of East Capitol Street. The Allied Architects disbanded
in 1949. The known members of Allied Architects were: Horace Peaslee, Louis Justement, Gilbert LaCoste Rodier,
Frank Upman, Nathan C. Wyeth, Percy C. Adams, Robert F. Beresford, Fred H. Brooke, Ward Brown, Appleton P.
Clark, William Deming, Jules Henri deSibour, Edward W. Donn, Jr., William Douden, W.H. Irwin Fleming, Benjamin
C. Flournoy, Charles Gregg, Arthur B. Heaton, Arved L. Kundzin, Luther M. Leisenring, O.Harvey Miller, Victor
Mindeleff, Thomas A. Mullett, Fred V. Murphy, Fred B. Pyle, George N. Ray, Fred J. Ritter, Delos H. Smith, Alex H.
Sonneman, Francis P. Sullivan, Maj. George O. Totten, Leonidas P. Wheat, Jr., and Lt. Col. George C. Will [member
information from C. Ford Peatross, ed., Capital Drawings: Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C., from the Library of
Congress (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), pp. 36-38 and fn 39].

In 1925, Gregg became the chief of the specification division of the D.C. municipal architect’s office. He retired from
the position in 1943. Gregg died September 27, 1950 at his home at 1760 Euclid Street NW.

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 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com; Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography-not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 117
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Star Date: 9/29/1950 Page: n/a
Other Sources:
Architects and Builders’ Magazine, vol.1, No. 1, October 1899 [accessed through Google Books].
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Charles Gregg Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Charles Gregg correspondence with the Board. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Hayward, Mary Ellen and Frank R. Shivers. The Architecture of Baltimore: An Illustrated History. Accessed through
Google Books.
Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1880. Baltimore, MD.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1900. Baltimore, MD.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910. District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1920. District of Columbia.

Notes: The permits listed here include those issued to Gregg individually and in partnerships.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.
Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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 DC Architects Directory

Nicholas R. Grimm
Biographical Data
Birth: 1863 Place: Kentucky
Death: 12/27/1931 Place:
Family: Married Mary F. Altdorfer (1888, d. 1889); married Mazie I.
Wise
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, February 24, 1907
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1885 Latest Permit: 1930 Total Permits: 491 Total Buildings: 1330
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Architect/Draftsman 1884-1886
Private Practice Architect 1887-1931
Private Practice Chief Architect for Harry Wardman 1898-1905
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, Apartment Buildings
Styles and Forms: Queen Anne
DC Work Locations: Dupont, Washington and Logan Circles, Bloomingdale, Brightwood, Petworth, Mount
Pleasant, Kalorama, Foggy Bottom, Strivers’ Section
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
The Minerva Apartment House 1838 4th Street, NW 1904 LeDroit Park Historic District
The Cliffbourne 1855 Calvert Street, NW 1905 Kalorama Triangle Historic District
The Baltimore 1832 Biltmore Street, NW 1905 Kalorama Triangle Historic District
Gearing Bungalow 2329 Porter Street, NW 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Nicholas R. Grimm, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, began his career working as a draftsman with the D.C. Public
Schools. By 1888, Grimm established his own practice, designing rowhouses in the fashionable neighborhoods
surrounding Dupont, Washington and Logan Circles. In 1898, Grimm first teamed up with the prominent
Washington developer Harry Wardman to design a stable for the Japanese Legation on N Street, NW. Wardman was
responsible for introducing mass-produced residential development to Washington in the early twentieth century. He
converted large tracts of vacant land outside the old city into blocks of rowhouses, flats, and apartments. Although
numerous, Wardman’s buildings featured a careful attention to detail, a credit to the developer’s vision and his
architects’ skill.

After 1898, Grimm served as Wardman’s

primary designer. Their first residential
project was two pairs of frame houses on
9th Street NW in Brightwood in 1899.
Together, the two men constructed
hundreds of rowhouses and dozens of
apartment buildings over the next six years.
Grimm also designed rowhouses for other
developers, principally L. E. Breuninger.
He continued to practice after parting ways
with Wardman in 1905. (Grimm was
replaced as Wardman’s chief architect by
Albert H. Beers.) Grimm married Mary F.
Altdorfer of Washington in 1888.
Tragically, she died a year later, presumably
while giving birth to their son, Nicholas
Francis, who died in infancy. Grimm later The Cliffbourne, 1855 Calvert St., NW
married Mazie I. Wise. He died on EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010
December 27, 1931 at his residence located at 2715 14th Street, NW.

Grimm, Nicholas R. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 119
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Post (Death Notice) Date: 12/28/1931 Page: 3
Other Sources:
Berk, Sally Lichtenstein and Caroline Mesrobian Hickman, Curators. Wardman’s Washington (Exhibit at the Historical
Society of Washington, DC), 2005.
Bernstein, Carl. “The Washington Wardman Built.” The Washington Post, 16 February 1969.
“Died.” Washington Post, 3 July 1889.
Hogan, William. “The First Tycoon: Harry Wardman Won and Lost a Fortune Changing the Face of Washington Real
Estate.” Regardie’s (May/June 1981), 60-65.
“Marriage Licenses.” Washington Post, 24 June 1888.

Notes:
The Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 lists Grimm as practicing through 1947-1948. However, the DC
Building Permit database does not record Grimm on an application to build after 1930, which corresponds with the
death notice for a Nicholas R. Grimm published in the December 28, 1931 edition of the Washington Post.

Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Grimm, Nicholas R. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Diller Baer Groff

Biographical Data
Birth: 4/2/1841 Place: Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Death: 3/8/1910 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Married Susan J. Fischer, 1866: surviving sons, Diller F.,
Chester C., and several other children.
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, January 27, 1904, 2
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1881 Latest Permit: 1894 Total Permits: 46 Total Buildings: 185
Practice Position Date
Diller B. Groff Builder 1880 Census
Diller B. Groff Carpenter and builder 1883 city directory
Diller B. Groff Builder 1890 city directory
Diller B. Groff Carpenter 1900 Census
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Row houses
Styles and Forms: Queen Anne, Queen Anne with Italianate influences
DC Work Locations: Northwest Washington, Sixteenth Street, Greater U Street, Brightwood, Capitol Hill.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Groff residence 1901 11th St., N.W. 1878 Greater U Street Historic Dist.
Freylinghuysen University 1800 Vermont Avenue, N.W. 1879 Greater U Street Historic Dist.
Bounded by T, U, 15th and 16th Greater U Street Historic Dist.
Square 190 1879-1885
Streets, N.W. Sixteenth Street Historic Dist.
Holmes & Thompson livery Blagden Alley/Naylor Court
1323 Naylor Court, N.W. 1883
stable (now DC Archives) Historic District
Row houses 1203-1217 W St. N.W. 1886 Greater U Street Historic Dist.
Row houses 2226-2252 12th St., N.W. 1886 Greater U Street Historic Dist.
Row houses 1217-1233 I St. N.E. 1887 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Diller Baer Groff was active as a developer and builder in Washington, D.C., in the last quarter of the nineteenth
century, constructing dwellings, principally rowhouses, in the developing city. He was one of the early developers of
Brightwood. Initially, he designed many of the dwellings he built but in the final decade of his career most of the
dwellings he built to sell or rent were designed by Julius Germuiller (1859-1929).

Groff was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1841 and he first worked as a carpenter. When the Civil War broke out,
Groff, at age twenty, volunteered for three months' service in the 1st Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. As the war
continued he reenlisted in September 1861 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 104th Pennsylvania
Infantry. Because of his demonstrated engineering ability he was put in charge of the construction of the support of
the great gun "Swamp Angel" used in the bombardment of Charleston, S.C. He was seriously wounded in the
Peninsula Campaign in May 1862, was promoted to Captain in November 1862 and was mustered out in Portsmouth,
Virginia, in August 1865. He returned home to Pennsylvania. He married Susan J. Fischer in 1866 and their first child
was born in Pennsylvania. By the time of the 1870 census Groff and his family were living in Nelson, Virginia, a
farming community southwest of Petersburg. Groff's profession was listed as trucker and his real property was valued
at $3,000. From there they moved to Washington, D.C., in the early 1870s. Initially, Groff worked as a carpenter in
Washington, although he still suffered physical limitations and pain from his war injuries.

Groff went into business as a contractor about 1875 and in

the 1880 census he was listed as a builder. He was also
investing in real estate. In 1877, the first year for which
building permits survive, Groff was listed as owner for a row
of houses he did not build and as builder for a row of houses
he did not own. However, beginning in 1878, he is listed as
owner of numerous row house developments for which no
builder or architect is listed, presumably because he was all
three. The first of these, his 1878 row of seven two-story
brick dwellings with projecting bays still stands at 637-649
Constitution Avenue, N.E. He also built an Italianate
residence for himself at 1901 11th St., N.W., in 1878 which is
still extant. One of Groff’s early speculative buildings, 1800
Vermont Avenue (Permit 1722, January 29, 1879), the
Edward P. Goodwin House which subsequently housed
Freylinghuysen University, is on the National Register of
Historic Places. Groff was listed as owner and no builder or
architect was listed on the permit.

Between 1879 and 1885, Groff developed much of Square

190 bounded by T Street on the south, 16th Street on the Edward Goodwin House/Frelinghuysen University
west, U Street on the north and 15th Street on the east and 1800 Vermont Avenue, NW
incorporating Caroline Street. Of the 71 dwellings he Photo by T. Luke Young for Nat’l Register Nomination, 1999
constructed on Square 190, he lists an outside architect for
only one row. An architect identified only as “Murdock” designed the row of fourteen houses which Groff owned
and built at 1519-1545 T Street, N.W. Groff improved Square 190 with three-story brick dwellings with projecting
bays.

Most of the rows developed by Groff were two-story brick buildings with projecting bays and some architectural
ornamentation but a few of his rows were very modest such as the two-bay, 12-foot-wide dwellings at 411-441
Warner St., N.W. He worked primarily in northwest Washington and Capitol Hill. He designed and built about sixty
two-story dwellings in Square 271 along 12th and W Streets and Florida Avenue in 1885 and 1886, sometimes naming
himself as architect and sometimes leaving that space blank on the permit.

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 DC Architects Directory

Although Groff’s work was virtually all residential, and virtually all owned by him, he did design a large livery stable
for owners Holmes & Thompson in 1883 at 1323 Naylor Court, N.W. That building now houses the District of
Columbia Archives.

Almost all permits issued to Groff as owner in the 1880s either also list him as builder and as architect or leave one or
both of those lines blank. Beginning with one permit in 1889, Julius Germuiller’s name begins to appear as the
architect for buildings owned and built by Groff. In the early 1890s permits Germuiller’s name appears increasingly
often as the architect of Groff’s row houses, but quite a few
permits in those years do not name any architect. Groff’s
name appears as architect on building permits only three
times between 1890 and 1894 and not at all thereafter. After
1894, Germuiller’s name appears as architect on virtually all
permits issued to Groff as owner and builder and on the
remainder the architect’s name is left blank. Groff's name
survives in Square 779 on Capitol Hill where a public alley,
Groff Court, bears his name and retains the alley dwellings
he constructed. Groff built numerous rowhouses in Square
779, along 4th, E, and F Streets, N.E., most of which were
designed by Germuiller.

Groff is known as a principal developer of Brightwood Park

which he subdivided on August 27, 1890. It was bounded
by Brightwood Avenue, Fourth, Hamilton and Madison
Groff Residence, 1901 11th St,. NW Streets, N.W. Melissa McLoud, in her dissertation on
D.C. Office of Planning, PropertyQuest, 2004
builders in late nineteenth century Washington, wrote that
Groff owned 231 Brightwood Park lots out of 375 in 1891 and that he sold lots and houses to individuals and to real
estate agents. She described the houses he designed and built there as "mid-sized detached, frame houses." (Most or
all have since been replaced by apartment houses.) By 1899 Groff had sold all but 33 lots he owned and 36 his son
owned.

By the turn of the twentieth century, Groff had largely retired from building although he still owned real estate
investments including rental properties. In the 1900 census he was described as a carpenter and his son, Diller F.
Groff, who was living with him at 1101 I St., N.W., was described as a real estate agent. The last building permit
issued to Groff was dated January 22, 1901.

Groff's final years were marked by scandal and ill health. He was jailed for almost two years (January 1904 -
September 1906) for bribing the Post Office Department's Superintendent of Free Delivery. His brother Samuel had
patented a device for attaching public mailboxes to telegraph and other posts. The brothers and others formed a
company to manufacture the devices and gave the Superintendent a share in it. All were convicted. Shortly after his
release from the West Virginia State Penitentiary Groff, already in poor health, was partially paralyzed by a stroke. He
died in 1910 of a second stroke.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Ancestry.com; Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American
Other Repositories:
Newspapers; Washington Post searched through Proquest.
Publication: Washington Times (death notice) Date: 3/9/1910 Page:16
Obituary:
Washington Post (funeral) 3/11/1910 3
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it

Groff, Diller B. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Dictionary of American Biography – not in it

Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources: “Brightwood Park.” Washington Herald, May 17, 1891, 2.
Dennee, Tim. Unpublished biographical notes on Diller B. Groff. Communicated to EHT Traceries, Inc. by e-mail,
April 8, 2010 by Tim Dennee, District of Columbia Historic Preservation Office, D.C. Office of Planning.
Gilmore, Matthew and Michael R. Harrison. “A Catalog of Suburban Subdivisions of the District of Columbia, 1854-
1902” Washington History 14, no 2 (Fall/Winter 2002): 26-55.
“Let Me Go Scot Free.” Washington Post, January 27, 1904, 2.
McLoud, Melissa. "Craftsmen and entrepreneurs: Builders in late nineteenth-century Washington, D.C.” Ph.D. diss.,
George Washington University, 1988.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1880 1900, District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1870, Virginia.

Notes: The permit statistics include only those permits which list D. B. Groff or Diller B. Groff as architect. Groff
was listed on numerous permits as owner and the lines for the architect's name, and often the builder's too, were left
blank. Presumably in most, if not all, these cases Groff performed all three functions.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Groff, Diller B. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

George Hadfield
Biographical Data
Birth: 1763 Place: Livorno, Italy
Death: 2/5/1826 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Parents, Charles and Isabella Hadfield; sisters, Maria Cosway
and Charlotte Coombe
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School: Royal Academy, London
Apprenticeship: James Wyatt, 1784-90; Studied in Rome 1790-94 Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: n/a Latest Permit: Total Permits: Total Buildings:
Practice Position Date
James Wyatt, London Apprentice 1784-1790
Superintendent of Construction, U.S. Capitol Superintendent 1795-1798
Private practice Architect 1798-1826
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions: Royal Academy, Gold Medal; Royal Academy’s first travelling fellowship
Buildings
Building Types: Public buildings, military buildings, residences, theatres, commercial buildings, jail
Styles and Forms: Greek Revival, Regency
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Navy Yard, Arlington
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Old City Hall 451 Indiana Avenue, N.W. 1820-26, 1849 NHL DC Historic Site
Van Ness Mausoleum Oak Hill Cemetery 1826 NRHP DC Historic Site
Custis Lee Mansion (“Arlington
Arlington, Va. 1803-1818 NRHP DC Historic Site
House”)
Marine Corps Commandant’s
801 G St, S.E. 1801-1805 NRHP DC Historic Site
House
Second Bank of the United NW corner of Pennsylvania 1824 Demolished
States Ave. and 15th St.

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

George Hadfield left a promising architectural career in London in 1795 to oversee the construction of the United
States Capitol in the nascent city of Washington, D.C. Over the next thirty years, in a career that was complicated by
a difficult personality, he designed many of the new government's most important buildings. While most have been
replaced, one of his finest, Old City Hall, stands at 451 Indiana Avenue, occupied by the U.S. Court of Appeals, and
another of his designs, the Custis Lee Mansion rises above Arlington Cemetery.

Hadfield was born in Livorno, Italy to Charles and Isabella Hadfield. He was
educated in England and studied architecture at the Royal Academy in London
where he was considered an outstanding student. He studied under James
Wyatt, a romantic classicist, for six years. In 1784 he won the Royal
Academy's gold medal for a design for a national prison. In 1790 he was
awarded the Royal Academy's first travelling fellowship and spent the next
four years studying in Rome. He was well connected in art circles and became
a friend of the American painter, John Trumbull, who was in London as John
Jay's secretary. It was Trumbull who opened the way to Hadfield's American
career. Having heard that the position of superintendent at the Capitol was
open, Trumbull wrote to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to
Second Bank of U.S. Branch
recommend Hadfield for the job.
Pennsylvania Ave and 15th St. NW
Goode, Capital Losses
The Commissioners offered Hadfield the position early in January 1795. The
first superintendent, Stephen Hallett, who had lost out to William Thornton in the competition to design the Capitol,
had been dismissed by the Commissioners for not adhering to Thornton's plans for the building. James Hoban,
designer and builder of the White House, served as a part-time supervisor until Hadfield arrived in October to fill the
position. Hadfield was 31 and had had little practical experience in construction. B. H. Latrobe, who would later
have a role in designing the Capitol, wrote in his journal of Hadfield that his youth and inexperience made him no
match for "the rogues then employed in the construction of the public buildings, or for the charlatans in architecture
who had designed them." Almost immediately Hadfield had problems with both Hallett' s construction of the
basement and Thornton's plans for the building. Hadfield's tenure was punctuated with disagreements with the
Commissioners and the workforce over carrying out or modifying
Thornton's plans, shortages of funds, and other issues.

However, when the Commissioners discharged Hadfield in 1798,

it was not over disagreements involving the Capitol but over plans
for executive offices near the White House. As the time of the
planned move of the federal government to Washington in 1800
became imminent, Hadfield had prepared designs for these
buildings which were to flank the White House on the north side.
He was unwilling to turn his plans over to the Commissioners
without a commitment that he would be appointed to superintend
their construction. Instead, the Commissioners dismissed him
from his position at the Capitol. Construction began on the
Treasury building in 1798 and the matching building for the War
Department and Post Office was begun in 1799 but they did not
fully follow Hadfield's design.

Van Ness Mausoleum, Oak Hill Cemetery, NW According to George S. Hunsberger's account of Hadfield's life,
NCinDC, September 19, 2008, there are few records of Hadfield's life between his dismissal in
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2875877734/ 1798 and his selection to design the City Hall in 1820. Hadfield
benefited from the 1800 election of Thomas Jefferson to the presidency. Jefferson had met Hadfield's sister, Maria
Cosway, when he was in Paris and they maintained their friendship through correspondence until Jefferson's death.
Jefferson recommended Hadfield to furnish plans for the city's jail and, subsequently, the arsenal for the protection of
Hadfield, George Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

the city. Years later when Hadfield was working on City Hall Jefferson wrote to Maria that her brother was "much
respected in Washington, and, since the death of Latrobe, our first architect, I consider him as standing foremost in
the correct principles of that art." (quoted in Hunsberger). Hadfield also designed commercial buildings and private
residences, including the Custis-Lee Mansion, a house for Commodore David Porter on the Meridian Hill tract, and
the Mason homestead on Analostan (Theodore Roosevelt) Island. He designed the Marine Barracks (demolished) and
some of its officers quarters. Other significant designs include the Second Bank of the United States branch bank
(1824, demolished) and the Van Ness Mausoleum, modeled on the temple of Vesta, which was moved from its
original site to the Oak Hill cemetery.

Hadfield's design for the City Hall was the product of

a competition. His design won the $300 prize. He
was also involved in its construction, begun in 1820.
Halted at various times for lack of funds, Hadfield's
finest surviving building was not completed until 1849
-- years after his death in 1826. As described by
Daniel D. Reiff in the Macmillan Encyclopedia of
Architects, Hadfield's City Hall was "a particularly
felicitous blend of Regency detailing, bold simple
massing and an Ionic order." More than a century
later the building's graceful lines inspired John Russell City Hall, 451 Indiana Avenue, N.W. in 1865
Pope’s design of its near neighbor, the National Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-14826
Gallery of Art, according to the Gallery's former
director, John Walker.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography Vol 4 Pt. 2- 76
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 121
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects II 293
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 254-55
Other Sources:
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Historic American Buildings Survey. “District of Columbia City Hall, 451 Indiana Ave. NW, WASHINGTON,
District of Columbia, DC.” Library of Congress, HABS No. DC-41.
Hunsberger, George S. “George Hadfield, his Life and Achievements.” Presentation to the Columbia Historical
Society, October 9, 1951. MS in files of EHT Traceries, Inc.
National Cyclopedia of American Biography. Clifton, New Jersey: James T. White & Company, 1933, v. 23.
Walker, John. “The High Art of George Hadfield.” Historical Society of Washington D.C., MS 384
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Thomas M. Haislip
Biographical Data
Birth: 03/02/1844 Place: Fairfax County, VA
Death: 11/05/1903 Place: Washington DC
No Photograph Available
Family: Married with a daughter
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1892 Latest Permit: 1904 Total Permits:106 Total Buildings: 339
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Carpenter 1886-1889
Private Practice Contractor/Builder 1890-1894
Private Practice Carpenter/Builder/Architect 1895-1904
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Haislip was an active member of the Masons and was associated with several
local lodges and temples.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses
Styles and Forms: Romanesque
DC Work Locations: Shaw, Bloomingdale
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Rowhouses 902-936 Westminster St, NW 1902-1903 Greater U Street Historic District

Haislip, Thomas M. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Thomas M. Haislap was born in Virginia and

arrived in Washington, D.C. around 1886. He
started out as a carpenter/builder and according
to his obituary in the Washington Post, “he was
one of the pioneers in the building up of that
section north of Boundary Street, [now Florida
Avenue] toward the Soldiers’ Home and
established a reputation as a builder of homes
which will long be a monument to his integrity
and skill.” Haislip began building dwellings
designed by Nicholas T. Haller in 1890, but
soon began constructing houses of his own
design. He was frequently hired by building
entrepreneur Ray E. Middaugh, who formed a
partnership with William E. Shannon in 1896 to
build speculative houses in Bloomingdale, an The 900 Block of Westminster Street, NW
undeveloped section of the city between R and Source: EHT Traceries - 2000
W Streets, NW east of 2nd Street. Haislip designed numerous two-story brick rowhouses for Middaugh and Shannon
in the Bloomingdale and Shaw in the vicinity of the U Street corridor.

In addition to partnering with Middaugh and Shannon, Haislip also worked with other developers in the area; for
example between 1891 and 1903, he was hired to design and construct a series of rowhouses on the 900 block of
Westminster Street for developer Henry A. Willard. Haislip executed this cohesive group of four-story rowhouses in
the Romanesque style with classical design motifs including Adamesque swags in the cornice and Palladian windows
in the fourth floors of some units. After the turn of the century, Haislip also speculated in real estate, owning a few of
the buildings he designed.

In 1902, the Evening Star praised Middaugh and Shannon’s foresight in developing Bloomingdale: “Not in all this
beautiful city has such progress been made within recent years as that made since 1896 at and about the head of
North Capitol Street. …This project was looked at upon the time with little favor by the real estate fraternity owing to
the newness of the section, the utter lack of car service north of T Street and the costliness of the buildings erected.
Here, again was demonstrated the accuracy of [Middaugh and Shannon’s] business judgment and foresight…. This
confidence has been more than justified by the activity which followed their first investment in one of the most
phenomenal growths ever experienced in any one section of the District of Columbia.” Although the article extolled
Middaugh and Shannon, skilled builders like Haislip were equally deserving of recognition for designing and
construction scores of rowhouses that provided housing for Washington’s burgeoning middle class.

Haislip died on November 5, 1903. A large employer of labor in the city, he was remembered for his “sterling
integrity.”

Haislip, Thomas M. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: Washington Post Date: 11/7/1903 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 122
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:

Mcloud, Melissa. Craftsmen and Entrepreneurs: Builders in late 19th Century Washington D.C. Dissertation to Graduate School
of Arts and Sciences of George Washington University, 1988.

Trieschmann, Laura V. et al. Greater U Street Historic District National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.
Washington, D.C.: Traceries, 1998.

Williams, Paul Kelsey. Historic Survey of Shaw East. Washington, D.C.: Kelsey & Associates, 2001-2002.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Haislip, Thomas M. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Nicholas T. Haller
Biographical Data
Birth: 02/11/1850 Place: Frederick, MD
Death: 09/11/1917 Place: Washington, DC
No Photograph Available
Family: Married with two children
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1883 Latest Permit: 1916 Total Permits: 498 Total Building: 1658
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Carpenter 1877-1882
Private Practice Architect 1883-1917
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Haller was an active member of the Masons and was associated with several local
lodges and temples.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, Apartment Houses
Styles and Forms: Eclectic designs incorporating details from various Victorian-era styles; later works executed in
Classical-Revival styles.
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Downtown, Capitol Hill, Shaw, Logan Circle, Foggy Bottom, Mount Vernon
Square
Name Location Date Status
Downtown Historic District
Warder Building (Atlas Building) 525 9th Street 1892 LeDroit Block
The Luzon (The Westover) 2501 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 1896 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1706 S Street, NW 1897 Dupont Circle Historic District
Dwelling 1731 T Street, NW 1902 Strivers’ Section Historic Dist.
The Sagamore 1824 S Street, NW 1908 Dupont Circle Historic District

Haller, Nicholas T. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Nicholas T. Haller was born in 1850 in Frederick, Maryland. It is unlikely that he received any formal training in
architecture. He first appeared in Washington city directories as a carpenter in 1877. Haller was very active in the city
during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. His practice was dominated by his designs for residential structures,
although several commercial buildings have been identified as the work of Haller, including the Atlas Building at 525
9th Street, N.W.

According to the D.C. Apartment Building Survey (1983), Haller is listed

as the architect of 38 buildings constructed between 1885 and 1914; of
these, 31 buildings were constructed as apartment buildings, seven of
them were constructed originally as single family dwellings and converted
later into apartments by other architects. Eleven of these 31 apartment
buildings have been razed. Haller seemed to prefer small-scale structures
to the larger, five or more storied apartment buildings. In fact, only six of
Haller’s buildings consist of five or six stories. Of these six structures,
only two remain standing—the Atlas Building and the Luzon at 2501
Pennsylvania Avenue.

Haller’s earliest work commonly represented an eclectic style of

architecture incorporating Victorian details such as integrated brick work
and corbelling (1731 T Street, 1902), finialed gables and turrets (1501
Park Road, 1899), and polychromy (1706 S Street, 1897). Haller seems to
have incorporated these elements into his architecture somewhat Atlas (Warder) Building
randomly. Eventually his work appears more subdued—his apartment 525 9th St., N.W.
building at 1822-24 15 Street (1910) has regular, unornamented window
th EHT Traceries, Inc., 2003
openings and wide overhanging eaves supported by wood brackets typical of the Renaissance Revival while 231 S
Street (1914) has regular rectangular openings with flat stone lintels representative of Colonial Revival architecture.
Despite a seeming trend towards a more classical and less Victorian style, Haller’s eclecticism continues to prevail. In
1910 he designed a building at 143 Rhode Island Avenue with a regular, classical façade treatment contrasted by a
low-lying all-enveloping roof line and a corner tower reminiscent of more purely Victorian forms.

Haller was the developer for many of

the buildings he designed. For example,
in 1896, Haller invested $65,000 in the
construction of the Luzon, an apartment
building for moderate-income residents
of Foggy Bottom. He designed the
building to be attractive and affordable
for the middle class. The Luzon may
have been the first apartment building
constructed in the area, and it was
certainly the largest at the time of its
construction. Haller proved prescient as
demand for this type of housing in
Foggy Bottom and the city as a whole
increased in the twentieth century.
Haller died in 1917 after being
The Luzon, Corner of 25th St. Addition to the Luzon, diagnosed with Bright’s disease.
and Pennsylvania Ave., NW 2501 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010 EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

Haller, Nicholas T. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: Evening Star Date: 09/12/1917 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 123-24
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Barsoum, Eve Lydia. Luzon Apartment Building National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.:
D.C. Historic Preservation Division, 1994.
Traceries, “Historic Context of Downtown Survey Area,” 920-930 F Street, NW Program of Mitigation, June 1990.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Haller, Nicholas T. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Marcus Hallett
Biographical Data
Birth: 11/27/1872 Place: New York City
Death: 5/1/1951 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: wife, Sarah E., sons John Marcus and Wendell Barrett, and
one daughter
Education
High School: Trinity, New Rochelle, New York, graduated 1889
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Carrère and Hastings, five years; Granville Temple
Source:
Snelling, three years.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 372 Date Issued: 6/2/1926
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1925 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 321 Total Buildings: 644
Practice Position Date
Marcus Hallett & Co., Richmond, Va. Architect 1911-1924

Marcus Hallett, Washington, D.C. Architect 1926-1951

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Citizens Association of Takoma Park
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Detached, semi-detached and row houses, low-rise apartment buildings, small commercial buildings.
Styles and Forms: Tudor, Colonial Revival, Craftsman
DC Work Locations: Brightwood, Sixteenth Street Heights, Capitol Hill, Kingman Park, Fort Davis, Georgetown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwellings, Brightwood 1624-1638 Nicholson St., NW 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwellings, Capitol Hill 1331-1361 Ives Place, SE 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site

Dwellings, Woodley Park 2629-2649 Woodley Place, NW 1928 Woodley Park Historic District
Dwellings, Georgetown 2808-2826 Olive Street, NW 1935 Georgetown Historic District

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Marcus Hallett was born in New York City in 1872 and for the first half of his career he worked in New York and
Richmond, Virginia. He attended Trinity School in New Rochelle and after graduating in 1888 spent an additional year
in the school's Academic Department. In 1889 he went to work for the New York architectural firm Carrère and
Hastings and remained there for five to seven years (Hallett's accounts vary). The firm designed the Jefferson Hotel in
Richmond (opened 1895) while Hallett was in its employ. Information on Hallett's early career derives principally
from Hallett's 1926 application to register as an architect in the District of Columbia. At that time he stated that from
Carrère and Hastings he "went to Richmond on a development proposition." He indicated that he had spent three
years working for architect Granville Temple Snelling in New York but gave no dates and he stated that he had begun
the practice of architecture in 1908. He wrote that he had had his own office since 1911 in Richmond except for short
periods when he was in New York with a general practice. He offered to submit photographs of 90 buildings that he
had designed in his 15 years of practice but the four he listed on his 1926 application -- three apartment buildings and
a motor company garage -- had all been completed ten years earlier, between 1914 and 1916.

In 1925, Hallett closed his Richmond practice and moved to

Washington, D.C. Initially his principal client was developer
Winfield Preston, described in one 1925 advertisement as a
"builder of artistic homes." Preston began as a builder in
Washington, D.C., in 1909 but by 1914 he was a developer
specializing in residential construction. He used a number of
different architects, including George Santmyers and Hunter &
Bell, but in the years 1926 and 1927 Preston commissioned
Marcus Hallett exclusively. Hallett’s designs for Preston’s
developments in Brightwood (at Montague, Nicholson and 16th
Streets) and 16th Street Heights (at Emerson St. and Piney
Branch Road) display elements of the Tudor Revival Style that
was very popular at that time. Advertisements targeted an
upper middle class clientele, offering a “retreat for the man of
affairs,” in houses with nine to ten rooms, two to three baths,
and some with two-car garages.
Washington Post, June 13, 1926, R2
In 1926-1927, Hallett also designed much more modest row
houses for Preston in the 1300 block of Ives Street at the east end of Capitol Hill and the 1600 block of F Street in
Kingman Park. Building permit records indicate that Preston built very little in the District between 1928 and 1940.
Hallett did no further work for him until 1941 when he designed a group of 14 very modest semi-detached dwellings
in the Fort Davis neighborhood at a time when demand was high for housing for modestly paid defense workers.

In 1928 Hallett designed a Craftsman style group of rowhouse in Woodley Park at 2629-2649 Woodley Place for
builder H.C. Ball. However, by 1928 the national building boom of the mid-twenties was waning. Most of Hallett’s
commissions from 1928 through the Depression years were for one or two dwellings at a time, often commissioned
by a builder who was also an owner. One exception was a row of six dwellings on Olive Street in Georgetown,
designed in 1935. Their small size and almost complete lack of architectural detail reflect the austerity of the era.

During World War II, scarce building supplies were allocated for use in the construction of modestly priced housing
to meet the demand for housing for war workers in the Washington, D.C., area. The permits issued to Hallett in this
period indicate that he was designing dwellings for this market. He designed low-cost rowhouses, flats and
apartments in southwest, southeast and northeast Washington. In the post-war years Hallett designed speculative
housing for a range of incomes, including Colonial Revival style single family and semi-detached dwellings that exhibit
more architectural detail than his Depression-era and wartime housing. From 1932 on, Hallett worked at his home at
6525 Piney Branch Road, N.W. At various times, from the mid-1930s until his death in 1951, his two sons joined him
in the practice.
Hallett, Marcus Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 5/2/1951 Page: B2
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 124
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Display ad, Washington Post, 8 August 1925, R1.
Display ad, Washington Post, 7 November 1926, R6.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Marcus Hallett Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Hallett, Marcus Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Henry Janeway Hardenbergh

Biographical Data
Birth: 2/6/1847 Place: New Brunswick, N.J.
Death: 3/13/1918 Place: New York, N.Y.
Family:
Education
High School: Hasbrouck Institute, Jersey City, N.J.
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Detlef Lienau (1865-1870) Source: New York Times, 12/17/2006.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1900 Latest Permit: 1911 Total Permits: 3 Total Buildings: 3
Practice Position Date
Henry J. Hardenbergh Principal c. 1870-1918

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1867 Fellow of the AIA: 1877
Other Societies or Memberships: President, Architectural League of New York; Founder, American Fine Arts
Society; Associate, National Academy of Design; Member, Century, Riding, Grolier, and Church Clubs; Sculpture
Society
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Hotels, office buildings, single dwellings, rowhouses
Styles and Forms: Gothic Revival, Beaux-Arts, Second Empire, Classical Revival, Queen Anne, German-
Renaissance Revival
DC Work Locations: Pennsylvania Avenue
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Pennsylvania Ave. and 12th
Raleigh Hotel renovation 1898 NRHP DC Historic Site
Streets, NW (demolished)
New Willard Hotel 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 1901 NRHP DC Historic Site
Pennsylvania Ave. and 12th
Raleigh Hotel renovation 1905 NRHP DC Historic Site
Streets, NW (demolished)
Pennsylvania Ave. and 12th
New Raleigh Hotel 1911 NRHP DC Historic Site
Streets, NW (demolished)

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Henry Janeway Hardenbergh was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and worked primarily in New York. While he
is best known for designing iconic New York City buildings like the Plaza Hotel, the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
(demolished), and the Dakota apartments, he made major contributions to the Washington, D.C., landscape.

Hardenbergh came from a Dutch family which had immigrated to the United States in the mid-seventeenth century.
They ultimately settled in New Brunswick where his great-great-grandfather was one of the founders and first
president of Queen’s (Rutgers) College. Hardenbergh attended the Hasbrouck Institute in Jersey City, N.J., and, in
1865, became an apprentice to the influential architect Detlef Lienau. Lienau, trained at the École des Beaux-Arts,
popularized the French style in American architecture and was a founding member of the American Institute of
Architects. Hardenbergh worked as an apprentice and draftsman for Lienau from 1865-1870, at which time he began
his own practice. His first independent projects were the grammar school at Rutgers (1871) and the Rutgers Library
(1873). These buildings were designed in the Victorian Gothic and Gothic styles, respectively.

In the 1880s, Hardenbergh began to design large city buildings, which came to define his career. He is credited with
designing the first apartment building in Manhattan, the Van Corlear (1879) on Seventh Avenue from 55th to 56th
Streets. This building was the precursor to one of the most famous apartment buildings in New York, the German
Renaissance Revival-style Dakota (1880-1884) at 1 West 72nd Street. In 1881, Hardenbergh also designed a country
house for F. Thurber in Babylon, Long Island, New York.

Hardenbergh is also credited with the design of the first skyscraper hotel, the Waldorf on Fifth Avenue at 33rd Street
(1892). In 1896, he designed the Astor Hotel at 34th Street which was
later combined with the Waldorf to form the original Waldorf-Astoria
hotel (demolished).

Based on Hardenbergh’s extensive experience in hotel design in New

York, two prominent hotels hired him to revamp their spaces in
Washington, D.C. Hardenbergh was considered one of the country's
leading designers of apartment houses and hotels at the time, and the
owners of the Raleigh and Willard Hotels decided to employ him for
their renovations.

The Raleigh Hotel was established in 1893 when the Shepherd

Centennial Building on the northeast corner of Pennsylvania Avenue
and 12th Street, NW, was converted from commercial use into a hotel
by local architect Leon E. Dessez. In 1897, three additional floors were
added. Hardenbergh designed a major addition to the north of the
original building in 1898. He designed another addition in 1905. In
1911, however, the hotel was deemed too dated and was demolished in
favor of a new, 13-story Beaux-Arts building also designed by
Raleigh Hotel, Pennsylvania Ave. Hardenbergh. Congress changed the height limit for buildings on
and 12th St., NW, c. 1915. Pennsylvania Avenue in 1910 in order to accommodate the thirteen-
Library of Congress LC-F82- 780A. story hotel. The Raleigh was demolished in 1964.

Hardenbergh also designed the new Willard Hotel in 1900 (constructed from 1900-1904) at 1401 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW. This building replaced the earlier Willard Hotel, constructed in 1847. The hotel opened in 1901 and
continued to operate as the center of Washington politics and culture.

Hardenbergh went on the design some of the most famous hotels in the United States, including the Plaza in
Manhattan (1907) and the Copley Plaza in Boston (1912). Hardenbergh died on March 13, 1918 at the age of 61.

Hardenbergh, Henry J. Page 2 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Willard Hotel, 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,

c. 1922. Library of Congress LC-D4-14224.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Publication: Washington Post Date: 3/14/1918 Page: 5
Obituary: New York Times 3/14/1918 13
American Art News 3/16/1918 4
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 2 articles
Dictionary of American Biography Vol. 4 Pt. 2 - 240
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects Vol. 2 307-308
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 263-264
Other Sources:
“Architecture of American Colleges: Princeton.” The Architectural Record, vol xxvii, no. 2 (February 1910), 129-160.
Boese, Kent. “Lost Washington: The Raleigh Hotel.” Greater Greater Washington. July 17, 2009.
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post.cgi?id=2937, accessed August 31, 2010.
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Hardenbergh, Henry. National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 11, p. 329.
Gray, Christopher. “Streetscapes/Henry Janeway Hardenbergh; An Architect Who Left an Indelible Imprint.” The
New York Times, May 7, 2000.
Great Architects of New York: Henry J. Hardenbergh. Henry J. Hardenbergh Architectural Database. Accessed October 26,
2010. http://www.startsandfits.com/hardenbergh/index.html
Longstreth, Richard. “The Unusual Transformation of Downtown Washington in the Early Twentieth Century.”
Washington History, vol. 13, no. 2 (Fall/Winter, 2001/2002), p. 50-71.
MacKay, Robert B. et. al. Long Island Country Houses and their Architects, 1860-1940. New York: W. W. Norton &

Hardenbergh, Henry J. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Company, 1997.
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Plaza Hotel Interior Designation Report. July 12, 2005.
Paths to Historic Rutgers. Rutgers University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives. Accessed October
26, 2010. http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/university_archives/historic_ru_paths.shtml
Schuyler, Montgomery. “The Works of Henry Janeway Hardenbergh.” Architectural Record, vi (Jan.-Mar. 1897), pp.
335–75
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Clarence Lowell Harding

Biographical Data
Birth: 04/07/1872 Place: Binghamton, NY
Death: 11/08/1954 Place: Arlington, VA
Family: Married Rena Shuster; three children
Education
High School: Central High School (DC)
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post – March 25, 1923
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 44 Date Issued: 04/06/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit:1893 Latest Permit: 1948 Total Permits: 131 Total Buildings: 237
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Architect 1890-1903
Harding & Upman Architect 1903-1912
Private Practice Architect 1912-1950
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1899 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Board of Trade; President of the Washington Architectural Club
in 1904-1905; President of the Civitan Club in 1923; Served on the Board of Directors of the Y.M.C.A.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, Churches, Hospitals, Commercial Buildings, Theaters, Apartment Buildings, Hotels
Styles and Forms: Gothic Revival, Beaux Arts, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights, Cleveland Park
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Asbury United Methodist Church 926 11th Street, NW 1915-16 NRHP DC Historic Site
1827/1869 Park Road 1907/10 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Woodward Apt. Building 2311 Connecticut Ave., NW 1909 NRHP DC Historic Site
David White House 1459 Girard Street, NW 1902 NHL NRHP DC Historic Site
Mechanics Savings Bank 8th and G Streets, SE 1908 NRHP DC Historic Site
Freedman’s Hospital Bryant and 6th Streets, NW 1909 NRHP DC Historic Site

Harding, Clarence L. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Born in Binghamton, New York, to

parents Theodore and Caroline
(Hutchinson) Harding, Clarence
Harding spent most of his childhood
in Washington. He graduated from
Central High School in 1890 and three
years later began his career as an
architect. At the outset of his career
Harding designed rowhouses,
primarily in Mount Pleasant and
Columbia Heights. In 1902, he
designed a simple three story brick
row house which was the residence of
the distinguished geologist David
White, a leading expert on the origin
and evolution of oil distribution, from
1910 to 1925. In 1903, Harding
established a partnership with Frank
Upman. A native of Rochester, The Woodward Apartment Building
Minnesota, and a graduate of the Source: EHT Traceries, 2009
University of Chicago, Upman had
been associated with architect Henry Ives Cobb prior to joining in partnership with Harding as Harding & Upman.

Harding & Upman continued to design many residences in neighborhoods including Mt. Pleasant, Petworth and
Eckington, but the architects also began to take on commercial and apartment building projects. In 1908, they
designed the Mechanics Savings Bank, employing a Beaux Arts style common to small inexpensive bank buildings. In
1911, Harding & Upman designed the Woodward Apartment Building for department store owner Samuel Walter
Woodward. Constructed before World War I when the Spanish Colonial style was in vogue, the Woodward features
an elaborate three-story tri-colored terra cotta tile entrance, a tower pagoda, and a red tile hipped roof. In 1919,
Woodward also hired Harding to design additions to his downtown store.

During World War I, Upman served in the Construction Division of the U.S. Army Air Service in England and
France. Upman’s deployment marked the end of his partnership with Harding; upon his return to Washington he
established a firm with Percy C. Adams. In private practice, Harding resumed residential and commercial work, but
also designed churches for the Calvary M. E. Church (1914) and the Asbury M. E. Church (1915). Harding designed
the granite and limestone Asbury Church in the Gothic Revival style for the oldest black Methodist congregation in
D.C. In 1929, Harding was responsible for the first movie theater in Anacostia, a single story brick building located at
1340 Good Hope Road, SE. In addition to practicing in D.C., Harding maintained an office in Martinsburg, West
Virginia.

Harding was active in promoting volunteerism in Washington, helping to establish the local chapter of the Civitan
Club. He served as its first president in 1923 and later served on the board of the national organization. Harding’s
civic service was also reflected in his practice. He served on the board of directors of the local Y.M.C.A. and was
responsible for the design of the Central Y.M.C.A. building at 18th and G Streets (demolished). He also designed a
building for the Boys and Girls Club (an organization affiliated with the Civitan Club) in 1926. Harding was also
active in the architectural profession; he was a member of the Washington Architectural Club and served as its
President in 1904-05. In 1940, Harding was appointed Vice President and Architect/Manager of the Shoreham
Investment Company. Harding retired from private practice around 1950. He died on November 8, 1954.

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 11/10/1954 Page: 22
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 126
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 38-39 1908-09 172
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:

Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.

David White House. National Historic Landmarks Program. Available online:

http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1693&ResourceType=Building

Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.

“Making Washington Better to Live In.” Washington Post, 25 March 1923.

Ronald E. Lewis & Associates. Asbury United Methodist Church National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form.
Washington, D.C., 1986.

Washington Architectural Club Catalog, 1901-1902, 1904-1908.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Harding, Clarence L. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Robert Thompson Head

Biographical Data
Birth: 04/03/1870 Place: Leesburg, VA
Death: Place:
Family: Married Fannie Cooper Heistand (1890), one son; No Photograph Available
2nd wife, Jean Temple.
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Likely apprenticed with his father, George E. Head,
a carpenter in Leesburg, VA.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1887 Latest Permit: 1901 Total Permits: 37 Total Buildings: 44
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Carpenter 1884-1887
Private Practice Draftsman 1888-1891
Private Practice Architect 1892-1901
Cleveland Park Company Chief Architect 1898-1901
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions: Architect for the Cleveland Park Company (1897-1901)
Buildings
Building Types: Queen Anne, Shingle, Colonial Revival, Japanese, Prairie Style
Styles and Forms: Churches, Public Building, Large Residences
DC Work Locations: Cleveland Park
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling 3108 Newark Street, NW 1897 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 3035 Newark Street, NW 1898 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 2941 Newark Street, NW 1898 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 3149 Newark Street, NW 1898 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 3320 Highland Place, NW 1898 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 3225 Highland Place, NW 1898 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 3434 Ashley Terrace 1899 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.

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Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Dwelling 3432 Ashley Terrace 1899 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 3311 Newark Street, NW 1899 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 2960 Newark Street, NW 1899 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 3601 Newark Street, NW 1899 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 3416 34th Street, NW 1900 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 3416 34th Place, NW 1900 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 3315 Newark Street, NW 1900 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Cleveland Park Club 3433 33rd Place, NW 1900 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Dwelling 3138 Highland Place 1901 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Significance and Contributions

Robert T. Head was born on April 3, 1870 in

Leesburg, Virginia to parents George and
Mary (Waugh) Head. George Head was a
carpenter, and Robert likely leaned the trade
from his father. After her husband’s death in
1882, Mary Head moved her family of three
children to Washington. Soon after, Robert
Head started working in the city as a
carpenter. In 1888, at the age of eighteen,
Head was listed in city directories as a
draftsman. By 1892, he was practicing as an
architect. Head did not receive any formal
training, but appears to have been self taught
in design.

In 1898, John Sherman selected Head as the

chief architect of Cleveland Park, Sherman’s Source: “Cleveland Park”/Historical Society of Washington, DC
suburban development along the extension of Connecticut Avenue in northwest Washington. Sherman prided
himself on providing residents of the new neighborhood with individually designed houses. As chief architect of
Cleveland Park, Head succeeded noted architects Paul Pelz, Waddy Wood, and Frederick Pyle. Of these architects,
Head designed the greatest number of houses for the Cleveland Park Company. He is credited with seventeen
residences in the Cleveland Park Historic District, including some of the largest and most prominent in the
neighborhood. His designs were influenced by the Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Japanese and Prairie styles. The
houses Head designed mirrored the basic pattern of American architecture during the later decades of the nineteenth
century. Although varied in style, they reveal a sense of unity and contributed to the appeal of the subdivision. An
article in the May 10, 1903 Washington Times praised Head’s design for the J. H. McGowan House at 2941 Newark
Street, describing it as “…largely composed of stone used in an artistic manner, with its double front, handsome
conservative porch, and other features, [it] never fails to attract passers-by.” In addition to single-family dwellings,
Head also designed the chemical fire engine building and the lodge, both constructed as neighborhood amenities by
the Cleveland Park Company.

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In 1901, Head abandoned architecture and

moved to New York City to take a position as a
sound engineer with a talking picture company,
the Vitaphone Corporation.

3035 Newark Street, NW

EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 131
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Date: Page:
Other Sources:

“Cleveland Park.” Washington, D.C.: Moore & Hill, Inc., 1904.

Hamilton, Sara White and Ellen Hancotte. Unpublished research on Robert Thompson Head.

Wood, Kathleen Sinclair. Cleveland Park Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington,
D.C.: Cleveland Park Historical Society, 1987.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Head, Robert T. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Arthur Berthrong Heaton

Biographical Data
Birth: 11/12/1875 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 12/6/1951 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married Mabel Williams (1902); two children: Doris & James
Education
High School: Central High School (graduated in 1892)
College:
Graduate School: Sorbonne, Paris (1903-1904)
Apprenticeships: Marsh and Peter/Paul Pelz Source: Evening Star 21 March 1942
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 80 Date Issued: 10/15/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1897 Latest Permit: 1947 Total Permits: 162 Total Buildings: 248
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Architect 1898-1951
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1901 Fellow of the AIA: 1941
Other Societies or Memberships: President of the Washington Chapter of the AIA (1935); President of the
Washington Building Congress (1941); Officer of the Washington Architectural Club; Chairman of the Public and
Private Buildings Committee of the Board of Trade; Parishioner of St. Alban’s Church; Member of the Cosmos Club
and the Columbia Country Club.

Awards or Commissions: Supervising Architect for the National Cathedral; Associate Architect for the George
Washington University Campus; Received the Washington Board of Trade Award of Architectural Merit (1927) for
his work on the Washington Loan and Trust Company Building.
Buildings
Building Types: Houses, Commercial Buildings, Office Buildings, Apartment Building, Banks, Theaters
Styles and Forms: Traditional English and Italian Styles, Colonial Revival, Art-Moderne, Beaux Arts
DC Work Locations: Sheridan-Kalorama, Capitol Hill, Burlieth, Cleveland Park
Name Location Date Status
Corcoran and Stockton Halls George Washington University 1924-1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Equitable Coop. Building 915 F Street., NW 1911-1912 NRHP DC Historic Site
Washington Loan and Trust Co. 17th and G Streets, NW 1928 Demolished in 1974
New York Avenue, NW &
The Augusta and The Louisa 1900-1901 NRHP DC Historic Site
New Jersey Avenue, NW
Babcock-Macomb House 3415 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

A native Washingtonian, Arthur B. Heaton was the son of Frank and Mabel Berthrong Heaton. He was educated in
the D.C. public schools, graduating from Central High School in 1892. Upon graduation, he apprenticed with the
firm of Marsh and Peter and with Paul Pelz, the architect of the Library of Congress. Heaton opened his own
practice in 1898. During his first two years of practice he designed four notable apartment buildings: the Augusta
(1900), the Montgomery (1901, demolished) the
Marlborough (1901, demolished) and the Highland
Apartments (1902). Around 1903-1904, he traveled to
Europe to study at the Sorbonne in Paris and then tour
the great cathedrals of England, France, and Italy. This
trip had a lasting influence on the young architect;
throughout his 50-year career, Heaton would draw on
English and Italian aesthetics. He was also a great
admirer of American Colonial architecture, and frequently
visited Thomas Jefferson’s house at Monticello and
Colonial Williamsburg and Fredericksburg for inspiration.

Upon returning to Washington, Heaton gained a

reputation practicing in the newly developing areas of the
city including the neighborhoods along Connecticut
Avenue. Heaton designed scores of homes, commercial
buildings, and apartments throughout his prodigious
The Altamont, 1901 Wyoming Avenue, NW, 1915 career. Major projects in the District of Columbia
Goode, Best Addresses, p. 129 include the Equitable Building Association (1911), the
Y.W.C.A. Building at 17th and K Streets, NW (1924, demolished), the George Washington University's Corcoran and
Stoughton Halls (with Albert Harris, 1924), the Methodist Home for the Aged (1924), the Washington Loan and
Trust – West End Branch (1924, demolished), the National Geographic Building (1930), and Hearst Elementary
School (1932). He was also responsible for 28 apartment buildings including the Colonial Apartments (1906) and the
Altamont Apartments (1915). In 1908, he was appointed Supervising Architect of the Washington Cathedral, and he
served in this role for 14 years. From 1917-32, Heaton did major work for Shannon & Luchs, a local real estate
brokerage and development firm, designing over 500 houses in the Burleith neighborhood.

Heaton was concerned with promulgating high

standards of design beyond the monumental
core of Washington. This concern drove his
participation in many civic organizations, as
well as his own designs. His excellence in this
regard was recognized by the Board of Trade,
which awarded Heaton an Award of
Architectural Merit in 1927 for the Washington
Loan and Trust Company Building. James
Goode described the award winning building in
Capitol Losses: “…this bank was an outstanding
example of American Beaux Arts
architecture—the elegant yet completely
comfortable adaptation of historical
architectural forms to modern building
purpose…. Here an Italian Renaissance
palazzo was beautifully transmitted to a street Embassy Building, Connecticut Avenue and N Street, NW, 1932
corner in the District of Columbia.” Peatross, Capital Drawings, Plate 4.3, p. 209

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A staunch advocate for the provision of adequate housing, Heaton

participated in campaigns to clean up slums and improve Washington
buildings. He was a leader in the "Renovise Washington" movement to
repair and restore houses while providing jobs during the Depression
Afterwards, Heaton founded the Washington Building Congress and
served as Chairman of the Public and Private Buildings Committee of
the Board of Trade. In 1940, Heaton worked for the Washington Alley
Dwelling Authority to design the 18-building public housing complex
located in Southeast Washington named for First Lady Ellen Wilson.

Heaton was an early automobile enthusiast and held one of the first
permits to drive in the city (the license was issued to the architect in
1900). His interest in cars was reflected in the design of the Capital
Garage at 1320 New York Avenue, NW (1926), which at the time of its
completion was believed to be the largest parking structure in the
United States. The Art Moderne-style garage featured architectural
ornamentation with automobile motifs. Several bas relief panel from
the garage were donated to the Smithsonian Institution when the
building was demolished in 1974. Heaton was also hired by the Capitol
Transit Company in the 1940s to develop the standard model for its bus
stations. He also designed several bus garages, which Capital Transit
regarded as important public buildings.

Blue Bell System Hamburger Restaurant

1011 D St. at Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 1936
Peatross, Capital Drawings, Plates 1.12-13, p. 190

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Heaton’s papers and architectural drawings are archived at the Library of Congress
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 10 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 131
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital 1923-24 180
1938-39 386
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Evening Star Date: 12/07/1951 Page:
Other Sources:
Arthur B. Heaton architectural drawing archive, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Peatross, C. Ford. Capital Drawings: Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C., From the Library of Congress. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press, in association with Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 2005.
Trieschmann, Laura et al. Streetcar and Bus Resources of Washington, D.C., 1862-1962 National Register of Historic
Places Multiple Property Documentation Form. Washington, D.C.: EHT Traceries, 2005.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Heaton, Arthur B. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Michael Heister
Biographical Data
Birth: 3/23/1870 Place: Cincinnati, Ohio
Death: 3/20/1948 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: wife, Mary S., four sons, three daughters
Education
High School: Hughes High School, Cincinnati
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Buddemeyer, Plympton & Trowbridge, Cincinnati Source: Washington Post, 7 April 1926

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 9 Date Issued: 5/1/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1909 Latest Permit: 1937 Total Permits: 72 Total Buildings: 78
Practice Position Date
F. P. Milburn & Company, Columbia, S.C. Designer 1901-1906
F. P. Milburn & Company, Washington, D.C. Partner/Architect 1906-1908
Milburn, Heister & Co. Partner/Architect 1909 –1934
Private practice (at home address) Architect 1938-1940
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Railroad stations, courthouses and other public buildings (principally in early years in southern
states), college buildings, office buildings, apartment houses, churches, banks, schools, residences.
Styles and Forms: Chicago School, Beaux Arts, Colonial Revival, Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Eckington, Upper Northwest
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Interstate Building 1319 F Street , N.W. 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site
801 14th St., N.W. (now 1333 H
Real Estate and Trust Building 1913 NRHP DC Historic Site
St. NW)
American Federation of Labor 901 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. 1915 NRHP DC Historic Site
Holy Comforter School 1357 East Capitol St., S.E. 1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
Lansburgh’s Department Store 8th and E Streets, N.W. 1916, 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site
Anacostia Bank 2000 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. 1924 Anacostia Historic District

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Significance and Contributions

Michael Heister was born in Cincinnati in 1870 and attended public high school there.
He had no formal architectural education but was trained under architects who had
studied abroad. He first worked for the Cincinnati architectural firm of Buddemeyer,
Plympton & Trowbridge whose principals had trained in Paris and Vienna. He
worked as a designer on the staff of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. He served as
chief draftsman for William Martin Aiken who was in private practice in Cincinnati
after working with Henry Hobson Richardson in Boston and before being appointed
to the position of Supervising Architect of the Treasury in 1895. Heister was also
employed as chief draftsman by George W. Rapp.

Heister began working for Frank P. Milburn & Co. in 1901 in Columbia, S.C., and
became the chief designer in 1903. He was associated with Milburn, and later
Milburn's son, for almost his entire career thereafter. He was involved in the
company’s extensive practice in the southern states, which specialized in public
buildings and railroad stations. An article in the Washington Post, published in 1907,
shortly after Frank P. Milburn and Michael Heister had moved their practice to
Washington, D.C., described Heister as “the designer of the firm,” and said that he
“also has full charge of the offices, and superintends the preparation of the plans and
specifications.” By 1909, Heister’s role in the firm was recognized in a change of the
firm name to Milburn, Heister & Co. All District of Columbia building permits were
issued in the name of the firm except for two issued to Heister after Frank P. 1319 F St., N.W., circa 1919
Milburn’s death: a 1931 permit for a sisters’ home for the Marist Society and a minor Selections from the Latest Work
field pavilion for a school in 1937. The latter was issued after Milburn, Heister & Co. of Milburn, Heister & Co.
was no longer in business.

In 1925, when the District of Columbia instituted a system for registering architects, Heister was among the first to
apply. He listed the most recent local buildings he had designed and supervised as being the Washington Auditorium,
the Lansburgh department store, the PEPCO office building, St. Paul's School, the Anacostia Bank, the Holy
Comforter School, and the Church of the Nativity School and Convent.

Milburn, Heister & Co.’s style was described by scholar Lawrence

Wodehouse as “typical of nineteenth century eclectics, sometimes
following the great American triumvirate of architects, Henry Hobson
Richardson (1838-1886), Louis Sullivan (1856-1924), and Frank Lloyd
Wright (1867-1959), and at other times adopting the classical attitudes of
the Neo-Classical Revival or Beaux Arts Classicism.” Heister’s design
influence was described by Daniel Vivian in North Carolina Architects and
Builders; “In the first decades of the twentieth century, in part because of
Heister's influence, he [Milburn] began to adopt the vocabulary of Beaux
Arts classicism, which resulted in a more coherent and forceful approach
to design. This shift became even more pronounced after Heister became
a full partner in 1909 and resulted in some of the firm's finest work. In
the 1910s and 1920s, Milburn and Heister excelled at producing buildings
that displayed the restrained, conservative styling that by then had
become the favored idiom for public, institutional, and commercial
buildings.”

The major buildings of Milburn’s early practice had been predominantly

American Federation of Labor Building courthouses and other public buildings and railway stations but, in later
901 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. years, large office buildings became a large part of the Milburn-Heister
EHT Traceries, Inc. 2008 practice. These included the American Federation of Labor building, the
Heister, Michael Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Southern Railway Building in Washington, D.C., (13th and

Pennsylvania Ave., demolished) the Potomac Electric
Power Company building (804 C St. N.W., demolished), the
Interstate Building and the Real Estate Trust Building. The
firm also designed the Washington Auditorium, the District
National Bank, the Union Savings Bank, and several other
banks. Other prominent buildings were the Powhatan
Hotel and the 1916 and 1924 Lansburgh’s Department
Store additions. The firm designed apartment buildings
constructed at 2514 14th Street and 1016 16th Street, N.W.,
and at 307 S Street and 219 T Street, N.W., in Eckington.
The firm designed several Catholic schools in Washington
and thirteen buildings for the University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill campus. John Clagett Proctor wrote in 1930
that the Milburn-Heister firm was said to have “designed
more public buildings than perhaps any other architectural
firm in America.”

Milburn died in 1926 but Milburn’s son Thomas Yancy

Milburn, who had become Milburn, Heister & Co.’s
president in 1925, and Heister continued to practice under
the name Milburn, Heister & Co. until about 1934, the last Lansburgh’s Department Store, 8th and E Streets, NW
year the firm was listed in Washington city directories. The HABS D.C .Wash.- 288, Library of Congress
last District of Columbia building permit issued to the firm
was dated May 10, 1933.

Heister, Michael Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Office of Public Records, D.C. Archives, architects registration files; Library of Congress,
Other Repositories:
Prints and Photographs Division.
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 3/22/1948 Page: B2
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 3 articles
Dictionary of American Biography
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 132, 192
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
EHT Traceries, Inc. “Square 370: History of its Development and 901 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.” Report prepared
for Marriott International Design and Construction Services, Inc., April 2008.
Milburn, Heister & Co. Selections from the latest work of Milburn, Heister & Co., Architects. National Publishing Co., printers,
1919. http://openlibrary.org/a/OL2423147A/Milburn_Heister_Co. Accessed April 30, 2010.
Milburn, Heister & Co. Selections from the latest work of Milburn, Heister & Co., Architects., Washington, D.C. [1922?]
[Washington? D.C. : s.n.] http://www.archive.org/details/selectionsfromla00milb. Accessed May 17, 2010.
Proctor, John Clagett, ed. Washington Past and Present: A History. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company,
Inc., 1930, 646.
“Skilled Architects.” Washington Post, February 24, 1907, p. 24.
“Some of the New Buildings and Men Interested in the ‘Greater Washington,’ Washington Post, June 12, 1912, L24.
Vivian, Daniel J. “Milburn, Frank Pierce (1868-1926).” In North Carolina State University Library, North Carolina
Architects and Builders: A Biographical Dictionary, 2009. http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000085.
Wodehouse, Lawrence. “Frank Pierce Milburn (1868-1926), A Major Southern Architect.” North Carolina Historical
Review, vol. L, no. 3 (July 1973), 289-303.
Notes: Milburn, Heister & Co. published a series of booklets with designs and plans of their works, some of which
are in the collections of the Library of Congress and the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
For additional photographs of Milburn & Heister works, see biography of Frank P. Milburn.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Heister, Michael Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Joseph G. Herbert
Biographical Data
Birth: 1/1/1890 Place: Mechanicsville (vic.), MD
Death: 9/9/1939 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Pearl M. (wife); two children – Mary E. (Herbert) McDaniel
and Thomas M. Herbert.
Education
High School: Central High School, Washington, DC (1905-1907)
College: International Correspondence School (1909)
Graduate School:

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1916 Latest Permit: 1938 Total Permits: 146 Total Buildings: 341
Practice Position Date
Warren Moore Company, Philadelphia, PA Architect 1907-1910
Joseph G. Herbert Builder/Architect 1911-1939

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Mason; International Order of Odd Fellows
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: dwellings, stores, factories, gas stations, apartment buildings, warehouse
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, bungalow, four-square, row houses
DC Work Locations: Anacostia, Fairlawn, Dupont Circle, Park View/Pleasant Plains, Brightwood, Petworth,
Trinidad,
Notable Buildings Location Date Status

Dwelling 1736 Webster Street, N.W. 1923 NRHP DC Historic Site

NRHP DC Historic Site

Apartment Building 1820 Swann Street, N.W. 1927
Dupont Circle Historic District
5101-5239 New Hampshire
Dwellings 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Ave., N.W.
NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartments/flats 1300-1304 U Street, S.E. 1937
Anacostia Historic District

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

A builder and architect, Joseph G. Herbert designed buildings in Washington, D.C. from 1911 until his death in 1938
at age 48. In the 1930s, he designed numerous apartment buildings and row houses that display Colonial Revival and
Tudor Revival stylistic elements.

Joseph Gibbons Herbert was born near Mechanicsville in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on January 1, 1890. By 1900,
he had moved to Washington, D.C. with his parents, James H. and Grace C. Herbert, and his younger brother,
George. James H. Herbert worked as a day laborer in 1900, but by 1910 was employed as a carpenter and lived on
Naylor Road, S.E., near 22nd Street.

From 1905-1907, Joseph Herbert attended Central High School in Washington, D.C. He learned carpentry, and in
1909, took courses in architecture through the International Correspondence School, but did not complete the degree.
He first worked as a carpenter, and in 1911, he began designing buildings. He married in 1912, and his wife, Pearl, had
a daughter in 1915. By 1920, Joseph G. Herbert had
established his own building construction business.

In the 1910s and early 1920s, Herbert prepared plans

primarily for buildings that he constructed himself.
During this period, his Washington, D.C. work
comprised mostly single dwellings in the Anacostia and
Fairlawn neighborhoods, near his home at 1944 Naylor
Road, SE. Few of these dwellings survive, but those
that do remain are typically frame bungalows or four-
squares with modest ornamentation that reflects either
Craftsman or Colonial Revival stylistic influences. Prior
to 1925, he also designed The Myers Apartments (2200
Minnesota Avenue, SE., 1923, demolished) and a couple
of non-residential buildings, including the Thompson 1736 Webster Street, NW; 1923
Furniture store in Anacostia (1911) and the Eagle District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
Bedding Company factory at 1123 7th Street, NW
(1914), both now demolished. He also completed work in Alexandria, Virginia during this period, including a
furniture store at 618 King Street (1917) and an
apartment house next door at 620 King Street (1918).

After 1925, row houses and apartment buildings made

up a larger proportion of Herbert’s work in
Washington, D.C. By 1934, he described himself
primarily as an architect or consulting engineer, rather
than a builder; accordingly, the number of buildings he
designed per year increased dramatically, while his
construction work declined. Sometime between 1926
and 1934, he moved his offices to the Denrike Building
(1010 Vermont Avenue, NW) at McPherson Square; he
probably moved his residence to 1542 25th Street, NW
in Foggy Bottom at about the same time. These moves
are reflected in the geographical distribution of his
5107-5111 New Hampshire Avenue NW; 1936
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 work; although he continued to work in Southeast, his
architectural practice increasingly focused on
neighborhoods in the Northwest and Northeast
quadrants of the city. In 1935, he designed several apartment buildings for the Washington Sanitary Improvement
Company, an organization with the dual aims of providing affordable housing for workers and making money for its
investors.

Herbert, Joseph G. Page 2 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

The apartment buildings and row houses that Herbert

designed in the late 1920s and 1930s display consistent
design preferences. The Colonial Revival style
continued to influence his designs, though Tudor
Revival influences are more evident in his use of cross
gables and prominent chimneys on the façade. His row
houses and apartment buildings display a preference for
symmetry, and his blocks of row houses feature regular
rhythms in the spacing and arrangement of architectural
elements such as dormers, porches, and cross gables. A
good example of Herbert’s late 1920s apartment
buildings is the two-story, red-brick Fihankra Place
Apartments (current name) at 1301 Ridge Place SE
(1927) in Anacostia. The building features U-shaped 1820 Swann Street NW; 1927
footprint, stone sills and string coursing, a shaped District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
parapet, and roundels. The main entrance is
distinguished by a wide, arched door surround.

On September 9, 1938, at the age of 48, Joseph G.

Herbert died of a heart attack at his home. He was
buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Maryland, near the
Southeast Washington neighborhood where he spent
most of his life.

1300 U Street SE; 1937

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography– not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 133
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Post Date: 9/10/1938 Page: 10

Herbert, Joseph G. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Joseph G. Herbert Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Joseph G. Herbert correspondence with the Board. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910. District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1920. District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. District of Columbia.

Notes: The building counts include permits issued to Joseph G. Herbert or J.G. Herbert. However, investigation of
the building permits indicated that some permits for buildings designed by “Joseph J. Herbert” and “Joseph A.
Herbert” were actually designed by Joseph G. Herbert.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Herbert, Joseph G. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

James Green Hill

Biographical Data
Birth: 1839 or 1841 Place: Malden, Massachusetts
Death: 12/19/1913 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married to Julia O. Hill; one daughter
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Bryant & Gilman (Boston) Source: Brady-Handy Coll., LC-BH832-366
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1886 Latest Permit: 1907 Total Permits: 112 Total Buildings: 173
Practice Position Date
U.S. Treasury Clerk/Draftsman 1868-1874
U.S. Treasury Architect 1875-1876
U.S. Treasury Supervising Architect of the Treasury 1877-1883
Private Practice Architect 1884-1911
Hill & Kendall Architect 1904-1911
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1888 Fellow of the AIA: 1888
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Government Buildings, Office, Apartment Houses, Single-Family Houses
Styles and Forms: Romanesque; Second Empire; Italian Renaissance, Gothic, Queen Anne
DC Work Locations: Downtown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Bureau of Printing and Engraving 301 14th Street, SW 1880 NRHP DC Historic Site
Atlantic Building 928-930 F Street, NW 1887-1888 NRHP DC Historic Site
National Bank of Washington 301 7th Street, NW 1889 NRHP DC Historic Site
Washington Loan and Trust Co. 900 F Street, NW 1891 NRHP DC Historic Site
Government Printing Office 732 N. Capitol Street, NW 1899-1904 NRHP DC Historic Site
Jennifer Building 400-404 7th Street, NW 1900 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

James G. Hill, one of Washington’s premier architects, received no formal architectural education, but apprenticed in
the offices of well-known Boston architects Bryant & Gilman. A native of
Massachusetts, Hill briefly settled in Washington while in his early twenties,
but permanently relocated to the city in 1867 when he was hired as a clerk
by the Office of the Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury. Hill
worked as a draftsman under A. B. Mullett (Supervising Architect from
1865-1874) and as an architect for William Potter (Supervising Architect
from 1874-1877). Hill was appointed Supervising Architect of the Treasury
in 1877. During this period, all federal construction projects were
supervised by the Treasury Department. Therefore, Hill was charged with
overseeing the construction of important federal commissions across the
county.

As Supervising Architect, Hill was responsible for the design of the Bureau
of Printing and Engraving building in Washington, DC (now the Auditor’s
Office, 1880). He also designed custom houses and post offices in
Baltimore, Albany, Memphis, and Minneapolis. Hill’s early governmental
buildings were executed in Second Empire style, which was then waning in
popularity, but his later buildings reflect the Romanesque Revival style.
These buildings were characterized by weighty masonry construction and 900 F Street, N.W.
Built as Washington Loan And Trust
rhythmic facades with rounded arches. Hill resigned as Supervising
Co.
Architect in 1883 following allegations that he was involved in the “granite EHT Traceries, 2001
ring,” a conspiracy to defraud the government through improper dealings
with construction material suppliers.

Following his resignation, Hill established his own private practice. After
1904, he also worked under the name of Hill & Kendall with fellow architect
Frederick A. Kendall. Hill is also known to have partnered with James Rush
Marshall sometime before 1910—Hill and Marshall had worked together at
the Treasury. Buildings designed by Hill in private practice include the
Atlantic Building (1887), the Romanesque Revival-style Washington Loan and
Trust Company Building (1891), the Jennifer Building (1900), the Mendota
Apartments (1901), the Willard Office Building (1902; demolished), and the
Ontario (1903), the Beaux Arts apartment house where Hill resided with his
wife, Julia. Despite his ignoble departure from the Supervising Architect’s
Office, Hill continued to design government buildings, most notably the
massive red brick Italian Renaissance-style Government Printing Office
(1899-1904) on North Capitol Street. In addition to offices and apartment
houses, Hill designed several residences in the Kalorama neighborhood.

Atlantic Building, 930 F St, N.W.

EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Hill was active in the Washington Chapter of the AIA and served as its
President in 1889. He was also a member of the national AIA Board of
Directors from 1900 to 1911. Hill died suddenly of “indigestion” on
December 19, 1913.

Jennifer Building, 400-404 7th St., NW

EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Commission of Fine Arts; General Services Administration
Obituary Publication: Evening Star Date: 12/20/1913 Page: 1
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 14 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 135
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 287
Other Sources:
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Levy, Florence N. American Art Annual. New York: American Art Annual Company, Various Volumes/Dates.
Traceries, “Historic Context of Downtown Survey Area,” 920-930 F Street, NW Program of Mitigation, June 1990.
Washington D.C. With its Points of Interest. New York: Mercantile Illustrating Co., 1894. Historical Society of Washington
DC Collection. Pages:

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Hill, James G. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Joseph Coerten Hornblower

Biographical Data
Birth: 03/03/1848 Place: Paterson, NJ
Death: 08/22/1908 Place: The Hague, Holland
Family: Married Caroline Bradley (1893)
Education
High School:
College: Yale University (graduated in 1869)
Graduate School: Atelier of Jean-Louis Pascal (Paris, France)
Apprenticeship: Source: Library of Congress
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1881 Latest Permit: 1912 Total Permits: 114 Total Buildings: 141
Practice Position Date
Draftsman 1874-1875
William M. Poindexter Architect 1877-1878
Private Practice Architect 1879-1883
Hornblower and Marshall Architect/Partner 1883-1908
Commissions: Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture at the Columbian University
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1893 Fellow of the AIA: 1893
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Cosmos Club, the Metropolitan Club, and the Chevy Chase Club.
Also a member of the University Club, Century Club, and National Arts Club in New York City. Founding member
of the Washington Chapter of the AIA.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Private Residences, Rowhouses, Government Buildings
Styles and Forms: Queen Anne, Romanesque, Georgian Revival, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Kalorama, Downtown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Lucius Tuckerman House 1600 I Street, NW 1886 Demolished in 1967
George S. Fraser House 1701 20th Street, NW 1890 NRHP DC Historic Site
William J. Boardman House 1801 P Street, NW 1890 NRHP DC Historic Site
Holt House (alterations) National Zoo Grounds 1890-1901 NRHP DC Historic Site
Litchfield House 2010 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1892 Demolished in 1969
Duncan Phillips House 1612 21st Street, NW 1896-1897 NRHP DC Historic Site

Hornblower, Joseph C. Page 1 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Marine Barracks Buildings 7th and I Streets, SE 1902-1906 NRHP DC Historic Site
Natural History Museum 11th St. & Constitution Ave., NW 1903-1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Lothrop House 2001 Connecticut Ave., NW 1908-1909 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions

Joseph C. Hornblower was born on March 3, 1848 in Paterson New Jersey to parents William Henry and Matilda
(Butler) Hornblower. His grandfather, for whom he was named, was the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme
Court. His father was a pastor and later a professor of theology. Hornblower studied philosophy at the Sheffield Sci-
entific School at Yale University, graduating in 1869. By 1874, Hornblower was working as a draftsman in Washing-
ton; however, he left the city in 1876 to study at the atelier of Jean-Louis Pascal in Paris. Although some sources state
that Hornblower attended the Ecole de Beaux Arts (possibly as early as 1871), it is more likely that he learned the
principles of the renowned school under the tutelage of the distinguished architect Pascal. Whether or not he studied
at the Ecole de Beaux Arts, Hornblower’s foreign education was a rarity at the time and exposed him to European
traditions of architecture.

Hornblower returned to Washington in 1877 and briefly joined the practice of prominent local architect William M.
Poindexter. The two architects shared an office, but seemingly did not collaborate on any buildings. Hornblower’s
first individual work in Washington was the Lenox Building on G Street, NW, constructed in 1878. That same year,
Hornblower established his own practice with an office in the Corcoran Building—the same building as the firm of
Cluss and Schulze.

In 1883, Hornblower entered into a partnership

with James Rush Marshall. Their firm was the
most active in Washington from the mid 1880s
through the first decade of the twentieth century.
Edward Donn later wrote, “Hornblower and Mar-
shall were the best architects in Washington in the
nineties. They did a lot of work and it was all
above average.” The firm established a reputation
designing houses for the social and political elite
of the city. Prominent residences that Hornblow-
er and Marshall collaborated on include the Tuck-
erman House located at 1600 I Street, NW (1886,
demolished), the Fraser House located at R and
20th Streets, NW (1890, demolished), the Board-
man House located at 1801 P Street, NW (1893),
and houses for several Supreme Court Justices.
As the practice flourished, Hornblower and Mar-
shall employed several notable designers in their Lothrop Mansion, 2001 Connecticut Avenue. N.W.
firm including William J. Marsh and Albert L. Front (south) façade
Harris. Indeed, many of Washington, D.C.’s best- EHT Traceries, 1984, National Register nomination
known early twentieth-century architects worked for Hornblower and Marshall at some point during their careers.

Hornblower appears to have been the firm’s principal architect, while Marshall concentrated on interior design. Influ-
enced by his education in Paris and by the celebrated work of H. H. Richardson, he favored the Romanesque style.
As described in Sixteenth Street Architecture Vol. 2, “[Their] early residential work was generally austere in feeling, charac-
terized by large, flat wall surfaces of brick, broken by deeply set unornamented windows. Decorative elements were
judiciously placed and usually consisted of patterned brick, stone quoining and carving, and towards the end of the
century, restrained classical entrance porticos.” Following the popular architectural trends of the times, by the turn of
the century the firm also employed elements of the Georgian and Colonial Revival styles.

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 DC Architects Directory

Although the majority of their work was residential, Hornblower and Marshall were awarded two major public com-
missions in 1903-1904: the Custom House in Baltimore and the National Museum in Washington, D.C. These large
commissions necessitated the hiring of new draftsman and several trips to Europe to study monumental public archi-
tecture. At the insistence of the Smithsonian Institution and the McMillan Commission, the National Museum (now
known as the National Museum of Natural History) was executed in a grand neo-classical style and not the “French”
style complete with a Mansard roof initially proposed by Hornblower and Marshall draftsman Arthur Brown. The
plans were modified several times during the course of construction. Toward the completion of the National Muse-
um on August 22, 1908, Hornblower died while studying museums in Europe. The cause of his sudden death is un-
known. Marshall would continue to practice under the name of Hornblower and Marshall into the 1920s.

The Duncan Phillips House

Source: National Register of Historic Places

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: The Inland Architect and News Record Date: 1908 (Vol. 52) Page: 53
Publication: Evening Star Date: 08/22/1908
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 2 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 142
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital 1908-09 235

Hornblower, Joseph C. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 301

Other Sources:

Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.

“Hornblower and Marshall Documents at the Smithsonian.” Smithsonian Preservation Quarterly Spring 1995.

Kohler, Sue A. and Jeffrey R. Carson. Sixteenth Street Architecture Volume 2. Washington, D.C. The Commission of Fine
Arts, 1988.

Peterson, Anne E. Hornblower and Marshall: A Factual Investigation of the Individuals and the Office. Washington, D.C.: Un-
published Report, 1976.

Traceries, “Lothrop Mansion,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, National Park Service, 1984.

Notes: For additional photographs of Hornblower and Marshall buildings, see biography of James Rush Marshall.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Hornblower, Joseph C. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

William Edgar Howser

Biographical Data
Birth: 10/26/1887 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 1956-1963 Place:
Family: Married Anna Fulton Ligon, 1909; no children
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1910 Latest Permit: 1937 Total Permits: 108 Total Buildings: 454
Practice Position Date
Millwork company Estimator 1908-1911
J. Carey King Co. Estimator (1914), vice president (1915) 1914 or before -1920
Self employed Builder 1930s
Skinker & Garrett Chief estimator, construction company 1950s

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Single-family dwellings, principally row houses.
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Northwest, Northeast, Southeast Washington D.C. including Park View, Barney Circle, Capitol
Hill
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Rowhouses 1802-1828 Kenyon St. N.W. 1915 Mount Pleasant Historic Dist.
Rowhouses 1500-1510 Potomac Ave., S.E. 1917 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 3905-3927 Illinois Ave. N.W. 1918 NRHP DC Historic Site
609-637 Princeton Place, N.W.
Rowhouses 1919 NRHP DC Historic Site
610-640 Princeton Place, N.W.
11-19 Bryant Street, N.E.
Rowhouses 1919 NRHP DC Historic Site
2311-2319 N. Capitol St. NE

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

William Edgar Howser was born in Washington, D.C., on October 26, 1887. His parents had come from Virginia and
his father was variously listed in city directories as a carpenter, draftsman and estimator and once as an architect.
Permit records show William Edgar Howser to have been active as a designer of residential buildings in the District of
Columbia for exactly one decade, from June 1910 to June 1920, although he subsequently worked in jobs related to
the building industry. Very little information on him is found in public records.

Howser’s first city directory listing was as a clerk in

1904. By 1908 he was listed as a draftsman and
beginning in 1909 he was an estimator. At the time of
the 1910 census Howser was an estimator working for
a millwork company. This coincides with the time that
his name began appearing in D.C. building permits as
architect. Beginning in 1914 he was listed in city
directories as an estimator for the J. Carey King Co., a
supplier of building materials located in Washington,
D.C., but it is probable that he had been working for
the company for some years because, in 1915, he
became its vice-president. It appears that Howser’s
work as an architect was related to his responsibilities
at J. Carey King Co. On his 1917 draft card, at a time
when he was producing plans for several rows of Houses in Kenyon St. N.W. row, designed for Charles L.
dwellings each month, he stated that he was employed Tankersley, 1915
as a millwork estimator. Howser never listed himself Washington Post, August 15, 1915, R 7
as an architect in city directories and therefore is not included in Pamela Scott’s Directory of District of Columbia Architects,
1822-1960.

Beginning in mid-1910 Howser’s name appears as architect for

numerous dwellings in the District of Columbia. Most were
speculatively built row houses. At this time there was great
demand for modestly priced housing that incorporated modern
improvements in lighting, heating, ventilation and plumbing.
As described in the Washington Post in 1911, “Construction of
modern homes for moderate prices is becoming more and more
a feature of real estate transactions in Washington….Those
with six rooms and bath and of one or two stories seem to be
the most popular….Whole blocks have been developed in this
way, and the houses, located in many different sections of the
2313-2317 North Capitol St., NE city, have found a ready sale.” Howser designed dwellings for a
These dwellings, in the 2300 block of North number of speculative builders who were constructing housing
Capitol St. and the unit block of Bryant St., NE, for this market on previously unimproved sites in northwest,
were advertised for sale in 1919 as having “a northeast and southeast Washington, D.C. The largest number
Large Light Fireproof Garage” with each house. of his commissions was from H.R. Howenstein, but he also
DCPropertyQuest, 2004 designed for numerous other owner-builders including Charles
L. Tankersley, D.J. Dunigan, and T. A. Jameson. Virtually all of Howser’s commissions were for multiple buildings.
His typical pre-World War I buildings were two-story, three-bay brick row houses with a front porch, usually
exhibiting minimal Colonial revival architectural details. Some, with eight rooms, were designed for a somewhat
higher income buyer.

According to newspaper accounts, Howenstein’s developments in southeast Washington in 1917 were spurred by the
expansion of the Navy Yard work force as the United States entered World War I. Howser designed dwellings at 3rd
Howser, William E. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Street and South Carolina Ave., S.E., and in the Barney Circle neighborhood for Howenstein in 1917 and 1918. Six
months after the end of World War I, H. R. Howenstein Co. announced it was undertaking one of the areas largest
building projects of the year – the construction of 135 dwellings on five squares immediately west of the Soldiers
Home bounded by Park Place on the east, Georgia Avenue on the west and Rock Creek Church Road on the north
and incorporating Quebec Place, Princeton Place, and Otis Place. The firm announced that the dwellings were to be
“of popular colonial design” and that, “A new idea will be followed in building a fireproof garage under each rear
porch, with heat and light from the house.” Howser designed dwellings on both sides of Princeton Place for this
project and he also designed row houses with built-in garages for Howenstein on Bryant Street, N.E.

In April 1920 Howser was listed in the census as an architect working

for wages in an office. At that time he and his wife were living at her
parents’ house. Howser appears to have left Washington, D.C., soon
thereafter. After June 1920, no D.C. building permits included
Howser’s name except for one frame dwelling in 1922 and a 1937
permit for a dwelling Howser both designed and built at 4230 19th
Street, N.E. In 1921, Howser’s wife was listed in the city directory
under her own name at her parents’ address and later in the 1920s
neither of them was listed in Washington city directories. In 1925,
when the District of Columbia initiated a requirement that architects
register, Howser did not seek to register or to qualify by affidavit
based on the years that he had practiced. The 1925 registration
regulations would have permitted him to work without registering but 22 Fairview St., Wynnewood Park
only as a designer, not an architect. Silver Spring
Washington Post, October 27, 1935, R10
Howser was not located in the 1930 census and he was not listed in
the 1932, 1936, or 1942 Boyd’s city directories. However, in the 1930s he was evidently working as a builder in
Maryland. Between 1932 and 1935 the Washington Post real estate pages published several photographs of two-story,
single family Colonial Revival style houses Howser had constructed in the Wynnewood subdivision in Silver Spring.

In 1942, when Howser registered with the Selective Service Board in Montgomery County, he stated that he was
unemployed and did not have a permanent address but would provide one in Silver Spring when he was settled.
In the mid-1950s, Howser was listed in Washington city directories as chief estimator for Skinker & Garrett, general
contractors in Washington, D.C., and he lived in an apartment in the District. No reference to his death was located
but when his wife died in 1963 she was described as his widow.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Ancestry.com
Obituary: Publication: none found Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it

Howser, William E. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Other Sources:
Advertisement, Washington Post, November 17, 1919.
Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia, 1918. Washington, D.C.: R.L. Polk Co., 1918.
Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia. Washington, D.C.: R.L. Polk Co., various years published under various titles.
“Deaths.” Washington Post, May 10, 1963, B9.
“Home on Noyes Drive.” Washington Post, July 24, 1932, R2.
“Hurrying Houses Near Navy Yard,” Washington Post, January 27, 1918, RE8.
“In Wynnewood Park.” Washington Post, January 22, 1933, R3.
“Plan 135 New Type of Homes.” Washington Post, May 25, 1919, R3.
“Small Homes Sought.” Washington Post, October 15, 1911, R6.
“Thomas E. Jarrell Co. Sale in Wynnewood Park.” Washington Post, October 27, 1935, R10.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910, 1920, District of Columbia.

Notes: The permit totals include permits listed for W. E. Howser, Wm. E. Howser, and W. Edgar Howser.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Howser, William E. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Ernest C. Hunter
Biographical Data
Birth: Dec. 1881 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: After 1942 Place:
Family: Married Barbara Nebb Holmes 12/12/1905; daughter Doris,
son Raymond.
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, 02/24/1907, 24
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1902 Latest Permit: 1918 Total Permits: 292 Total Buildings: 811
Practice Position Date
Not known Draftsman 1900
Hunter & Bell Partner, architect 1902-1918
Quartermaster General’s Office Draftsman 1918-?
U.S. Hospital, Arapahoe County, Colorado Architect 1920

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Corcoran Cadet Corps Veterans Assn.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Single family dwellings, principally row and semi-detached houses, and apartment buildings
Styles and Forms: Renaissance Revival, Colonial Revival, Spanish Mission Revival
DC Work Locations: Adams Morgan, Lanier Heights, Kalorama Triangle, Woodley Park, Cleveland Park,
Bloomingdale, Capitol Hill, Barney Circle
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Apartment 2029 Connecticut Ave. N.W. 1915 Kalorama Triangle Hist. Dist.
Norwood 1868 Columbia Road, N.W. 1916 NRHP DC Historic Site
Netherlands 1852 Columbia Road, N.W. 1909 NRHP DC Historic Site
Stafford 1789 Lanier Place, N.W. 1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Gainsborough (New Plaza) 1115 12th St., N.W. 1905 Shaw Historic District
Twelve row houses 2617-2641 Garfield St., N.W. 1907 Woodley Park Historic District

Hunter, Ernest C. Page 1 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Ernest C. Hunter was born in December 1881, the eldest of eight children of a steamfitter. He was raised in the
District but no information has been found on his training. In 1900, at age 18, he was living with his parents at 10th
and H Streets, N.W., and was employed as a draftsman according to the Census.
Two years later, in 1902, he formed a partnership, Hunter & Bell, with George N.
Bell, a contemporary and, presumably, close friend. Bell served as best man in
Hunter’s 1905 wedding. After his marriage Hunter lived in Prince George’s
County in a house he designed.

The Hunter & Bell partnership was in business from 1902 until 1918 and its
partners became known as specialists in the field of apartment design although
initially the firm designed only single family housing. Bell was both an investor and
an architect and was responsible for bringing in much of the firm's business. His
name first appears in land records and the permit data base in 1902 when he
bought lots in the Moore and Barbour Addition to Bloomingdale. In 1903 and
1904 the principal work of the Hunter & Bell partnership was designing single
family semi-detached dwellings on lots owned by Bell. However, they also
designed a number of semi-detached and row houses for other investors, notably
John L. Warren, to whom Bell was related by marriage. Both John L. Warren and The Gainsborough
his brother, Bates Warren, were lawyers who became prominent developers in 1115 12th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. Bates Warren had married Bell's sister Lisette in 1897 and the Washington Times, 1/28/1906, 3
firm’s connection with the Warren family shaped the course of its practice. In 1902 Bell and John L. Warren both
invested in Squares 2886 and 2887 bounded by Girard Street on the south and Harvard Street on the north between
Georgia and Sherman Avenues. Hunter & Bell designed all the dwellings constructed in the two squares. In 1904
Hunter & Bell designed their first apartment building, a four-story brick apartment building at 1343 Clifton Street,
N.W. (demolished), commissioned by John L. Warren. It was the first of a large number of apartment buildings
commissioned by John L. Warren or Bates Warren. Between 1904 and 1917, Hunter and Bell designed 53 apartment
houses ranging from luxury buildings to modest flats, most of which were commissioned by one or the other of the
Warren brothers.

Among Hunter & Bell’s early major apartment

buildings was the Gainsborough at
Massachusetts Avenue and 12th Street, N.W.
(1905). It was the first building the firm
designed for Bates Warren and its first mid-rise
building. The seven-story building was
described in the Washington Times as a
“thoroughly modern seven-story apartment
house containing twenty-eight suites of three,
four and five rooms each.” The two-story base
of the Renaissance revival style building is
faced with Indiana limestone and the upper
stories are gray hydraulic press brick. Other
notable Hunter & Bell apartment buildings
include the Netherlands at 1852 Columbia
Road (1909) and the Stafford at 1789 Lanier
Place (1910). Most of Hunter & Bell’s
2029 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Apartments apartment buildings were two to four stories in
Classic Elegance, by M.V. Jantzen, 2008. height and John L. Warren commissioned the
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/3075180353/, majority of them. Bates Warren commissioned
license terms: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en Hunter & Bell to design only a few apartment
Hunter, Ernest C. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

buildings but they were the firm’s largest ones, including the seven-story Norwood at 1868 Columbia Road (1916),
built at an estimated cost of $200,000.

Hunter & Bell’s most important apartment building was 2029 Connecticut Avenue, designed for Bates Warren in
1915 and built for an estimated $300,000. It was constructed in an area already noted for having some of
Washington’s finest luxury apartment buildings, on Connecticut Avenue south of the Taft Bridge. It is included in
James Goode’s book, Best Addresses. The rusticated base and top floor of the tripartite façade are finished with terra
cotta. Goode notes that its elaborate entrance porches are based on the Alwyn Court, “the most elaborate terra cotta
New York apartment house ever built” and described both buildings as “Renaissance-inspired buildings with an
overlay of Francis I ornament” including the “pilasters, spandrels, panels and salamanders.” Interior decoration
includes both Beaux Arts Classical revival and Tudor elements. The building attracted prominent residents including
William Howard Taft (1917-18) and General John J. Pershing (1922-1926).

While Hunter and Bell are best known for their apartment buildings, much of their design output consisted of row or
semi-detached speculative housing in both expensive neighborhoods such as Lanier
Heights, Adams-Morgan and Woodley Park and more modest areas including
Bloomingdale and southeast Washington. They also designed some detached single
family dwellings including a number of residences in Cleveland Park. Building
permits indicate that the firm was actively designing until August 1917. The United
States’ entry into World War I and the resulting limitations on building supplies may
have curtailed its activities and led to the termination of the partnership. Only one
permit was issued to Hunter & Bell after August 18, 1917: a permit dated June 15,
1918 for a single family dwelling commissioned by a builder. Throughout the course
of his career, Hunter was never listed on a permit in his own name except as owner
of one small apartment building at 1129 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., designed by
Hunter & Bell in 1909.

Ernest C. Hunter appears to have entered government service during World War I. The Norwood
He was listed as a draftsman in the Quartermaster General’s Office in the 1918 city 1868 Columbia Road N.W.
directory. The 1920 Census listed Hunter as living with his family in Aurora, Historical Society CHS 10016
Arapahoe County, Colorado, and working as an architect for the U.S. Hospital there. He and his family were not
found in the 1930 Census. He eventually returned to the Washington, D.C., area. He was listed as a survivor in the
Washington Post’s notice of the death of his wife in 1939 and the death of his infant grandson in August 1942 but the
date and place of his death have not been found.
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Obituary: Publication: not found Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 144-145
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources: “Architects Labor for City Beautiful.” Washington Post, February 24, 1907, 24.
“Corcoran Veterans Banquet,” Washington Post, March 19, 1916, 8.
Hunter, Ernest C. Page 3 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Eig, Emily and Laura Harris Hughes. Apartment Buildings in Washington, D.C. 1880-1945. Washington, D.C.:
Traceries, 1993.
"Gainsborough Apartment House." Washington Times, January 28, 1906
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
"Obituary." Washington Post, May 1, 1939, 19 and August 16, 1942, 12.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, District of Columbia, 1900
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, Maryland, 1910
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, Colorado, 1920.
“Weddings.” Washington Times, December 17, 1905.
Notes: See also biography for George N. Bell.
The 1918 Boyd’s directory has two Ernest C. Hunter listings: Ernest C. Hunter, Hunter & Bell with a residence in
Hyattsville and the second working as a draftsman at the Quartermaster General’s Office and residing at 1120 ½
Florida Ave., N.E. It appears probable that these two are the same person. The family members of Ernest C. Hunter
listed in the 1920 Census working at the U.S. hospital in Colorado match all Hunter’s earlier biographical material.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Hunter, Ernest C. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

William Butts Ittner

Biographical Data
Birth: 9/4/1864 Place: St. Louis, Missouri
Death: 3/2/1936 Place: St. Louis, Missouri
Family: Married Littie Crane Allan, 1888: son, William B. Ittner Jr.
Married Marie Anderson, 1923
Education
High School: Public schools, St. Louis
College: Manual Training School of Washington U., grad. 1884
Graduate School: Special student in architecture, Cornell U., 1884-
1887
Apprenticeship: Eames & Young, 1888-1889 Source: Landmarks Association of St. Louis, Inc.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: n/a Latest Permit: n/a Total Permits: Total Buildings:
Practice Position Date
Individual practice and two brief partnerships Private practice 1889-1897
Board of Education, St. Louis, Mo. Commissioner of School Buildings 1897-1910
Board of Education, St. Louis, Mo. Architect 1910-1916
William B. Ittner Principal 1910-1936

Professional Associations
Treasurer, 1924-1926
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: as Fellow, 1891
Life member, 1927
Other Societies or Memberships: President, Architectural League of America, 1903; Thirty-third degree Mason
Awards or Commissions: Silver medal, St. Louis World's Fair, 1904; Gold medal, Jamestown Tercentennial;
Honorary L.L.D., University of Missouri, 1931, and numerous other honors.
Buildings
Building Types: Schools, Masonic buildings
Styles and Forms: Elizabethan, Jacobean, Classical and Colonial revival styles.
DC Work Locations: Central (Cardozo) High School, Columbia Heights.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Central High School 13th and Clifton Streets, N.W. 1916 NRHP DC Historic Site
Yeatman, Soldan high schools St. Louis, Missouri NRHP DC Historic Site
Clark, Cote Brilliante elem. sch.
Central High School Columbus, Ohio NRHP DC Historic Site
Emerson, Froebel, Horace
Gary, Indiana NRHP DC Historic Site
Mann Schools
Scottish Rite Cathedral St. Louis, Missouri 1921 NRHP DC Historic Site
Ittner, William B. Page 1 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

William B. Ittner, architect of Washington, D.C.'s Central (now Cardozo) High School (1916), was a leading figure in
revolutionizing school architecture in the first decades of the twentieth century. Ittner was born in St. Louis in 1884.
His father, Anthony Ittner, was a bricklayer who went on to found a brick company, become a builder and, in 1877, a
Member of Congress. William Ittner graduated from the Manual Training School at Washington University, St. Louis,
in 1884. He then studied architecture at Cornell University for three years (1884-87) and travelled in Europe.
Returning to St. Louis in 1888, he married and entered the firm of Eames and Young. From 1889 to 1897 Ittner
practiced on his own except for brief partnerships with William Foster and, beginning in 1894, with T.C. Link and
A.F. Rosenheim.

In 1897, Ittner was appointed the first Commissioner of School Buildings of the newly reorganized St. Louis Board of
Education. This appointment launched Ittner on a career in which he rose to become one of the nation's leading
innovators in school design. The schools he designed for St. Louis won him national and international recognition
and numerous school districts across the country commissioned him to design school buildings. Over the course of
his career he designed 500 schools: 135 high schools, 267 elementary schools, 93 special and private schools and 3
colleges located in over one hundred cities and towns in twenty-eight states.

Ittner was recognized both for the innovative design of his schools and for their architectural quality. At the time of
his death, the St. Louis Post Dispatch wrote that Ittner would be "long remembered as the architect who changed the
American school from the prison-like structure he disliked as a boy to the well-lighted, well ventilated and decorative
public building which is common throughout the country today." Prior to Ittner's appointment as Commissioner, St.
Louis schools were typically a square block with dimly lit classrooms, some of which were in the basement, organized
around a central stairwell, often without indoor plumbing, and generally located on the sidewalk line. Ittner
experimented with different forms, including U and H shapes to maximize the light and ventilation in classrooms. In
1900 he first used the E shape that became his preferred form and one-sided corridors which he had seen in Europe.
He introduced mechanical heating and ventilation and indoor plumbing. He advocated planning schools from the
inside out and worked closely with school superintendents to design schools based on their educational program and
plan of operation, making maximum use of space by designing spaces that could be used for various purposes
throughout the day and providing the flexibility to meet future needs. Ittner's approach became known as the "open
plan" or the "Ittner plan." Its characteristics were summarized by Marie Anderson Ittner, as being: 1. Restricted
heights of school buildings; 2. All educational space above ground; 3. Necessity for large sites for the spreading out of
the building, for proper setting; for playgrounds, park areas and site development; 4. Provision in the plan for
maximum safety, correct lighting and efficient ventilation; 5. Plan flexibility for ease of alteration and expansion, to
serve educational enrichment and changes, and to care for school enrollment increases; 6. Opportunities for
diversified, individualized and distinctive school building design.

Ittner traveled extensively in the United States and abroad to study school construction and architecture. In England
he was particularly taken with features of Elizabethan and Jacobean manor houses which he considered well suited to
adaptation for school architecture. Many of Ittner's early schools have elaborate decorative motifs in these styles but
in later years his designs were generally simplified to reduce costs. Guy Study, in a 1925 Architectural Record article on
Ittner's work, wrote that Ittner, the son of a brick manufacturer, made "a truly revolutionary use of brick work…Ever
seeking for new effects in the blending of colors,…[a]lways using the material at hand, demanding no extraordinarily
fine quality of brick, yet with almost uncanny intuition and with the art of a conjurer, he is able to produce an effect in
his brick walls that is lovely and rich in color, soft in texture and sparkling with life."

In 1910, Ittner resigned from his position as Commissioner of School Buildings in order to establish a private practice
and design schools in other cities and states but he retained the post of Architect for the St. Louis School Board until
1916. His practice grew to be national in scope. Ittner was in the forefront of high school design as these schools grew
to accommodate larger student bodies and the many new features required for a broader curriculum including
auditorium, gymnasiums, laboratories, and shops. According to his St. Louis Post Dispatch obituary, Ittner was the "the
first designer to provide specialized manual training and domestic science rooms" and planned the country's first
Ittner, William B. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

public manual training high school. Ittner's schools were usually set back on landscaped grounds and surrounded by
playing fields.

Ittner designed Washington, D.C.’s, new Central High School early in the private practice phase of his career. As
described by Appleton P. Clark in his history of architecture in Washington, D.C., Ittner designed the school as a
consultant to the recently created Office of the Municipal Architect headed by Snowden Ashford. Ittner was known
for his innovative school designs at a time when educational reform was expanding the curriculum of academic
schools to include more vocational training. The new Central High School, built to replace an existing building, was
conceived as a school that would be in the national forefront, a modern school offering business, manual training (for
boys) and domestic art and science (for girls) and gymnasiums for both sexes along with its academic curriculum. Set
on a commanding site overlooking the city, with ample grounds, Central High School was planned to accommodate
2,500 students.

Ittner was involved in the planning stages. In September 1912 the Washington Post reported that, “To discuss ways of
making the new Central High School building…the best in the country, Dr. William M. Davidson, superintendent of
schools, Municipal Architect Snowden Ashford, Emory M. Wilson, principal of Central, and W. P. Ittner, of St. Louis,
the architect selected to prepare the plans, yesterday held a conference at the District building” at which it was decided
that Davidson and Ashford would visit several model high schools in the country to get ideas for the new building.
The Post also reported the same day that Ittner had been awarded the contract to design the new M Street School for
African-American high school students but ultimately that school was designed by Snowden Ashford.

The Central High School, designed in 1913 and completed in 1916, was the largest school Ittner designed. Congress
had appropriated $1.2 million for its construction. It was designed in the Elizabethan revival style often used by Ittner
and favored by Snowden in his own designs for its large windows. The building included numerous specialized
classrooms for training in manual arts, commercial skills, and domestic science. Its large, centrally located auditorium
was designed for community as well as school use. It served as a model for subsequent school construction in the city.

Although Ittner is best known for his schools, he also designed other major buildings in St. Louis including a
cathedral for the Scottish Rite Masons and the Continental Life Insurance Building. Ittner's son William B. Ittner Jr.
joined his father in his practice and continued the firm. As of 2010, the firm is still in operation in St. Louis.

Central High School, Washington, D.C.,1917

Architectural Record 42 No. 5 (Nov. 1917): 427

Ittner, William B. Page 3 of 4

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: St. Louis Post Dispatch Date:1/27/1936 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 77 articles
National Cyclopedia of American Biography C 286
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who Was Who in America (not in Who’s Who in D.C.) vol. 1 (1897-1942) 621
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 316-317
Other Sources:
Board of Education of the District of Columbia. Annual Reports, 1910-1911, 1913-1914, 1915-1916. Washington, D.C.,
Clark, Appleton P., Jr. “History of Architecture in Washington.” In John Clagett Proctor, ed. Washington Past and
Present: A History. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1930.
Ittner, Marie Anderson. "Footprints." St. Louis: John S. Swift Co., Inc., 1955. American Institute of Architects
Archives
Ittner, Marie Anderson. “William B. Ittner: His Service to American School Architecture." Reprinted from the January
1941 issue of American School Board Journal. American Institute of Architects Archives.
Longwisch, Cynthia H. "St. Louis, Missouri, Public Schools of William B. Ittner." National Register of Historic Places,
Multiple Property Documentation Form, 1992.
Mikkelsen, Michael A. "Edward Lee McClain High School, Greenfield, Ohio, and the Central High School,
Washington, D.C.: William B. Ittner, Architect." Architectural Record 42 No. 5 (November 1917): 421-441.
“Miss A. Beers Succeeds Prof. Fairbrother in the Eighth Division.” Washington Post, September 12, 1912.
"Notes & Comments: St. Louis School Buildings." Architectural Record 23, No. 2 (Feb. 1908): 136-147.
“Officials to Study Models Elsewhere as Basis for New Building.” Washington Post, September 12, 1912.
Study, Guy. "Junior and Senior High Schools." Architectural Record 60 No. 3 (Sept. 1926): 202-224.
Study, Guy. "Work of William B. Ittner FAIA." Architectural Record 57 No. 2 (Feb. 1925): 97-124.
Toft, Carolyn Hewes. "William B. Ittner, F.A.I.A. (1864-1936)." Landmarks Association of St. Louis, Inc. website,
http://www.landmarks-stl.org/ accessed June 5, 2010.
"W.B. Ittner Resigns." Western Architect 23 no. 5 (May 1916): 46.
"William B. Ittner." St. Louis Post Dispatch, 29 January 1936. Quoted in Marie Anderson Ittner, "Footprints." St. Louis:
John S. Swift Co., Inc., 1955. Archived at the American Institute of Architects.

Notes: The American Institute of Architects online Historical Directory of American Architects includes a
bibliography, obituaries, M. A. Ittner's summaries of Ittner's career, articles, and correspondence.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Ittner, William B. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Dana Berry Johannes Jr.

Biographical Data
Birth: 8/27/1910 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 7/7/1972 Place: Clearwater, Florida
Family: Married Elizabeth Ann Goodyear Weisman, 1938; five
children
Education
High School: McKinley Technical High School, 1924-1928
Special Courses: Columbia Technical School (later George
Washington University), Washington D.C., courses in structural
design, mathematics and architectural drafting 1932, 1933; semester
course in design under Harry Campbell, 1932; Roosevelt High School
special course in physics, 1938.
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Draftsman for James Kearney, architect, 1932. Source: National Cyclopedia of American Biography 57
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 525 Date Issued: 9/13/1946
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1933 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 433 Total Buildings: 1047
Practice Position Date
Various millwork firms, Washington, D.C. Detailer and draftsman 1928-1931
U.S Department of Agriculture Designer and draftsman 1932-1933
E. Schultz, Hamburg, Germany Draftsman and designer 1935 (2 months)
D.B. Johannes, Jr., Designer Principal 1935-1945
Johannes & Murray, Silver Spring, Md. Partner 1945-1958
Johannes & Murray, Clearwater, Florida Partner 1958-1963
Johannes, Inc., Clearwater, Florida Principal 1963-1972
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 4/18/1947 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Montgomery County Technical Advisory Committee, 1955-57; A.I.A. Advisory
Committee, Montgomery County Board of Education, 1957-58; AIA Committee on Restoration of East Front of U.S.
Capitol Bldg., 1957-1958; founding president of Maryland Potomac Valley Chapter of the A.I.A.; president, Silver
Spring Volunteer Fire Department, Washington Board of Trade.
Awards or Commissions: Evening Star architectural award, 1938; American Association of School Administrators,
Award for Architectural Design, 1953, 1955.
Buildings
Building Types: Schools (principally in Maryland), churches, single family dwellings, apartments, commercial
buildings.
Styles and Forms: Colonial revival, Tudor revival, modern
DC Work Locations: Upper Northwest, including American University Park, Cleveland Park; Brookland, Kingman
Park in Northeast; Greenway, River Terrace and other neighborhoods in S.E.
Johannes, Dana B., Jr. Page 1 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings Location Date Status

Apartments 900-916, 901-921 Quincy St. NE 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Residence 1800 Redwood Terrace, N.W. 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Fountain Memorial Baptist Ch. 2214 Naylor Road, S.E. 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
3711, 3715., 3743, 3749 Upton
Residences 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
St. N.W.
Grace Episcopal Church Silver Spring, Md. 1956 NRHP DC Historic Site
North Carolina High School Denton, Md. 1959 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions

Dana Berry Johannes, Jr., was born in Washington, D.C., in 1910, the son of Southern Railway clerk. He graduated
from McKinley Technical High School in 1928. Johannes started his career working as a detailer and draftsman for
various millwork companies while continuing his education over the next decade with special courses and extended
travel abroad, in 1934-1935, to France, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium as well as travel in the United States and
Canada. He worked for two years (1932-1933) as a draftsman and designer for the architectural division of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Md.

Although Johannes's name appears as designer on six

permits issued in the District in 1933 and 1934, he began
actively practicing as a designer in the District in 1935,
designing single-family housing and apartments for a
number of different builders. Many of the permits issued
in the 1930s were for individually designed speculatively
built detached residences. He designed many of the
dwellings built on Sterrett and Dent family property in
North Cleveland Park when it was developed in the
1930s and 1940s. He designed numerous medium-priced
detached dwellings and some semi-detached dwellings in
developing neighborhoods in upper Northwest including
American University Park, and Chevy Chase, D.C., both 5155 Macomb Street, N.W.
before and after World War II. Most of these were two- Constructed 1941
story, three-bay Colonial revival style houses. One was EHT Traceries, 2010
purchased by his parents. The Barkley Brothers
development firm was one of his most regular clients. At the same time that he was designing single family housing in
northwest Washington he was also designing lower-priced housing in other quadrants of the city. In the years leading
up to World War II, as New Deal programs and the defense build-up
rapidly expanded the federal work force, there was great demand for
modestly priced housing. Johannes designed numerous small row
houses and modest two-story apartment buildings with some Colonial
revival style architectural detail, particularly in the door surrounds.
Developer Eugene H. Phifer built many such Johannes-designed
apartments in Brookland and east of the Anacostia River. During the
war, when building materials were allocated to war related construction,
Johannes’s work, as reflected in D.C. building permits, was limited to a
few small apartment buildings in Southeast Washington. During the
Fountain Memorial Baptist Church years of his solo practice, Johannes’s work was primarily residential but
Naylor Road and Q St. S.E., August 1949 he did design several churches, including Fountain Memorial Baptist
HSW Wymer 3552.29 Church (subsequently Little Rock Church of Deliverance) on Naylor
Road, S.E., and a few commercial buildings.

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 DC Architects Directory

At the end of World War II, in 1945, Johannes and Loren L. Murray formed a partnership based in Silver Spring. In
July 1946 Johannes, who resided in Silver Spring, Maryland, registered
as an architect in Maryland after taking the qualifying examinations.
He became a registered architect in the District by reciprocal transfer
in September 1946. While Johannes’s work as a designer had been
largely residential, the new firm undertook numerous commercial and
institutional projects in addition to residential architecture. Johannes &
Murray became best known for its work designing schools. According
to the National Cyclopedia of American Biography, the firm “was
responsible for the design of about 350 school projects in the greater
Washington area” and “Johannes was instrumental in the design of
about 200 of the firm’s school projects, including Charles W.
Woodward, Albert Einstein, and Springbrook high schools in
Montgomery County, Md., Maces Lane High School in Cambridge, 6421 33rd St. N.W., 1936
Md., and the science and some dormitory buildings at the University of Purchased from owner/builder Joseph M.
Maryland.” The firm also designed banks, offices, and commercial Stanley by Johannes’s parents
buildings. Washington Post, January 17, 1937, R12

In 1958, Johannes moved to Florida and opened a Johannes & Murray office in Clearwater. There he worked on
office buildings and a high-rise condominium. The partnership was dissolved in 1963 and Johannes continued to
practice under his own name. The St. Paul United Methodist Church, Largo, Fla. (1968) and the Peoples State Bank,
New Port Richey (1969) are among his late works.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through Proquest.
Publication: Washington Post Date: July 10, 1972 Page: C6
Obituary:
Washington Star July 10, 1972
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
1956, 1962 (address only)
American Architects Directory
1970 451
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 149
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Dana B. Johannes, Jr. Application for Registration. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
National Cyclopedia of American Biography. Clifton, New Jersey: James T. White & Company, 1977, v. 57, s.v. Johannes,
Dana Berry.

Notes: Statistics on number of permits include those issued to Dana B. Johannes and to Johannes & Murray but not
the 8 permits for 16 buildings issued to Johannes & Whitcomb in 1935. It is probable that Johannes entered into a
brief partnership in 1935 but further research would be required to confirm the identity of the members of the firm.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Joseph Cornelius Johnson

Biographical Data
Birth: 1857 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 1/18/1941 Place:
Family:
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Times 4/13/1902, p.2
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1887 Latest Permit: 1901 Total Permits: 84 Total Buildings: 209
Practice Position Date
Johnson & Gibbs Architect, partner 1886-96
Johnson & Co. Architect, principal 1889
Individual Practice Architect 1891-1902

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA: n/a
Other Societies or Memberships: Columbia Commandery No. 2, Knights Templar, Generalissimo, 1903; Masonic
Temple Association
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, attached and detached dwellings, apartment buildings, churches, courthouse
Styles and Forms: Queen Anne Revival with Romanesque and Classical influences
DC Work Locations: Washington Heights, Greater U Street, Greater Fourteenth Street, Anacostia, Sheridan-
Kalorama, Capitol Hill, and LeDroit Park Historic Districts
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Harrison Apartment Building
(also known as the Canterbury 704 3rd Street, NW 1888 NRHP DC Historic Site
or Astoria)
Row houses 469-471 Florida Avenue, N.W 1891 LeDroit Park Historic District
Thomas D. Whyte House 1329 R Street, NW 1892 Greater Fourteenth Street H.D.
Douglas Memorial United 1892-94
800 11th Street, NE NRHP DC Historic Site
Methodist Church Repairs, 1906

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Significance and Contributions

Joseph C. Johnson was born in Washington, D.C. but little is known of his early life. In 1886 Johnson, along with
Charles E. Gibbs, established the architectural firm of Johnson & Company in 1886. In 1896, Charles Gibbs retired.
The firm of 6-12 employees continued to function under the sole proprietorship of J. C. Johnson until 1902. The
firm’s offices were located in the Corcoran Building, Room 64, from 1888 to 1896. City directories document that
after 1896, the firm was located at 515 11th Street, N.W. Claiming experience in all building types, the firm devoted
special attention to the design of fireproof business structures, dwellings, and public buildings. Though Johnson
oversaw many architects and draftsman throughout his
career, he was said to have stayed personally involved in
all aspects of his business.

Johnson & Company designed apartment buildings

among its residential projects, but the Canterbury
Apartment Building at 704 Third Street, N.W., is the
only extant apartment design attributed to the firm. The
Canterbury, also known as the Harrison building and the
Astoria, and dating from 1888, is believed to be the
oldest extant conventional apartment building in the
District of Columbia. The building features projecting
bays in red brick, such that the apartments are
reminiscent of his many rowhouse designs. It is Queen
Anne Revival in style with Romanesque influences. The
apartments were added to the DC Inventory of Historic
Sites and the National Register of Historic Places in 1990
and 1994, respectively. Harrison Apartments (“The Canterbury”)
704 3rd St., NW
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010
Johnson designed numerous Queen Anne revival rowhouses in the 1890s, many of which are still standing and are in
the current historic districts of Capitol Hill, U Street, LeDroit Park, Anacostia, Sheridan-Kalorama, and Washington
Heights. Rowhouses by his design on C, 3rd, and East Capitol Streets, S.E., are
simple Queen Anne revival houses, mostly two stories in height and with
minimal ornamentation. Examples of his work in LeDroit Park, however,
display variety in decorative brick and stone work with multiple colors
articulating the façades of the three-story residences. An example of Johnson’s
more elaborate design work is at 469-471 Florida Avenue, N.W. The Thomas
D. Whyte House, located at 1329 R Street, N.W., is an example of Johnson’s
refined Queen Anne residential design style which exhibits Romanesque
elements.

Johnson worked with many different owners and developers, but worked
extensively with the Providence Investment Company on rowhouses on 5th
and 6th Streets, N.E., in 1892 and then for W.A. Kimmel in 1893-94 designing
rowhouses on 3rd Street and Oakdale Place, N.W. While most of his residential
work in the District was for attached houses and rowhouses, he designed
detached dwellings as well. In the early 1890s he designed several detached
dwellings for John A. Carr, most of which have been demolished. One
remains extant at 1230 Quincy Street, N.E. Douglas Memorial United
Whyte House, 1329 R Street, N.W. Methodist Church was another individual project Johnson designed in the early
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010 1890s. At the corner of 11th and H Streets, NE, it commands the block with
its four corner towers and dark red-brick façade. In 1906 a permit was issued to Johnson and Appleton P. Clark for
repairs to the church.
Johnson, Joseph C. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Johnson was active in the Masons and was an officer of the Columbia
Commandery No. 2, Knights Templar, attaining the second highest
position of Generalissimo in 1903. He was also a member of the Masonic
Temple Association which purchased the site for the Masonic Temple
constructed on site bounded by Thirteenth Street, N.W., New York
Avenue and H Street. Johnson was the architect initially selected to design
the Temple and the elevation of the building he designed for the site was
published in the Washington Times in January 1902. Johnson was on both
the building committee and the audit committee for the Association and
was involved in the fundraising. However, the Masonic Temple as
constructed on the site in 1907-08 was designed ultimately by Wood, Donn
& Deming.

Because research to date has been unable to uncover much information on

Johnson’s life and training, his firm’s scope of work gives the best available
insight into his skills and experience. In addition to the above residences
and apartments, Johnson worked outside of the District of Columbia: in
St. Mary’s County, Maryland, Johnson designed the gymnasium for St.
Mary’s Seminary, and he designed the First Baptist Church in Henderson, Charles County Courthouse, Md., 1896
Kentucky. Additionally, he was the architect for the Charles County Court Photograph by Joseph Allen, 1952
House in La Plata, Maryland. LC-A7-3729

No information has been located on the last several decades of Johnson’s life and it is possible that he no longer
resided in the Washington, D.C., area. He last paid dues to the Columbia Commandery No. 2 in 1916 which has no
further record of him except for a death date of January 18, 1941. No obituary, death notice or will was found for
Johnson.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Ancestry.com; District of Columbia Office of Planning, PropertyQuest; Library of Congress,
Other Repositories: Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers; Washington Post
searched through ProQuest., Columbia Commandery No. 2, Naval Lodge, Washington, D.C.
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 150-51
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
EHT Traceries, Inc. Harrison Apartment Building National Register for Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.:
D.C. – State Historic Preservation Office, 1994.
Illustrated Washington: Our Capitol, 1890. New York: American Publishing and Engraving Company, 1890.

Johnson, Joseph C. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

“Joseph C. Johnson.” Washington and its Points of Interest, New York: Mercantile Illustrating Co., 1894, p. 74. Historical
Society of Washington, D.C., Collection.
“Magnificent Marble Temple Planned for the Future Home of Washington Masons.” Washington Times, January 11,
1902, 3.
“Northeast Washington,” Washington Times, May 20, 1906, 7.

Notes: Permit and building totals include listings for “Johnson & Co.” (11 permits, 16 buildings), “Johnson (Joseph
C.) Co.” (7 permits, 32 buildings), “Johnson, J. C.” (4 permits, 16 buildings), “Johnson, Jos.” (3 permits, 5 buildings),
“Johnson, Jos. C.” (42 permits, 90 buildings), and “Johnson, Joseph C.” (17 permits, 50 buildings).
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Louis Justement
Biographical Data
Birth: Nov. 20, 1891 Place: New York, N.Y.
Death: July 26, 1968 Place: Potomac, Md.
Family: Wife, Jeanne Egan; son, Louis Justement, Jr.; daughter,
Marguerite
Education
High School: Royal Athenaeum, Ghent, Belgium
College: George Washington University, grad. 1911
Graduate School: Attended Stanford University
Apprenticeship: Source: Evening Star, July 28, 1968
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 40 Date Issued: 4/15/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1919 Latest Permit: 1946 Total Permits: 100 Total Buildings: 283
Practice Position Date
Several, located in Washington, D.C., Texas,
Draftsman 1911-19
and California
Sonneman and Justement Architect, Junior Partner 1919-24
Louis Justement Architect, Principal 1924-67
Justement & Callmer Architect, Senior Partner 1967-68
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1921 Fellow of the AIA: 1946
Other Societies or Memberships: President, Washington-Met. chapter of AIA; Regional Director, Mid. Atlantic
States chapter of AIA (1946-48); Chairman, AIA National Committee on Urban Planning (1948-50); Chairman of
AIA National Committee on the National Capital (1957-59); President, Washington Building Congress;
Commissioners’ Zoning and Advisory Council, Washington, D.C.; Washington Board of Trade; Federal City Council;
Cosmos Club; American Planning & Civic Association
Awards or Commissions: Medal for “meritoriously designed buildings,” Ogden and Ingraham Street Houses,
Washington Board of Trade, 1924; Winner of “Renovize Washington” campaign for design to reconstruct shanty at
Fourteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, 1933; Award for Excellence in Design for Falkland Apartments of Silver
Spring, Md., Fifth Pan American Congress of Architects, 1940.
Buildings
Building Types: Apartments, office buildings, rowhouses, detached dwellings, dormitories, hospitals, bridges
Styles and Forms: Art Deco, Spanish Revival, Italian Renaissance Revival, Modern
DC Work Locations: Sheridan-Kalorama, Kalorama Triangle, Southwest quadrant, Greater Fourteenth Street,
Adams Morgan, Anacostia, Rock Creek Park
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Harris & Ewing Photographic
1311-13 F Street, NW 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site
Studio

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Valley Vista Apartments 2032 Belmont Road, NW 1927 NRHP DC Historic Site
16th Street and East-West
Falkland Apartments 1938 NRHP DC Historic Site
Highway, Silver Spring, Md.
Fort Dupont Dwellings Anacostia 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site

Howard University Buildings 520 W Street, NW 1955 NRHP DC Historic Site

E. Barrett Prettyman Federal

333 Constitution Ave., NW 1952 NRHP DC Historic Site
Courthouse
Capitol Park apartments and
townhouses (with Chloetheil 201 I Street, SW 1959 NRHP DC Historic Site
Woodard Smith)
Meridian Hill Hotel 2601 16th Street, NW 1941 NRHP DC Historic Site

Massachusetts Avenue Bridge Over Rock Creek Park, D.C. 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site

Sibley Memorial Hospital 5255 Loughboro Rd., NW 1954 NRHP DC Historic Site

Significance and Contributions

Louis Justement was born of Belgian descent in New York, NY, in 1891. Justement went to elementary school in
Washington, D.C., but then spent his high school years in Ghent, Belgium, where he attended the Royal Athenaeum
school. He returned to Washington after graduating from high school in 1908 and attended George Washington
University. He graduated with a MS degree in architecture in 1911. He worked as a draftsman in Washington, D.C.,
Texas, California, and for the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Ships before settling in the Washington area for his 50-year
career.

In 1919 Justement entered into an architectural partnership with

Alexander Sonneman, thus forming Sonneman and Justement,
Architects. The firm occupied offices in various locations on 15th
Street, N.W., and in the five years of its practice from 1919 to 1924
designed well over 100 detached houses, rowhouses, and duplexes
for prolific Washington developers such as Boss & Phelps and D.J.
Dunigan. Sonnemann and Justement also worked on larger-scale
projects during this time, such as the five-story apartment buildings
at 2301 Cathedral Avenue, NW, and 2901 Connecticut Avenue,
NW, for owner/builder Kennedy Bros., Inc. In 1924 the firm
designed the Harris & Ewing photographic studio at 1311-13 F
Street, NW. The studio was added to the National Register of
Historic Places in 1994, not only because it was designed by
Sonnemann and Justement, but also because it was the studio of
Washington’s most prominent portrait photographer of the early
twentieth century and the city’s first news photo service. The
building is four stories with a two-bay limestone façade designed in
the Italian Renaissance Revival style.
Harris & Ewing Photographic Studio,
1311-13 F Street, NW, 1924
Shorpy Historic Photo Archive, accessed 8/24/2010.

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Justement joined the American Institute of Architects in 1921, established his own practice in 1924, and registered as
an architect in the District of Columbia in 1925. Also in 1925, Justement and several other architects formed the
Allied Architects of Washington, D.C., whose practice was limited to public and semipublic work. In 1929 the Allied
Architects began plans for a new office building for the U.S. House of Representatives. While David Lynn was the
overseeing architect as the Architect of the Capitol at that time, Nathan C. Wyeth drew plans for the building, and
Justement was his assistant designer. The building was completed in 1933 and it is now known as the Longworth
House Office Building.

Justement became interested in large-scale housing

developments and designed large residential complexes in the
next phase of his career. He had already designed several
apartment buildings with Sonnemann, and continued to do so
individually. In 1927 he designed the luxurious Art Deco style
Valley Vista apartments overlooking Rock Creek Park at 2032
Belmont Road, NW. He moved on to more extensive housing
projects, and by 1939 he had completed both the Falkland
Apartments in Silver Spring, Md., and the Fort Dupont Houses
in Anacostia. The Fort Dupont development was built on B
Street, C Street, Ridge Road, and Anacostia Road in the
southeast quadrant of the city, and included about 300 low-rent
dwellings. The Alley Dwelling Authority of the U.S. Falkland Apartments, 16th Street and East-West
Government owned the land and the houses were designed by Highway, Silver Spring, Md., 1938
Justement. The Falkland Apartments earned Justement an Washington Post, May 1, 1938, R8.
award for excellence in design from the Washington Board of
Trade in 1940. By this time Justement was a recognized authority on private and public large-scale housing projects.

In the 1940s Justement refined his expertise yet again. He focused on the future of cities and their redevelopment,
presenting ideas to the National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1944 and simultaneously writing his book,
New Cities for Old. His book was published in 1946, the same year that he was named a Fellow of the AIA, a coveted
position. From 1946 to 1949 Justement served as chair of both the AIA Committee on Urban Planning and the
Interprofessional Urban Planning Committee. He finished the decade by serving as President of the Washington
Building Congress (1948-49), an organization which he helped to establish.

While Justement maintained an active role in civic

affairs in Washington, he also continued to design
significant buildings in the District. In 1947 the Public
Buildings Administration named Justement the
architect for the new U.S. Federal Courthouse, at 333
Constitution Avenue, NW, which was completed in
1952. The design was in the stripped-classical style and
its massing generally matched the surrounding
buildings. It was added to the National Register of
Historic Places in 2002. After designing the
courthouse, Justement became architect for the new
Sibley Hospital in the early 1950s. He designed the
modern seven-story main building and its wings, all
faced in brick and limestone.
E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse,
Continuing with urban planning and civic affairs in 333 Constitution Avenue, NW, 1952.
Washington, Justement worked with Chloetheil NCinDC, September 15, 2008,
Woodard Smith on a plan to redevelop Southwest http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2864520039/
Washington. The “Justement-Smith Plan” was finished in 1952, and is said to have influenced the 1954 plan for
Southwest that I.M. Pei and Harry Weese completed. Justement’s plan for Southwest as a luxury area with highrise

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apartments and waterfront development never came to fruition, and debates surrounding redevelopment of the area
continued well into the 1960s. Justement and Smith also worked together on Capitol Park Apartments, in Southwest
Washington, D.C. Completed in 1959, it was one of the earliest and largest residential complexes to be built as part of
the urban renewal of that part of the city. Capital Park was notable as being built on the site of what was considered
Washington’s worst slum, photographs of which, with the U.S. Capitol in the background, had often been used to
illustrate the city’s blighted housing.

A final issue which Justement addressed in the latter part of his career was rapid transit for the city of Washington,
and providing easy access to the downtown area from the Virginia and Maryland suburbs. Once again he proposed
plans that were not immediately executed – a 1957 article in the Washington Post stated, “Justement has suggested
precisely the kind of rapid transit system that Washington needs but probably won’t get.”

Justement was a leader in the architectural and planning community in Washington in the mid-twentieth century. He
was considered ahead of his time in many areas, among them garden apartment development, urban renewal, the
rebuilding of downtown shopping areas to counteract competition from the suburbs, a rapid transit system for the
entire Washington metropolitan area, a radial and circumferential highway system (beltway) for the nation’s capital,
and redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue. He played many active roles in city affairs and posed important
questions about the future of cities in America. His son, Louis Justement, Jr., was also an active Washington architect,
but died early of a heart attack in 1966. Two years later, in 1968, Justement also suffered a heart attack. After a long
and highly regarded career, he died at Sibley Hospital.

Sources
Vertical Files: AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Washington Post, searched through ProQuest; Flickr; Shorpy Historic Photo Archive; The Louis
Other Repositories:
Justement Papers, Gelman Library, George Washington University.
Obituary: Publication: Washington Star Date: July 28, 1968 Page: unknown
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
1956/1st 286
American Architects Directory
1962/2nd 361
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 4 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 154
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“ADA to build 300 houses in Anacostia.” Washington Post, June 30, 1939, 1.
Albrook, Robert C. “Beautiful, or Just Nice? Southwest Rebuilding Problem.” Washington Post, March 1, 1955, 19.
“Architects, Businessmen Dissatisfied with Current State of Over-All Project.” Washington Post, November 8, 1953,
M23.
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Callcott, Stephen. Harris & Ewing Photographic Studio National Register for Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington,

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D.C.: D.C. – State Historic Preservation Office, 1994.

Eig, Emily Hotaling. Kalorama Triangle Historic District National Register for Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington,
D.C.: Traceries, 1987.
Fondersmith, John. Louis Justement’s “Modern City” Vision for Washington, D.C. Unpublished draft paper, 2003.
“Justement Named Architect for U.S. Courthouse.” Washington Post, September 26, 1947, B7.
“Louis Justement, FAIA; Past President Profiles.” Washington Building Congress Bulletin 29 (1966): 7-11.
Lyons, Richard L. “Bishop Tells Plans at Sibley Hearing.” Washington Post, January 17, 1953, 13.
“Mr. Justement’s Vision.” Washington Post, May 9, 1957, A18.
“New House Office Plans Completed.” Washington Post, April 21, 1929, R3.
“Sibley Architects Told to Proceed With Plans.” Washington Post, December 8, 1954, 19.
Notes: Permit and building totals include listings for “Justement, Louis” (63 permits, 161 buildings), and “Justement
(Louis) & municipal architect” (1 permit, 2 buildings), “Sonnemann & Justement” (35 permits, 116 buildings),
“Sonneman & Justement” (1 permit, 4 buildings).
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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John W. Kearney
Biographical Data
Birth: 7/24/1873 Place: New York City, NY
Death: Place:
Family: Married Mary K. circa 1908 (d. before 1930); children –
Margaret M. and Robert T.
Education
High School: Stevens High School, Hoboken, NJ (1889-1892)
College: Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ (1893-1894;
did not complete degree)
Graduate School:

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 128 Date Issued: 3/29/1926
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1923 Latest Permit: 1932 Total Permits: 80 Total Buildings: 116
Practice Position Date
Benson & Brockway, New York City General Office & Drafting 1894-1899
York & Sawyer, New York City Drafting Superintendent 1899-1903
Trowbridge & Livingston, New York City Drafting Superintendent & Office Man 1903-1908
John W. Kearney Architect 1908-1915
Warren & Wetmore, New York City Specifications Writer 1915-1917
U.S. Army Draftsman 1917/18 – 1920?
John W. Kearney Architect 1923[?]- ?
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1923-1926 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: schools, churches, dwellings, stores
Styles and Forms: bungalows, Tudor Revival, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, French Eclectic
DC Work Locations: American University Park, Deanwood, Friendship Heights, Chevy Chase, Tenleytown,
Cl l d P k
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
630 Riverside Drive, New York
St. Walburga Academy 1911 NRHP DC Historic Site
City
Apartment Building 2920 Ontario Road NW 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 2716 Chesapeake Street NW 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1734 Poplar Lane NW 1930 NRHP DC Historic Site
Kearney, John W. Page 1 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Dwelling 2842 Allendale Place NW 1927 NRHP DC Historic Site

Significance and Contributions

John W. Kearney was born on July 24, 1873 in New York City; his father was an immigrant from Ireland,
and his mother was a native of New Jersey. He attended high school in New Jersey, and studied mechanical
engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey for one year. In 1894, Kearney
left school and began work as a draftsman and office assistant at the architectural firm of Benson &
Brockway in Manhattan. He acquired his architectural training by working for several New York
architectural firms, including York & Sawyer and Trowbridge & Livingston.

In 1908, he married a woman named Mary (maiden name unknown), who had immigrated from Ireland five
years earlier. In 1908, he began to work on his own as an architect. Three of his early commissions were for
the Catholic Church. In 1909, he designed an eight-story dormitory for the Home for Girls at the Convent
of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary in New York City. In 1911, the same year that he qualified as a
registered architect in New Jersey, he completed designs for two more church-related projects: the four-story
St. Walburga’s Academy of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus in New York City (630 Riverside Drive), and
the Church of the Sacred Heart on Roosevelt
Island, New York (demolished).

In 1915, Kearney returned to wage employment,

accepting a position as a specification writer at the
well-known architectural firm of Warren &
Wetmore in New York City. In 1917, he left
Warren & Wetmore, and moved to Washington,
D.C. By September 1918, he was working as a
draftsman for the U.S. Army’s construction
division. By that time, Kearney’s wife had died.
Kearney’s two sisters, Florence and Isabella, came
to Washington with him, and helped care for his
two young children.

Business directories indicate that by 1919, John W.

Kearney was practicing architecture independently,
but census records indicate that he still worked for St. Walburga’s Academy of the Society of the
the U.S. government in 1920. The first D.C. Holy Child Jesus in New York City 1911
building permit bearing his name as architect was Flickr.com
issued in 1923 for three store buildings located at
the corner of North Capitol Street and Randolph Street, NE. The extant buildings stand one story tall and
are Tudor Revival in style. Whereas Kearney’s early work in New York City focused on educational and
ecclesiastical architecture, most of his D.C. buildings were dwellings or retail stores.

In 1924-1925, the Washington Modern Homes Company hired Kearney to design twenty Craftsman-style
bungalows in the American University Park neighborhood in Northwest DC; many of these remain
standing. Kearney designed a basic bungalow form, and then varied the dormers and porches to add variety
among the dwellings. Craftsman-style elements on Kearney’s buildings include triangular brackets under the
open eaves and square porch columns, some of which rest on rock-faced concrete block piers. Kearney also
designed several bungalows in the Deanwood neighborhood; most of these have been demolished or altered.
Kearney, John W. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Many of Kearney’s houses were constructed for

speculative developers and typically cost between
$8,000 and $15,000 to build. In the 1920s and
1930s, Kearney designed residences displaying a
variety styles in the Friendship Heights and Chevy
Chase neighborhoods. Kearney also employed a
variety of house forms, including side-gable or
pyramidal-roof, rectangular dwellings with
symmetrical facades and those with irregular
massing. Architectural styles evident among his
works include Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and
French Eclectic, as well as some such as 3217 2716 Chesapeake Street NW; 1925
Morrison Street NW (1925) that mix several styles. District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
During this period, he secured commissions for
four grand residences that cost between $20,000 and $40,000. Three (2716 Chesapeake Street, NW, 1734
Poplar Lane, NW, 2838 McGill Terrace, NW) were constructed in the Tudor Revival style, while one (2842
Allendale Place, NW) reflect the influence of the
French Eclectic style.

Kearney designed two apartment buildings during

this period. The Renaissance Revival-style
apartment building located at 2920 Ontario Road,
NW (1924) stands four stories tall, and features
decorative brickwork and two projecting bays that
are three stories tall. The apartment building at 200
Massachusetts Avenue, NW (1926) is no longer
extant; Interstate 395 occupies its former location.

In 1930 and 1931, near the end of his career,

2920 Ontario Road NW; 1924 Kearney designed fourteen dwellings for Boss &
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 Phelps, who developed a small residential
subdivision on Faraday Place, near Fort Bayard
Park in American University Park. A Washington Post article described the dwellings as “early American
homes” (December 21, 1930, p. R1). The two-story, Colonial Revival-style dwellings that Kearney designed
for this development are typically three bays wide
with a brick first story and a frame upper story.

John W. Kearney likely died or moved out of

Washington, DC in or soon after 1932. His last
building permit was issued in February of that year,
and that was the last year he was listed in
Washington, D.C. business directories.

2842 Allendale Place NW; 1927

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

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 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 155
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Not found Date: Page:
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. John W. Kearney Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. John W. Kearney Correspondence with the Board. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Prints and Photographs Division.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1900. New York City, NY.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910. New York City, NY.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1920. District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. Arlington, VA.
World War I U.S. Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 record for John W. Kearney. Ancestry.com.

Notes: Kearney’s architectural drawings for a four-story garage building located at 21st and L Streets NW are located
in the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Kearney, John W. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Carl B. Keferstein
Biographical Data
Birth: 1867 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 01/24/1940 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married Elizabeth T.; one daughter, also named Elizabeth
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington and its Points of Interest
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1892 Latest Permit: 1907 Total Permits: 26 Total Buildings: 107
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Architect 1892-1910
Keferstein and Ash Architect 1909-1910
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1899 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Large Residences, Office Buildings, Stores, Apartment Houses
Styles and Forms:
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle
Name Location Date Status
Cotton House 1635 Connecticut Ave., NW 1892 Dupont Circle Historic District
Colton House 1611 Connecticut Avenue, NW 1895 Dupont Circle Historic District
Georgetown Univ. Hospital 35th and N Streets, NW 1897 NRHP DC Historic Site

Keferstein, Carl B. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

The son of German immigrants Emil J. and Bertha F. Keferstein, Carl B. Keferstein was born in Washington, DC in
1867. He began his architectural career in the last decade of the nineteenth century, designing rowhouses in the
vicinity of the present-day location of Union Station and in Columbia Heights. Keferstein was soon tapped to design
some prominent houses near Dupont Circle. In 1891, he designed a house for Mrs. Florinda J. Tilford at 1336 New
Hampshire Avenue (demolished). In 1892, Col. Francis Cotton retained Keferstein to construct a four-story house at
1635 Connecticut Avenue, NW. In 1895, Keferstein was hired by the wife of ‘General’ David D. Colton of San
Francisco to design an ostentatious house along Connecticut Avenue. The Washington Post heralded its construction,
“The English basement style, with four stories, will be Indiana limestone and buff brick. The entire house will be
trimmed in hard woods, heated by steam, and lighted by electricity and gas, and the structure will be one of the
handsomest and most expensive in the city.” The house Keferstein designed for Mrs. Colton is located at 1611
Connecticut Avenue, NW.

Keferstein’s profile in the 1894 Washington, D.C. with its Points

of Interest Illustrated read, “He is a talented architect of
acknowledged skill and ability, and the vast amount of work
he has executed during the past four years in the face of
severe competition of older representatives of the
profession speaks volumes of the estimation in which he is
held in this city. Mr. Keferstein devotes his time and
attention to designing and planning elegant residences, office
buildings, stores, and apartment houses, and has
accomplished some notable pieces of work….”

In 1897, Keferstein was responsible for the design of the

Georgetown University Hospital building at 35th and N
Streets, NW. Upon the completion of the central portion of
the Hospital on May 24, 1898 (the wings would be
completed as donations allowed), the building was described
in the Washington Post as “four stories and a basement in
height, built of red brick, and from an architectural point of
view is extremely handsome…The roof of the building is
flat, and will be used during the summer for the erection of
tents, in which patients will be able to get the fresh cooling
breezes… The upper stories or the building and the roof
command splendid views of the Potomac and of the
wooded country surrounding Georgetown. The exterior
finish of the building is plain, but extremely pretty and
bright, with large windows and plenty of light and air.” The
Post noted that Keferstein, suffering from illness, yielded
direct supervision of the building’s construction to fellow
1611 Connecticut Avenue, NW
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010
Washington architect C. A. Didden. Keferstein’s hospital
building now serves as Georgetown University’s Ryder Hall.

In 1910, Keferstein entered into a brief partnership with Percy Ash, who formerly worked as an architect for the U.S.
Treasury. Keferstein apparently retired from architecture soon thereafter, perhaps to focus on his duties with the
Washington Loan and Trust Company. He served as a Director for the financial firm for more than 20 years. His
design and investment enterprises made Keferstein relatively well-off. When he died at his residence, 2101
Connecticut Avenue, NW, in 1940 he left his heirs an estate worth more than a quarter-million dollars.

Keferstein, Carl B. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Georgetown University Archives
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 2 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 156
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Times Herald Date: 02/10/1940 Page:
Other Sources:
Death Notice for Carl B. Keferstein. Evening Star, 24 January 1940.
“Hospital for Georgetown.” Washington Post, 27 September 1897.
“Mrs. General Colton’s New House.” Washington Post, 13 October 1895.
“New House of Healing.” Washington Post, 24 May 1898.
United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. Washington, D.C.: National
Archives and Records Administration.
Washington D.C. With its Points of Interest. New York: Mercantile Illustrating Co., 1894. Historical Society of Washington
DC Collection.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Keferstein, Carl B. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Charles W. King
Biographical Data
Birth: 1841 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 06/17/1930 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married, four sons, two daughters
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Evening Star – June 17, 1930
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1881 Latest Permit: 1921 Total Permits: 86 Total Buildings: 382
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Contractor and Builder ca. 1871-1910
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Masons, the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Association of
the Oldest Inhabitants of the District of Columbia.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses
Styles and Forms: Queen Anne
DC Work Locations: Columbia Heights
Name Location Date Status
Rowhouses (with N. T. Haller) 1471-1475 Park Road, NW 1900 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses (with N. T. Haller) 1500-1506 Monroe St., NW 1900 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses (with N. T. Haller) 1456-1460 Monroe St., NW 1900 NRHP DC Historic Site
Charles King, Jr. House
1519 Monroe Street, NW 1905 NRHP DC Historic Site
(King, Jr. with N. T. Haller)

King, Charles W. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Charles W. King was a native Washingtonian born to a prominent DC family in 1841. During the Civil War, he
served in the defenses of the city as a member of the District Guard. Following the war, King established himself as a
builder and contractor constructing public works for Governor Alexander R. Shepherd. King also worked with
Shepherd to plan the city’s development. Between 1871 and 1874, Shepherd and the Board of Public Works spent
more than $15 million in infrastructure improvements to modernize the nation’s capitol. The Board concentrated its
efforts in the northwest quadrant of the city, where Shepherd and his political allies conveniently owned large tracts of
land. In just over two years, the Board of Public Works constructed more than 150 miles of roads in the city of
Washington. But this ambitious development program bankrupted the District and the government was dissolved by
Congress in 1874.

According to his obituary in the Evening Star, King was responsible for “many of the landmarks of the National
Capital and numerous private residences.” In the late nineteenth century, King constructed hundreds of two- and
three-story brick rowhouses, primarily in northwest DC in neighborhoods straddling Boundary Street—the historic
limits of the federal city. He also constructed a few neighborhood stores. King built the vast majority of his buildings
on speculation; he was almost exclusively named as the owner on his applications for building permits. Although he
was also listed on many permit applications as the builder/architect, beginning in the late 1890s King retained
architect Nicholas T. Haller to design his rowhouses.

After the turn of the century,

King was active in the Columbia
Heights neighborhood,
particularly in the area between
14th and 16th Streets and Park
Road and Newton Street. The
houses constructed by King were
designed by Haller for the
middle class market. The narrow
two-story buildings were
conservative in design and detail,
although they featured
fashionable pale-colored bricks.
King built himself a residence on
Fairmont Avenue in Columbia
Heights, but it has since been
demolished. His son Charles W.
King, Jr.’s residence at 1519
1471-1475 Park Road, NW
Monroe Street still stands.
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010
The elder King was joined in the business by Charles W. King, Jr. around 1892. Like his father, King, Jr. was
responsible for hundreds of rowhouses in northwest neighborhoods including Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights.
The younger King continued to work with Haller, and also subsequently employed architects Nicholas R. Grimm and
Alexander H. Sonnemann. John F. King also followed his father into real estate business and another son, Joseph R.
King, likewise became a builder. King, Sr. had a fourth son, James R., and two daughters, Alice and Thelma.

Charles W. King was an active member of several local Masonic lodges and had the distinction of living to be one of
the Masons’ oldest members. He was also a member of the Association of Oldest Inhabitants of the District of
Columbia and a member of the Burnside Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. King died at the venerable age of
89 on June 17, 1930.

King, Charles W. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: Evening Star Date: 06/17/1930 Page:
Publication: Washington Post Date: 06/18/1930 Page: 22
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Lessoff, Alan. The Nation and Its City: Politics, ‘Corruption’ and Progress in Washington, D.C., 1861-1902. Baltimore: The
John Hopkins University Press, 1994.
Overbeck, Ruth Ann et al. Upper Cardozo/Columbia Heights Comprehensive Survey Volume I. September, 1989.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

King, Charles W. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Nicholas King
Biographical Data
Birth: 7/15/1771 Place: Pickering, Yorkshire, England
Death: 5/21/1812 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Father Robert King, Sr.; Brother Robert King, Jr.; Wife
Margaretta Gantt (Gaunt)
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Source: “Nicholas King—Copied by Cousin Mary” from Nicholas King
Apprenticeship: Papers, Library of Congress, c. 1800-1812. From “Nicholas King and
His Wharfing Plans,” p. 37.

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: Latest Permit: Total Permits: Total Buildings:
Practice Position Date
Robert Morris Surveyor and Draftsman 1794-1797
Surveyor’s Office, City of Washington Surveyor 1796-1797
Samuel Davidson Surveyor 1798-1805, 1809
Robert Peter, Mayor of Georgetown Surveyor 1798-1799
City of Washington City Surveyor 1803-1812
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Maps
Notable Maps Location Date Status
Wharfing Plans of the City of
1797 NRHP DC Historic Site
Washington
Plan of the City of Washington 1803 NRHP DC Historic Site
Proposal for Trees on Pennsylvania
1803 NRHP DC Historic Site
Avenue
A Map of Part of the Continent of
1804-5 NRHP DC Historic Site
North America
NRHP DC Historic Site

King, Nicholas Page 1 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Nicholas King was the first surveyor of the city of Washington and is responsible for some of the earliest descriptive
maps of Washington, D.C. King was born on July 15, 1771, in Pickering, Yorkshire, England. His father, Robert
King, Sr., was also a surveyor and cartographer and afforded the young Nicholas King experience in these fields.
Although King was a skilled artist and surveyor, his eyesight was poor. King’s father, hoping that a warmer climate
would be beneficial to his son’s vision, suggested he travel to America.

King, along with a friend, left London on October 20, 1793 and arrived in New York City in January, 1794. One
month later, on February 13, 1794, he moved to Philadelphia to serve as a draftsman and surveyor. He soon began
working for Robert Morris, financier of the American Revolution—a relationship which continued for many years.
King was disappointed by American maps and mapmakers. They lacked detail and accuracy, especially with regard to
topography and map sizes. The influence he exerted on other mapmakers throughout his career revolutionized the
practice of surveying and mapmaking in the United States.

In the fall of 1794, King was inducted into the Philadelphia Militia for a short time during the Whiskey Rebellion
although he was not an American citizen. It is unknown whether he was involved in any battle. In 1796, Robert
Morris sent him to Washington to assist another of Morris’s surveyors, William Tunnicliff, in surveying the squares
purchased by Robert Morris’s syndicate. After working with Washington City Commissioners regarding Morris’s land,
King was asked to fill a vacancy in the Surveyor’s Office. He accepted under the condition that his father, who would
soon be coming from England, would later take his place—this occurred in September, 1797.

From 1796-1797, Nicholas King divided his time between the Surveyor’s Office and his work for Morris. King’s
principal duties during this time were to lay off lots, take levels of streets, and give street graduations. In this same
period, King drafted his Wharfing Plans of 1797, one of his greatest accomplishments. These were the first maps to
show the entire area within the original city boundaries on a scale of 200 feet to the inch, much larger than any
previous maps of the city. His wharfing plans were important because they identified land reservations approved by
Washington and John Adams for public use, and it was the first large-scale map to show division lines between land
owners. The plans also represent the earliest large-scale cartographic definition of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers
in the vicinity of the Federal City. King’s plans for Water Street were never implemented, but the wharfing plans
overall had a great influence on later parks, waterfront, and federal land development. King’s plans emphasized health
and cleanliness, which would later become high priorities in city planning.

King was also involved in various other activities. In January 1797, he attempted to organize a subscription library—
probably the first library in the City of Washington. This venture ultimately failed. In July 1797, King married
Margaretta Gantt (Gaunt) of Frederick, Maryland. After his father, Robert King, Sr., took over as principal surveyor in
the Washington Surveyor’s Office in the same year, Nicholas King worked privately. He was commissioned by two
Georgetown merchants and land proprietors, Samuel Davidson and Robert Peter, for surveying tasks. King worked to
survey, level, design, and plan Samuel Davidson’s estate from 1798-1805.

While working for Davidson and Peter, King became involved in a controversy concerning the plan of the City of
Washington. Andrew Ellicott’s published plan (1792) and James Reed Dermott’s map (1795) both made minor
changes to Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s original plan of the city (1791), which affected the value of certain land holdings,
including those of Davidson. In November 1798, Robert Peter, Samuel Davidson, and several other large land holders
signed a memorial written by King and addressed to President Adams arguing against the alterations made to
L’Enfant’s original plan. King requested that another plan be made and he submitted three plans and documents,
which no longer exist, to the President. King’s proposal, however, was denied, and he continued to fight the
alterations to L’Enfant’s plan for years to come.

While working for Davidson and Peter, King also prepared plans of the Potomac River canal system for the Potomac
Canal Company and the Secretary of War from 1797 to 1803. In 1798, King, at Thomas Jefferson’s request, assisted
Isaac Briggs in determining the prime meridian of the United States. During this time, King was active in the drive for
King, Nicholas Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

incorporation of the City of Washington. When the City of Washington was incorporated in 1802, Thomas Jefferson
recommended King for the position of Surveyor of the City. At the time, King was working for Davidson and was
compiling a map and calculating the area of the “Lands of the United States Northwest of the Ohio” for the Treasury
Office. After incorporation, King continued his political activity. He was a City Council member for five terms and
helped to develop a public school system in Washington.

One of King’s duties as Surveyor of the City was to lay off lines for poplar trees along Pennsylvania Avenue from the
President’s House to the Capitol, initiating the capital’s first beautification program. He worked for the Secretary of
War in 1803 on the locks at Harper’s Ferry and was hired to project a blank map that became the basis for a
composite map of the west studied by Lewis and Clark before their famous expedition. After Louis and Clark
returned from their travels, King compiled four maps, including “A Map of part of the Continent of North America .
. . Copied by Nicholas King, 1806,” from sketches prepared by William Clark during the expedition.

King died at the height of his career on May 21, 1812. King, and particularly his wharfing plans, played a significant
role in the laying out and the initial settlement of the City of Washington. His achievements, however, are often
overshadowed by his prominent contemporaries Charles Pierre L’Enfant and Andrew Ellicott.

Proposals by Nicholas King for Trees on

Pennsylvania Avenue, 1803. From “Nicholas King:
Nicholas King’s Wharfing Plans, 1797. From “Nicholas King
First Surveyor of the City of Washington,” p. 49.
and his Wharfing Plans,” p. 41.

Part of “Plan of the City of Washington, 1803.”

From “Nicholas King: First Surveyor of the City of “A Map of part of the Continent of North America .
Washington,” p. 53. . . Copied by Nicholas King, 1806.” From “Nicholas
King: First Surveyor of the City of Washington,” p. 51.

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 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Ehrenberg, Ralph E. “Nicholas King: First Surveyor of the City of Washington, 1803-1812.” Records of the Columbia
Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 69/70 (1969/1970): 31-65.
Friis, Herman R. and Ralph E. Ehrenberg. “Nicholas King and His Wharfing Plans of the City of Washington, 1797.”
Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 66/68 (1966/1968): 34-46.
Gutheim, Frederick and Antoinette J. Lee. Worthy of the Nation: Washington, DC, from L’Enfant to the National Capital
Planning Commission. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
Miller, Iris. Washington In Maps: 1606-2000. New York: Rizzoli, 2002.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Dan Kirkhuff
Biographical Data
Birth: 4/12/1889 Place: Fairview, Illinois
Death:12/3/1958 Place: Los Angeles
Family: Marriage announcement New York Times Aug. 30, 1936 p.N4
Education
High School: Canton, Ill. 1903-1905; Peoria, Ill. 1905-1906
College: Chicago Art Institute.
Graduate School: American Expeditionary Force Art Center,
Bellevue, Paris, April-August 1919
Apprenticeship: J. Corbley Poole, Santa Barbara, California
Source:
Frank E. Mead, Ojai, California
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 377 Date Issued: 6/25/1940
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1938 Latest Permit: 1947 Total Permits: 150 Total Buildings: 895
Practice Position Date
Dan Kirkhuff, Reno, Nevada Principal, Architect 1922-23, 1929-1933
Chevy Chase Land Co. Architect 1933-?
Kirkhuff & Bagley Partner, architect 1938?-1945.

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 3/7/1941 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Single family, semidetached and row houses, apartment buildings, planned developments.
Styles and Forms: Colonial revival, modern
DC Work Locations: Cleveland Park, upper Northwest, Kent, Kingman Park, Marshall Heights, Southeast
Notable Buildings Location Date Status

Chevy Chase Hamlet Chevy Chase, Md. 1932-36, 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site

Edward L Hillyer residence 2401 Tracy Place, N.W. 1941 Kalorama Historic District
Yates Gardens Alexandria, Va. Ca. 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
2700 blocks of Porter and
Ordway Village 1942 NRHP DC Historic Site
Ordway Streets, N.W.
George Washington Carver
East Capitol and 47th Streets 1944 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartments

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Dan Kirkhuff''s architectural career was principally in California and Nevada and he spent fewer than fifteen years
working in the Washington, D.C., area. Kirkhuff was born in Fairview, Illinois and attended high school in Canton
and Peoria, Illinois, graduating in 1906. After studying at the Chicago Art Institute, he entered the office of J. Corbley
Poole in Santa Barbara in 1908 as a draftsman. In 1912 he was promoted to designer in Poole's office where he
worked until 1917. During this time he may have studying as well. When he applied to register as an architect in the
District of Columbia in 1940 he stated that, "The War interrupted my college work but my overseas duty increased my
interest in architecture." He served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army in World War I and then in 1919 he studied at the
American Expeditionary Force Art Institute in Bellevue (Paris), France, under Lloyd Warren. He said his education
was greatly benefitted by the time he spent in Europe. His studied group housing in both France and England.

On returning to the United States he was again employed as a designer for J.C. Poole in Santa Barbara and worked on
group housing. Poole died suddenly during the project and Kirkhuff completed it. While working in Santa Barbara he
became acquainted with the family of Senator Francis G. Newlands of Nevada who had founded the Chevy Chase
Land Company in the 1890s. Kirkhuff worked in Reno, Nevada, from 1922 to 1923 on group housing for the
Newlands Heights Development Fund and then returned to Europe for four years of travel and study (1924-28).
From 1929 to 1932 he practiced in Reno and again worked on Newlands projects It was Newlands family’s work that
brought Kirkhuff to Washington.

Edward L. Hillyer, president of the Newlands-owned Chevy Chase Land Company decided in 1932 that the company,
which had been selling undeveloped lots to operative developers since Newlands’ death in 1917, should resume
construction. According to a 1935 article in the Architectural Forum, he wanted to create a decidedly unique
development – The Hamlet – in Chevy Chase in order to attract buyers in a sluggish market. He brought in both
Kirkhuff and a land planner, Sharon Farr of Berkeley, California. The Forum wrote that “Together with Mr. Hillyer,
they worked out a plan unlike anything Washington had ever seen before. Closest approach to The Hamlet is Clarence
Stein’s and Henry Wright’s Radburn—but in the opinion of many who have compared the two, The Hamlet plan is
done even more skillfully. Around a landscaped Commons fourteen plots are grouped…with small enclosed laundry
yards and a private terrace for each house, yet with the major part of what would have been private property given
over to a central area. The plan for the area is formal, with one group of houses balancing the other on the opposite
side. Attached garages are effectively hidden in all cases…. Although the houses are closer together than is normally
the case, privacy is obtained by studied plan staggering. Along the street, the set backs are uniformly uneven, which,
together with the planting, forms as attractive a community vista as Washington can boast.”

Kirkhuff moved to Washington in 1933 to work on The

Hamlet, located at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and
East-West Highway. Leroy Marion Bagley assisted him in the
design of the Hamlet houses. Next, Kirkhuff designed three
houses on Reno Road, N.W. (Nos. 4600, 4610, 4618) for the
Chevy Chase Land Company, again working with Bagley. In
addition to designing houses for the Company, Kirkhuff and
Bagley were in charge of research, planning, construction
and supervision of all work for the Chevy Chase Land
Company which had decided to control the architecture on
the land it was selling for development in the 1930s. It
employed Kirkhuff to pass on plans and to supervise
construction weekly to ensure conformance. Washington Post, December 1, 1940, R4

Kirkhuff and Bagley, in addition to working for the Chevy Chase Land Company, formed a partnership and went into
practice. Their first District building permits were issued to them in 1938. From 1938 through 1941 they worked for
a number of different developers in upper northwest including Barkley Brothers and the Barnaby Woods Develop-
ment Company designing single family dwellings. Kirkhuff and Bagley also designed some of the rowhouses in Yates
Kirkhuff, Dan Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Gardens in Alexandria, Va. In 1941 Hillyer selected Kirkhuff to

design his residence at 2401 Tracy Place, N.W.

In 1942 and 1943, after the United States had entered the
Second World War, Kirkhuff & Bagley shifted to designing
low-cost apartment housing. The federal government had
allocated scarce building materials to projects that would meet
the great need for modestly priced housing for Washington's
burgeoning population of war workers. Two of the firm’s
wartime apartment complexes were the Colonial revival style
Ordway Village in the 2700 Block of Porter Street, N.W. and 2401 Tracy Place, N.W. Kalorama
Halley Gardens at First and South Capitol Streets, S.E. It also Washington Post, February 2, 1942 R2
designed the 1944 George Washington Carver apartment complex at East Capitol and 47th Streets S.E. In 1944 the
firm started to design large developments of low-cost
semidetached single-family housing in Northeast and
Southeast Washington, principally for East Hills Inc.,
and Shipley Corp.

Although building permits were issued to Kirkhuff and

Bagley as late as 1947, Kirkhuff was not involved in the
firm’s work in its final years. In October 1945, Kirkhuff
wrote to the American Institute of Architects from
Reno, Nevada, to say that he was discontinuing the
practice of architecture and resigning from the A.I.A.

Kirkhuff and Bagley, 5126 Palisade Lane, 1941

EHT Traceries, 2010

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Ancestry.com
Obituary: Publication: Los Angeles Times Date: 12/11/1958 Page: C 15
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 3 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 160
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“A Model Block of Houses.” Architectural Forum 53, No. 5 (November 1935): 526-527.
“Antique House Reproductions.” Architectural Forum 74 No. 5 (May 1941) 378-380.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Dan Kirkhuff Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Washington Post searched through Proquest.

Kirkhuff, Dan Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Notes: Although Kirkhuff applied to register as an architect in the District of Columbia and to become a member of
the American Institute of Architects in the same year, the information he supplied to each on his education and early
career differs. For example, he includes study at the Chicago Art Institute on the A.I.A. form but not on the District
form and the employment timetable he gave the A.I.A. for his postwar employment precludes the year he told the
District he spent working for Frank E. Mead.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Kirkhuff, Dan Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Arved Kundzin
Biographical Data
Birth: 8/30/1891 Place: Dorpat, Estonia
Death: 11/27/1959 Place: Vienna, VA

Family:

Education
High School: Dorpat High School (1902-1910)
College: University of Riga, Faculty of Architecture (1911-1920)
Graduate School:
Washington Daily News, June 2, 1941
Apprenticeship: DCPL Washingtoniana Division

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 82 Date Issued: 4/12/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1924 Latest Permit: 1928 Total Permits: 31 Total Buildings: 78
Practice Position Date
T.G. Bahrdt, Moscow Drafting 1915-1917
Pilot Department, Helsinki, Finland Drafting & superintending 1917-1918
War Department, Reval, Estonia Drafting & superintending 1918-1919
Lynch Luquer, Washington, D.C. Drafting 1922-1923
Geo. Oakley Totten, Washington, D.C. Drafting 1923
Rodier & Kundzin, Washington, D.C. Architect 1923-1927
Allied Architects Architect 1932-1933
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1927-1935 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: University Club, Bannockburn Golf Club
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, Church, Printing Plant
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Italian Renaissance Revival, Spanish Eclectic, Gothic Revival
DC Work Locations: Chevy Chase, Cleveland Park, Mount Pleasant, Brightwood, Chinatown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status

Voegtlin House 2525 Belmont Road NW 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site

Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District
Stores 517-521 8th Street SE 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site

Voegtlin House 2450 Belmont Road NW 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site

Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District

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Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Apartment Building 739 Newton Place NW 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
St. Columba’s Protestant
4201 Albemarle Street NW 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
Episcopal Church
The Bulletin Building 717 6th Street NW 1928 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions
Born 30 August 1891 in Dorpat, Estonia, Arved L. Kundzin attended Dorpat High School from 1902 to 1910. His
architecture course at the University of Riga from 1911 to 1920 included two years of construction and engineering,
two years of the history of architecture, three years of design and practice, and physics, mathematics, geology,
specification writing, and heating and ventilation. While still at school, Kundzin also worked as a draftsman for a firm
in Moscow and for two government departments in
Estonia.

In 1921, Arved Kundzin moved to Washington, D.C. to

work as the first secretary to the Latvian Legation.
Kundzin left the Latvian Legation in 1922 to work for
two Washington, D.C. architecture firms—Lynch
Luquer and then George Oakley Totten. In 1923,
Kundzin set up a private firm with Gilbert L. Rodier, an
architect who had been in practice in D.C. since the
early 1900s.

The firm of Rodier & Kundzin received 31 building

permits for 78 buildings in D.C. between March 1924
and February 1928. Most of Rodier & Kundzin’s work
2525 Belmont Road NW, 1924
consisted of single dwellings, row houses, and duplexes. District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004
The brick, frame, and concrete block row houses and
duplexes were designed in Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and Spanish Eclectic styles and were two stories tall.
Estimated construction costs ranged between $5,000 and $10,000. Most of these were designed for the Washington,
D.C. builder, Robert Munro. Rodier & Kundzin also
designed
single dwellings for Munro in the Colonial Revival and
Tudor Revival styles; construction costs for these
ranged from $12,000 to $18,000. Most of the 72 single
dwellings were located in the northwest neighborhoods
of Chevy Chase, Cleveland Park, Mount Pleasant, and
Brightwood.

Rodier & Kundzin designed slightly more costly houses

for individual owners. Two distinguished examples are
the two designed for Dr. Carl Voegtlin, which were
built in the Sheridan-Kalorama area. The two-and-one-
half-story, cinder block house located at 2525 Belmont
739 Newton Place NW, 1925 Road NW was permitted in 1924. Constructed in the
District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004 Italian Renaissance Revival style, it features a stepped-
back, tri-partite façade, smooth stucco walls, and
molded door and window surrounds. The low-pitched, hipped, red-clay-tile, roof on the main block is flanked by
wings surmounted by flat roofs with raised parapets. In 1925, Voegtlin obtained a permit to build at 2450 Belmont
Road NW. This 50-foot-by-74-foot house was designed in the Spanish Eclectic style with asymmetrical massing,
stucco walls, and rectangular and arched windows. The combination hipped-and-gabled roof is covered with red clay
tiles.

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 DC Architects Directory

In addition to dwellings, Rodier & Kundzin designed several commercial buildings and a church. In 1924, they
designed a row of three one-story, brick and concrete stores that feature pilasters, plain friezes, and flat roofs (517-521
8th Street SE). The firm also designed one apartment building (1925) in

Mount Pleasant; the three-story, brick and concrete

building still stands at 739 Newton Place NW. St.
Columba’s Protestant Episcopal Church (1926) is the
only church that Rodier & Kundzin designed; it still
stands at 4201 Albemarle Street NW. The stone-clad,
concrete tile church was designed in the Gothic Revival
style. Rodier & Kundzin designed The Bulletin Building
(1928), which is located at 717 6th Street NW and is listed
on the D.C. Inventory of History Sites. The United
Publishing Company constructed the three-story building
to house its offices and printing operation. Both St.
The Bulletin Building Columba’s Protestant Episcopal Church and The
717 6th Street NW, 1928 Bulletin Building are notable buildings that stand out
CardCow.com from Rodier & Kundzin’s body of work.

In 1927, Kundzin joined the D.C. Office of the Municipal Architect as an associate engineer. Working as chief
draftsman, the government of D.C. also made use of his ability to speak four languages to act as a translator of
Latvian, German, and Russian. In 1931, Kundzin worked on the D.C. Municipal Center project.

In April 1932, Arved Kundzin left the D.C. government to work in private practice as a member of Allied Architects.
In 1925, Horace Peaslee and other prominent members of the D.C. Chapter of the American Institute of Architects
(AIA) formed the Allied Architects of Washington, D.C., Inc., a loose confederation of prominent local architects who
banded together to pursue large public and semi-public commissions in the city. Modeled on a similar architectural
group started in Los Angeles in 1919, the Allied Architects worked collaboratively, sometimes holding internal design
competitions and then selecting and combining the best elements of the winning designs. The group’s bylaws
provided for one-fourth of the corporation’s net proceeds to be spent on efforts to advance architecture in the District
of Columbia and to educate the public about good
design.

The Allied Architect’s most prominent commission was

the design for the Longsworth House Office Building
(first design submitted 1925; completed 1933). Other
designs and studies pursued by the group included the
never-built National Stadium on East Capitol Street; the
D.C. Municipal Center; designs for a downtown Naval
Hospital; the Naval Academy Memorial Gates; a D.C.
National Guard Armory proposal; design and planning
studies of Georgetown; alleys in D.C.; and a study for
the beautification of East Capitol Street. The Allied
Architects disbanded in 1949. The known members of
Allied Architects were: Horace Peaslee, Louis
Justement, Gilbert LaCoste Rodier, Frank Upman, The Bulletin Building
Nathan C. Wyeth, Percy C. Adams, Robert F. 717 6th Street NW, 1928
Beresford, Fred H. Brooke, Ward Brown, Appleton P. District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004
Clark, William Deming, Jules Henri deSibour, Edward
W. Donn, Jr., William Douden, W.H. Irwin Fleming, Benjamin C. Flournoy, Charles Gregg, Arthur B. Heaton, Arved
L. Kundzin, Luther M. Leisenring, O.Harvey Miller, Victor Mindeleff, Thomas A. Mullett, Fred V. Murphy, Fred B.
Pyle, George N. Ray, Fred J. Ritter, Delos H. Smith, Alex H. Sonneman, Francis P. Sullivan, Maj. George O. Totten,
Leonidas P. Wheat, Jr., and Lt. Col. George C. Will [member information from C. Ford Peatross, ed., Capital Drawings:

Kundzin, Arved Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C., from the Library of Congress (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University
Press, 2005), pp. 36-38 and fn 39].

In September 1933, Kundzin once again left private practice

and became the Chief of the Architectural Division
continuing to work on the D.C. Municipal Center. In 1937,
Kundzin bought land in the Great Falls area of northern
Virginia and built his own house in what was then a sparsely
occupied area. During World War II (1941-1945), Kundzin
acted as a consultant in the planning and design of air raid
shelters for the city. Working under Municipal Architect
Nathan C. Wyeth, Kundzin became the Chief of the
Architectural Division in the Office of the Municipal
Architect in 1946. According to his obituary, among the
buildings he helped design were the Municipal and Juvenile
Courts, the Central Public Library, and Woodrow Wilson
High School. Arved Kundzin remained in the position until
4204-4206 38th Street NW, 1926
Google.com Street View.
his death in November 1959.
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: The Washington Post (1877-1990). ProQuest Historical Newspapers; Library of Congress, Prints
and Photographs Division.
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
“House of Robert Munro, Chevy Chase, D.C.,” American Architect 1926 May 20, v. 129 566-567
“Spanish Bungalow, Seven Oaks, Md.,” American Architect 1926 May 20, v. 129 570
“House of Dr. Carl Voegtlin, Washington, D.C.,” American Architect 1926 May 20, v. 129 n.2497
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 165
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital 1926/27
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Star Date: 11/28/1949 Page: n/a
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Arved Kundzin Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Arved Kundzin correspondence with the Board. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Notes:
The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011:

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 DC Architects Directory

William Russell Lamar

Biographical Data
Birth: June 2, 1891 Place: vic. Hughesville, MD
Death: Nov. 28, 1974 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married (1st) Mary L. Howser (2nd) Dorothy [?]; 3 children –
Russell, Jr., William E., and Dorothy.
Education
High School: Business High School, Washington, DC
College:
Graduate School:
Washington Post, May 4, 1947
Apprenticeship: DCPL – Washingtoniana Division

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1915 Latest Permit: 1933 Total Permits: 188 Total Buildings: 399
Practice Position Date
William Russell Lamar Architect 1915-1922
Barber & Ross Architect 1931-1934
Lamar & Wallace Founder 1935-1974
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA: n/a
Other Societies or Memberships:
President of Mid-Atlantic Lumberman’s Association (1954); Washington Board of Trade (1933-1974); Washington
Home Builders Association; Washington Building Congress; Washington Hoo Hoo Club; Cosmopolitan Club;
Columbia Country Club; Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda; charter member of Heroes, Inc.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: dwellings, garages, stores, apartment buildings, factory, gas station
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Craftsman
DC Work Locations: Cleveland Park, Capitol Hill, Adams Morgan, LeDroit Park, Woodley Park, Brightwood,
Takoma Park
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling 1219 Fern Street NW 1919 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 3121 33rd Place NW 1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
Cleveland Park Historic District
Row Houses 5300 block 5th Street NW 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment Building 4120 14th Street NW 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment Building 524 Kenyon Street NW 1927 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Born in Maryland and raised in Washington, D.C., William Russell Lamar practiced architecture from 1915 to 1933,
while at the same time working in the lumber and millwork industry. In his designs, Lamar most frequently employed
the Colonial Revival style, but the Craftsman and Tudor Revival styles also influenced his work. Despite his parallel
career and limited tenure (less than twenty years) designing buildings, Lamar was a prolific architect. His surviving
buildings suggest that, particularly in his early career, he employed a few basic designs that he altered or embellished
for different clients.

William Russell Lamar was born near Hughesville, Maryland on June 2, 1891, but spent most of his youth in
Washington, D.C. By 1900, his father had died, and his mother, Nannie Lamar, had settled in Washington, D.C. His
two older sisters, both in their teens, worked as clerks in a dry goods store. Lamar attended public schools, and
graduated from the city’s Business High School in 1909.

After graduation, Lamar briefly worked as a clerk for a

newspaper, and then took a job as a bookkeeper for the
Otis Elevator Company. In 1912, he began working in
the building industry, first as a clerk and later as a
building materials estimator for a millwork company.
At about the same time, he studied architecture, but it is
not known where or how he received his training. Circa
1915, he married Mary L. Howser of Washington, D.C.;
her father, Millard Howser, was an estimator for a
lumber company. William and Mary Lamar had two
children: Russell Lamar, Jr., and William E. Lamar.

From 1917 to 1931, Lamar worked as an estimator for 1219 Fern Street NW; 1919
the Barber & Ross Company, and simultaneously District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
maintained an architecture practice out of his home.
City directories indicate that he worked as an architect for Barber & Ross from 1931 to 1934. In 1935, he and William
Wallace founded Lamar & Wallace, a lumber and millwork company with offices at 37 New York Avenue, N.E.
Building permit records suggest that he ceased practicing architecture after founding the company.

Lamar’s wife, Mary, died sometime between 1930 and 1938, when he re-married. He likely met his second wife,
Dorothy, at Barber & Ross, where she worked as a bookkeeper. William Russell and Dorothy had one daughter,
Dorothy, who was born in 1941. Sometime before
1947, the Lamar family moved to Chevy Chase,
Maryland.

Lamar was active in a wide variety of organizations

related to the building and lumber industries. In 1954,
he was the president of the Mid-Atlantic Lumberman’s
Association; that year, the Washington Board of Trade
named him “Man of the Year.” He was an active
member of the Board of Trade, serving on its board of
directors. In 1964, he joined other Washington area
businessmen in founding Heroes, Inc., a charitable
organization that supports the families of police officers
and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

3121 33rd Place NW; 1922 Many of Lamar’s earliest buildings were brick row
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 houses. Lamar largely drew on the Colonial Revival
style in selecting architectural details for his row houses,
but he sometimes incorporate elements characteristic of other styles such as Craftsman. Over time, the detailing on

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 DC Architects Directory

his row houses became lighter and less elaborate. The row of two-and-one-half-story tall, buff-brick row houses at
1221-1227 Shepherd Street, NW (1921) is typical of
Lamar’s early row house designs.

Lamar’s early detached dwellings were typically

foursquare, two-story dwellings with centered dormers
and Colonial Revival details. Good examples stand at
1416 Longfellow Street NW (1921) and at 3121 33rd
Place NW in the Cleveland Park neighborhood (1922).
In addition, he designed a few Craftsman-style
bungalows, including one for Frances A. Marth at 1219
Fern Street NW (1919). In the late 1920s and early
1930s, near the end of his architectural career, Lamar’s
practice focused primarily on free-standing dwellings,
several of which stand in the Cleveland Park Historic
District. As in his other work, the Colonial Revival style Portion of 5300 Block 5th Street NW; 1925
prevailed in Lamar’s work from this period. On District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
occasion, he employed the Tudor Revival style.

Between 1923 and 1937, Lamar designed twelve apartment buildings in Washington. His apartment buildings display
Colonial Revival influences, including fan lights above the doors, molded cornices, keystones in the lintels, and
medallions and swags near the rooflines. Lamar frequently used brick soldier coursing and other mono-chromatic
brick patterns to define window openings and adorn the facades, which were generally flat. The five commercial
blocks that he designed display similar design characteristics as his apartment buildings, but have less elaborate
Colonial Revival details. His largest apartment building, The Cedric, stands at 4120 14th St NW in the Petworth
neighborhood of Northwest. Designed in 1925 for the Upshur Construction Company, the four-story, U-shaped
building is constructed of buff-colored brick with a stone-clad basement level and quoining. Its shaped parapet
contains circular and rectangular stone plaques containing bas-relief swag and rosette motifs. More typical of Lamar’s
apartment buildings is the Angels Gate Cooperative Apartments (current name) at 2023 4th St NE in Eckington. Built
in 1924, it is a modestly sized, two-story, buff- brick building with a five-bay, flat façade; it is adorned simply with flush
patterned brick panels, a soldier brick stringcourse, and
an applied molded cornice.

William Russell Lamar died on November 28, 1974 at

the age of 83. At the time of his death, he was the
chairman of the board of Lamar & Wallace, Inc.; his
son, Russell Lamar, Jr. was the president of the
company. Based in Landover, Maryland since 1962,
Lamar & Wallace is still in business selling residential
millwork.

4120 14th Street NW; 1925

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property Quest
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 165
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Post Date: 12/1/1974 Page: D16
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. William Russell Lamar correspondence with the Board.
District of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.

Notes:
The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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 DC Architects Directory

Albert E. Landvoigt
Biographical Data
Birth: 1/11/1892 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 3/26/1955 Place: Annapolis, Maryland
Family: wife: June Carroll; no children
Education
High School: McKinley High School, 1906-1910, 3 ¼ years
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, 8/15/1937, R1
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 76 Date Issued: 5/1/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1910 Latest Permit: 1929 Total Permits: 222 Total Buildings: 833
Practice Position Date
Harry A. Kite Architect 1913-1915
Albert E. Landvoigt Principal 1915-1918
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer 1918-1920
Boss & Phelps Salesman 1921-1922
Hedges & Middleton Architect, vice president (1928-29) 1923-1929
Hedges & Landvoigt, real estate firm Partner 1929-1932 or later
John F. Maury and J. Rupert Mohler, Jr. Associate, real estate firm 1934-1935
Federal Housing Administration Chief underwriter, D.C. insuring office 1935-1937
Mortgage and brokerage business, later
President 1937-1955
incorporated as A. E. Landvoigt, Inc.
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Washington Real Estate Board, Mortgage Bankers Association, Board of Trade,
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Harrisonburg, Va. lodge.
Awards or Commissions: President, Epping Forest Club, 1935
Buildings
Building Types: Detached, semi-detached and row houses.
Styles and Forms: Colonial, Tudor, Spanish and other revival styles.
DC Work Locations: Cleveland Park, LeDroit Park, Cathedral Heights, northeast and southeast Washington,
including Barney Circle.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Row houses 527-633 Gresham Place, N.W. 1912, 1913 NRHP DC Historic Site
Row houses 207-259 14th Place, N.E. 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Hammar residence 2733 35th St. N.W. 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site
Mather residence 2730 34th Place, N.W. 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Semi-detached dwellings 4105-4511, 4100-4118 38th St. NW 1928, 1929 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions

Albert E. Landvoigt was born and educated in Washington, D.C. He attended McKinley Manual Training School
(later known as McKinley Technical High School) for just over three years and began his designing career soon after
he left school in 1910. Landvoigt was involved in real estate development his entire 45-year career but he worked as
an architect only in the first two decades. By the late 1920s he became involved in managing a real estate office and,
after a brief period working for the Federal Housing Administration it its initial years, he founded a mortgage and
brokerage business.

Landvoigt’s name first appears on a D.C. building permit as

architect of a small row house designed for Washington
developer Harry A. Kite in 1910. In his early years he designed
detached or semi-detached dwellings one or two at a time for a
number of different investors. Soon, however, he was designing
numerous rows of modest two-story, two- or three-bay single-
family dwellings for Kite in Northeast and Southeast
Washington, including Barney Circle, and the vicinity of
Howard University Hospital. There was a strong market in the
pre-World War I years for moderately priced housing with
2730 34 Place, NW
th modern lighting, heating, plumbing and ventilation and Kite,
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010 along with Harry Wardman and many others, was building to
serve it. In 1911 the Washington Post noted that, “Construction
of modern homes for moderate prices is becoming more and more a feature of real estate transactions in
Washington….Those with six rooms and bath and of one or two stories seem to be the most popular….Whole blocks
have been developed in this way, and the houses, located in many different sections of the city, have found a ready
sale.” The houses designed by Landvoigt fit this description.

When Landvoigt registered as an architect in 1925, he indicated that he had been employed in the office of Harry A.
Kite from 1913 to 1915 and had then established his own practice but continued to design for Kite. He stated that he
had designed “all of Harry A. Kite’s and Boss & Phelps’ residences and apts. 1913 to 1918.” The permit database
shows that Landvoigt designed all Kite dwellings for which permits were issued from 1912 through mid-1915. Once
Landvoigt established his own firm Kite continued to use his services but also commissioned other architects,
principally George T. Santmyers, to design for him. Landvoigt also designed for numerous other District developers
and speculative builders and on his registration application he also listed two residences he had designed in Maryland
(Chevy Chase and Bradley Hills) in the pre-War years.

In World War I,
Landvoigt joined the
U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, serving
from 1918 to 1920. He
was a Captain in the
Eighteenth
Engineering Corps and
worked in France as an
engineer. Landvoigt
was not listed on any 2600 36th Place, N.W., 1925 2600 36th Place, N.W.
D.C. building permits Washington Post, September 20, 1925, R8 EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

Landvoigt, Albert E. Page 2 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

from October 1917 until June 1924 except for one dwelling in 1922 for which Landvoigt was both architect and
builder. When Landvoigt returned to civilian life he was listed in the 1921 and 1922 city directories as a salesman for
Boss & Phelps.

The second phase of Landvoigt’s architectural career began in 1923 with his association with the development firm of
Hedges and Middleton, Inc., initially as a salesman. The firm was involved in the development of Cathedral Heights.
In marked contrast to the many modest row houses with minimal architectural detail he designed for Kite, the
dwellings Landvoigt designed for Hedges & Middleton were large detached single-family residences in Tudor,
Spanish, Colonial and other revival styles. The estimated cost ranged from $13,000 to $30,000. Most were located in
Cathedral Heights and Cleveland Park. Landvoigt also designed a few buildings for other owners.

In 1928 Landvoigt became vice-president of Hedges and Middleton and

he turned increasingly to real estate management. When Middleton
resigned from the firm, Landvoigt formed a new real estate firm,
Hedges & Landvoigt, with Jesse H. Hedges in December 1929. The
firm was involved in property rentals and sales in the depths of the
Depression years. In 1934 Landvoigt joined another real estate firm.

Another turning point in Landvoigt’s career came in August 1935 when

he was appointed chief underwriter in the District of Columbia office
Washington Post, February 21, 1926, R3. of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Although Landvoigt
remained at the FHA for less than one and one half years, he used his
experience there to build a mortgage and brokerage business specializing in FHA loans in the Washington, D.C.,
Maryland and Virginia area. He launched his new business in January 1937 and published a series of articles in the
Washington Post on the benefits of FHA insurance. In August 1938 he announced that his firm had submitted a total of
$2 million in loan applications to the FHA and that it was handling mortgage applications for two of the largest FHA
residential projects in the metropolitan area: Fairlawn Village at 18th and Good Hope Roads, S.E. and Garden City at
Lee Highway and George Mason Drive in Arlington, Va. As president of A.E. Landvoigt, Inc., Landvoigt continued
to work in real estate and mortgage insurance until his death in 1955.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 3/28/1955 Page: 24
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 166-167
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“A. E. Landvoigt Named to Post with FHA Here.” Washington Post, August 18, 1935, R6.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Albert E. Landvoigt Application for Registration. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
“FHA Business Increase Shown.” Washington Post, August 7, 1938, R.4.
Landvoigt, Albert E. Page 3 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

“Hedges & Landvoigt New Real Estate Firm.” Washington Post, December 1, 1929, R1.
“Partners Open Realty Office.” Washington Post, January 10, 1937, R3.
“Real Estate Personalities.” Washington Post, April 22, 1934, R4.
“Small Homes Sought.” Washington Post, October 15, 1911, R6.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Landvoigt, Albert E. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Luther Morris Leisenring

Biographical Data
Birth: 10/29/1875 Place: Lutherville, MD
Death: 10/3/1965 Place: Washington, DC

Family: Mathilde Meuden Leisenring (wife)

Education
High School: Baltimore Polytechnic Inst.; Md. Institute (Night
School)
College: University of Pennsylvania
Graduate School:
American Institute of Architects
Apprenticeship: E.G. Lind, Architect (1894-1895) Luther Morris Leisenring Member File

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 3 Date Issued: 4/6/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1910 Latest Permit: 1935 Total Permits: 22 Total Buildings: 26
Practice Position Date
Charles Barton Keen, Philadelphia & NY Draftsman & Chief Draftsman 1898-1902
Cass Gilbert, NYC Draftsman & Designer 1902-1904
Hornblower & Marshall, Washington, DC Designer 1906-1908
N.C. Wyeth & Elliott Woods, Washington,
Designer 1908-1909
DC
Gregg & Leisenring, Washington, DC Architect 1910-1925
Quartermaster General’s Office, War Dept. Director, Architectural Design 1918-1946
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1920-1965 Fellow of the AIA: 1951
Other Societies or Memberships: Alumni Society of American Academy in Rome, Univ. of PA Club, Cosmos Club,
Washington Arts Club, Luther Statue Association, Dupont Circle Association, Maryland Historical Society, Columbia
Historical Society; Thornton Society, Washington Architectural Club, Society of Architectural Historians, T-Square
Club
Awards or Commissions: War Department Meritorious Service Award (1946)
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, Stores, Churches, Government Buildings
Styles and Forms: Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, Neoclassical
DC Work Locations: Mall, Capitol Hill, Chevy Chase, Mount Vernon Square, Kalorama, Greater U Street, Cleveland
Park, Brookland
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Museum of Natural History Mall 1908 NRHP DC Historic Site
DC Court of Appeals Washington, DC 1908 NRHP DC Historic Site
Engine Co. NO. 24 Firehouse Washington, DC 1911 NRHP DC Historic Site

Leisenring, L. Morris Page 1 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

U.S. Post Office 1438 U Street NW 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site

Natl. Lutheran Home for Aged Washington DC 1916 NRHP DC Historic Site

Trinity Lutheran Church Dundalk, MD 1920 NRHP DC Historic Site

Lutheran Church of the
Washington DC 1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
Incarnation
Significance and Contributions

Born in 1875 in Lutherville, Maryland, Luther Morris Leisenring attended one year of high school at the Baltimore
Polytechnic Institute (1890-1891) and two years of night school at the Maryland Institute in Baltimore (1892-1894).
From 1894 to1895, Leisenring worked as an apprentice in the office of architect E.G. Lind in Baltimore before
working as a draftsman for Philadelphia architect John T. Windrim from 1895 to 1896. In 1896, Leisenring entered
the University of Pennsylvania where he took a two-year architecture course and graduated with a certificate of
proficiency in 1898.

In 1898, Leisenring began working as a draftsman in the architectural office of Charles Barton Kean of Philadelphia
and, later, New York. In 1902, he left Kean’s office as chief draftsman when he was awarded the T-Square Club of
Philadelphia’s Travelling Scholarship. Leisenring travelled in Europe for seven months under the scholarship. Upon
return that year, he joined the firm of Cass Gilbert in New York as a draftsman and designer. In 1904, Leisenring won
the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Travelling Fellowship which enabled him to study architecture for two years in
Paris, Rome, northern Italy, and Brussels. Travel sketches that he made during this time are in the collections of the
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

In 1906, Leisenring joined the firm of Hornblower &

Marshall in Washington, D.C. as a designer. While
working for Hornblower & Marshall, Leisenring
redesigned what is now the National Museum of
Natural History (1908) in a Neoclassical style. In 1908,
he moved to the firm of N.C. Wyeth & Elliott Woods
(Architect of the Capitol, 1902-1923) as a designer for a
year, working on such projects as the U.S. Court of
Appeals in Washington and the power house for the
U.S. Capitol building. In 1909, he married Mathilde
Meuden, an artist who would become well known in
Washington and an instructor at the Corcoran Art
School.

The first building permit recorded for Leisenring was National Museum of Natural History, 1911
dated 7 May 1910 for a two-story, brick flat on Capitol Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS); 2004
Hill that no longer stands. In 1910, Luther Morris
Leisenring and Charles Gregg (see entry for Gregg) formed their architectural firm located at Gregg’s 1320 New York
Avenue NW office. In 1911 alone, the firm of Gregg & Leisenring designed a row of three, one-story, brick stores on
Georgia Avenue (3312-3316 George Avenue NW); a one-story, frame dwelling in the Chevy Chase area (4123
Harrison Street NW); and three, Colonial-Revival style, brick row houses now located in the Mount Vernon Square
Historic District (455-459 Ridge Street NW), each of which contains two separate apartments. In addition, Gregg &
Leisenring designed Engine Company No. 24 at 3702 Georgia Avenue NW in the Petworth area; a two-story, Italian
Renaissance-style, brick building, it featured two vehicle entrances and a tile roof.

Leisenring, L. Morris Page 2 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

Between 1912 and 1927, Gregg & Leisenring designed the Neo-Classical style, stone U.S. Post Office at 1440 U Street
NW (now 1438 U Street NW)(1912); the original section of the sprawling, Colonial-Revival style, three story, brick
National Lutheran Home for the Aged (1913) in Brookland; the stone, Gothic Revival Lutheran Church of the
Incarnation (1919) at 5101 14th Street NW; and the St. Stephens Evangelical Lutheran Church and Sunday School
(1927) at 1611 Brentwood Road NE. The firm also designed Colonial-Revival and Tudor-Revival style dwellings in
the northwest and northeast areas of D.C.

In 1918, Leisenring became head of the architectural

design group in the Quartermaster General’s Office of
the U.S. War Department and continued to practice
architecture for private clients. At the War Department,
he was responsible for the preparation of designs as well
as overseeing commissions to private architectural
firms. Among the first category of projects were: the
original stages of the restoration of Fort McHenry in
Baltimore (1926-1927); the restoration of Arlington
House, its dependencies and furnishings (1928); U.S.
Army officers’ and enlisted housing, hospitals, and
chapels; and the layout and architectural features at
several newly established cemeteries throughout the
1438 U Street NW; 1912
U.S. During World War II (1941-1945), Leisenring
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 acted as the consulting architect in design and
construction of the Pentagon and worked to establish
standards of construction and ways to expedite outside architectural and engineering contracts with the Army. He also
wrote the competition programs for monuments such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Wright Brothers’
Monument at Kitty Hawk, N.C., and the memorial at Appomatox Court House.

Luther M. Leisenring believed strongly in improving, regulating, and protecting his profession by establishing
standards for those who practice architecture. In 1919, Leisenring was appointed chairman of the American Institute
of Architect (AIA) Washington, DC Chapter’s committee to develop an architect registration law for the District of
Columbia. After the collapse of the Knickerbocker Theater in 1922, urgency increased, and Leisenring worked with
the U.S. Congress to pass an act in 1924 “to provide for the examination and registration of architects and to regulate
the practice of architecture in the District of Columbia.”
The law established a Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects; Leisenring was the third architect registered in
D.C. and was appointed to the Board in 1925; he served
as its President from 1938 to 1953.

Luther M. Leisenring and Charles Gregg were members

of the Allied Architects of Washington, D.C., Inc. In
1925, Horace Peaslee and other prominent members of
the D.C. Chapter of the American Institute of
Architects (AIA) formed the Allied Architects of
Washington, D.C., Inc., a loose confederation of
prominent local architects who banded together to
pursue large public and semi-public commissions in the
city. Modeled on a similar architectural group started in
Los Angeles in 1919, the Allied Architects worked
collaboratively, sometimes holding internal design
Lutheran Church of the Incarnation
competitions and then selecting and combining the best
5101 14th Street NW; 1922
elements of the winning designs. The group’s bylaws District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
provided for one-fourth of the corporation’s net
proceeds to be spent on efforts to advance architecture

Leisenring, L. Morris Page 3 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

in the District of Columbia and to educate the public about good design.

The Allied Architect’s most prominent commission was the design for the Longsworth House Office Building (first
design submitted 1925; completed 1933). Other designs and studies pursued by the group included the never-built
National Stadium on East Capitol Street; the D.C. Municipal Center; designs for a downtown Naval Hospital; the
Naval Academy Memorial Gates; a D.C. National Guard Armory proposal; design and planning studies of
Georgetown; alleys in D.C.; and a study for the beautification of East Capitol Street. The Allied Architects disbanded
in 1949. The known members of Allied Architects were: Horace Peaslee, Louis Justement, Gilbert LaCoste Rodier,
Frank Upman, Nathan C. Wyeth, Percy C. Adams, Robert F. Beresford, Fred H. Brooke, Ward Brown, Appleton P.
Clark, William Deming, Jules Henri deSibour, Edward W. Donn, Jr., William Douden, W.H. Irwin Fleming, Benjamin
C. Flournoy, Charles Gregg, Arthur B. Heaton, Arved L. Kundzin, Luther M. Leisenring, O.Harvey Miller, Victor
Mindeleff, Thomas A. Mullett, Fred V. Murphy, Fred B. Pyle, George N. Ray, Fred J. Ritter, Delos H. Smith, Alex H.
Sonneman, Francis P. Sullivan, Maj. George O. Totten, Leonidas P. Wheat, Jr., and Lt. Col. George C. Will [member
information from C. Ford Peatross, ed., Capital Drawings: Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C., from the Library of
Congress (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), pp. 36-38 and fn 39].

In 1946, Luther M. Leisenring received a Meritorious

Service Award from the War Department in recognition
of his years of service. After retiring that year,
Leisenring remained active in groups such as the Arts
Club of Washington, which he and his wife helped
found shortly after their marriage in 1909. Mathilde
Meuden Leisenring died in 1949. Leisenring’s interest
in historic buildings began with his travels in Europe
and his restoration work on the 1742 house Bellefield in
Croom, Maryland before World War I, and then grew
during his government tenure. After retirement,
Leisenring worked on other historic buildings such as
Tulip Hill in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. As
chairman of the AIA preservation committee, he 2715 31st Place NW; 1935
worked to save Wheat Row (Washington’s earliest row District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
houses) in southwest D.C. and the historic buildings
surrounding Lafayette Park including the Renwick
Gallery.

In 1951, Luther Morris Leisenring was elected as a Fellow of the AIA. Among the achievements noted at the time of
his election were his 28 years of public service in the War Department, his service to the AIA Washington
Metropolitan Chapter by serving on a number of committees, his work for the passage of the Architects Registration
Act in 1924, and interest and work in protecting “architectural monuments of the District.”
Luther M. Leisenring died October 3, 1965 at the age of 90 and was buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery in northwest
D.C.
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com.
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
“Lament for Lafayette Square,” AIA Journal 1961 Feb., v. 35 23-32
“Quarters for the Army,” Federal Architect 1937 July, v. 8, n.1 14-25

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 DC Architects Directory

Biographical Directories Cont’d. Year/Volume Page

“An Account of the Restoration of Arlington House,” Federal Architect 1932 July, v.3 6-9
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 170
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital 1923, 1929, 1934 231, 436, 549
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Publication: Washington Star Date: 10/5/1965 Page: n/a
Obituary
Washington Post 10/5/1965 n/a
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Luther Morris Leisenring Application for Registration.
District of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Luther Morris Leisenring correspondence with the Board.
District of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1920. District of Columbia.
World War I U.S. Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 record for Leisenring. Ancestry.com.

Notes: Leisenring Collection is located at the AIA Archives.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Leisenring, L. Morris Page 5 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

Matthew G. Lepley
Biographical Data
Birth: 9/21/1886 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 12/23/1953 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Wife, Elizabeth Reiley; brother, William A.; daughters, Mrs.
Frank Miles and Mrs. James Beattie; eight grandchildren
Education
High School: Gonzaga High School (Wash., D.C.), Grad. 1900
College: Gonzaga College (Wash., D.C.), 1900-04
University: George Washington University, 1904-06
School of Architecture: Carroll Institute, evening classes Source: Washington Post, December 25, 1953, 18.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 748 Date Issued: 3/20/1951

Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1907 Latest Permit: `1949 Total Permits: 125 Total Buildings: 219

Practice Position Date

T. F. Schneider, Architect Architect, assistant 1908-1911
Individual Practice Architect, principal 1911-17
U.S. Bureau of Yards and Docks 1917-21
Elliott Woods, Architect of the Capitol Architect 2 years, after WWI
Individual Practice Architect, principal 1924-52
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings, rowhouses, commercial buildings, office buildings
Styles and Forms: Renaissance Revival with some Spanish and Italianate influence, Modern
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Georgetown, Greater Fourteenth Street, Kalorama Triangle, Massachusetts
Avenue, Mount Pleasant, Strivers’ Section historic districts
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Rowhouses 2300 Block Ashmead Place, 1914-15 Kalorama Triangle H.D.
NW
The Saint Dennis 1636 Kenyon Street, NW 1921 Mount Pleasant H.D.
The Chancery 3130 Wisconsin Ave, NW 1941 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dupont Circle H.D.,
State House 2122 Massachusetts Ave, NW 1951
Massachusetts Avenue H.D.
Matomic Building 1717 H Street, NW 1952 NRHP DC Historic Site

Lepley, Matthew G. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Matthew G. Lepley (1886-1953) was born and trained in Washington, D.C. He attended Gonzaga College and then
studied architecture at George Washington University. While in college, Lepley went to three years of afternoon and
evening classes with Professor Ash at the Carroll Institute. He then learned his trade by working as a draftsman for
T.F. and A.M. Schneider from 1903-1905, and for B. Stanley Simmons in 1905 and 1906. He also worked briefly for
A.O. von Herbulis before returning to work for T.F. Schneider. When Schneider retired in 1911, he left his practice
to Lepley. Lepley then continued to practice architecture in the
District until the early 1950s.

Lepley’s architectural practice was only briefly interrupted over

the course of his career during the First World War. Beginning
in 1917, he worked for the Navy at the Bureau of Yards and
Docks, and remained there for three years. Before returning to
private practice in 1924 he worked for the Architect of the
Capitol, Elliott Woods.

Lepley’s opus includes designs for rowhouses, individual houses,

and at least 32 apartment buildings constructed in Washington
between 1908 and 1937. Many of these were mid-sized
apartment buildings, built using the Classical or Colonial Revival
styles. One of his earliest apartment designs was for the
Alexander Apartments to house bachelors in Washington. It
was built at 3rd and E Streets, NW. Lepley designed numerous
rowhouses in the District, including some in what is now the
Kalorama Triangle Historic District. Elaborate plans for houses
on Ashmead Place near the Connecticut Avenue bridge were
featured in the Washington Post. In his later years he was
associated with Jerry Maiatico, a builder for whom he designed
Apartments for Bachelors, 500 3rd St., NW the Chancery, at 3130 Wisconsin Avenue, as an apartment hotel
Plans by Matthew G. Lepley, 1908
in 1941.
Washington Post, November 10, 1907, 6.
Lepley also designed a number of office and commercial buildings in Washington including the Astor Building (later
called the Casino Royale), 802 14th St., N.W., and the Maiatico Building at 806 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. He was the
architect for the Matomic office building in 1952 at 1717 H Street,
N.W., which was known as the Upside-Down Building because it
included much of the heavy industrial equipment for the building
on the roof instead of in the basement. At the time of its
completion it was the largest privately-owned office building in
Washington. Lepley also designed the State House at 2122
Massachusetts Ave., NW.

Lepley was moderately skilled. His work is primarily

unpretentious and generally displays a constrained approach that
minimizes ornament in the interest of economy. Few, if any, of
his designs can be categorized as exceptional; however, his work is
generally seen to fit into the architectural context for which it was
designed.

Lepley died at Georgetown Hospital on December 23, 1953. 3028 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
EHT Traceries, 2001

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 DC Architects Directory

Maiatico Building, 806 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. 1717 H Street, NW

DCPropertyQuest 2004 Washington Post, April 6, 1952, R13

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Washington Post, searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning,
Other Repositories:
Property Quest; EHT Traceries, Inc. Master Database
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 12/25/1953 Page: 18
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 170-71
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Burchette, Bob. “Mass. Ave. Goes Modern.” Washington Post, April 29, 1951, R1.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Matthew G. Lepley Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Matthew G. Lepley correspondence with the Board.
District of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
“Matthew G. Lepley, Architect in District More Than 30 Years,” Washington Star, December 24, 1953
“Plans Apartment House.” Washington Post, November 10, 1907, 6.
“Upside-Down Building to Start.” Washington Post, April 6, 1952, R13.
Notes: Totals for permits and buildings include listings for “Lepley, Matthew G.” (117 permits, 210 buildings),
“Lepley (M. G.) & Warwick (H. H.)” (2 permits, 2 buildings), “Lepley & Nichols” (5 permits, 6 buildings), “Lepley &
Pierson” (1 permit, 1 building).
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Lepley, Matthew G. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Joseph A. Lockie
Biographical Data
Birth: 11/27/1881 Place: Warren, ME
Death: 04/16/1949 Place: Washington, DC
No Photograph Available
Family:
Education
High School: Public Schools of Camden, ME
College: George Washington University (graduated in 1913)
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 51 Date Issued: 05/04/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1923 Latest Permit: 1948 Total Permits: 88 Total Buildings: 103
Practice Position Date
F. B. Pyle Draftsman 1902-1904
Wood, Donn & Deming Draftsman 1904-1907
Thomas Mullett Draftsman 1904-1914
Waddy B. Wood Draftsman 1914-1922
Porter & Lockie Partner/Architect 1922-1949
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Board of Trade, the Masons, the Shriners, and the Rotary Club.
Awards or Commissions: Board of Trade Award in Architecture for the Evening Star Parking Plaza (1940)
Buildings
Building Types: Office Buildings, Hospitals, Garages, Industrial Structures, Schools, Residences, Religious Buildings
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival styles, Art Deco
DC Work Locations: Downtown, upper Northwest
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Brookings Institution 722 Jackson Place 1931 NRHP DC Historic Site
Jorss Iron Works 1224 24th Street, NW 1931 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Brownley Building 1309 F Street, NW 1932 NRHP DC Historic Site
Lutheran Church of the
212 East Capitol Street, NE 1935 NRHP DC Historic Site
Reformation
Walker Building 734 15th Street, NW 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Scottish Rite Temple 2800 16th Street, NW 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Joseph A. Lockie was born in 1881, and attended public school in Camden,
Maine. He graduated from The George Washington University School of
Architecture, and began his architectural career in 1902 as a draftsman in
the Washington architectural office of Frederick B. Pyle. In 1904, he
continued his drafting career in the offices of Wood, Donn and Deming.
From 1904 through 1914, Lockie worked with Thomas Mullett (son of
Alfred B. Mullett) and, in 1914, returned to work with Waddy B. Wood
until 1922 when he established his partnership with fellow GWU alumnus
Irwin S. Porter.

Porter & Lockie’s early commissions were for houses in some of

Washington’s most affluent neighborhoods. These houses were primarily
designed in Classical Revival styles. However, their design for the
Brookings Institute (1930, demolished) marked a departure from their past
designs based on historical precedents and launched their commercial
practice. The firm gained local and national recognition for its use of Art
Deco design motifs in commercial and institutional buildings. For The Brownley Building
example, the National Register of Historic Places-listed Brownley 1309 F St. N.W. LC-H824- 1608
Confectionary Building (1931) featured a band of aluminum panels with Horydczak, LC-H824- 1608
zigzag and sunburst motifs between the first and second floors.
Throughout the 1930s, Porter & Lockie designed numerous Art Deco-style commercial buildings.

The firm’s institutional buildings, such as the

Lutheran Church of the Reformation (1935) and the
Scottish Rite Temple (1940) were praised by the
architects’ contemporaries for successfully blending
symbolism and restraint in simple, yet meaningful
designs. The Evening Star Parking Plaza (1940,
demolished) received the Board of Trade Award in
Architecture for its innovative use of curtain walls
and architectural concrete, and its striking modern
design for a utilitarian structure.

Porter and Lockie remained in partnership for more

than 25 years until Joseph Lockie’s death in 1949.
After Lockie’s death, Porter continued to practice
Scottish Rite Temple, 2800 16th Street, NW with his sons, James I. and Steven S. Porter, in the
Winter Temple, by M.V. Jantzen, 2010
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/4317000769/
firm of Irwin S. Porter and Sons.
licensing terms: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en

Lockie, Joseph A. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Evening Star Parking Plaza

Source: AIA Archives

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 04/18/1949 Page: B2
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 173
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:

Callcott, Stephen. Brownley Confectionary Building National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Washington, D.C.:
D.C. State Historic Preservation Office, 1994.

Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.

Porter and Lockie Questionnaire for Architects’ Roster and/or Register of Architects Qualified for Federal Public Works, 15 May
1946, AIA Archives Collection.

Notes: Permit statistics are entries for Porter & Lockie. In addition, one permit for one building issued in 1907 listed
Lockie as architect.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Thomas Hall Locraft

Biographical Data
Birth: 11/13/1903 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 8/31/1959 Place: Bethesda, Md.
Family: Parents, Elwood F. and Marie; brother, Bernard; two sisters;
wife, Jane Elgas; sons, Thomas H., Jr., Matthew E., and Gregory W.;
daughter, Jane de Lacy
Education
High School: Central High School (grad. 1922)
College: Catholic University (B.S. Architecture, 1926); Fontainebleau
School of Fine Arts (1927); Ecole des Beaux Arts (1928-31)
Graduate School: Catholic University, Ph.D., 1931-33
Apprenticeship: Fred B. Pyle (1923-25); Murphy & Olmsted (1926-
Source: Washington Post, 9/1/1959, B2.
32); Waddy B. Wood (1932-33)
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 233 Date Issued: 4/21/1931
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1934 Latest Permit: 1949* Total Permits: 16 Total Buildings: 16
Practice Position Date
Murphy & Olmsted Draftsman 1933-38
Murphy & Locraft Architect, Partner 1938-57
Thomas H. Locraft & Associates Architect, Senior Partner 1957-59
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1936 Fellow of the AIA: 1952
Other Societies or Memberships: President, Washington Metropolitan Chapter of AIA, 1943-45; President,
Washington Building Congress; Director, Washington Board of Trade; Secretary, D.C. Board of Examiners and
Registrars of Architects; Chairman, D.C. Council of Engineering and Architectural Societies; Architectural League of
New York; American Planning and Civic Association; National Housing Conference; Honorary member of National
Sculpture Society; Society of Beaux Arts Architects; Cosmos Club; Kiwanis Club
Awards or Commissions: Henry Adams Prize in Medieval Archaeology, 1927; Paris Prize in Architecture, 1928;
scholarships in architecture to study in Paris; Commendation from Baltimore Building Congress for restoration of
Latrobe’s Baltimore Cathedral
Buildings
Building Types: Churches, schools, office buildings, houses, infirmaries, cemetery
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival, Romanesque, Art Deco, Modern
DC Work Locations: Catholic University campus, Georgetown, Northeast and Southeast Washington
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Baltimore Cathedral restoration
Baltimore, Md. 1933-51 NRHP DC Historic Site
and proposals
St. Martin’s Church 1908 North Capitol Street, NW 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
Fourier Library at the College
Baltimore, Md. 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
of Notre Dame
Locraft, Thomas H. Page 1 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Chapel of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic University campus 1949 NRHP DC Historic Site
Trinity College, Michigan
Library 1950 NRHP DC Historic Site
Avenue, NE
Archbishop Carroll High
4300 Harewood Road, NE ca. 1951 NRHP DC Historic Site
School
St. Luke’s Catholic Church 4923 East Capitol Street, SE ca. 1956-59 NRHP DC Historic Site
Church of Christ the King Manizales, Columbia 1950 NRHP DC Historic Site
U.S. Defense Housing (JEB
Lower Arlington County, Va. ca. WWII NRHP DC Historic Site
Stuart, Sherby)
Mess halls, barracks, infirmary,
Quantico, Va. ca. 1957 NRHP DC Historic Site
chapel
Lorraine American Cemetery
St. Avold, France 1958-60 NRHP DC Historic Site
and Memorial
Catholic University buildings
(Schools of Nursing Education Campus of Catholic University,
1950 NRHP DC Historic Site
and Social Service, Social NE, Washington, D.C.
Service Dormitory)

Significance and Contributions

“Buildings are for people; they are not monuments.” –Thomas H. Locraft

Known for his designs of ecclesiastical and educational buildings, Thomas H. Locraft had an extensive career in
Washington, D.C. He was a native of the District, born on November 13, 1903 to Elwood F. and Marie Locraft.
Locraft attended local schools, graduating from Central High School in 1922 and then receiving his Bachelor’s degree
in architecture from Catholic University in 1926. He then left Washington for a few years and gained broader
perspectives in architecture studying at the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris
until 1931. To complete his architectural education, Locraft returned to Catholic University and earned his Ph.D.

While still a student, Locraft began working as an apprentice and draftsman at several architectural practices. He
worked for Frederick B. Pyle, Murphy and Olmsted, Jules Henri De Sibour, and Waddy B. Wood, all of whom were
well-respected architects in Washington in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1938, after Walter B. Olmsted’s death, Locraft
entered his first partnership with Frederick V. Murphy, for whom he had worked at Murphy & Olmsted. Murphy was
also the head of Catholic University’s
architecture department, the position which
Locraft would assume in 1949. Together,
Murphy & Locraft designed several educational
and religious buildings in both domestic and
foreign locations (D.C., Maryland, Virginia,
Iowa, California, France, and Columbia). The
design for the Lorraine American Cemetery
and Memorial in St. Avold, France, was a
notable collaborative effort from Murphy &
Locraft, and was Murphy’s last major project.

Locraft designed for colleges and universities

around the country including several buildings
Lorraine’s American Cemetery and Memorial, St. Avold, France
The American Battle Monuments Commission, abmc.gov, accessed 9/20/2010
at Catholic University in Washington, Fourier
Library at the College of Notre Dame in
Baltimore, Md., the master plan for the University of San Diego in California, and the School of Foreign Service at

Locraft, Thomas H. Page 2 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Georgetown University. In the greater

Washington metropolitan area he worked
extensively on designs for high school and
primary school buildings. A sampling of these
projects includes St. Joseph’s Hall and the library
at Georgetown Visitation School, Stone Ridge
Convent of the Sacred Heart, Immaculata High
School, Archbishop Carroll High School, an
addition to Blessed Sacrament School, and the
Holy Redeemer School and Rectory.

Religious institutions were also a major focus of

Locraft’s practice. He was the architect for
chapels and parish churches in many locations.
Early in his career he worked on proposed
restorations for Latrobe’s Baltimore Cathedral in Church of Christ, 4801 16th Street, NW
District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property Quest 2004
conjunction with Frederick Murphy, and the pair
also submitted designs for the Church of Christ the King in Manizales, Columbia. In Washington they designed,
among others, St. Martin’s Church (1908 N. Capital Street), St. Thomas the Apostle Church and Rectory (2665
Woodley Road, NW), Church of Christ (4801 16th Street, NW), St. Benedict the Moor Church (320 21st Street, NE),
and St. Luke’s Church (4925 E. Capital Street, SE).

Locraft designed in a variety of styles that evolved over time. He began his career designing Classical revival and
Romanesque buildings, especially in conjunction with Murphy and Olmsted. In the 1930s Locraft designed three
private residences under his own name, and designed in Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival styles. By the 1950s,
however, he embraced the Modern movement and worked on geometrical, functional designs for churches like St.
Luke’s and St. Benedict the Moor.

Locraft was an active member of the Washington

community, and held many positions in the field of
architecture. He served on several national
committees for the AIA, such as the fellowship and
allied arts committees, and was President of the
Washington chapter from 1943 to 1945. He was
also President of the Washington Building Congress
and Director at the Washington Board of Trade.
Additionally, he served on the D.C. Board of
Examiners and Registrars of Architects beginning in
1945 as a member, and as Secretary/Treasurer as of
1948.

Throughout his career, Locraft maintained his close

ties with the Catholic University of America. There,
he was an undergraduate and graduate student, a
faculty member starting in 1931, and then the
St. Luke’s Church, 4925 East Capitol Street, SE
chairman of the School of Architecture from 1949
Google Maps, 2010 until his death in 1959. He also designed several
buildings on the University’s campus. His last
design for the school was Conaty Hall, which opened about one month after Locraft died.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library

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 DC Architects Directory

Washington Post, searched through ProQuest; Ancestry.com; District of Columbia Office of

Other Repositories:
Planning, PropertyQuest.dc.gov
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 9/1/1959 Page: B2
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory 1956/1st 338
1962/2nd 428
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 174
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24 1938-39 520-21
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Murphy, John C. and Michael V. Murphy. "A Preliminary Listing of the Work of the Following Architectural
Firms…" (Draft). American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives, Catholic University
of America, April 15, 1985.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910. District of Columbia.
“Thomas Hall Locraft.” Washington Building Congress, Inc., Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Oct. 1959): 1-9.
Notes: * Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include
permits until 1949. Thomas Locraft was active as an architect after 1949, so his actual permit numbers are not
reflected here.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Lynch Luquer
Biographical Data
Birth: 2/7/1878 Place: Dresden, Germany
Death: 9/22/1957 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Parents, Nicholas and Helen King Shelton; sister, Margaret
Luquer Hayes
Education
High School: The University School, Washington, D.C.
College: Harvard, grad. 1899; Oxford, 1899-1900
Graduate School: Massachusetts Institute of Technology for
Architecture, 1900-05
Apprenticeship: Putnam & Cox; Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson; Allen Source: Harvard College Class of 1899, Twenty-Fifth
& Cox Anniversary Report
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 17 Date Issued: 4/15/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1914 Latest Permit: 1923 Total Permits: 3 Total Buildings: 3
Practice Position Date
Wheelwright & Haven Draftsman c. 1907-11
Lynch Luquer (Boston, Mass.) Architect 1911-17
Lynch Luquer (Washington, D.C.) Architect 1919-37

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1915 (Mass.), resigned 1937 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Metropolitan and Chevy Chase Clubs (Washington); Harvard Club (New York);
St. Botolph Club (Boston); Arts Club; American Institute of Architects
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Orphanage, infirmary, houses
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations:
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
St. John’s Orphanage 20th and F Streets, NW 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site
Washington Home for 3720 Upton St., NW 1923 NRHP DC Historic Site
Incurables
House at Bedford Hills Bedford Hills, New York c. 1928 NRHP DC Historic Site
NRHP DC Historic Site
NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Lynch Luquer was often referred to as a Boston architect, but he lived and worked for a significant period of time in
Washington, D.C. He was born in Dresden in Saxony, Germany, but he attended private high school at the
University School in Washington, D.C.. Luquer relocated to Boston for his higher-level education, and graduated
with a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1899. He went to the University of Oxford for a year after
graduating from Harvard, but then returned to Massachusetts and completed the architecture program at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1900-05.

During his MIT years, Luquer did several

apprenticeships in the Boston area. He
worked for short periods of time with such
firms as Putnam & Cox, Allen & Cox, and
Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson. His most
extensive experience as a draftsman was his
four years spent with the noted firm of
Wheelwright & Haven, Architects, as a
draftsman for four years. Luquer began
practicing under his own name in 1911,
sharing offices with two other architects at 9
Cornhill in Boston. With the onset of the
First World War, Luquer pursued a position
with the U.S. Army. He applied to
Plattsburg, the National Army’s Officer
Candidate School in New York in 1917, but
was denied. He moved to Washington, D.C.,
that same year and continued his efforts to
enter the army and navy to no avail. He St. John’s Orphanage Building, 1922 F Street, NW
finally secured a position in the Intelligence EHT Traceries, 2002
Bureau of the War Trade Board.

Washington, D.C., became Luquer’s new home, and he opened an office for his architectural practice in the District in
1919. He transferred his AIA membership from Boston to Washington in 1920. Luquer lived for much of the 1930s
and 1940s at 1701 New Hampshire Avenue, NW. His two major projects in Washington were St. John’s Orphanage
at 20th and F Streets, NW, and the Washington Home for Incurables at Wisconsin Avenue and Upton Street, NW.
Luquer designed St. John’s Orphanage in 1914 while still living in Boston, but worked on the Home for Incurables as
a Washingtonian in 1923. The orphanage design showed creativity, including a recreational area on the roof. Luquer
is not listed on many other permits to build in the District of Columbia, but it can be assumed that he assisted with
numerous projects in Boston and Washington
that are recorded as the work of his associate
or supervising architects.

Luquer was a man of many talents and

interests, and was active in a variety of D.C.
society events. A 1922 article in the Washington
Post reported that Luquer’s former butler stole
$4,100 worth of jewelry from Luquer’s house,
which suggests that Mr. Luquer was notably
wealthy. He played the violin, acted in popular
plays, was a member of the Sons of the
Washington Home for Incurables, Wisconsin Avenue, 1923 Revolution and was Vice President of the
National Photo Co., LC-F8-596 Alliance Française in 1923.
Luquer, Lynch Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

Luquer resigned from the A.I.A. in 1937 explaining that, “I am no longer practicing and closed my office in 1933,”
although he was recorded in city directory residential listings as architect as late as 1943. Luquer died in September
1957 at the age of 78. He was living with his sister at 1712 22nd Street, NW, at the end of his life. He left an estate of
approximately $508,000, the majority of which went to his sister. He was a long-time member and benefactor of St.
Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church in Northwest Washington, which dedicated a three-panel painting to
Luquer’s memory in December 1957.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post, searched through ProQuest
Publication: Washington Post (death notice) Date: 9/24/1957 Page: B2
Obituary:
Publication: Washington Star (death notice) Date: 9/23/1957 Page: unknown
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 2 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 176
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“$508,000 Left by Lynch Luquer.” Washington Post, October 9, 1957, C6.
“Alexander West Held on Charge of Committing $4,100 Luquer Theft.” Washington Post, April 13, 1922, 2.
“Cross Triumphant to Have 500 Actors.” Washington Post, April 30, 1922, 41.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Lynch Luquer Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
“Famous Ancestors Represented at Historical Costume Ball.” Washington Post, February 22, 1925, 10.
Harvard College Class of 1899, Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Report. Privately printed for the class by the University Press,
Cambridge, Mass., 1924.
“Music and Musicians.” Washington Post, March 28, 1920, 24.
“Rededication Service Set for this Sunday.” Washington Post, December 7, 1957, B3.
“Society Events.” Washington Post, November 26, 1923, 7.
“Will Play Upon Roof.” Washington Post, April 5, 1914, R3.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Gordon E. MacNeil
Biographical Data
Birth: 10/7/1882 Place: Fort Reno, Oklahoma
Death: 3/24/1945 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Brothers Donald and V.V. MacNeil
Education
High School:
College: Columbian College (now GWU), The Corcoran School of Art
Graduate School:
Source: Leaves of Wesley Heights, April 1945, p 5. From
Apprenticeship:
MLK Library, Washingtoniana Division.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Exempted Date Issued: 1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1905 Latest Permit: 1944 Total Permits: 557 Total Buildings: 604
Practice Position Date
W.C. & A.N. Miller Architect, later Director 1914-1945

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Houses, stores, civic buildings
Styles and Forms: English Revival, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Classical Revival
DC Work Locations: Cleveland Park, Wesley Heights, Spring Valley
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Wesley Heights Neighborhood NW Washington 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Spring Valley Neighborhood NW Washington 1929 NRHP DC Historic Site
Wesley Heights Community
3301-05 45th Street NW 1927 NRHP DC Historic Site
Club
Pine Crest Manor 2323 Porter Street NW 1929 NRHP DC Historic Site
Grocery Store & Gas Station 4860, 4866 Mass. Avenue NW 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Garfinckel’s, Spring Valley
4820 Mass. Avenue NW 1942 NRHP DC Historic Site
Store

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Gordon Earl MacNeil was born in Fort Reno, Oklahoma, on October 7, 1882. He moved to Washington as boy and
later studied architecture at Columbian College, now George Washington University. He also studied art at the
Corcoran School. He joined the W.C. and A.N. Miller Company, a leading Washington-area real estate development
firm, in 1914 and later became a lead architect and a director in the company.

The first building permit that lists MacNeil as architect was issued on October 4, 1905, for a detached dwelling on
Wade Road, SE. He was issued three permits in 1912, and then no others until 1923 when he was issued permits for
W.C. and A.N. Miller buildings. During World War I he worked as a draftsman in the office of the Surgeon General,
U.S. War Department.

The communities of Wesley Heights and Spring Valley in upper Northwest Washington are MacNeil’s most enduring
legacies. As a lead architect and community builder on behalf of the Miller Company during the 1920s, he designed
nearly all of the dwellings and community buildings in the two neighborhoods. With these communities, the Miller
Company followed nation-wide trends in twentieth-century suburban development of community building. Real estate
developers designed whole neighborhoods instead of just individual dwellings. Wesley Heights was developed in 1925
and Spring Valley was developed in 1929.

Wesley Heights and Spring Valley are communities of single-family detached dwellings with large private yards on
lushly landscaped streets. The neighborhoods also incorporated community centers and parks. These were exclusive
residential communities planned as cohesive entities. Wesley Heights is located southwest of American University. It
is bordered by Nebraska Avenue to the north, New Mexico Avenue to the east, Garfield Street to the south, and
Battery-Kemble Park to the west. Spring Valley is a very affluent neighborhood with large houses and tree-lined
streets. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue to the north, American University to the east, Nebraska Avenue and
Loughboro Road to the south, and Dalecarlia Parkway to the west.

The neighborhoods comprise houses built in various revival styles, including Colonial, Dutch Colonial, Spanish
Colonial, and Tudor. Most of the dwellings are two-story, five-bay, brick- or stone-faced structures with gabled roofs.
MacNeil varied the materials and building styles within each block to create a harmonious community that was not
homogeneous. Not all of his designs were original, however, and he sometimes used published plans as foundations
for his own designs.

MacNeil also designed the Wesley Heights Community Club, located at 3301-05 45th Street, NW. The Club,
constructed in 1927, was, for many years, the social and commercial center of the neighborhood. The building is
English Revival in style with modest ornamentation and is typical of early-twentieth century neighborhood
community centers. The building is two stories and is faced with red brick and stucco. It has multiple gables,
limestone quoins, a Chippendale balcony, and three-sided commercial bay windows. It originally housed clubrooms, a
grocery, a pharmacy with a small post office, and the Miller Company real estate office and was listed in the D.C.
Inventory of Historic Sites in March of 1997.

In 1936, MacNeil designed the grocery store (originally Spring Valley DGS Market) and gas station (originally Esso)
located at 4860 and 4866 Massachusetts Avenue. These brick buildings were listed in the National Register of Historic
Places in August, 2003. His last major project was the Garfinckel’s satellite department store in Spring Valley,
constructed in 1942.

MacNeil lived in Hyattsville, Maryland with his brother, Donald. Gordon E. MacNeil worked for the Miller Company
until his death in 1945.

MacNeil, Gordon E. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Colonial Revival-style house in Wesley Heights. Tudor Revival-style house in Wesley Heights.
From “Models of Beauty and Predictability, p. 68. From “Models of Beauty and Predictability, p. 68.

Store and gas station, 4860 and 4866 Massachusetts Avenue, Garfinckel’s Spring Valley, 4820 Massachusetts Ave, 1968.
1968. Emil A. Press Slide Collection, 1587A, Washington Emil A. Press Slide Collection, 1586A, Washington
Historical Society. Historical Society.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Leaves of Wesley Heights Date: April 1945 Page: 5
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 178
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“Gordon E. MacNeil.” Leaves of Wesley Heights 19, no 4 (April 1945): 5.
World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 record for Gordon Earl MacNeil. Ancestry.com
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

William Johnston Marsh

Biographical Data
Birth: 1864 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 01/23/1926 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married Margaret Lamond (1899); two daughters
Education
High School: DC Public Schools
College: Private Instruction in DC and Boston
Graduate School: Attended Art School under E. C. Messer
Apprenticeship: Hornblower and Marshall (1880-1882?) Source: Slauson, History of the City of Washington
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 29 Date Issued: 04/27/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1887 Latest Permit: 1926 Total Permits: 81 Total Buildings: 96
Practice Position Date
Hornblower and Marshall Architect/Head Draftsman ca. 1884-1892
Private Practice Architect 1893-1898
Peter and Marsh Partner/Architect 1898-1926
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1895 Fellow of the AIA: 1895
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Washington Chapter of the AIA, the Washington Architectural
Club, and the Cosmos Club.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, Commercial Buildings, Hospitals, Schools, Churches
Styles and Forms: Beaux Arts, Georgian Revival, Colonial Revival, Neo-Classical
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Georgetown, Southwest
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Evening Star Building 1101 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 1898 NRHP DC Historic Site
William Syphax School 1360 Half Street, SW 1901 NRHP DC Historic Site
Elizabeth G. Randall School 65 I Street, SW 1906 NRHP DC Historic Site
Strong John Thomson School 1200 L Street, NW 1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Takoma Branch Library 416 Cedar Street, NW 1911 NRHP DC Historic Site
First Church of Christ, Scientist 1770 Euclid Street, NW 1912 Designation Pending
Farmers and Mechanics Bank 3068-3072 M Street, NW 1921-22 Georgetown Historic District

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

William J. Marsh attended D.C. public schools and,

subsequently, studied under private instructors in Boston and
with the artist E. C. Messer in Washington. Marsh gained
experience in architecture and construction at the prominent
firm of Hornblower and Marshall, where he served as the
head draftsman for eight years. He established a private
practice in 1892, but five years later entered into a partnership
with Walter C. Peter. Both architects were native to
Washington and mostly likely met while working in the offices
of Hornblower and Marshall.

One of the Marsh & Peters’ earliest commissions, The

Evening Star Building (1899) was also one of its most notable.
The elegant 13-story Beaux Arts-style building was
constructed of white marble and offered scenic vistas of the
Capitol Building. Ornamented with decorative details, it is
one of the most exuberant office buildings along Pennsylvania
Avenue. The grand interior two-story vaulted lobby also
featured marble walls and floors. The building was
constructed for the newspaper company and served as its
headquarters for nearly sixty years. Following the Evening Star Building, 1101 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
construction of the Evening Star Building, Marsh & Peter Washington Business Journal, June 2010
became one of the city’s most prominent architectural firms.
They designed a number of large residences for the city’s elite including Colonial Revival-style houses for Aldis B.
Browne (1908) and John S. Flannery (1915) in the Sheridan-Kalorama and Kalorama Triangle neighborhoods.

The firm was also responsible for several commercial buildings including the “banking house” of the Union Trust
Company (1900, demolished) and the Farmers and Mechanics Branch of Riggs Bank (1921-1922). Marsh and Peter
designed the Farmers and Mechanics Branch building to address its prominent corner location at the intersection of
Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, NW in Georgetown. The Neo-Classical building features a dramatic gold-leafed
dome and an entrance flanked by Corinthian columns, leading architectural historians Pamela Scott and Antoinette J.
Lee to describe it as “one of the most effective corner buildings in the District of Columbia.”

In addition to their residential and commercial work,

Marsh and Peter designed a number of public,
institutional, and religious buildings. They were
responsible for a remodeling and expansion of
Walter Reed Hospital in 1908, the Takoma Branch
Library (1911), and the First Church of Christ
Scientist (1913). Marsh and Peter also designed
several schools in the District including the Syphax
School (1901), the Edmonds School (1903), the
Randall School (1906), and the Cardozo School
(1907), among others. These buildings were
“temples of education” that incorporated the latest
advances in school design and facilities planning.

William , Syphax School, 1360 Half St., SW The biographical directory The History of the City of
Tanya Edwards Beauchamp, NR Nomination, 2003 Washington summarized Marsh and Peter’s successful
practice: “Few firms that have been launched in
Marsh, William J. Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

business but ten years can turn and point out the many noble structures that have been planned, designed, and erected
under their supervision as can the Messrs. Marsh & Peter, whose success has been little short of phenomenal. As
compared with many competitors in this and other cities, while young in years, their work stands boldly forth, bearing
all the characteristics of the combined talents of members of this most progressive firm.” Marsh suffered a stroke and
died at the age of 62 in 1926; however Peter continued to practice under the name of Marsh and Peter until 1932.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Evening Star Date: 01/28/1926 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 181
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
1908-09 313
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital
1923-24 58-59
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 392
Other Sources:
Beauchamp, Tanya Edwards. Public School Buildings of Washington, D.C., 1862-1960 National Register of Historic
Places Multiple Property Documentation Form. Great Falls, VA.: Tanya Edwards Beauchamp Associates,
2001.
Beauchamp, Tanya Edwards. William Syphax School, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 2003.
“Home is Nearly Finished.” Washington Post, 1 November 1908, R6.
“Plan Fine Buildings.” Evening Star, 11 December 1902.
Scott, Pamela and Antoinette J. Lee. Buildings of the District of Columbia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Slauson, Allan B., ed. A History of the City of Washington, Its Men and Institutions. Washington, D.C.: The Washington
Post, 1903.
Notes:
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 DC Architects Directory

James Rush Marshall

Biographical Data
Birth: 10/30/1851 Place: Carlisle, PA
Death: 06/02/1927 Place: Washington, DC
Family:
Education
High School: Rutgers Grammar School (1866-1868)
College: Rutgers College (left in 1870)
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Library of Congress
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 74 Date Issued: 10/15/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1883 Latest Permit: 1920 Total Permits: 108 Total Buildings: 138
Practice Position Date
Supervising Architect of the Treasury Draftsman/Architect 1871-1883
Hornblower and Marshall Partner/Architect 1883-1923
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1892 Fellow of the AIA: 1892
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Cosmos Club, the Army-Navy Club, Chi Phi Fraternity, and the
Chevy Chase Club. Marshall was a founding member of the Washington Chapter of the AIA and served as its
President seven times between 1890 and 1910.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, Government Buildings, Institutional Buildings
Styles and Forms: Queen Anne, Romanesque, Georgian Revival, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Sheridan-Kalorama, Downtown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Lucius Tuckerman House 1600 I Street, NW 1886 Demolished in 1967
George S. Fraser House 1701 20th Street, NW 1890 NRHP DC Historic Site
William J. Boardman House 1801 P Street, NW 1890 NRHP DC Historic Site
Holt House (alterations) National Zoo Grounds 1890-1901 NRHP DC Historic Site
Litchfield House 2010 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1892 Demolished in 1969
Duncan Phillips House 1612 21st Street, NW 1896-1897 NRHP DC Historic Site
Marine Barracks Buildings 7th and I Streets, SE 1902-1906 NRHP DC Historic Site
Natural History Museum 11th St. & Constitution Ave., NW 1903-1910 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Lothrop House 2001 Connecticut Ave., NW 1908-1909 NRHP DC Historic Site

Army and Navy Club 1627 I Street, NW 1911-1912 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions

James Rush Marshall was born on October 30, 1851 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to parents James William and Jane
Stevenson Marshall. In 1862, the family moved to Leeds, England when James W. Marshall, a professor of Latin,
Greek, and French, was appointed U.S. Consul. J. Rush Marshall returned to the U.S. to attend Rutgers Grammar
School and then began studying architecture at Rutgers College, but left after his junior year. He spent some time
traveling in Europe with his father before returning to the U.S. in 1871 to become a draftsman in the office of the
Supervising Architect of the Treasury.

In 1883, Marshall entered into a partnership with Joseph

C. Hornblower. Their firm was the most active in
Washington from the mid 1880s through the first
decade of the twentieth century. Edward Donn later
wrote, “Hornblower and Marshall were the best
architects in Washington in the nineties. They did a lot
of work and it was all above average.” The firm
established a reputation designing houses for the social
and political elite of the city. Many of Washington,
D.C.’s well-known early twentieth-century architects
trained under or worked for Hornblower and Marshall
at some point during their careers.

Early in their partnership, Marshall focused on interior

design. According to his obituary in the Evening Star:
“The architect’s [Marshall’s] talents lay no less along the
lines of stone, brick, steel, and mortar than of textiles,
Boardman House, 1801 P St. N.W.
fabrics, woods, and all the materials which enter into (Embassy of Iraq)
interior decorations, His taste was as excellent as his NCinDC, July 24, 2008
knowledge was varied and extensive.” The firm http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2699732428
established a reputation designing houses for the social
and political elite of the city. Prominent residences that they collaborated on include the Tuckerman House located at
1600 I Street, NW (1886, demolished), the Fraser House located at R and 20th Streets, NW (1890, demolished), the
Boardman House located at 1801 P Street, NW (1893), and houses for several Supreme Court Justices. Marshall
gained renown for his interior work and in 1901 he was asked to design the decorations for President William
McKinley’s inaugural ball in the Pension Building. As their practice flourished, Hornblower and Marshall employed
several notable designers in their firm including William J. Marsh and Albert L. Harris. Indeed, many of Washington,
D.C.’s best-known early twentieth-century architects worked for Hornblower and Marshall at some point during their
careers.

Although the majority of their work was residential, Hornblower and Marshall were awarded two major public
commissions in 1903-1904: the Custom House in Baltimore and the National Museum in Washington, D.C. These
large commissions necessitated the hiring of new draftsman and several trips to Europe to study monumental public
architecture. At the insistence of the Smithsonian Institution and the McMillan Commission, the National Museum
(now known as the National Museum of Natural History) was executed in a grand neo-classical style and not the
“French” style complete with a Mansard roof initially proposed by Hornblower and Marshall draftsman Arthur
Brown. The plans were modified several times during the course of construction. Toward the completion of the
National Museum on August 22, 1908, Hornblower died while studying museums in Europe. The cause of his
sudden death is unknown.

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After his partner’s death, Marshall continued to practice

under the same name and to focus on residential
commissions. Albert L. Harris joined Marshall as a
partner in 1911 and designed many of the firm’s major
commissions, including the Army-Navy Club. Marshall
designed a building for the United Masonic Temple
with
architect Frank G. Pierson, but it was never constructed.
Marshall died after a prolonged illness on June 2, 1927.

Duncan Phillips House, 1612 21st St., NW

Library of Congress, HABS DC-447-1
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: AIA Journal Date: 1927 (Vol. 15) Page: 266
Publication: Evening star Date: 06/02/1927 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 2 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 181
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09 1923-24 259
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 393
Other Sources:
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Eig, Emily. Lothrop Mansion National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.: Traceries, 1988.
“Hornblower and Marshall Documents at the Smithsonian.” Smithsonian Preservation Quarterly Spring 1995.
Kohler, Sue A. and Jeffrey R. Carson. Sixteenth Street Architecture Volume 2. Washington, D.C. The Commission of Fine
Arts, 1988.
Peterson, Anne E. Hornblower and Marshall: A Factual Investigation of the Individuals and the Office. Washington, D.C.:
Unpublished Report, 1976.
Notes: See Joseph C. Hornblower biography for image of Lothrop House.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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James H. McGill
Biographical Data
Birth: 1853 Place:
Death: 05/22/1908 Place: Washington, DC
No Photograph Available
Family:
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1872 Latest Permit: 1900 Total Permits: 41 Total Buildings: 60
Practice Position Date
Henry R. Seale (Seale & Clark) Clerk/Architect 1867-1872
Private Practice Architect 1873-1882
Private Practice Architectural Iron Work/Building Supplier 1883-1908
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Cottages/Villas, Office and Commercial Buildings, Churches
Styles and Forms: Italian Villa, Gothic Revival, Queen Anne, Second Empire, and Italianate Styles
DC Work Locations: LeDroit Park, Downtown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Northern Liberty Market 5th and K Streets, NW 1874 Demolished in 1988
LeDroit Building 800-810 F Street, NW 1875 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwellings 400 Block of U Street, NW ca. 1875 LeDroit Park Historic District
Dwellings 500 Block of T Street, NW ca. 1875 LeDroit Park Historic District
Birney Double House 1901-1903 T Street, NW ca. 1875 LeDroit Park Historic District
Cooper House 201 T Street, NW ca. 1875 LeDroit Park Historic District

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Significance and Contributions

James H. McGill began his architectural career as a

clerk at the firm of Henry R. Seale in 1867. In 1870,
McGill and Seale were listed as partners, practicing
under the name McGill and Seale. McGill
apparently left the firm in 1872, but they may have
continued to collaborate throughout the 1870s
(according to city directories the two men both
practiced as ‘Architects, Civil Engineers, and
Surveyors’ and had offices next door to each other
on the 700 block of E Street, NW) (Scott 2001, 185-
186 & 254). In 1874, McGill was hired to design the
Northern Liberty Market on 5th Street, NW between
K and L Streets (demolished in 1988). McGill’s
plans employed 200 tons of steel and iron trusses
manufactured by the Architectural Iron Works
Company of New York to form the largest
unsupported roof-span in Washington. The arched
roof formed a cavernous space for the public market
and was hailed as an architectural innovation.

In 1873, developers Amzi L. Barber and Andrew

Langdon platted a new 55-acre subdivision called
LeDroit Park in Washington County just north of
the city limits. Barber hired McGill to design houses The Title Page of McGill’s Catalog of Le Droit Park Houses
for the “romantic suburb”—LeDroit Park was to be Source: Library of Congress
a bucolic retreat for wealthy whites. Between 1873
and 1887, McGill designed more than 60 houses for prominent generals, professors, congressmen, businessmen and
government officials in LeDroit Park. McGill advertised his work in the 1878 publication Suburban Homes: A Collection
of Sixty Cottage Designs. The display of LeDroit park homes was intended to “serve as useful models to person
contemplating building of suburban
village homes.” McGill’s houses were
handsome examples of romantic
eclecticism, exhibiting elements of Italian
Villa, Gothic Revival, Queen Anne,
Second Empire, and Italianate styles
(Carr, Lynch Associates). LeDroit Park
presently contains 50 of the original 64
McGill houses. One block, the 400
block of U Street, NW, still retains its
original McGill houses without any
modern intrusions.

In addition to McGill designing their

subdivision, Langdon and Barber also
hired the architect to design a
commercial office building in downtown.
The LeDroit Building located at 800-810
LeDroit Building, 800 F Street, N.W. F Street, NW, was constructed in 1875.
EHT Traceries, 2003 The three-story Italianate building with a

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raised basement of storefronts is a rare surviving example of a pre-elevator office building. The LeDroit Building
features an exception façade design that reflects the civic aspirations of post-Civil War Washington. After the
completion of the LeDroit Building, McGill relocated his practice to the office building.

Beginning in the 1880s, the character of Le Droit Park began to change as the remaining land was sold for rowhouse
development. With demand for his cottages waning, McGill pursued a new, but related line of work as a building
supply salesman. From 1882 to 1906, city directories list McGill as a purveyor of Architectural Ironwork and Building
Supplies. It is possible that McGill was serving as a local subsidiary of the New York firm that had supplied the iron
for the Northern Liberty Market. In this enterprise, McGill partnered briefly with James E. Clark. McGill died on
May 26, 1908.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 185
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Date: Page:
Other Sources:

Beauchamp, Tanya Edwards. Downtown Historic District National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form.
Washington, DC: Historic Preservation Division, Dept. of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs, 1983.

Carr, Lynch Associates. LeDroit Park Conserved. Washington, DC: D.C. Department of Housing and Community
Development, 1979.

Ganschinietz, Suzanne. Le Droit Park National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.:
National Capital Planning Commission, 1973.

Ganschinietz, Suzanne. “Le Droit Park.” In Washington on Foot: A City Planner’s Guide to the Nation’s Capital. Allan A.
Hodges, Editor. Washington, DC: American Institute of Planners, 1976.

Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.

McGill, James H. Suburban Homes: A Collection of Sixty Cottage Designs, with Practical Plans Drawn to Scale. Washington,
DC: T. McGill & Co., 1878.

Notes:
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 DC Architects Directory

Thomas Milton Medford

Biographical Data
Birth: 8/9/1870 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 12/11/1942 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: wife, Bessie Bomberger Medford; sons, Theodore L. Medford
and Charles M. Medford; daughter, Roma F. Medford No Photograph Available

Education
Grammar School: Washington, D.C. (1876-84)
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Edward Woltz, three year course and two years
practice; received instruction from Glenn Brown, Special Course Source:
under Prof. E.J. Brasse, Philadelphia. Pa.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 379 Date Issued: 1940?
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1901 Latest Permit: 1941 Total Permits: 174 Total Buildings: 274
Practice Position Date
Private practice Architect 1890-1917
D.C. Municipal Architect’s Office Architect/ Draftsman 1917-1922
Architect/ Associate Engineer/Specifications
U.S. Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks 1922-1927
writer
U.S. Public Buildings and Grounds
Draftsman/ Architect 1928-1930
Administration
U.S. War Department, Office of the United
Mechanical Engineer/ Architect 1931-1935
States Quartermaster General
Private Practice Architect 1936-1942
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Washington Board of Trade, Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, Society of the
Oldest Inhabitants of Washington, DC
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: School buildings, commercial buildings, residences (detached, rowhouses, and flats), apartment
buildings, swimming pool, stables, warehouses
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Modern Movement

DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, Mount Pleasant, Mount Vernon Triangle, 16th Street Heights, Bloomingdale,
Chevy Chase, Glover Park, Petworth, Hillbrook, Greenway

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Notable Buildings Location Date Status

National Trades School for
Women and Girls, Trades Hall
601 50th Street, N.E. 1927-1928 NHL NRHP DC Historic Site
(Nannie Helen Burroughs
School)
Rowhouses for James Martin 30-38 U Street, N.W. 1908 NRHP DC Historic Site
Residence for Mrs. A.
1125 Fifth Street, N.E. 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site
Anderson
Residence for Leulla Whaley 1333 Gallatin Street, N.W. 1915 NRHP DC Historic Site
Residences for Anton Koerber 5906 32nd Street, N.W. 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Addition to store 423 Eighth Street, S.E. 1928 Capitol Hill Historic District
Swimming Pool at McKinley
151 T Street, N.E. 1929 NRHP DC Historic Site
High School
Flats for Eugene H. Phifer 2224-2237 40th Street, N.W. 1935 NRHP DC Historic Site
4917-4949 Georgia Avenue,
People’s Drug Stores, Inc. 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
N.W.
Flats for Eugene H. Phifer 2300-2328 40th Street, N.W. 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site

Store for J.E. Fowler 923 Fifth Street, N.W. 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses for Liberty Building
4010-4036 7th Street, N.E. 1938 NRHP DC Historic Site
Co.

Significance and Contributions

Thomas Milton Medford was a prolific Washington architect and engineer who served both the District and federal
Governments for eighteen years. Native to Washington, D.C., Medford was born August 9, 1870 and attended
District grammar schools. While in his youth, he was appointed one of four messengers for the 1885 inauguration of
President Grover Cleveland and
carried information about the line of
march to the future president.
Medford, in applying to register as an
architect in the District, wrote that
high school was not available to him.
He described his architectural
training as including a three-year
architectural apprenticeship course
under Edward Woltz and two years
of office practice. He stated that he
had also served an apprenticeship
and worked as a journeyman
carpenter. In addition he wrote that
he had “received instruction” from
Glenn Brown and had taken a
special course with Professor E.J.
Trades Hall of National Training School for Women and Girls Brasse in Philadelphia. Medford
601 50th St., NE stated that he had been practicing
Photo by D.K. Cannan, from National Register Nomination form, September 1989 architecture since 1890 and he listed

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 DC Architects Directory

dwellings he had designed in Kensington, Md. in 1900.

Medford was first listed as an architect on a District building permit in 1901. Medford designed numerous residences
in Washington, D.C., including rowhouses at 30-38 U Street, N.W. (1908) and houses at 1125 Fifth Street, N.E.
(1914) and 1333 Gallatin Street, N.W. (1915), before joining the District’s Municipal Architect’s Office in 1917 where
he worked for the next five years. During this time, he continued to design residences, primarily two-story brick
rowhouses along Georgia Avenue, N.W., and Spring Road, N.W., in the newly developing area of Petworth. In 1922,
Medford transferred to the United States Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks where he worked as an architect and
associate engineer. Then, in 1928, Medford worked two years for the United States Public Buildings and Grounds
Administration.

Medford was the architect for the Trades Hall of the National Trades School for Women and Girls (Nannie Helen
Burroughs School) at 601 50th Street, N.E., in northeast Washington. Constructed in 1927-28, the building served as
the main classroom building at the school, replacing the original classroom building that burned in a 1926 fire. The
school was founded in 1909 by Nannie Helen Burroughs (1883-1961), the African-American educator, orator,
religious leader who was an advocate for African-American history and active in the Baptist Church. Offering a
unique combination of academic training for African-American young women and girls, the first of its kind in the
nation, the school emphasized strong scholastics with a religious background, as well as training in domestic arts and
manual skills. In addition, Medford designed the swimming pool for McKinley High School in Washington, D.C.,
that opened June 30, 1929.
In 1931, Medford began work in the United States War
Department’s Office of the Quartermaster General where he
worked as a mechanical engineer and architect for the next
four years. In 1936, Medford, who had designed for some
private commissions throughout his government career, went
into private practice full time. The same year, Medford
expanded into commercial buildings, when he designed the
one-story brick People’s Drug Stores, Inc. at 4917-4949
Georgia Avenue, NW., and a one-story brick store at 923
Fifth Street, N.W., for owner J.E. Fowler. In 1940, Medford
applied for a seller’s license to the D.C. Real Estate
Commission.
Swimming Pool at McKinley High School, Medford married Bessie Bomberger in 1927, with whom he
Washington, D.C., 1929 had two sons, Theodore L. and Charles M., and a daughter,
“Swimming Pool Opened at McKinley High,”
Roma F. Medford died December 11, 1942 at his
Washington Post, June 30, 1929, pg. M2.
Washington home at 1010 Urell Place, N.E.

Medford was a member of the Society of Oldest Inhabitants, the oldest civic organization in Washington, D.C.,
dedicated to preserving the District’s heritage.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: The Washington Post (1877-1990). Proquest Historic Newspapers.
Publication: Washington Post Date: 12/13/1942 Page: R3
Obituary:
Washington Times-Herald 12/13/1942 unknown
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it

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Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it

Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 188
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“Architect Delivered Messages to Cleveland Fifty Years Ago.” Washington Star, January 20, 1937.
“Building Permits Issued Show Start of the Spring Activity.” Washington Post, March 29, 1914, Pg. R3.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Thomas M. Medford Application for Registration. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
“M’Gill Terrace Home Approved By Council.” Washington Post, May 13, 1928, pg. R2.

Miller, Dr. Page Putnam. Trades Hall of National Training School for Women and Girls (Nannie Helen Burroughs School)
National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.: National Coordination Committee for
the Promotion of History, 1990.
“Rites for T.M. Medford to be Held Here Monday.” The Washington Star, December 12, 1942.
“Ten Applicants Given Permits To Build Here.” Washington Post, February 16, 1936, pg. R1.
“T.M. Medford Funeral Rites Set Tomorrow.” Washington Post, December 13, 1942, pg. R3.
Notes: Medford applied to register as an architect in the District of Columbia on October 1, 1925 but his registration
number, 379, indicates that it was issued much later. His registration file includes correspondence from Medford
dated March 30, 1940 requesting to apply for a Senior examination for registration. His application form has penciled
notations indicating that he was examined but does not show the date the registration was issued.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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John A. Melby
Biographical Data
Birth: 9/20/1880 Place: Toronto, Canada
Death: 1943 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married Viola Ragland in 1914; six children (John, Jr., Francis,
William, Paul, James, Catherine)
Education
High School: South Division High School, Chicago, IL
College: Clark University, Atlanta, GA (1898-1899)
Graduate School: University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (1900-1905)

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1925 Latest Permit: 1939 Total Permits: 136 Total Buildings: 199
Practice Position Date
Macdonald Engineering Company, Chicago,
Draftsman 1902-1906; 1915-1918
IL
John A. Melby (Gary, IN) Architect 1918-1921
Samuel M. Plato (Louisville, KY) Draftsman and Architect 1921-1922
John A. Melby (Washington, DC) Architect 1923-1943
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, churches, gas stations, stores
Styles and Forms: Bungalow Craftsman, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Capitol View, Capitol Hill, Northeast
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling 66 53rd Place SE 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwellings 2422-2424 Newton Street NE 1927 NRHP DC Historic Site
Row houses 1937-1949 Capitol Avenue NE 1928 NRHP DC Historic Site
Store 1209 13th Street NW 1929 NRHP DC Historic Site
NRHP DC Historic Site
Store & Apartment 723 & 725 8th Street SE 1930
Capitol Hill Historic District

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Significance and Contributions

John Alexander Melby was an African-American architect who came to Washington, D.C. in 1923. His
work in the city includes numerous one-story, frame dwellings and brick row houses in the northeast
quadrant, particularly in the Capitol View neighborhood and in the vicinity of Howard and Gallaudet
Universities. In addition, he designed two churches, two gas stations, and several stores and small apartment
buildings.

Born in Toronto, Canada on September 20, 1880, John A. Melby was the son of an American father, Perry
Melby, and a Canadian mother, Catherine Elizabeth Melby. Catherine Melby died in childbirth, and Perry
Melby soon moved to Chicago, Illinois with his
infant son.

From 1898-1899, John Melby attended Clark

University in Atlanta, Georgia, returning to
Chicago in the summers to work as a draftsman for
Macdonald Engineering Company. In 1899, he
became the second African American to enroll in
the School of Architecture at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1904, he left the
university before completing the architecture
degree, and returned to work at Macdonald
Engineering Company.
66 53rd Place SE; 1925
From 1906 to 1909, Melby was an instructor of District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
Mechanical Drawing and Architecture at Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama. In April 1910, he worked as an engineer in Gary, Indiana, where he lived with his wife,
Viola Ragland Melby. In 1915, he again returned to Macdonald Engineering Company in Chicago,
remaining there for three years before establishing his own firm in Gary, specializing in “practical
engineering, house plans, concrete block [construction], contracting, [and] estimating.” (Wilson, p. 278)
Melby’s firm was unsuccessful, and he took jobs at U.S. Steel and the U.S. Post Office in Gary before
moving to Louisville, Kentucky in 1921. In Louisville, he worked as an architect and draftsman in the office
of architect Samuel Plato. In 1922, Melby served
as principal architect for a brick church in
Louisville.

Melby began practicing architecture in Washington,

D.C. on June 17, 1923. His first documented
commissions in the city date to 1925, when the
Capital View Realty Company hired him to design
the first of more than forty dwellings in the Capitol
View neighborhood. Located on either side of
East Capitol Street just east of the Anacostia River,
Capitol View was developed in the 1920s by
African-American businessman John Whitelaw
2422-2424 Newton Street NE; 1927 Lewis. Lewis developed the neighborhood as a
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 residential suburb for African Americans. To
construct the houses, Lewis hired both white and
African-American architects; other African-American architects who worked in Capitol View included the

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Vaughn & Ferguson Company, Hestle H. Brooks, and Milton Dorsey. Most of Melby’s houses stand within
the DePriest Village area of Capitol View and are modest, one- or one-and-a-half-story, frame houses.
Several take the form of vernacular bungalows, and feature full-width porches supported by wood columns
that rest on masonry piers.

The Capitol View Realty Company also hired

Melby to design a building for the Antioch Baptist
Church (later known as the Capital View Baptist
Church) at 17 Division Avenue NE. Built in 1928,
this frame church was demolished sometime before
1947. Melby designed two other churches in
Washington. In 1929, he received a building
permit for a $16,000 edifice at 1107 (now 1105)
50th Street NE for a different Antioch Baptist
Church. The building permit indicated that it was
constructed of concrete block; the current church
building has a brick veneer and may contain all or 1209 13th Street NW; 1929
part of the original church building. Melby also District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
designed the Glendale Baptist Church at 4504 Gault Place NE in 1933. This frame sanctuary is no longer
extant.

From 1927-1931, Melby designed several two-story, brick row houses and duplexes for John M. King, a
developer and builder who worked in northeast Washington. Many of these houses are located in the
vicinity of Howard and Gallaudet Universities. One notable block of surviving row houses designed by
Melby is located at 1937-1949 Capitol Avenue NE, just west of Mount Olivet Cemetery. These two-bay,
two-story, brick row houses display variations in the parapet rooflines and the decorative, contrasting brick
work on their flat-front facades. Another notable block is located on the west side of the 1800 block of
Corcoran Street NE (constructed 1928). He also designed at least one duplex in nearby Alexandria, Virginia
(113 and 113A Hume Avenue).

Melby designed a few small apartment buildings

and stores throughout his career, and worked for
individual property owners as well as developers.
In the early 1930s, Melby designed three
automobile-related buildings: two gas stations and a
public garage.

Melby’s last building permit was issued in 1939, for

a two-story, brick building with stores on the first
floor and living space above. He died four years
later, in 1943, at his home in Washington.
723 8th Street SE; 1930
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com

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 DC Architects Directory

Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page

American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 189
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Not found Date: Page:
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. John Alexander Melby Application for Registration. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. John Alexander Melby correspondence with the Board.
District of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910. Gary, Indiana.
Wilson, Dreck Spurlock. African-American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. (Taylor & Francis, 2004).
Accessed through Google eBooks.
Notes: The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project
phase; only online records from the library were consulted.
Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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Louis D. Meline
Biographical Data
Birth: ca. 1852 Place: St. Louis, Missouri
Death: 10/15/1905 Place: Washington, DC
No Photograph Available
Family: Married Manche Hosman
Education
High School:
College: Georgetown College
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1890 Latest Permit: 1905 Total Permits: 21 Total Buildings: 46
Practice Position Date
Private practice Artist 1878-1890
Private practice Architect ca. 1890-1905
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences
Styles and Forms: Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Federal Revival
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Massachusetts Avenue, Sheridan-Karolama, Chevy Chase
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
2208-2212 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1898-1899 Mass. Ave. Historic District
2205-2207 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1902 Mass. Ave. Historic District
2304 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1901 Mass. Ave. Historic District
2324 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1901 Mass. Ave. Historic District
2224 R Street, NW 1902 Sheridan-Kalorama Hist. Dist.

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Louis D. Meline was an artist turned architect. Born in St. Louis,

Missouri, Meline moved to Washington as a child when his father,
Florant M. Meline, took a job with the U. S. Treasury Department.
His brother, James F. Meline, would later serve as Assistant Treasurer
of the United States. Unlike his brother, Louis Meline did not follow
his father into managing the nation’s finances. Instead, in 1867, he
enrolled in Georgetown University to study music and drawing.
Meline excelled at the fine arts, taking second place in an annual
drawing class competition. Around 1878, Meline established himself
as a professional artist in Washington, specializing in still life and genre
works. A biographical sketch of the young artist in Historical and
Commercial Sketches of Washington and Environs gushed “In Mr. Meline’s
work will be discovered a remarkable individuality and character that
makes his work conspicuous, and which promised to place him among
the leading artists of our country.” In addition to painting, Meline
taught art; some of his pupils reputedly included members of “leading
families of the city and District.”

It is unknown if Meline received any training in architecture, or if he

simply relied on his abilities as an artist to design buildings.
Regardless, by the turn of the twentieth century, Meline was listed as
an architect in city directories. His first buildings, which he designed
beginning in 1890, were rowhouses clustered around Dupont Circle. Drawing, 2324 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Meline often built the houses on speculation and funded their Louis D. Meline
construction himself. Beginning in 1898, Meline designed a number of investment properties along Massachusetts
Avenue, NW including 2208-2212 (1898-1899), 2205-2207(1902), 2304 (1901), and 2324 (1905). The designs for
these three-story brick rowhouses drew heavily on classical European precedents. Meline placed great emphasis on
the buildings’ entrances with elaborate door surrounds including
ornate fanlights. In the late 1890s, Meline partnered with real estate
salesman Henry Earle to promote home sales in Chevy Chase,
Maryland. Meline contributed a number of plans for Chevy Chase
houses which were printed in architectural trade magazines as
examples of ideal suburban houses. The houses he designed in
Chevy Chase included the Lieutenant Semly House at 4 Laurel
Parkway (circa 1896).

In 1902, Meline designed a Colonial Revival-style house near

Embassy Row as a residence for himself and his wife, Manche (nee
Hosman) at 2224 R Street, NW. Built at a cost of $16,000, the
mansion was a testament to Meline’s shrewd investments in the fast-
growing and fashionable northwest quadrant of Washington and in
Chevy Chase. Three years later, Meline fell ill and was taken to the
Georgetown University Hospital where he died on or around
October 15, 1905. His obituary reported that his death had been a
shock to his friends in the city’s prominent business and social
circles. He was credited in the Evening Star as having done “much
for the upbuilding of the northwest section of the city.”

2212 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

EHT Traceries, Inc. photo

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Georgetown University Archives
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 189
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Evening Star Date: 10/16/1905 Page:
Other Sources:

Eig, Emily Hotaling and Julie Mueller, Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination
Form. Washington, D.C.: Traceries, 1989.

Gilbert, Beth. “Eyesore to Asset: Reborn as a B&B.” Washington Post, 21 April 2007.

Historical and Commercial Sketches of Washington and Environs. Washington, D.C.: E. E. Barton, 1884.

Lampl, Elizabeth Jo and Kim Prothro Williams. Chevy Chase: A Home Suburb for the Nation’s Capital. Crownsville, MD:
The Maryland Historical Trust Press, 1998.

McMahan, Virgil E. Washington, D.C. Artists Born Before 1900: A Biographical Directory. Washington, D.C., 1976.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Mihran Mesrobian
Biographical Data
Birth: 5/24/1889 Place: Afyon Karahisar, Turkey
Death: 9/21/1975 Place: Chevy Chase, MD
Family: Married Zabelle Martmanian in 1914; Sons Nourhan
(James?), Ara, and Ralfe; granddaughter Caroline Mesrobian Hickman
Education
High School: Afion Armenian High School (1903)
College: Imperial Fine Arts School of Constantinople (1908)
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, 9/26/1975, C10
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 784 Date Issued: 8/14/1951
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1926 Latest Permit: 1948 Total Permits: 120 Total Buildings: 508
Practice Position Date
Wardman Construction Co. Architect 1921-c. 1926
Wardman Construction Co. Chief Architect c. 1926-1930
Supervising Architect’s Office, Procurement
Architect 1933-1939
Division
Private Practice Principal 1939-1956

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions: 1926, National Award for Excellence, AIA, for Carlton Hotel
Buildings
Building Types: Hotels, apartment buildings, garden apartments, stores, houses
Styles and Forms: Italianate, Renaissance Revival, Colonial Revival, Streamline Moderne, Art Deco, Byzantine
DC Work Locations: Woodley Park, Downtown, Dupont Circle, Cathedral Heights; Arlington, VA
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Fort Stevens Ridge NW Washington 1922-36 NRHP DC Historic Site
2900, 3000, 3100 Connecticut
Cathedral Mansions 1922-25 NRHP DC Historic Site
Avenue NW
The English Village Woodley Park 1923-24 NRHP DC Historic Site
Carlton Hotel 923 16th Street NW 1926 Sixteenth Street Historic Dist.
Hay-Adams Hotel 800 16th Street NW 1927 Lafayette Sq & 16th St. Hist. Dist.

Wardman Tower 2600 Woodley Road NW 1928 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Shoreham Office Building 806 15th Street NW 1928-29 15th St. Financial Hist. Dist.
Dupont Circle Hist. Dist./
Dupont Circle Building 1350 Connecticut Avenue NW 1930-31
Massachusetts Ave. Hist. Dist.
Sedgwick Gardens 3726 Connecticut Avenue NW 1931-32 Cleveland Park Hist. Dist.

Significance and Contributions

Mihran Mesrobian was a prolific architect best known for the lavish residential hotels he designed in the 1920s and
30s for Harry Wardman, president of the Wardman Construction Company. Mesrobian blended conventional
elements of the Colonial Revival style with design elements and materials of the Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, and
Byzantine styles to create often luxurious and ornate structures that have come to represent Washington, DC.

Mesrobian was born in Afyon, Turkey to Armenian parents in 1889. At age fifteen, he took the entrance exams and
was placed into the second year class at the Academie des Beaux Arts in Istanbul because of his drawing ability; he
completed the five year course in four years, graduating in 1908. He took the position of Municipal Architect in
Smyrna where he met Zabelle Martmanian, also from Afyon—they were married on May 23, 1914. After working in
Smyrna, he served as an architect to the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V in Istanbul until 1914 when he was drafted as a
military engineer for the Turkish Army during World
War I. After the war, increasing hostilities of the Turks
toward Armenians prompted Mesrobian to immigrate to
the United States—he settled in Washington in 1921.
That same year, at the age of thirty-two, he began
working as a draftsman for Harry Wardman, one of the
city’s most prolific and well known developers.

Cathedral Mansions Ad, 1922. Washington Star April 2, 1922 One of Mesrobian’s first projects for Wardman was
Cathedral Mansions, the first apartment house in
Washington, D.C., modeled after a resort hotel. Wardman and
Mesrobian went on to pioneer this trend in Washington apartment
housing in the 1920s and 30s. Cathedral Mansions is a complex of
three large buildings (Cathedral Mansions South, Cathedral Mansions
Center, and Cathedral Mansions North) constructed from 1922 to
1923, located at 2900, 3000, and 3100 Connecticut Avenue, NW—it is
the largest apartment house that Wardman constructed between 1905
and 1929 and, at the time of its completion, was the largest apartment
complex south of New York. The complex contained 492 apartment
units in three adjacent buildings and was designed in the Colonial
Revival style. The buildings are faced with red brick and feature
limestone quoins; they are capped by side-gabled and hipped roofs
with dormer windows.

Some of Mesrobian’s other early designs for Wardman were for semi-
detached houses, like those in Fort Stevens Ridge. Fort Stevens Ridge
was planned as a 50-acre neighborhood of six-room brick semi-
detached dwellings. The neighborhood is located east of Georgia
Avenue at Rittenhouse Street and is roughly bounded by Peabody,
3100 Connecticut Ave., NW, Detail Fifth, Underwood, and Ninth Streets. Wardman constructed the first
NCinDC, May 30, 2008, section between 1922 and 1927, and it appears that the Capitol
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2595037331/ Contracting Company took over development of Fort Stevens Ridge
in 1931 after Wardman went bankrupt. Other firms were also involved in developing Fort Stevens Ridge from 1931 to
1936, including the Schneider Company, the Federal Construction Company, Taylor & Van Vranken, and most
prominently, the D.C. Developing Company. Mesrobian stayed on with each firm to design rowhouses, duplexes, and
Mesrobian, Mirhan Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

detached houses in the neighborhood.

Mesrobian was also instrumental in designing English Village in

the Cathedral neighborhood (c. 1923-24), bounded by
Woodley Road, 29th and 34th Streets, and Cleveland Avenue. The
units in this neighborhood were attached in threes and unified by
rooflines and facades to create the impression of one large
dwelling. The buildings were designed in the “English
vernacular,” with irregular massing, employing mostly Colonial
and Tudor Revival styles.

By 1926, Mesrobian had become the chief designer for Triplex in the English Village, 2002. Washington Post,
September 5, 2002. H1.
Wardman’s firm. While his original designs were for single-
family dwellings and apartment complexes, he is best known for his luxury residential hotels such as the Carlton, 1926
(923 16th Street, NW); the Hay-Adams, 1927 (800 16th Street, NW); and the Wardman Tower, 1928 (2600 Woodley
Road, NW). The Carlton, now the St. Regis Hotel, and the Hay-Adams are variations on the Villa Farnesina, a
Roman Renaissance palazzo and reflect Mesrobian’s classical
architectural training.

In 1928, Mesrobian completed plans for the Wardman Gardens, Harry

Wardman’s last big development concept. The ambitious project
involved a large apartment complex of 747 units to be built on a site
south of the Wardman Tower. However, financial problems resulting
from the construction of the Wardman Tower made it impossible for
Harry Wardman to construct the Wardman Gardens project. By 1930,
Wardman was forced to declare bankruptcy and Mesrobian opened a
private practice, occasionally working for Wardman until the latter’s
Carlton Hotel, 16th and K Street facades, 1926.
death in 1938.
Mesrobian Family Architectural archives, reprinted in
DCPL document In his private practice, Mesrobian’s commissions included the Dupont
Circle Building at 1350 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. (1931), a rug store
at 1214 18th Street, N.W. (1931), Sedgwick Gardens (1931-32), and several garden apartment complexes in Arlington,
Virginia. The Dupont Circle Building was an apartment-hotel designed between 1930 and 1931. This wedge-shaped
structure is ornamented with bas-relief and stylized friezes but is also reminiscent of modern design in its geometry
and simplicity. This was a difficult project because of the triangular of the site and the need to incorporate an earlier
one-story building already located on the site. The Dupont Circle Building reached the maximum zoning height at the
time and was one of the tallest buildings on
Dupont Circle. The building is also significant
because it marked Dupont Circle’s transition
from a largely residential area to one dominated
by commerce and businesses.

Sedgwick Gardens, designed in 1931-32,

illustrates Mesrobian’s skill in combining
architectural styles—Mesrobian utilized
Byzantine, Medieval, and Islamic elements and
united them under an Art Deco scheme.
Mesrobian also designed several apartment
buildings and complexes in Arlington. His first
Virginia apartment project was Court House
Manor (or Garden), 1233 N. Court House Road
(1940), and 1301 N. Court House Road (1941, Sedgwick Gardens, 3726 Connecticut Avenue, NW
demolished 1981), followed by Wakefield Manor Goode, Best Addresses, p. 314

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(1943) and 1925-27 North Calvert Street (1948). Mesrobian’s work also included Lee Gardens (now Sheffield Court
on North Wayne Street) and several Arlington shopping centers.

Mesrobian officially retired in 1956 at the age of 67, but designed the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Mary’s (4125
Fessenden Street, NW) the same year. He died in 1975 of a heart attack.

Mesrobian, Wardman, and associate c. 1925 Dupont Circle Building

Mesrobian Family Architectural archives, reprinted in 1350 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 1931-35.
DCPL document Library of Congress 12359-6D.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Publication: Washington Post Date: 9/26/1975 Page: C10
Obituary:
Washington Star-News 9/25/1975 unknown
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
National Cyclopedia of American Biography 59 53
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 190
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
DC Preservation League. “St. Regis Hotel, Washington, DC.” Preservation Now: Building on the Historic. Feb 2008: 7-10.
Dietsch, Deborah K. “The Man Who Built Washington; More Than 5,000 Houses Show the Signature Style of Harry
Wardman.” Washington Post, September 5, 2002. H1.
Goode, James M. Best Addresses. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1988.
Mesrobian Hickman, Caroline. “Mihran Mesrobian (1889-1975): Washington Architect.” Design Action 2 no. 3
(May/June 1983): 1-4.
Mesrobian Hickman, Caroline. A Selection of the Architectural Oeuvre of Mihran Mesrobian: Beaux-Arts Architect, Washington,
D.C. Thesis, Tulane University, 1978.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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B. Frank Meyers
Biographical Data
Birth: 1865 Place: Nazareth, PA
Death: 7/2/1940 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Father John Granville, brother Louis H., wife Nina L.D.
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: The Washington Post, 2/24/1907, p. 24.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1892 Latest Permit: 1931 Total Permits: 143 Total Buildings: 298
Practice Position Date
B. Frank Meyers Principal 1892-1933

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Theaters, rowhouses, houses
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Kalorama Triangle, Mount Pleasant, Dupont Circle, Park View, Capitol Hill
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Rowhouses 1910-1956 Calvert Street, NW 1904 Kalorama Triangle Hist. Dist.
Rowhouses 1961-1979 Biltmore Street, NW 1905 Kalorama Triangle Hist. Dist.
Empress Theater (demolished) 416 9th Street, NW 1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Georgia Theater (demolished) 3318-3324 Georgia Ave., NW 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site
Carolina Theater (demolished) 103-107 11th Street, SE 1913 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Benjamin Franklin Meyers (1865-1940), known as B. Frank Meyers, contributed many rowhouses and theaters to the
Washington, D.C., area. Meyers was born in 1865 in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. He moved with his family to
Washington, D.C., as a child and attended school there. He also received his architectural training in Washington,
D.C., but it is not known where. His father, John Granville Meyers, was a local builder and architect.

The first building permit that lists B. Frank Meyers as architect was issued on August 1, 1892, for two dwellings
located at the corner of Monroe Street and Morgan Avenue, NW. He is said to have assisted his father, John
Granville Meyers, in drawing plans for the Christian Heurich House (1307 New Hampshire Avenue, NW) in 1892 and
the Mount Pleasant Congregational Church (demolished) at 1410 Columbia Road, NW in 1896. No other permits
were issued to B. Frank Meyers until 1895, when he began designing for L.E. Breuninger, a prolific Washington-area
real estate developer. Meyers designed the dwellings located at 1237-1251 Irving Street, NW for Breuninger between
1895 and 1896. In 1897, Meyers began working with his brother, Louis H. Meyers, a builder. Louis Meyers, then
working with a partner named Anderson, commissioned B. Frank to design duplexes at 3553-3563 11th Street, NW.

In 1904, Meyers again worked with his brother, this time partnered with a man named Wunderly, to construct
rowhouses in the Kalorama Triangle neighborhood. In 1904, Meyers designed the rowhouses at 1910-1956 Calvert
Street, NW, and 1701-1715 Euclid Street, NW. He also designed the rowhouses located at 2711-2735 Ontario Road,
NW, and 1721-1733 Columbia Road, NW. In 1905, he designed the dwellings at 1961-1979 Biltmore Street, NW.
Altogether he designed over thirty houses in the Kalorama Triangle area.

In 1906, Meyers worked with another speculative building firm, Schmidt and Brandt, to design the rowhouses at
1502-1518 E Street, SE. He designed most of his rowhouses for speculative builders and attached or semi-detached
houses for both builders and a number of individual clients.

Meyers designed only a handful of detached dwellings during his career. These buildings include the houses at 3400-
3404 Macomb Street, NW, which he designed in 1914 for the W.C. and A.N.
Miller Company. These houses are large, two-and-a-half-story, single-family
dwellings influenced by the Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival styles. He
also designed the rowhouses at 17-29 Rock Creek Church Road, NW, in 1916
for the Miller Company.

From 1910 to 1914, as movie theaters became popular throughout the city,
Meyers embraced the design of these buildings. Between 1906 and 1913,
ninety-seven movie theaters opened in Washington, D.C., of which Meyers
designed at least nine. His first theater, constructed in 1910, The Empress,
was located at 416 9th Street, NW (demolished). It was one story in height
and embellished with classical ornament. The theater was marked by Ionic
columns that flanked the entrance and supported a wide segmental pediment.
Rows of bare electric lights, spaced at regular intervals, accentuated the frieze
and cornice.
Empress Theatre (on right), 416 9th
Street, NW. ca. 1922. Library of Congress.
Other theaters designed by Meyers, all demolished, include the Georgia
Theater (1912) at 3318-3324 Georgia Avenue, NW, the Carolina Theater (1913) at 103-107 11th Street, SE, the Liberty
Theater (1914) at 1419-1423 North Capitol Street, NE, the Belmont Theater (c. 1914) at 2114 14th Street, NW, the
Crystal Theater (1910) at 621 7th Street, NW, and the Stanton Theater (1913) at 513 C Street, NE. He also designed a
theater in 1914 for the Bloomingdale area, but it was never built.

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Meyers retired in 1933 due to ill health and died of a heart

attack in 1940 at the age of seventy-five.

Carolina Theatre, 103-107 11th Street, SE. August 7, 1949.

1478.30, John P. Wymer Collection, Washington Historical Society.
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Publication: The Washington Star Date: 7/3/1940
Obituary: Page: unknown
The Times-Herald 7/5/1940
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 191
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
EHT Traceries, National Register of Historic Places Nomination for Kalorama Triangle Historic District,
Washington, D.C. 1987.
Headley, Robert K. Motion Picture Exhibition in Washington, D.C.: An Illustrated History of Parlors, Palaces and Multiplexes in
the Metropolitan Area, 1894-1997. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1999.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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John Granville Meyers

Biographical Data
Birth: 9/13/1834 Place: Nazareth, PA
Death: 12/12/1902 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Wife Maria A., sons B. Frank and Louis H.
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1877 Latest Permit: 1900 Total Permits: 79 Total Buildings: 128
Practice Position Date
John G. Meyers and Bro. Carpenters Carpenter 1867-1868
John G. Meyers Carpenter & Builder 1869-1874
John G. Meyers Architect 1875-1902

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, dwellings, government buildings
Styles and Forms: Romanesque Revival, Richardsonian Romanesque, Queen Anne
DC Work Locations: Northwest, Dupont Circle, Columbia Heights
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
1307 New Hampshire Ave.,
Christian Heurich House 1892-1894 NRHP DC Historic Site
NW
Mount Pleasant Congregational
1410 Columbia Road, NW 1896 NRHP DC Historic Site
Church (demolished)
General Hazen House
1601 K Street, NW 1881 NRHP DC Historic Site
(demolished)
Rowhouses 1908-1920 Sunderland Pl., NW 1883 Dupont Circle Historic District
Commercial Building 415 7th Street, NW 1883 Downtown Historic District

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Significance and Contributions

John Granville Meyers was born in 1834 and was a native of Nazareth,
Pennsylvania. As a young man, he worked as a stone mason and at the age of
eighteen began work as a carpenter. He was also a contractor and builder in
Pennsylvania before he moved to Washington, D.C. He established himself as an
architect in Washington in the 1870s, where he designed a three-story office
building at 1323 G Street for his practice.

The first known permit that bears Meyers’s name as architect was issued in 1877
for two dwellings on 7th Street, NW.
Meyers designed many privately commissioned houses in Northwest Washington
in last third of the nineteenth century, including residences for Judge C. Nott,
Mr. Chris Ruppert, Mrs. E. Cullinan, Judge Lewery, Gen. Hazen (1601 K Street,
NW, permit #1187, 1881), and others. Meyers designed homes in the Queen
Anne and Romanesque Revival styles, utilizing concrete, red brick, and rusticated
Christian Heurich House, 1307 New stone.
Hampshire Avenue, NW. 1895-1905.
Christie Collection, 10, Historical Society. of
In 1889, Meyers designed the ten three-story brick dwellings at 1803-1819 19th
Washington, D.C.
Street, NW, and 1843 S Street, NW, originally owned by Tyler and Rutherford.
While most of his buildings were masonry construction, Meyers designed several frame houses as well. For example,
he designed a frame cottage for B.F. Martin at Brightwood Park in 1892 (demolished). The two-story dwelling with a
cellar and attic was located at 811 Jefferson Street, NW. It featured an
octagonal bay with a pyramidal roof, gables, and wide verandas.

The same year, he and his son, B. Frank, designed and constructed the
three-story brick dwellings at 1216-1220 New Hampshire Ave, NW,
(demolished). In 1893, he independently designed and built the three-
story brick dwellings at 2108-2116 Ward Place, NW (demolished).

Meyers’s most recognized building is the Christian Heurich House or

Mansion, also known as the Brewmaster’s Castle, located at 1307 New
Hampshire Avenue, NW. Constructed from 1892-1894, the house was Mount Pleasant Congregational Church, 1410
commissioned by Christian Heurich, a philanthropic German Columbia Road, NW. Images of America, p. 51.
immigrant and owner of the Heurich Brewery. The building rises
three-and-a-half stories and was the city’s first fireproof house, built of reinforced steel and poured concrete. This was
a novel construction technique at the time and unheard of for residential
construction. The elevations, however, were faced with brick and stone in
keeping with the Richardsonian Romanesque style fashionable at the time.
The dwelling features a heavy arched porte-cochere, a cylindrical corner
tower with conical roof, turreted wall dormers, gargoyles, and round-
arched windows. A two-story attached conservatory features a tiled
mansard roof and an arcaded façade of copper. The building was listed on
the DC Inventory of Historic Sites in 1964 and the National Register of
Historic Places in 1969; the interiors were designated in the National
Register in 2002. The Christian Heurich House was the home of the
1601 K Street, NW. Residence of General Historical Society of Washington, D.C., from 1955 to 2003.
Hazen. James Goode file, JG Meyers, Historical
Society of Washington, D.C.
Similar in style and appearance to the Christian Heurich House was the
Mt. Pleasant Congregational Church, constructed in 1896. Meyers may have collaborated with his son, B. Frank
Meyers, on the design for the church. Now demolished, the building was located at 1410 Columbia Road, NW.

Meyers, John Granville Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Meyers was a pioneer in the use of poured concrete for residential building. He devised and patented several processes
and formulae for making “artificial stone blocks,” as his obituary states. He also patented a process for building
mausoleums to facilitate sanitary interment for
which he was awarded a medal by the Franklin
Institute in 1890.

Between 1896 and 1898, Meyers worked as a

speculative builder, designing and constructing at
least fifteen dwellings in Northwest Washington.

In addition to his residential work, Meyers was a

supervising architect of College Hall at the
College for the Deaf and Dumb (now Gallaudet
University). He also contributed to the
construction of government buildings, including
the State, War, and Navy Building (now the Old
Executive Office Building) by Alfred Mullett
next to the White House. Meyers died on
December 12, 1902, of a kidney disease at the Rowhouses, 1900 Block Sunderland Place, N.W.
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010
age of 68.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: The Washington Post Date: 12/14/1902 Page: 13
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 149, 191
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Barton, E.E. Historical and Commercial Sketches of Washington and Environs. Washington, D.C. E.E. Barton, 1884, 84.
Cherkasky, Mara. Images of America: Mount Pleasant. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2007.
Shireman, Candace. “The Rise of Christian Heurich and His Mansion.” Washington History vol 5 no 1 (1993): 4-27.
“Thousands in New Homes.” Washington Post, October 9, 1892. 10.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Meyers, John Granville Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Frank Pierce Milburn

Biographical Data
Birth: 12/12/1868 Place: Bowling Green, Ky.
Death: 9/21/1926 Place: Asheville, N.C.
Family: Married Leonora Lyttle, two sons and one daughter
Education
High School: Fayetteville, Arkansas 1883-1887
College: Arkansas Industrial University, Fayetteville, S.C. (one year)
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Worked with father, T. T. Milburn ca. 1889-1890 Source: Vivian, A Practical Architect
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 10 Date Issued: 5/1/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1909 Latest Permit: 1926 Total Permits: 64 Total Buildings: 70
Practice Position Date
F. P. Milburn, Kenova, W. Va. Principal 1890-1893
F. P. Milburn, Winston, N.C. Principal 1893-1896
F. P. Milburn & Company, Charlotte, N.C. Principal 1896-1902
F. P. Milburn & Company, Columbia, S.C. Principal 1902-1906
F. P. Milburn & Company, Washington, D.C. Principal 1906-1909
Milburn, Heister & Co. Partner/Architect 1909-1926
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Elks, Masonic Order
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Railroad stations, courthouses and other public buildings (principally in early years in southern
states), college buildings, office buildings, apartment houses, churches, banks, schools, residences.
Styles and Forms: Chicago School, Beaux Arts, Colonial Revival, Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Upper Northwest, Capitol Hill
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Interstate Building 1319 F Street , N.W. 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site

Real Estate Trust Building 801 14thSt., N.W. (now 1333 H 1913 NRHP DC Historic Site
St., N.W.)
American Federation of Labor 901 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. 1915 NRHP DC Historic Site
Pennsylvania Ave and 13th St.,
Southern Railway Building 1916 NRHP DC Historic Site
N.W., (southwest corner)

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 DC Architects Directory

Powatan Hotel 1757 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. 1916 NRHP DC Historic Site
Potomac Electric Power
804 C St., N.W. 1923 NRHP DC Historic Site
Company building

Lansburgh’s Department Store 417 8th St., N.W. 1916, 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site

Significance and Contributions

Frank Pierce Milburn was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1868. He attended the Arkansas Industrial University
in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for a year but his principal training was working with his father who specialized in designing
and building court houses. He established his own practice in 1890, initially working principally on courthouses. First
located in Kenova, W. Va., he moved his office to Winston, and then Charlotte, N.C. and then to Columbia, S.C. He
expanded his practice to other public and commercial buildings and designed projects in numerous southern states.
According to biographer Lawrence Wodehouse, in his first fifteen years of practice, "Milburn designed nineteen
railroad stations for the Southern and other allied railway systems, twenty-six county courthouses, fifteen residences,
nine college buildings, including five for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in addition to offices,
churches, banks, schools, and jails." He designed additions to the South Carolina and Florida state capitols.

The Southern Railway Company, for whom Milburn had built a number of stations, offered Milburn the official
position of architect for the company in 1902 which involved some work in Washington. In 1906, desiring to expand
his practice, he moved his firm to Washington. He took the gifted designer who had headed his drafting department
since 1903, Michael Heister, into full partnership in 1909 and the firm became Milburn, Heister & Co. Milburn's son,
Thomas Yancy Milburn, who studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, joined the firm in 1914.

Milburn's style was described by Wodehouse as "typical of nineteenth century eclectics, sometimes following the great
American triumvirate of architects, Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886), Louis Sullivan (1856-1924), and Frank
Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), and at other times adopting the classical attitudes of the Neo-Classical Revival or Beaux
Arts Classicism."

The major buildings of Milburn's early practice had been predominantly courthouses and other public buildings and
railway stations in various southern states but after he moved to Washington, D.C, large office buildings became an
important part of the practice. These included the American Federation of Labor building, the Southern Railway
Building, the Potomac Electric Power Company building, the Interstate Building and the Real Estate Trust Building.
The firm also designed the Washington Auditorium, the District National Bank, the Union Savings Bank, several
other banks and various office buildings for government use. Many of these have been demolished but the Real Estate
Trust Building, now known as 1333 H Street, N.W., the Interstate Building at 1319 F St., N.W., and the American
Federation of Labor building at 901 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., are among those still standing. Other prominent
buildings were the Powhatan Hotel (demolished) and the 1916 and 1924 Lansburgh's Department Store additions.
The firm designed apartment buildings constructed at 2514 14th Street and 1016 16th Street, N.W., and at 307 S Street
and 219 T Street, N.W., in Eckington. Milburn was a close friend of the University of North Carolina's president,
Francis P. Venable, and the firm designed thirteen buildings for the Chapel Hill campus. Milburn's largest commission
was to design the Bureau of Printing and other government buildings in Peking (Beijing) for thee Imperial
Government.

John Clagett Proctor wrote in 1930 that Milburn's firm was said to have "designed more public buildings than perhaps
any other architectural firm in America." His practice was unusual for its time both in that it was regional rather than
local — he was said to have the largest practice in the South by 1900 — and in its specialization in certain types of
buildings, beginning with courthouses and eventually progressing to large steel-frame office buildings.

Milburn died in 1926 but Milburn's son Thomas Yancy Milburn, who had become Milburn, Heister & Co.'s president
in 1925, and Heister continued to practice under the name Milburn, Heister & Co. until 1934, the last year the
firm was listed in Washington city directories. The last District of Columbia building permit issued to the firm was
dated May 10, 1933..

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 DC Architects Directory

Left: AFL building, 901

Massachusetts Ave., NW
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2009

Right: Real Estate and

Trust Co., 1401 14th St.
(now 1333 H St., NW)
Selections from the Latest Work of
Milburn, Heister & Co., 1919

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
North Carolina State University Library, Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and Library
Other Repositories: of Congress each have some editions of the promotional booklets Milburn and, later,
Milburn, Heister & Co. published on their work.
Obituary: Publication: Washington Star Date:9/21/1926 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 5 articles
National Cyclopedia of American Biography Vol. 12 103
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 101, 192
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09 1923-24 267
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Bushong, William B. Update by Catherine W. Bishir. “Milburn, Frank P.” North Carolina Architects and Builders: A
Biographical Dictionary. Published 2009. Accessed October 2010. http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/
people/P000085
Charlotte Vestal Brown Papers, Box MC219.8. North Carolina State University Libraries Special Collections. Raleigh,
N.C.
EHT Traceries, Inc. “Square 370: History of its Development and 901 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.” Report prepared
for Marriott International Design and Construction Services, Inc., April 2008.
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Milburn, Frank Pierce. Designs from the Work of Frank P. Milburn, Architect. Columbia, S.C., 1901, 1903, 1905. In
collection of North Carolina State University Library.
Milburn, Heister & Co. Selections from the latest work of Milburn, Heister & Co., Architects. National Publishing Co.,
printers, 1919. http://openlibrary.org/a/OL2423147A/Milburn_Heister_Co. Accessed April 30, 2010.
Milburn, Frank P. Page 3 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Milburn, Heister & Co. Selections from the latest work of Milburn, Heister & Co., Architects., Washington, D.C. [1922?]
[Washington? D.C. : s.n.] http://www.archive.org/details/selectionsfromla00milb. Accessed May 17, 2010.
National Cyclopedia of American Biography, v. 12. New York: James T. White & Co., 1904. s.v. Milburn, Frank Pierce.
Proctor, John Clagett, ed. Washington Past and Present: A History. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company,
Inc., 1930, 646.
“Skilled Architects.” Washington Post, 24 February 1907, p. 24.
“Some of the New Buildings and Men Interested in the “Greater Washington,” Washington Post, 12 June 1912, L24.
Vivian, Daniel J. "'A Practical Architect': Frank P. Milburn and the Transformation of Architectural Practice in the
New South, 1890-1925," Winterthur Portfolio (Spring, 2005).
Vivian, Daniel J. “Milburn, Frank Pierce (1868-1926).” In North Carolina State University Library, North Carolina
Architects and Builders: A Biographical Dictionary, 2009. http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000085.
Wodehouse, Lawrence. “Frank Pierce Milburn (1868-1926), A Major Southern Architect.” North Carolina Historical
Review, vol. L, no. 3 (July 1973), 289-303.
Notes: Beginning in 1901, Milburn, published a series of booklets with designs and plans of his works, some of
which are in the collections of the Library of Congress and the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. Early editions
were titles, “Designs from the Work of Frank P. Milburn.” Later editions were published by Milburn Heister & Co.
Some are undated.
The number of permits issued is only for those issued to Milburn & Heister in Milburn’s lifetime. An additional six
permits list the firm as architect in the years 1926-1933 before the firm was dissolved in 1934.
For additional photographs of Milburn & Heister works, see biography of Michael Heister.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Milburn, Frank P. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Otho Harvey Miller

Biographical Data
Birth: 1/31/1878 Place: Bridgewater, Rockingham Co., VA
Death: 4/29/1951 Place: Washington, DC

Family: Unmarried

Education
High School: Bridgewater, VA (1892-1894)
College: Unknown.
Graduate School: International Correspondence Schools (1897-1903)

Apprenticeship: Washington Architectural Club Atelier (1910-1915)

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 16 Date Issued: 4/17/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1921 Latest Permit: 1929 Total Permits: 21 Total Buildings: 21
Practice Position Date
O. Harvey Miller, Staunton, VA Architect 1909
U.S. Department of the Treasury Draftsman 1913
U.S. Department of the Treasury Architect 1914-1918
O. Harvey Miller (Washington, DC &
Architect 1917-1951
Bridgewater, VA)
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1921-1950 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Freemasons.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Banks, office buildings, dwellings, stores
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Neoclassical Revival
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Capitol Hill, Shaw, Anacostia, Mt. Vernon Square
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
The Carpenters Building 1010 10th St./1001 K St. NW 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
NRHP DC Historic Site
International Exchange Bank 477 H Street NW 1923
Downtown Historic District
NRHP DC Historic Site
American Building Association 300 Pennsylvania Avenue SE 1929
Capitol Hill Historic District
NRHP DC Historic Site
American News Company 1121 5th Street NW 1928
Mt. Vernon Square Historic District

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 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings Location Date Status

National Association of Letter

100 Indiana Avenue NW 1951 NRHP DC Historic Site
Carriers Headquarters
Significance and Contributions
Trained as a carpenter in his hometown of Bridgewater in western Virginia, Otho Harvey Miller moved to
Washington, D.C. in 1910. He studied architecture through a correspondence school and with the Washington
Architectural Club Atelier. He began his architectural career working for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and
then established his own practice in 1917. Miller designed several dwellings and commercial buildings, but is best
known for his bank buildings, and for The Carpenters Building at 10th and K Streets, NW. (National Register, 2003).

O. Harvey Miller was born on January 31, 1878, in the town of Bridgewater in Rockingham County, Virginia. The
youngest of Samuel and Anna Miller’s four children, as a young man, O. Harvey Miller worked as a carpenter like his
father. Between 1897 and 1903, he completed a degree in architecture and engineering from the International
Correspondence Schools. By 1909, he had moved to Staunton and set up his own office. The following year, he
moved to the nation’s capital.

Soon after moving to Washington, Miller began

studying with the Washington Architectural Club
Atelier. In 1913, he took a position as a draftsman for
the U.S. Department of the Treasury; the following
year, he was promoted to the position of architect for
the Treasury. In 1915, he completed his studies with
the atelier. He worked for the Treasury Department
until 1918, but at the same time, began practicing
architecture independently. His earliest known
buildings were located near his home in western
Virginia. Between 1914 and 1917, he designed a
“Colonial Residence” for R.R. Brown in Harrisonburg,
Virginia (1914) and a Presbyterian church in Raphine, 3202 Ely Place SE; 1921
Virginia (1917). District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

In 1917, Miller established an office in the McLachlen

Bank Building at 1001 G Street, NW. At the same time, he maintained an architectural practice in his hometown of
Bridgewater, Virginia. In 1921, he became a certified architect in Virginia, and successfully applied for membership in
the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Four years later, in 1925, he was accepted as a registered architect in the
District of Columbia.

Building permit records indicate that between 1917 and 1925, Miller designed primarily dwellings and stores in the
District. He completed designs for several small, vernacular dwellings for developer and builder Otho W. Hammond.
The larger dwellings that Miller designed during this period generally reflect the Colonial Revival style. He designed
four retail stores in Washington, D.C. during this period. Two are extant: 1133 11th Street, NW (1921) in the Shaw
Historic District, and 500 13th Street SE. (1924). Both are two-story, brick commercial buildings with flat fronts and
restrained architectural detailing on the upper stories. Drawings of Miller’s design for the now-demolished Linger
Bedding Store at 925 G Street, NW (1922) appeared in the Washington Post on April 9, 1922. The drawing shows more
elaborate architectural embellishments on the upper stories, including three Palladian windows and intricate brick
work.

Miller, O. Harvey Page 2 of 5

 DC Architects Directory

In the early 1920s, Miller made a name for himself as a bank

designer. He designed banks in the District of Columbia, as well as
in Middleburg (Middleburg National Bank, 1925) and Strasburg,
Virginia (Peoples National Bank Building, 1927). In 1923, he
completed designs for the International Exchange Bank at 477 H
Street, NW in the Downtown Historic District. Other notable bank
buildings include the American Building Association bank building
at 300 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE (1929) in the Capitol Hill Historic
District, and the Franklin National Bank building at 10th Street and
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.

Miller was also well-known for the office building he designed in

1926 for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners.
Located at the northwest corner of 10th and K Streets, NW, this
eight-story office building – also known as the Carpenters Building –
was listed in the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites and the National The Carpenters Building, 1001 K Street NW.
Register of Historic Places in 2003. In contrast to Miller’s bank Designed by Miller, 1926.
buildings, which display ornate Neoclassical details, the Carpenters Washington Post 06/27/1926, p. R5.
Building features more restrained Colonial Revival-style architectural detailing. Another design mode is evident in
Miller’s American News Company building at 1121 5th Street NW. Built in 1928 and located in the Mount Vernon
Square Historic District, the building is distinctly industrial in character. Its exterior is dominated by large, multi-pane
factory-style steel windows separated by brick pilasters.

The database for Washington, D.C. building permits

indicates that no permits were issued to Miller after
1929, when he received a permit for the American
Building Association bank building. However, he
continued to practice architecture until his death in
1951. From 1930 to 1951, he appears to have worked
primarily on government projects. In the 1930s, he
worked for the U.S. Coast Guard designing the main
buildings for the Washington Radio Station [now the
Coast Guard Telecommunication and Information
Systems Command (TISCOM)] on Telegraph Road in
Fairfax County, Virginia. After Miller completed the
designs and sometime prior to 1939, the Coast Guard
terminated his appointment. In 1937, he was working
American Building Association Bank Building, 300
as an associate architect for the Treasury Department;
Pennsylvania Avenue SE; 1929 his exact dates of employment are not known. Business
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 directories indicate that he retained his architectural
office in the McLachlen building through the 1930s.
The D.C. Office Buildings Survey (1991) indicates that
at the time of his death in 1951, Miller was in the process of designing a new eight-story, limestone-clad headquarters
for the National Association of Letter Carriers at 100 Indiana Avenue, NW; the building remains the group’s
headquarters today.

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 DC Architects Directory

During the 1930s, Miller may also have done

architectural work with the Allied Architects, a loose
confederation of prominent local architects who banded
together to pursue large public and semi-public
commissions in the city. Miller was one of the founding
members of Allied Architects, which formed in 1925,
under the leadership of Horace Peaslee and other
prominent members of the D.C. Chapter of the AIA.
Modeled on a similar architectural group started in Los
Angeles in 1919, the Allied Architects worked
collaboratively, sometimes holding internal design
competitions and then selecting and combining the best
elements of the winning designs. The group’s bylaws
provided for one-fourth of the corporation’s net
proceeds to be spent on efforts to advance architecture Headquarters of the National Association of Letter
in the District of Columbia and to educate the public Carriers, 100 Indiana Avenue NW; 1951.
about good design. District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

The Allied Architect’s most prominent commission was the design for the Longsworth House Office Building (first
design submitted 1925; completed 1933). Other designs and studies pursued by the group included the never-built
National Stadium on East Capitol Street; the D.C. Municipal Center; designs for a downtown Naval Hospital; the
Naval Academy Memorial Gates; a D.C. National Guard Armory proposal; design and planning studies of
Georgetown; alleys in D.C.; and a study for the beautification of East Capitol Street. The Allied Architects disbanded
in 1949. The known members of Allied Architects were: Horace Peaslee, Louis Justement, Gilbert LaCoste Rodier,
Frank Upman, Nathan C. Wyeth, Percy C. Adams, Robert F. Beresford, Fred H. Brooke, Ward Brown, Appleton P.
Clark, William Deming, Jules Henri deSibour, Edward W. Donn, Jr., William Douden, W.H. Irwin Fleming, Benjamin
C. Flournoy, Charles Gregg, Arthur B. Heaton, Arved L. Kundzin, Luther M. Leisenring, O.Harvey Miller, Victor
Mindeleff, Thomas A. Mullett, Fred V. Murphy, Fred B. Pyle, George N. Ray, Fred J. Ritter, Delos H. Smith, Alex H.
Sonneman, Francis P. Sullivan, Maj. George O. Totten, Leonidas P. Wheat, Jr., and Lt. Col. George C. Will [member
information from C. Ford Peatross, ed., Capital Drawings: Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C., from the Library of
Congress (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), pp. 36-38 and fn 39].

O. Harvey Miller died on April 29, 1951, at age 73, at his home in Washington, D.C.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
“Refacing Old Buildings,” American Architect. 1925 Apr. 8, v. 127 347-348
“The American Building Association Building, with banking floor,
1931 June, v. 9 34-37
Washington, D.C.,”Through the ages.
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 194
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects - not in it

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 DC Architects Directory

Biographical Directories (Cont.) Year/Volume Page

Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Post Date: 5/3/1951 Page: B2
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. O. Harvey Miller Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. O. Harvey Miller correspondence with the Board. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Lampl, Elizabeth Jo. United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners – Local 132 (The Carpenters Building), National
Register of Historic Places Form. April 1999; Updated July 2003.
Wells, John E. and Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955. Richmond, VA: New South Architectural
Press, 1997.

Notes: The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project
phase; only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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 DC Architects Directory

Victor O. Mindeleff
Biographical Data
Birth: 06/02/1860 Place: London, England
Death: 03/26/1948 Place: Southern Maryland?
Family: Married Jessie Louis Randall (1883); two children
Education
High School: Emerson Institute (1874-1878)
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post 02/11/1924
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 7 Date Issued: 9/24/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1892 Latest Permit: 1932 Total Permits: 42 Total Buildings: 61
Practice Position Date
Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnography 1885-1886
Geological Survey 1887-1891
Private Practice Architect 1892-1939
U.S. Life Saving Service Architect 1897- ca. 1920
U.S. Treasury Draftsman/Architect 1900- ca. 1906
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1920 Fellow of the AIA: 1926
Other Societies or Memberships: President of the Washington chapter of AIA (1925-1926); Member of the AIA
Board Examiners; Member of the Contract Commission, the Lien Law Commission, and the Conference on Survey
Bonds; Active in the Cosmos Club and the Cathedral Heights Association.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Life Saving Stations, Rowhouses, Apartment Houses, Stores, Residences
Styles and Forms: Shingle Style, Queen Anne, and Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Greater U Street, Mount Pleasant, Strivers’ Section
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
GW University President’s Office 2003 G Street 1892 NRHP DC Historic Site
Chicamacomico Life Saving
Rodanthe, N.C. 1911 NRHP DC Historic Site
Station
NRHP DC Historic Site
NRHP DC Historic Site
NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Victor O. Mindeleff was born in London, England, but relocated to Washington, D.C., with his parents, Dimitri and
Julia, when he was less than a year old. Mindeleff attended a four year high school program at the Emerson Institute.
In 1885, he took a position with the Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnography. While at the Smithsonian, Mindeleff
studied the culture of the American Southwest under famous explorer John Wesley Powell as a part of the United
States Geological Survey. During his travels, Mindeleff surveyed prehistoric dwellings in New Mexico and Arizona.
He later published a book, The Study of Pueblo Architecture, and produced models of the dwellings that are now housed
at the Smithsonian Institution.

His survey of pueblo dwellings may have led

Mindeleff to pursue a career in architecture after
leaving the Bureau of Ethnography. He established a
private practice in Washington around 1892.
Mindeleff’s early work consisted of rowhouses near
Dupont Circle and the George Washington
University campus, in the northeast quadrant of the
city, and in the Petworth neighborhood. In 1897,
Mindeleff was selected as an architect for the U.S.
Life Saving Service (which later became the Coast
Guard). He served in this capacity for approximately
20 years, apparently while still maintaining his private
practice in DC. As an architect for the Life Saving
Service, Mindeleff typically designed Shingle-style
Chicamacomico Life Saving Station, Rodanthe, NC rescue station buildings with prominent lookout
North Carolina Dept. of Transportation, http://www.ncdot.org/programs/ towers. Examples of his work are located Maine,
enhancement/ProjectScrapbook/HistoricPreservation/ North Carolina, Virginia, and Michigan. The
Mindeleff-designed Chicamacomico Life-Saving
Station in Rodanthe, North Carolina, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Mindeleff may have also
designed other government buildings; city directories and the American Art Annual list him as an employee of the U.S.
Treasury in the early 1900s.

Beginning in the twentieth century, Mindeleff expanded his work in DC to include flats, apartment houses, and stores.
He most likely left the Coast Guard around 1920 as it underwent a reorganization and consolidation. Afterwards, he
focused primarily on single-family dwellings in the District’s interwar suburban neighborhoods. Designs by Mindeleff
typically incorporated elements of the Queen Anne, Shingle Style, and Colonial Revival Styles, resulting in eclectic
buildings. In 1927, Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital described his practice as consisting primarily of the design of
detached residences with accompanying gardens, including the complete layout of country places, and community
planning adjusted to varied topography. Mindeleff credited his
horticultural skill to his wife, Jessie Louis Randall, who he
married in 1883.

In 1924, Mindeleff was elected as president of the

Washington-Metropolitan Chapter of the American Institute
of Architects and held the position through 1926. Mindeleff
was an artist as well as an architect. He painted in oils and
watercolors and occasionally exhibited his work at the
Washington Water Color Club, the Society of Washington
Architects, and in New York galleries. After retiring from
private practice, Mindeleff moved to Southern Maryland where
he created lace-like brown ink drawings on cloth and tended 7322 14th Street, NW
his garden. He died on March 26, 1948. District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004.

Mindeleff, Victor O. Page 2 of 3

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President’s House, George Washington University

2003 G. St. N.W.
EHT Traceries, 2005
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: Journal of the AIA Date: May, 1948 Page: 219-220
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 196
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-34, 38-39 1929-30 508
1926-27 407
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
“Heads Architects.” Washington Post, 02/11/1924.
Levy, Florence N. American Art Annual. New York: American Art Annual Company, 1905-1906.
Longacre, William, “Why did the BAE hire an architect?” Journal of the Southwest 41 (1999).
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Louis R. Moss
Biographical Data
Birth: 02/19/1883 Place: Wilson, N.C.
Death: April 1959 Place: Alexandria, Va.
Family: Wife, Wortley Montague Moss; son Howell Moss
Education
High School: Wilson, N.C., High School
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Ferguson and Calrow, Norfolk, Va. Source: Washington Post, 05/01/59, C2
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 95 Date Issued: 10/28/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1920 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 301 Total Buildings: 463
Practice Position Date
Cutler & Moss Partner, architect 1921-23
Individual practice Architect 1923-52

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Row houses, duplexes, apartments, detached residences, commercial arcade.
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Chevy Chase, Barnaby Woods, MacArthur Blvd., Hawthorne neighborhood
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Chevy Chase Arcade 5522 Connecticut Avenue 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
3312, 3314, 3434, 3518, 3522,
Cleveland Park Historic
Cleveland Park houses 3526, 3530, 3534, 3538, 3542 1926-28
District
Porter St., NW
Barnaby Woods development Northwest D.C. 1934-38 NRHP DC Historic Site
Shady Brook Development Conduit Rd. (MacArthur Blvd.) 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
Yates Gardens development Alexandria, VA 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Louis Rountree Moss was born in Wilson, N.C., on February 19, 1883, and attended both grammar school and high
school there. He began studying architecture in 1905 at the International Correspondence School before starting an
apprenticeship at the offices of Ferguson and Calrow in Norfolk, Va. After approximately three years with Ferguson
and Calrow, Moss declined an offer to be a senior architectural draftsman for the U.S. government. The majority of
his time in Norfolk was spent working in the office of John Kevan Peebles, but he did leave Peebles’ office for a time
to join the Board of Design for the Jamestown Exposition of 1907, where he gained valuable experience and exposure
working with east coast architects of the era. These included James Ritchie of Boston and Otto Faelton (who later
designed with James Gamble Rogers and taught at Yale and at the University of Pennsylvania). According to his
application for registration as an architect in Washington, D.C., Moss worked in architectural offices in Norfolk from
1910 to 1917, and began practicing as an architect in October of 1913. He designed a shirt factory, an addition to the
Freemason Street Baptist Church, and an addition to a bank in Norfolk in 1912, 1914, and 1915, respectively. While it
is unclear during which years Moss worked for whom while in Norfolk, he worked both for Peebles and for Benjamin
F. Mitchell.

Moss moved to Washington, D.C., between 1917 and 1919 and worked for J.H. Burton & Co., a timber company
based in New York, designing portable housing for the United States government at the time of the First World War.
He is listed as an architect in the 1920 and 1930 Federal Censuses for the District of Columbia. He practiced with
Howard Cutler as Cutler & Moss in Washington, obtaining permits to build more than 20 detached houses in
northeast and northwest Washington between 1921 and 1923. In a letter dated September 10, 1925, Moss told the
D.C. Board of Examiners and Registrars that he and his partner had won the Scottish Rite Cathedral competition in
Washington, competing against “many of the local architects.” Cutler & Moss did not own any of the properties for
which they designed, and the firm was not issued any permits after 1923.

In 1925 Moss designed the Chevy Chase Arcade on Connecticut Avenue for developer Edward H. Jones. Added to
the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, the arcade is Moss’ most famous design. The building
accommodates commercial space on the first floor and office space on the second, and was intended to serve as a
model for further commercial development in the Chevy Chase suburb. The style of the building is Classical Revival,
featuring a five-bay front elevation with Doric pilasters and a central arched opening that faces Connecticut Avenue.
The front elevation also features large plate glass commercial windows. Inside the two-story arcade, store fronts on

Chevy Chase Arcade, 5522 Connecticut Ave., NW Interior, Chevy Chase Arcade
NCinDC, September 1, 2008, Chevy Chase Arcade, by M.V. Jantzen, 2007.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2819283486/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/394474007/
license terms: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en
each side are separated by black marble pilasters that hold an ornate entablature and cornice. A barrel-vaulted ceiling
extends above the clerestory of the second story. The distinctive arcade building type and the high artistic style make
this building locally significant.
Moss, Louis R. Page 2 of 4
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Moss designed rowhouses, duplexes, apartment buildings, and detached residences from the end of his practice with
Cutler in 1923 until the 1940s. The majority of his work consisted of detached houses and rowhouses, which were
mainly two story structures in colonial revival styles. These dwellings were located primarily in northwest
Washington, D.C. Moss designed several houses in the Cleveland Park Historic District on Porter Street from 1926
to 1928. Between 1930 and 1934 he designed 12 detached houses for W.C. & A.N. Miller scattered in northwest D.C.
on Foxhall Road, Fordham Road, Van Ness Street, McKinley Street, and 49th Street. He then designed over 60
detached homes for M.B. Swanson, and thus is responsible for the majority of the dwellings in the Hawthorne
neighborhood defined by Beech Street to the south, Western Avenue to the west and north, and 32nd Street to the
east. Included in his work in Washington were 25 houses in the Barnaby Woods development, north of Tennyson
Street between Rock Creek Park and the Montgomery County line. His designs included frame structures, red brick,
masonry, and tile, and often featured a steep front gable. Moss also designed dwellings for Shady Brook, Inc. in the
4800 block of MacArthur Boulevard in 1939.

Late in his career, Moss moved to Alexandria, Va. and appears to have moved his work there as well. In 1941 he
became involved in a residential project in Alexandria known as Yates Gardens. He designed a subset of these
contiguous homes that were meant to evoke the sense of Alexandria’s colonial past while providing every modern
luxury.

Moss married Wortley Montague of Virginia at the age of 22, and the couple had a son, Howell. Moss and his wife
and son resided in Washington on 20th Street, N.W., on Eye Street, N.W., and then in Alexandria during the latter part
of Moss’ career. He lived and worked on Edsall Road in Alexandria, Va., and died there in 1959 at the age of 76.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Ancestry.com; Washington Post searched through Proquest.
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 05/01/1959 Page: C2
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 65, 203
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Callcott, Stephen and Kim Williams (revised). The Chevy Chase Arcade National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.
D.C. Historic Preservation Office, Washington, D.C., 1997, revised 2003.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Louis R. Moss Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Kostof, Spiro. The Architect: Chapters in the History of the Profession. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1977.
“Louis R. Moss, 76; Designed Townhouses.” Washington Post, May 1, 1959, C2.
Moss, Louis R. to Board of Examiners and Registrars. Letter correspondence, 1925 and 1940. District of Columbia,
Board of Examiners and Registrars. Louis R. Moss Application for Registration. District of Columbia
Archives, Washington, D.C.
Moss, Louis R. World War I Draft Registration Card. September 1918.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, District of Columbia, 1920, 1930.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, North Carolina, 1900.
Moss, Louis R. Page 3 of 4
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“Yates Gardens Development Opens Today; Alexandria Homes Possess Charm of Old Virginia.” Washington Post,
June 30, 1940, 3.
Notes: Permit and Building totals are a combination of listings for “Louis R. Moss” (275 permits, 437 buildings),
“L.R. Moss” (4 permits, 4 buildings), and “Cutler & Moss” (22 permits, 22 buildings).
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Alfred Bult Mullett

Biographical Data
Birth: 04/11/1834 Place: Taunton, Somerset Co., England
Death: 10/20/1890 Place: Washington, DC
Family: married Pacific Pearl Myrick (1865)
Education
High School:
College: Farmers College, Ohio
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Isaiah Rogers (Cincinnati, OH) Source: Historical Society of Washington, DC
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1884 Latest Permit: 1892 Total Permits: 27 Total Buildings: 32
Practice Position Date
Isaiah Rogers (Cincinnati, OH) Draftsman/Partner (ca. 1859) 1856-1861
U.S. Treasury Department Assistant Supervisory Architect 1863-1866
U.S. Treasury Department Supervisory Architect of the Treasury 1866-1874
A. B. Mullett & Co. Architect 1884-1890
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Government Buildings, Offices, Residences, Churches,
Styles and Forms: Second Empire, Italianate, Greek Revival
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Georgetown
Name Location Date Status
State, War and Navy Building 17th Street and Penn. Ave., NW 1871-88 NHL NRHP DC Historic Site
Baltimore Sun Building 1317 F Street, NW 1885-87 NHL NRHP DC Historic Site
Central National Bank (add.) 7th Street and Penn. Ave., NW 1888 NHL NRHP DC Historic Site
Mullett Rowhouses 2517-2525 Penn. Ave., NW 1889 NHL NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Born in England to parents Augustin Aish and Hannah Bult Mullett in 1834, Alfred Bult Mullett moved with his
family to Glendale, now a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1845. He graduated from nearby Farmers’ College and after
returning to Cincinnati from travels in Europe he began his architectural career with the firm of Isaiah Rogers around
1856. Although Mullett began as a draftsman, Rogers quickly made him a partner in the business. In 1861, Mullett
left the firm to organize a regiment in support of the Union war effort. Although he was appointed a lieutenant,
Mullett was dismissed after the enlistment quota was met. In 1863, after competing for the position of Supervising
Architect of the Treasury—Secretary Salmon P. Chase offered Isaiah Rogers appointment instead—Mullett joined the
Architect of the Treasury staff. Mullett was initially hired as a clerk, a position that he felt was beneath his standing.
By 1863, Rogers appointed Mullett Assistant Supervising Architect of the Treasury. During this period, all federal
construction projects were supervised by the Treasury Department. Therefore, the Supervising Architect of the
Treasury was charged with overseeing the design of important federal commission across the county. Rogers resigned
in 1865, and Mullett was appointed as Supervising Architect, a position he would retain until 1874.

As Supervising Architect, Mullett oversaw

federal construction projects worth more than
$50 million. Additionally, Mullett exercised his
considerable architectural skill to personally
design more than 40 buildings that would serve
as prototypes for government buildings across
the nation. These included the Courthouse and
Post Office in Springfield, Illinois (1866-1869);
the St. Louis Customhouse (1873-1884), and the
San Francisco Mint (1869-1874). These
buildings employed a range of styles including
Second Empire with Italianate influences and
Greek Revival. In Washington, Mullett received
accolades for his design of the State, War, and
Navy Building (now the Eisenhower Executive
Office Building) at 17th and Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW. Erected between 1871 and 1888 The State, War, and Navy Building - 1983
at a cost of $10 million, Mullett executed the Source: Historic American Building Survey
building in a Second Empire version of the
French Renaissance style. Throughout his career as Supervising Architect, Mullett resisted the popular trend of
Gothic-style buildings, which he considered too ecclesiastical for government buildings. Instead, he looked to
classical styles for inspiration.

Following a dispute with Treasury Secretary Benjamin H. Bristow, and suffering from mental fatigue, Mullett resigned
as Supervising Architect in 1874. He returned briefly to the Treasury Department to oversee certain projects, but
clashed with his successors. He did not actively practice for a decade. No building permits list him as architect until
1884 nor was he listed in city directories as an architect. Then, around 1884, he was joined by his sons, Thomas A.
and Frederick M. Mullett, and J. F. Denson, formerly of the Supervising Architect’s office, in private practice. A. B.
Mullett and Company made many notable contributions to the Washington cityscape including houses, offices,
hospitals, and churches. The Sun building, constructed between 1885 and 1887, was one of the company’s early
works. Mullett designed the nine-story skyscraper with a tripartite design, one of the first tall buildings in the nation
to feature this innovation. A. B. Mullett and Co. would often employ state of the art building technology in its
designs. The Sun Building, built to house Baltimore Sun offices, is one of the earliest Washington, D.C., examples of a

Mullett, Alfred B. Page 2 of 4

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new building form, the tall elevator building. It was of fireproof construction, with a
skeleton frame and had a passenger elevator.

Mullett constructed his own residence with adjacent rowhouses at 2517-2525

Pennsylvania Avenue in 1889. However, he was unable to sell three of the dwellings,
which compounded financial difficulties he incurred stemming from a longstanding
dispute with the Treasury over his fees in designing the State, War and Navy Building.
Mullett’s wife, Pacific, was also ill. Several of Mullett’s biographers contend that the
architect suffered from an undiagnosed mental disorder; although the extent of his
illness is unknown, it may have contributed to Mullett’s taking of his own life on
October 20, 1890.

The Sun Building

1317 F Street, N.W.
National Register
Nomination, 1982

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: Washington Post/Evening Star Date: 10/20/1890 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 5 articles
National Cyclopedia of American Biography Vol. 27 452
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 203
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects Vol. III 249-252
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 432
Other Sources:
Bushong, William B. Update by Catherine W. Bishir. “Mullett, Alfred B.” North Carolina Architects and Builders: A
Biographical Dictionary. Published 2009. Accessed October 2010. http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/
people/P000427
Illustrated Washington: Our Capital, 1890. New York: American Publishing and Engraving Company, 1890.
Maddex, Diane. Master Builders: A Guide to Famous American Architects. By the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
New York, N.Y.: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.: 1985.
“Mr. Mullett’s Bank Building: 150 Years on Pennsylvania Avenue.” Streets of Washington: A Collection of Historic Images
and Related Stories of Washington, D.C., Street Scenes. Posted March 18, 2010. Accessed October 26, 2010.
http://streetsofwashington.blogspot.com/2010/03/mr-mulletts-bank-building-150-years-on.html

Mullett, Alfred B. Page 3 of 4

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Mullett & Co. Architectural Drawing Archive. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Smith, D. Mullett. A. B. Mullett: His Relevance in American Architecture and Historic Preservation. Washington, D.C.: Mullett-
Smith Press, 1990.
Traceries. “The Sun Building.” National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, prepared 1984.
United States Public Buildings Service. Executive Office Building. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing
Office, 1964.
Wodehouse, Lawrence. “Alfred Mullett and his French Style Government Buildings.” Journal of the Society of Architectural
Historians (March 1972), 22-37.
Washington D.C. With its Points of Interest. New York: Mercantile Illustrating Co., 1894. Historical Society of Washington
DC Collection, 78.

Notes:
Mullett’s role as Supervisory Architect led to feuding with the AIA, which disapproved of Mullett’s repeated use of
basic designs executed by unskilled draftsmen. Mullett later refused to join the AIA, calling them “a bunch of
unprincipled men.” See Lessoff, Alan. The Nation and Its City: Politics, ‘Corruption’ and Progress in Washington, D.C., 1861-
1902. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1994, Page 51.
The permits listed in the permit database include two permits issued after his death and are presumably the work of
his firm rather than Mullett’s work: an October 1891 permit for four dwellings and a June 1892 permit for two
dwellings.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Frederick Vernon Murphy

Biographical Data
Birth: 2/16/1879 Place: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Death: 5/4/1958 Place: Chevy Chase, Md.
Family: Married Marjorie Cannon 1936, three sons.
Education
High School: Chicago North Division High School, 1897
College: Studied drawing, Chicago Art Institute, 1896-97
Graduate School: Columbian University (now George Washington
University), 1899-1901; Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, 1905-1909.
Apprenticeship: Draftsman, Office of the Supervising Architect, Source: University Archives, Catholic University of
Treasury Dept., 1899-1905. America

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 34 Date Issued: 4/2/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1912 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 102 Total Buildings: 113
Practice Position Date
Office of Supervising Architect, Treasury Architect 1909-1911
Murphy and Olmsted, Architects Partner/Architect 1911-1937
Frederick V. Murphy Principal 1938-1940
Murphy & Locraft, Architects Partner/Architect 1940-1957
Catholic University Head of School of Architecture, professor 1911-1949
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1920 Fellow of the AIA: 1931
Other Societies or Memberships: Commission of Fine Arts, 1945-1950; Board of Examiners and Registrars,
Washington, D.C. 1930-1945; Washington Chapter, A.I.A., president, 1937; Associate, National Academy of Design,
elected 1951; Societé des Architectes Diplômés.

Awards or Commissions: Washington Architectural Club, Travelling Scholarship, 1905; Gold medal for Meritorious
Design, Board of Trade, Washington, D.C., 1927; Medal of Societé des Architectes Diplômés par le gouvernement
Français, 1929; Honorary LL.D. Canisius College, Buffalo, N.Y., 1927; Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, 1929;
Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory, awarded by Pope Pius XI, 1939.

Buildings
Building Types: Religious, educational, military, commercial
Styles and Forms: Classical and exotic revival styles, Romanesque, Collegiate Gothic
DC Work Locations: Catholic University, Northeast and Northwest Washington, D.C.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Shrine of the Sacred Heart 16th St. and Park Road, N.W. 1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
Mullen Memorial Library Catholic University 1929 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Apostolic Delegation 3339 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
Shrine of the Immaculate 4th St. and Michigan Ave, N.E. 1920 NRHP DC Historic Site
Conception
School of Foreign Service Georgetown University 1958 NRHP DC Historic Site
Lorraine American Cemetery
St. Avold, (Moselle) France 1958-60 NRHP DC Historic Site
and Memorial
Significance and Contributions

Frederick Vernon Murphy was both an architect and an educator. He was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in 1879
but spent most of his early years in Chicago where he graduated from public school in 1897. He studied drawing at
the Chicago Art Institute and in 1899 accepted a position as draftsman in the Office of the Supervising Architect, U.S.
Treasury Department. He worked there for six years and, after being awarded the Washington Architectural Club’s
Travelling Scholarship in 1905, Murphy entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He received his diploma in 1909
and returned to the Office of the Supervising Architect. While there he designed the U.S. Barge Office in Dayton,
Ohio, and several post offices.

In 1911, Murphy accepted the position of professor of Architecture at Catholic University and also entered into
private practice with Walter B. Olmsted, a colleague at the Office of the Supervising Architect. For almost forty years
he continued to teach while also maintaining an active private practice specializing in academic and religious buildings.

At Catholic University, Murphy was founding Head of the Department of Architecture. Under Murphy’s leadership
both the department and its students won numerous prizes. He retained the position as head until 1938 and continued
to teach until 1950. Murphy's proposed design for the University campus was not implemented but his firm, Murphy
and Olmsted, designed many of the University's buildings. Two of the firm’s most notable campus buildings are the
John K. Mullen of Denver Memorial Library and the Martin Maloney Chemical Laboratory (now Chemical Library).
Other buildings on or near the campus included St. Paul’s College (Paulist Fathers Novitiate); Ward Hall, the School
of Liturgical Music; the 1913 dining hall and gymnasium; and St. Anselm's Abbey, 14th and D Streets, N.W.

Murphy and Olmsted designed numerous churches constructed in the Washington, D.C., area including the Sacred
Heart Church, a District of Columbia Historic Site. According to Murphy's son, John C. Murphy, the Sacred Heart
Church was Murphy's favorite project and he quoted his father's description of it: "The triumphal arch, visible
immediately upon passing through the portico, into the interior, enclosing the sanctuary, recalls in scale and grandeur
many churches of the early days of Christianity in the City of Rome itself." The Byzantine elements designed to evoke
the early days of Church are also found in other churches designed by Murphy and Olmsted. The interior finish of
exposed concrete aggregate, created John J. Early, was first used in this church and Early credited his subsequent
success to this project. Murphy's churches in other cities include the St. Francis De Sales Church in Buffalo, N.Y., (a
Buffalo landmark), Holy Family in Dayton, Ohio, St. Mary’s Church in Mobile, Alabama, and the St. Charles College
chapel in Catonsville, Md. Murphy was associate architect on the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Murphy also worked with Allied Architects, Inc., an organization of architects formed during the Depression to work
on federal buildings. In that capacity he was involved in the design of the Cannon House Office Building. President
Harry Truman appointed Murphy to the Commission of Fine Arts and he served from 1945 to 1950.

All D.C. building permits issued for Murphy’s projects were issued in the name of his firm, Murphy and Olmsted or
his subsequent firm, Murphy & Locraft, with the exception of about a dozen buildings in the period , 1937-1940,
when his first partnership came to a close because of Olmsted’s illness and death. The Apostolic Delegation (now the
Papal Delegation) at 3339 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., is an example of Murphy’s work in this interim period. After
Olmsted’s death Murphy formed a partnership with his former student, Thomas H. Locraft, who later also succeeded
Murphy as head of he Department of Architecture at Catholic University. They worked together on Murphy’s final
major work, the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in St. Avold (Moselle), France. Other commissions
included the School of Foreign Service and the Reiss Science Building at Georgetown University, the Schools of
Nursing Education and of Social Service at Catholic University, and the John Carroll and Holy Cross High Schools.
Murphy, Frederick V. Page 2 of 4
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Sacred Heart Church, ca. 1925-1935 John K. Mullen of Denver Library

Murphy and Olmsted Catholic University of America, ca. 1930
Historical Society of Washington, D.C., BR 201 Library of Congress, LC-H824- 1317

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives, Catholic University of
Other Repositories:
America; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Publication: Washington Post Date: May 5, 1958 Page: B2
Obituary:
Washington Star May 5, 1958
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory 1956 396
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 8 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 204
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24 1938-39 623
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Baxter, Sylvester. “The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.” Architectural Record 52, no.1 (July 1922), 2-
15.
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Murphy, John C. "Frederick V. Murphy: the Catholic Architect as Eclectic Designer and University Professor." U.S.
Catholic Historian, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Winter 1997), 91-104.
Murphy, John C. and Michael V. Murphy. "A Preliminary Listing of the Work of the Following Architectural
Firms…" (Draft). American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives, Catholic University
of America
Murphy, Michael V. and John C. Murphy. “The Architecture of the Vatican Embassy Building Washington, D.C.”
U.S. Catholic Historian 12, No. 2, (Spring, 1994), pp. 131-138.
Notes: See also entry for Walter B. Olmsted.

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Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Claude Nelson Norton

Biographical Data
Birth: 11/29/1889 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 4/19/1957 Place: Hyattsville, Md.
Family: Married Marie L., 1911; children Granville, Joseph; Elizabeth
(Buranich); 2nd wife, Inez R Sweeney; son Claude R.
Education
High School: Public schools, Washington, D.C., 1897-1905
College: George Washington University, 1907
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Wyeth & Cresson, 1907-1910, drawing and detailing;
Source:
B. Stanley Simmons, 1/4” scale plans.
Architectural Practice
Date Issued: 5/1/1925, Lapsed 1933,
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 132
reinstatement denied 1950-1956
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1917 Latest Permit: 1946 Total Permits: 224 Total Buildings: 418
Practice Position Date
Clarke Waggaman Design construction and supervision (no date given)
W. Granville Guss, civil engineer Draftsman, superintendent of construction 1916-1917
Donn & Deming Draftsman, supervision, Palmerton, Pa. (no date given)
Frederick Pyle Design/drawing for City Club competition (no date given)
1917-1928, 1939,
Individual practice Principal
1948
Warren Shoemaker Architect 1951-1956
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Detached dwellings, row houses, apartment houses.
Styles and Forms: Colonial revival, classical revival, Craftsman, Art Moderne
DC Work Locations: Kalorama Triangle, Cathedral Heights, Georgetown, Forest Hills, Dupont Circle, Edgewood.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Residence 2801 34th Place, N.W. NRHP DC Historic Site
3001, 3005, 3009, 3015
Residences NRHP DC Historic Site
Albemarle St., N.W.
Apartment house 2010 Kalorama Road, N.W. NRHP DC Historic Site
Garage 2329 Champlain St. N.W NRHP DC Historic Site

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3211-3235, and 3216-3236

Rowhouses 1932 Mount Pleasant Historic Dist.
Walbridge Place, N.W.
Apartment House 5301 New Hampshire Ave. NW 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions

Claude Nelson Norton was born and raised in Washington, D.C. He attended local public schools and studied
architecture for one year at George Washington University. He then apprenticed for three years, 1907-1910, at the
architectural firm, Wyeth & Cresson (Nathan C. Wyeth and William Penn Cresson). Over the next seven years,
before establishing his own practice in August 1917, Norton worked briefly for a number of noted Washington, D.C.,
architects including B. Stanley Simmons, Clarke Waggaman and Donn & Deming. When listing these architects on
his 1925 application to register as an architect in the District of Columbia, Norton said that he could not recall the
dates he worked for them. From his description of his work for each of these architects it appears that he may have
been hired for specific assignments. Although Norton began practicing on his own in 1917, this may not have been
full time. In the 1920 census he was described as a draftsman working for wages in an architectural firm.

Throughout his career, almost all the buildings Norton designed were residential. His work includes detached and
semi-detached houses, row houses and apartment buildings. His name first appears on permits in 1917 and many of
his early dwellings are wood frame colonial revival style detached or semi-detached dwellings in suburban areas of
northwest Washington. He also designed some modest brick rowhouses which featured Colonial revival details.
Norton designed his first apartment house in 1921. The Colonial revival style two-story red brick apartment house at
1715 Swann Street, N.W., (1922) is an early example of Norton's apartment design. It was built for the real estate firm
Boss & Phelps which commissioned Norton to design several apartment houses and numerous single family dwellings
in the early 1920s. Most of Norton's designs were for speculatively built housing. In 1923 Norton designed several
large groups of modest rowhouses in northeast Washington for developer Morris Cafritz including 2400-2438 2nd
Street in the Edgewood neighborhood.

In the mid 1920s, when housing construction was booming in

Washington, D.C., and nationally, many of Norton's commissions
were for substantial detached houses in some of the city's more
expensive neighborhoods including Cathedral Heights and Forest
Hills. The estimated cost of these dwellings ranged as high as
$25,000. Designed for a number of different speculative builders,
they were predominantly in the popular Colonial Revival style.

In the mid-1920s, Norton also designed several mid-rise apartment

houses such as the Colonial Revival style building at 2010 Kalorama
Road, N.W. (1924). In the same year he designed a large stone, brick
and concrete garage at 2329 Chaplain Street, built at an estimated cost
of $70,000, which was one of the buildings he listed as an example of 2010 Kalorama Road, N.W., 1924
his work at the time Washington Post, February 3, 1924, R4
he registered as an
architect in 1925. Up through 1930 a large proportion of Norton's
work was individually designed dwellings for a middle and upper
middle class market.

Norton did not list himself as an architect in city directories in the

years 1929 through 1938. It is probable that during some of that
time he was in the employ of one or another developer. In the early
1930s he worked in some capacity for the Shapiro Construction
Company and its affiliated company, Harvard Terrace Development
2801 34th Place, N.W. Corporation, on a large development project in Mount Pleasant
DC PropertyQuest, 2004 developing squares along Harvard, Hobart, Irving and Lamont

Norton, Claude N. Page 2 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Streets and Walbridge Place. George T. Santmyers, Joseph Abel and Norton each designed sections of the project.
Norton designed forty dwellings for the development, primarily on Walbridge Terrace with some dwellings on
Lamont and Irving Streets. He published a signed promotional article on the development's exhibit house before the
ones he designed had been built. The houses, priced between $8,000 and $10,000, were advertised as bargains in
economically difficult times and were targeted to a comfortably-off clientele. Norton wrote that the living room was
large enough for a piano and the dining room provided room enough for a maid to serve quickly. The basement
boasted a large paneled ballroom with flooring suitable for dancing (sometimes referred to in later advertisements as a
recreation room). The Shapiro firm claimed that it was the first in Washington, D.C., to make such use of basement
space. The ballrooms designed by Norton were described as miniature nightclubs with built-in bar. Although the
Walbridge Place rows designed by Norton were advertised as "colonial" they are eclectic in style both inside and out
with Craftsman and Tudor elements on the exterior. The living room had either a "Georgian or Tudor type" corner
fireplace (to leave more wall space for furniture) and a "Gothic" entrance into the dining room. Modern conveniences
included mirrored "Hollywood" bathrooms and a built-in two-car heated garage. The permits were issued in 1932 and
the construction was completed in 1933.

In subsequent years, Norton's work output, as

measured by D.C. permits, dwindled to almost
nothing. In 1933 four permits were issued for
single family dwellings he designed for builder
Alfred T. Newbold for whom he had designed
quite a few dwellings in the 1920s. Between 1934
and 1938 he is named on only three permits. In
1939 he designed one apartment building which,
stylistically, is very different from his previous
work. The three-story, 43-unit building at 5301
New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., has Art Moderne
5301 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
features including an entrance flanked by glass DCPropertyQuest, 2004
blocks. His next and final work in the D.C. permit
database (except for a 1946 permit for three dwellings that were not built) was an apartment building at 4520
MacArthur Boulevard, N.W., minimally ornamented in the Art Moderne style.

Norton's personal life lacked stability and his personal problems contributed to the decline of his practice. In the years
that he was listed in city directories as an architect (1918-1928) his business address changed almost every year. In
1927 his wife, mother of three of his children, formally charged him with desertion and neglect. Three years later the
1930 census shows him living with his second wife and their 7-year-old son and they claimed to have been married
eight years. In 1933, Norton allowed his architect's registration to lapse. He developed a serious drinking problem
and police reports submitted to the Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects showed that between 1938 and
1950 he was charged with drunkenness 27 times.

In 1950 Norton's second wife died and in that same year Norton sought to have his registration reinstated. However,
the Board had been notified by a client that Norton had fraudulently assured her that his plans for remodeling a rental
property had been approved by the city's building inspectors when in fact he had erased the changes the inspector had
made to the plan. Norton arrived drunk at his subsequent interview with the Board. Over the next six years Norton
unsuccessfully challenged the Board's refusal to reinstate his registration. Architect Warren Shoemaker took pity on
Norton and hired him at a small salary. Norton greatly reduced his drinking but failed to show up when the Board
agreed to reconsider his case in 1954. Finally, in 1956, the Board definitively refused to restore his registration. Norton
died the next year.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Ancestry.com; Washington Post searched through Proquest.

Norton, Claude N. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 4/21/1957 Page: A14

Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 211
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Claude N. Norton Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Norton, Claude N. "Architect Decides Numerous Details." Washington Post, June 12, 1932, R1
"Park Terrace Homes Opened for Inspection." Washington Post, January 28, 1934, R1.
Shapiro, J.B. "Homes Projected for Park Terrace." Washington Post, March 26, 1933.
Shapiro, J.B. "New Method Used in Selling Homes." Washington Post, June 19, 1932, R4
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1920, 1930, District of Columbia.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Norton, Claude N. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Walter B. Olmsted
Biographical Data
Birth: 12/21/1871 Place: Spring Mills, N.Y.
Death: 12/9/1937 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: wife, Margaret J., one daughter
Education
High School:
College: Alfred College, New York, 1885-1889
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Star, 11 December, 1937
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 109 Date Issued: 1/13/1926
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1908 Latest Permit: 1937 Total Permits: 80 Total Buildings: 82
Practice Position Date
Office of the Supervising Architect, Treasury
Draftsman Ca. 1889?-1911
Dept.
Murphy and Olmsted Partner, architect 1911-1937
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1920 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Washington Architectural Club
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Religious, educational, military, commercial
Styles and Forms: Classical and exotic revival styles, Romanesque, Collegiate Gothic
DC Work Locations: Catholic University, Northeast, Northwest
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Bureau of Engraving and
14th and C Streets, S.W. 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site
Printing
St. Peter’s School Baltimore, Md. 1917 NRHP DC Historic Site
Completed
Sacred Heart Church 16th St. and Park Road, N.W. NRHP DC Historic Site
1922
Martin Maloney Chemical
Catholic University of America 1913 NRHP DC Historic Site
Laboratory( now Library)
Velati Mausoleum Rock Creek Cemetery 1916 NRHP DC Historic Site

Olmsted, Walter B. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Walter B. Olmsted was born in Spring Mills, New York.

He attended Alfred College in New York state from
1885 to 1889 but did not graduate. As a young man he
worked in the Office of the Supervising Architect in the
Department of the Treasury. There he met Frederick V.
Murphy with whom he shared a drafting table.

In December 1911 Murphy and Olmsted formed a

partnership and went into private practice under the
name Murphy and Olmsted. They practiced together
until Olmsted’s death, after a long illness, in December
1937. Virtually all building permits were signed in the
name of the partnership and thus most of the firm’s
work cannot be specifically credited to either partner.
However, when Olmsted registered as an architect in the
District of Columbia, he listed four projects which he Bureau of Engraving and Printing, ca. 1914-1818.
had designed and supervised. These were the Bureau of Library of Congress, LC-DIG-hec-08258v
Engraving and Printing (1914); St. Peter’s School, St.
Peter’s Parish, Baltimore (1917), the Velati Mausoleum in Rock Creek Cemetery (1916); and the Charles J. Cassidy
residence on Michigan Ave., N.E. (1915).

Olmsted’s partner Frederick V. Murphy was the founding head of Department of Architecture at the Catholic
University of America. Murphy and Olmsted designed many of the University’s buildings. Two of the firm’s most
notable campus buildings are the John K. Mullen of Denver Memorial Library and the Martin Maloney Chemical
Laboratory (now Chemical Library). Other buildings on or near the campus included St. Paul’s College (Paulist
Fathers Novitiate); Ward Hall, the School of Liturgical Music; the 1913 dining hall and gymnasium; and St. Anselm's
Abbey, 14th and D Streets, N:.W.

Murphy and Olmsted designed numerous churches constructed in the Washington, D.C., area including the Sacred
Heart Church which is a District of Columbia Historic Site. The firm’s churches in other cities include the St. Francis
De Sales Church in Buffalo, N.Y. (a Buffalo landmark), Holy Family in Dayton, Ohio, St. Mary’s Church in Mobile,
Alabama, and the St. Charles College chapel in Catonsville, Md.

Martin Maloney Chemical

Laboratory ( now Library)
Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C., ca. 1930-1934
Historical Society of Washington, D.C.,
CHS 09875B

Olmsted, Walter B. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives, Catholic University of
Other Repositories: America, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Publication: Washington Post Date: 12/11/1937 Page: 25

Obituary: Washington Star 12/10/1937
Washington Star 12/11/1937
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in 1956 version
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 7 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 213, 204
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Walter B. Olmsted Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Murphy, John C. "Frederick V. Murphy: the Catholic Architect as Eclectic Designer and University Professor." U.S.
Catholic Historian, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Winter 1997), 91-104.
Murphy, John C. and Michael V. Murphy. "A Preliminary Listing of the Work of the Following Architectural
Firms…" (Draft). American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives, Catholic University
of America
Notes: See also entry for Frederick V. Murphy.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Olmsted, Walter B. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Harvey Linsley Page

Biographical Data
Birth: 1/9/1859 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 1/5/1934 Place: San Antonio, Texas
Family: Married
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: J. L. Smithmeyer Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1880 Latest Permit:1895 Total Permits:127 Total Buildings:183
Practice Position Date
Gray & Page Partner 1879-1885
Harvey L. Page Principal 1885-1891
Harvey L. Page & Co. Principal 1891-1895
H.L. Page & Co. Chicago, Illinois Principal 1897 -?
Harvey L. Page, San Antonio, Texas Principal By 1921-1934
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1921 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Large private residences, row houses, clubs.
Styles and Forms: Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Classical Revival
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Dupont Circle, Sixteenth Street, Connecticut Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue,
generally south of Florida Avenue.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Richmond Flats (dem. 1922) 17th and H Streets, NW 1883 NRHP DC Historic Site
Albaugh Opera House (dem.) 15th and E Streets, NW 1884 NRHP DC Historic Site
Sarah A. Whittemore house 1526 New Hampshire Ave. NW 1892 NRHP DC Historic Site
Nevins Residence 1708 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1891 NRHP DC Historic Site
Stevens Residence 1628 16th St. NW 1890 NRHP DC Historic Site

Page, Harvey L. Page 1 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Harvey L. Page was born in Washington, D.C., in 1859. He trained in the office of J. L. Smithmeyer and then joined
William Bruce Gray, who was ten years his senior, in a partnership, Gray & Page, in 1879.

Gray & Page immediately received significant commissions for large dwellings in the newly fashionable Dupont Circle
area. The Commission of Fine Arts listed these as including the residence for J. Belden Noble, 1785 Massachusetts
Avenue, N.W. (1880, demolished), considered one of the city's best examples of High Victorian Gothic; the A.M.
Gibson residence on Dupont Circle (1882, demolished); and the K Street residence of Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte
(1881, demolished), Gray's own residence at 1318 Nineteenth Street, N.W. (demolished), and others which have also
since been demolished.

Gray & Page also designed several larger buildings that were important
landmarks in their day. The firm designed the Richmond Flats at 801 17th St.,
N.W. (1883, razed 1922), a luxury brick and stone apartment building in the
chateauesque style inspired by the chateaux of the Loire Valley. Another large
building designed by the firm was constructed for the Washington Light
Infantry with an armory and drill hall on the ground floor. Above was a 2,000
seat opera house. The Richardson Romanesque revival building became
known as Albaugh's Opera House. The four-story brick building with six-story
corner tower was located at 15th and E Streets, N.W. Built in 1884, it was
razed in 1930. Gray and Page designed a building for the Metropolitan Club
(1882) which preceded the present Club building at 17th and H Streets, N.W.
Richmond Flats
Gray & Page, in a promotional description in an 1884 guide to Washington, D.C., Goode, Best Addresses
advertised that its work was not confined to the city. It claimed that, "Among the architects of this city there are none
who enjoy a better reputation…. There are to be found in this city
and the States abundant evidences of their skill and ability in
designing private and public buildings. With natural aptitudes for
designing, and close application to study, this firm, in the
introduction of the style of the renaissance blended with the
modern, have revolutionized the art. No city can show a more
harmonious structure and complete interior arrangements than the
Metropolitan Club House…and Richmond Flats…is another fine
specimen."

A contemporary architect, Appleton P. Clark, wrote that Gray &

Page often designed in a style "based on French Normandy
precedents with towers, surface pattern brickwork, etc."

Page continued to practice under his own name after Gray

withdrew from the firm in 1885. Building permit indexes indicate
that he continued to design expensive single family housing,
ranging in cost from $10,000 to $50,000 in the Dupont Circle area
and in other intown residential areas. The most significant
surviving example of these dwellings is the Sarah A. Whittemore
house (now the Women’s National Democratic Club) at 1526
New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., built in 1892-94 and listed on the
1708 Massachusetts Avenue, NW National Register in 1973. Two surviving large Romanesque
(Now Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago) revival residences are at 1708 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. and
NCinDC, May 25, 2008, 1628 16th St., N.W. Page also designed some row housing of
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2595088048/ which the most notable example is a row of 16 houses constructed
Page, Harvey L. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

between 1889 and 1893 at an estimated cost of $5,000 each at 1610 to 1634 Riggs Place, N.W. Page resided at 1628
Riggs Place. One of Page's largest commissions was the Army and Navy Club, 808 17th St. N.W., (demolished). His
largest commercial building was the Palais Royal department store, later the north building of Woodward & Lothrop
at 10th and G Streets N.W.

The last Washington D.C. permit issued to Page was in October 1895. He moved his practice to Chicago shortly
thereafter. Eventually Page moved to San Antonio, Texas and was there by 1921 when, as a member of the Texas
Chapter, he enrolled in the American Institute of Architects. Among the most important commissions in the latter
part of his career were the Classical Revival style Masonic Temple in San Antonio and the County Court House in
Corpus Christi, Texas.

Left
Army-Navy Club, 1896

Right
Advertisement for Harvey L.
Page: “Of all the architects
who have beautified the
Capitol [sic]…none have
achieved a more enviable
reputation for thorough
workmanship and symmetry of
design than Mr. Harvey L.
Page.”
American Architect and Building News, New Standard Guide of the City of Washington
3/25/1896 and Environs, 1886

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 3 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 215
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 452
Other Sources: American Architect and Building News 51 (March 28,1896): pl. 1057
Artists of the American West 3. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1985. s.v. Harvey L. Page.
Barton, E.E. Historical and Commercial Sketches of Washington and Environs -- Our Capital City. Washington, D.C.: E.E.
Barton, 1884.
Clark, Appleton P., Jr. "History of Architecture in Washington." In Washington, Past and Present: A History, ed. John
Page, Harvey L. Page 3 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Claggett Proctor. New York. Lewis Historical Publishing Company Inc., 1930
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, 50 (March 1885), 520-533 (illustrations of Noble, Bonaparte, Murray, McKee, Hawley
and Gray houses).
Illustrated Washington: Our Capital. New York: American Publishing and Engraving Co., 1890.
Jennings, J. L. Sibley, Jr., Sue A. Kohler, and Jeffrey R. Carson, Massachusetts Avenue Architecture, Volume 2. Washington,
D.C.: The Commission of Fine Arts, 1975.
New Standard Guide of the City of Washington and Environs. Washington, D.C.: Arlington Publishing Co., 1886.
Saltz, Beth. “Renowned Architect’s Dupont House Offers Historic Touches.” Northwest Current, May 19, 2004, 25.
Notes: The number of permits given above for Page include 70 permits for 100 buildings in Page's name and 57
permits for a total of 83 buildings issued to the architectural firm of Gray & Page
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

William James Palmer

Biographical Data
Birth: 1863 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: June 3, 1925 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Married to Jessie E. Webb; two sons
Education
High School: Graduated in 1878
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source; Washington Post, June 25, 1904, 14
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1887 Latest Permit: 1919 Total Permits: 157 Total Buildings: 438
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Architect/Draftsman 1881-1887
Private Practice Architect 1888-1919
Health Service Draftsman 1920
Private Practice Architect 1921
Navy Yard Draftsman 1922
Private Practice Architect 1923-1924
Veterans’ Bureau Draftsman 1925
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Musical Director of Fifth Baptist Church; member of the Naval Lodge, No. 4 of
the Free and Accepted Masons.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, detached dwellings, churches, stores, offices
Styles and Forms: Romanesque Revival, Arts and Crafts
DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, Sheridan-Kalorama, Mount Pleasant
Notable Buildings Location Dat Status
e
Naval Lodge 330 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E. 1894 Capitol Hill Historic District
The Alexander 1517 U Street, N.W. 1895 Greater U Street Historic District
Ebenezer United Methodist Church 400 D Street, S.E. 1897 Capitol Hill Historic District
Union Methodist Episcopal Church 814 20th St., N.W. 1906 NRHP DC Historic Site
1715-1753 Kilbourne Place,
Rowhouses 1906 Mount Pleasant Historic District
N.W.
Palmer, William J. Page 1 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

James C. Dent House 156 Q Street, SW 1906 NRHP DC Historic Site

G. W. W. Hanger House 2344 Mass. Ave., N.W. 1907 Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District

Significance and Contributions

William James Palmer was born in Washington, D.C., and is thought to have graduated from the first high school
class organized in the city in 1878. In his more than 40 years as an architect, Palmer became known as an important
church designer. A prolific architect, he was also responsible for numerous two- and three-story brick rowhouses in
neighborhoods across the District of Columbia.

A profile of Palmer’s designs for the south side of the 1700 block of Kilbourne Place, N.W., in Mount Pleasant in the
March 18, 1906 Washington Times described some of Palmer’s rowhouse designs. The Times praised the “long stride in
advance in architectural beauty, stability, and refinement of taste, both in the planning and interior decorations, as well
as all the little conveniences which go to make a home complete.” The article continued, “the fronts [of the houses]
will be one of the newest shades of impervious light colored brick and trimmed with a light stone. They will be
simple lines, with well modeled cornices and door heads. The mansards will be covered in dull red unglazed tiles and
widely overhanging eaves, the whole being designed to create a harmonious blending of tints and strong effects in
light and shade.”

One of Palmer’s most high-profile residential commissions came in 1907 when he was hired by George W. W. Hanger
to design a house on Massachusetts Avenue northwest of Sheridan Circle. Palmer designed the four-story building in
the “old Dutch style” with a variety of brick and tile to produce “a charming effect,” according to the Washington
Times. As described in the Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District National Register of Historic Places nomination,
“2344 Massachusetts Avenue illustrates a [typical] expression of the English Arts and Crafts. Three-1/2 stories high,
this brick dwelling employs integral brick and Indiana limestone to create a bold composition marked by three
stepped dormers….”

Palmer’s Washington Star obituary characterized him as a church architect. The churches he designed in Washington,
D.C., include the remodeling of the Dumbarton Methodist Episcopal Church in 1897 (3133 Dumbarton Street,
N.W.), the First Methodist Church of Petworth in 1906 (no longer extant), and the Union Methodist Episcopal
Church in 1910 (814
20th Street NW). In
1897, Palmer
appears to have
partnered with local
architect Richard E.
Crump to design
the Ebenezer
African Methodist
Episcopal Church at
the corner of 4th
and D Streets, S.E.
(The permit
application credits
the design to the
partnership of
Crump & Palmer.)
The Romanesque
Revival style
Ebenezer United Methodist Church, 400 D Street, SE Entrance Detail, 400 D St., SE building was the
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010 EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010 third church on the

Palmer, William J. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

site built for Capitol Hill’s oldest African American congregation. The Washington Post described the building as “one
of the finest structures in Southeast Washington.” Palmer is also credited with the design of several churches in
Maryland and Virginia. Well known in local musical circles, Palmer was the musical director for the Fifth Baptist
Church. He was also a soloist for several other churches. The building he designed for his church, the Fifth Baptist
Church, is no longer extant. Palmer, who was a Mason, also designed a building for his lodge, Naval Lodge No. 4,
now known as the Naval Masonic Hall at 330 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E.

Later in his career, Palmer worked for several U.S. Government agencies, including the Health Service and the Navy
Yard, as a draftsman. He was engaged in that capacity by the Veterans’ Service when he died in 1925 at the age of 62.
William J. Palmer is buried in Congressional Cemetery.
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Other Repositories:
Historical Washington Post searched through Proquest
Obituary: Publication: Evening Star Date: June 7, 1925 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 216
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
D.C. Preservation League and D.C. Historic Preservation Office. James C. Dent House, National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form, (August 2010 draft).
“Design of Twenty Ingleside Houses.” Washington Times, March 18, 1906, 2.
Eig, Emily and Julie Mueller. Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form.
Washington, DC: Traceries, 1989.
“Full Choral Service.” Washington Post, June 25, 1904, 14.
“Plans Designed by W. J. Palmer.” Washington Times, July 28, 1907, 8.
“Ebenezer Church Dedicated.” Washington Post, November 15, 1897, 11.
Notes: The permit database figures included both those listed under Wm. J. Palmer (134 permits for 385 buildings)
and those listed under W. J. Palmer (23 permits for 53 buildings).
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Horace Whittier Peaslee

Biographical Data
Birth: 11/9/1884 Place: Malden Bridge, NY
Death: 5/18/1959 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married Frances Monroe Hopkins, 12/28/1928; one child:
John Rider Peaslee
Education
High School: Chatham, New York High School 1898-1902; Cooper
Union Arts & Sciences, NY, evening high school, 1902-1906
College: Cornell University, Bachelor of Architecture with minor in
Landscape Architecture, 1906-1910
Graduate School: Fellowship, Cornell University, 1911
Apprenticeship: 1914 – traveled to Spain, France, Switzerland and
The Washington Post; 18 May 1959
Italy with director of the U.S. Office of Public Buildings & Grounds [Photo appeared with Peaslee’s obituary.]
and Commission of Fine Arts to study gardens
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 32 Date Issued: 06/01/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1922 Latest Permit: 1948 Total Permits: 39 Total Buildings: 40*
Practice Position Date
University of Illinois Visiting Instructor of Landscape Design 1914-1916
U.S. Office of Public Buildings & Grounds, Landscape Designer, Landscape Architect, 1912-1922
Washington, D.C. Architect intermittent service
Horace W. Peaslee, Architect Architect 1911-1959
Captain of Engineers, U.S. Army (design,
Designer; Instructor 1917-1919
instruction)
U.S. Public Works Administration Assistant to Director of Housing 1933-1934
Central (U.S.) Housing Committee Secretary 1935-1942
U.S. Housing Administration, PBA Consulting Architect 1935-1942
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1921-1959 Fellow of the AIA: 1936
Other Societies or Memberships: AIA:4-terms second vice-president (1930-1934), Chair, Committee on the
National Capital(1924-1934), Chair of Committee on Cooperation with the Fine Arts Commission (1923-1924), Vice-
chair, Committee on City Planning (1933-1934); President, Washington Chapter of the AIA (1930); founding member
of Committee of 100 on the Federal City (1923); founding member of the DC City Planning Commission (1924);
directed legislative campaigns for Planning Commission, the George Washington Memorial Parkway, the Shipstead-
Luce Act, leader in campaign protesting the power development of the Potomac River; established Architects’
Advisory Council (1922-1932); founder of Allied Architects of Washington, DC, Inc. (active 1925-1934); American
Civic Association Citizens’ Committee of 100 in the National Capital; Cosmos Club, Washington, DC; Columbia
Historical Society (NY); University Club; Racquet Club; Cornell Club; American Legion (Augustus P. Gardner Post);
St. John’s Episcopal Church; DuPont Circle Citizens Association; Secretary of the Central Housing Committee
(Federal interagency committee, 1935-1942); Honorary Member, American Association of Landscape Architects.
Publications: “Park Architecture” series of 8 articles in Architectural Record and Park International.

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Awards or Commissions: Medal in mathematics in preparatory school; valedictorian in college; design medals in
college; 1911 – won design competition for Chatham, NY Town Hall; 5 awards for Excellence of Design from the
Washington Board of Trade; appointed by Governor of Maryland as Associate Architect, Maryland Tercentenary
Commission; 1926 award winner for Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington, VA.
Buildings
Building Types: Parks, Landscapes, Dwellings, Apartment Buildings, Schools, Stores, Filling Stations, Offices,
Embassies, Memorial, Historic Building Restoration: Churches and Residences
Styles and Forms: Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, Chateauesque, Italian Renaissance Revival
DC Work Locations: Meridian Hill, Dupont Circle, Van Ness, Cathedral Heights, Capitol Hill, Georgetown,
Kalorama, Lafayette Square, National Mall, Fort Lincoln, Foxhall
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Meridian Hill Park 16 Street NW, Washington,
th
1917-1935 NRHP DC Historic Site
DC
1909 Q Street, NW,
The Moorings Apartments 1927 NRHP DC Historic Site
Washington, DC
Dr. W. Calhoun Sterling House 2618 31st Street, NW 1927 NRHP DC Historic Site
Fort Lincoln Cemetery Chapel, 3401 Bladensburg Road,
1929 NRHP DC Historic Site
Cloister & Garden Brentwood, MD
Restoration, Dumbarton House 2715 Q Street, NW 1928 NRHP DC Historic Site
William LaRoe, Jr. Residence 4600 Linnean Ave, NW 1931 NRHP DC Historic Site
Reconstruction of Maryland St. Mary’s City, MD 1934 NRHP DC Historic Site
State House
Restoration, St. John’s Church Lafayette Square, Washington, 1950s NRHP DC Historic Site
DC
U.S. Marine Corps War
Arlington, VA 1954 NRHP DC Historic Site
Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial)

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Significance and Contributions

Between 1911 and 1959, Horace Whittier Peaslee practiced architecture in Washington, D.C., building a
national reputation as an accomplished landscape architect, designer of public and private buildings of all
types, and as a dedicated activist for architectural design and practice in the Nation’s Capital. Born in 1884
in Malden Bridge, New York, Peaslee attended high school in Chatham, New York and later took classes at
Cooper Union in New York City. He entered Cornell University in 1906 and graduated with a bachelor’s
degree in architecture and a minor in landscape architecture in 1910. The following academic year, 1911-
1912, Peaslee completed a resident fellowship at Cornell. While at school, Peaslee won several awards,
including a first place medal from the Beaux Arts Society. While a fellow at Cornell, he won a design
competition for the Chatham, New York Town Hall which was later built and his designs appeared in the
July 1913 issue of American Architect.

In 1911, Peaslee moved to Washington and took a position

as a landscape designer and later as an architect with the U.S.
Office of Public Buildings and Grounds, where he designed
parks and park structures, including the Potomac Park
Bathhouse and Field House (circa 1919-1920). In 1914, with
a group of officials from his office and the Commission of
Fine Arts (CFA), Peaslee traveled to Europe to study garden
and park design. In 1917, he took charge of the design and
construction of Meridian Hill Park, located between 15th and
Meridian Hill Park, circa 1930
16th Streets and V Street and Euclid Streets. Inspired by the Source: http://www.nps.gov/mehi/photosmultimedia/Historic-
Italian Renaissance gardens, the urban park was completed Photographs-Gallery.htm
over the course of three decades. During World War I,
Peaslee joined the Army as a Captain in the Engineer’s Corps, where he taught and designed some of the
temporary office buildings erected on The Mall in Washington, D.C. and officers’ quarters at Camp
Humphreys (now Fort Belvoir) in Virginia.
In addition to his public service career and involvement with Public
Buildings and Grounds, around 1918 Peaslee established a private
architectural practice in Washington, D.C. and became active in a variety
of professional and civic affairs. His private commissions were diverse,
ranging from residences for wealthy and well-known clients including
aviation pioneer Henry Berliner (2829 Tilden Street NW, 1922) and
construction tycoon Charles H. Tompkins (3001 Garrison Street NW,
1928), to private schools (first Maret School building at 2118 Kalorama
Road NW, 1923) and automobile filling stations (Columbia Oil
Company Filling Station, 200 (204) Massachusetts Avenue NE, 1924).
In 1931, Peaslee designed a series of eleven, sizable, Colonial Revival-
Former Maret School, 2118 style brick houses for the developer of Foxhall Village (Harry Boss; Boss
Kalorama Rd. NW (1923) & Phelps construction); the enclave in the 1700 and 1800 blocks of
District of Columbia Office of Planning; Hoban Road NW (off Reservoir Road) was dubbed “Colonial Hill.”
2004
Several contemporary design publications featured Colony Hill,
including House Beautiful (December 1933), American Architect (July 1934), and Architectural Forum (September
1934).

Horace Peaslee was influential among his peers and actively advocated to promote architecture in
Washington, D.C., and the preservation of Washington, D.C.’s natural, historic and architectural heritage.
Peaslee, Horace Page 3 of 6
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As a member and officer of the American Institute of Architects

(AIA), Peaslee served four terms as second vice-president of the
national organization and as president of the Washington, D.C.
Chapter of the AIA. In the 1920s and 1930s, Peaslee organized
and led many committees, including the AIA Committee on the
National Capital and the Committee on the Cooperation with the
Fine Arts Commission. He was a founding member of the
Committee of 100 on the Federal City, and he led successful
legislative campaigns that led to the establishment of the D.C. City
Planning Commission and the adoption of the Shipstead-Luce Act,
which gave the Commission of Fine Arts authority to review the House in Colonial Hill Development,
1700 Hoban Rd. NW (1931)
design of private buildings near federal sites in the District. He District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
also championed legislation that authorized the construction of the
George Washington Memorial Parkway and led a campaign that defeated a proposal to harness the Potomac
River for power generation that would have destroyed Great Falls.

Following the collapse of the Knickerbocker Theater roof in January 1922, Peaslee spearheaded a campaign
to establish a design commission to review private construction throughout the city. In 1922, the
Washington D.C. Chapter of the AIA authorized Peaslee to establish a committee to pursue his goal. He
worked closely with members of the chapter and with the District’s Engineer Commissioner, who had
charge of establishing laws related to building construction. Late in 1922, Peaslee’s Architects Advisory
Committee (AAC), made up of volunteer architects drawn from the membership of the Washington
Chapter, began to review all applications for building permits. The committee was made up of three
architects who volunteered for three week stints. Acting as a jury, the AAC rated each application and
provided comments to the applicants and their architects. Peaslee and the AAC promoted their endeavors
extensively both within the city and outside. As a result, the AAC became a model for similar design review
bodies established in cities throughout the nation. It operated until 1932; its demise can be attributed to
both the positive effects of the D.C. architects registration law that went into effect in 1925 and the passage
of the 1930 Shipstead-Luce Act, which extended the
CFA’s design review to more private buildings.

In 1925, Horace Peaslee and other prominent members

of the D.C. Chapter of the American Institute of
Architects (AIA) formed the Allied Architects of
Washington, D.C., Inc., a loose confederation of
prominent local architects who banded together to
pursue large public and semi-public commissions in the
city. Modeled on a similar architectural group started in
Los Angeles in 1919, the Allied Architects worked
Dr. Sterling Calhoun House, 2618 31st Street NW collaboratively, sometimes holding internal design
(1927)
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
competitions and then selecting and combining the best
elements of the winning designs. The group’s bylaws
provided for one-fourth of the corporation’s net proceeds to be spent on efforts to advance architecture in
the District of Columbia and to educate the public about good design.

The Allied Architect’s most prominent commission was the design for the Longsworth House Office
Building (first design submitted 1925; completed 1933). Other designs and studies pursued by the group
included the never-built National Stadium on East Capitol Street; the D.C. Municipal Center; designs for a
downtown Naval Hospital; the Naval Academy Memorial Gates; a D.C. National Guard Armory proposal;
Peaslee, Horace Page 4 of 6
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design and planning studies of Georgetown; alleys in D.C.; and a study for the beautification of East Capitol
Street. The Allied Architects disbanded in 1949. The known members of Allied Architects were: Horace
Peaslee, Louis Justement, Gilbert LaCoste Rodier, Frank Upman, Nathan C. Wyeth, Percy C. Adams, Robert
F. Beresford, Fred H. Brooke, Ward Brown, Appleton P. Clark, William Deming, Jules Henri deSibour,
Edward W. Donn, Jr., William Douden, W.H. Irwin Fleming, Benjamin C. Flournoy, Charles Gregg, Arthur
B. Heaton, Arved L. Kundzin, Luther M. Leisenring, O.Harvey Miller, Victor Mindeleff, Thomas A. Mullett,
Fred V. Murphy, Fred B. Pyle, George N. Ray, Fred J. Ritter, Delos H. Smith, Alex H. Sonneman, Francis P.
Sullivan, Maj. George O. Totten, Leonidas P. Wheat, Jr., and Lt. Col. George C. Will [member information
from C. Ford Peatross, ed., Capital Drawings: Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C., from the Library of Congress
(Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), pp. 36-38 and fn 39].

Although he designed many new buildings, parks, and landscapes, Peaslee was also known for his restoration
work. Working with noted historian and architect Fiske Kimball, Peaslee’s first major restoration work was
the restoration of Dumbarton House (2715 Q Street NW) in 1928. Peaslee went on to work on a number of
other high-profile restoration and preservation projects, including the reconstruction of the Maryland State
House in St. Mary’s City; the restoration of Belle Grove Plantation in Middletown, Virginia; the restoration
of The Maples at 619 D Street SE (1936); the restoration of
two of Benjamin Henry Latrobe’s Washington,
D.C. churches (St. John’s Church on Lafayette Square, 1954-
1955; Christ Church at 620 G Street SE, 1954-1955); and
the restoration of the Bowie-Sevier House (3124 Q
Street NW, 1957). Peaslee actively salvaged architectural
elements of demolished buildings and incorporated them into
his new designs. In 1927, he reused elements of the John Hay
and Henry Adams houses (built in 1884) that were demolished
that year for the construction of the Hay-Adams Hotel on
Col. Clarence O. Sherrill House, 2440 Lafayette Square. The new house, built for Dr. Calhoun
Kalorama Road NW (1925) Sterling at 2618 31st Street NW (near the U.S. Naval
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 Observatory), incorporates the H.H. Richardson-designed
arches from the former houses. Peaslee also reported using salvaged elements in the house he designed in
1925 for Col. Clarence O. Sherrill (2440 Kalorama Road NW). Near the end of his life, Peaslee waged an
unsuccessful campaign to preserve the east front of the U.S. Capitol when the 1958 extension was planned;
he succeeded in salvaging the portico’s columns which were eventually re-erected as garden sculpture in the
U.S. National Arboreteum.

Throughout his career, Horace Peaslee continued his dual practice of

architecture and landscape architecture. In 1954, he completed the
design and construction of the Marine Corps War Memorial in
Arlington, Virginia (commonly called the Iwo Jima Memorial).
Between 1954 and 1955, he completed landscape designs for
President Eisenhower’s estate near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Peaslee died of a heart attack on May 18, 1959, a few days after
receiving a design award from the Washington Board of Trade for Embassy of (South) Korea, 2450
nd Massachusetts Ave. NW (1952)
his work on the Episcopal Church Home at 1515 32 Street NW. Google Streetviews
Obituaries appeared in all the local newspapers and in The New York
Times. In addition, upon his death, both the American Institute of Architects and the Commission of Fine
Arts issued resolutions praising Peaslee’s contributions to architectural practice and the beautification of the
Nation’s Capital.
Peaslee, Horace Page 5 of 6
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Sources
AIA MLK
Vertical Files DC PO HSWDC
Archives Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory 1956
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals - 12 articles various periodicals, 1913 - 2004
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-
2001 221
1960
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
(1921/22)(1923/24)(1926/27)(1929/30)(1
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital various
934/35)
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American
Architects – not in it
Publication: The Washington Post; Date: 05/19/1959 Page: B2
Obituary
The New York Times 05/19/1959 p. 33
Other Sources:
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Horace W. Peaslee Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Horace W. Peaslee correspondence with the Board. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Froncek, Thomas, ed. An Illustrated History: The City of Washington. NY: Wings Books, 1977.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Gutheim, Frederick and Antoinette J. Lee. Worthy of the Nation: Washington, DC from L’Enfant to the National Capital
Planning Commission. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
Houghton, Melissa. Pioneers in Preservation: Biographical Sketches of Architects Prominent in the Field Before World War II.
Washington, DC: The American Institute of Architects, 1990.
Lee, Antoinette J. Architects to the Nation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
NRHP Nomination Forms: “Apartment Buildings in Washington, DC 1880-1945;” “Fort Lincoln Cemetery,
Brentwood, Maryland;” “Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District, Washington, D.C.”
Peatross, C. Ford, ed. Capital Drawings. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.
Scott, Pamela and Antoinette J. Lee. Buildings of the District of Columbia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Notes: * The building permits counts do not include the many public commissions that Peaslee executed in the
district over the course of his career. Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D.
Kraft, and only include permits until 1949. Horace W. Peaslee was active as an architect after 1949, so his actual
permit numbers are not reflected here.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.
Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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Paul Johannes Pelz

Biographical Data
Birth: 11/08/1841 Place: Silesia, Prussia (Germany)
Death: 03/30/1918 Place: Washington, DC
Education
High School:
College: St. Elizabeth’s/Holy Spirit (Breslau, Germany)
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Detlef Linenau (New York) - 1859 Source: Historical Society of Washington, DC
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1887 Latest Permit: 1911 Total Permits: 45 Total Buildings: 47
Practice Position Date
Detlef Linenau (New York) Chief Draftsman (1864-1866) 1859-1866
Grant and Pearce Architect 1867-1870?
U.S. Treasury Architect 1871
U.S. Lighthouse Board Chief Draftsman 1872-1877
Smithmeyers and Pelz Partner/Architect 1873-1888
J. L. Smithmeyer & Co. Architect 1888-1913
Pelz and Carlyle Architect 1894-1895
Commissions: Architect for the Cleveland Park Company (Pelz and Carlyle) 1894-1895
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1866 Fellow of the AIA: 1889
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Academic, Churches, Commercial, Government, Hospitals, Lighthouses, Residential
Styles and Forms: Beaux-Arts Classicism, Romanesque Revival
DC Work Locations: Cleveland Park, Georgetown, Capitol Hill
Name Location Date Status
Healy Hall Georgetown University 1876-1881 NHL NRHP DC Historic Site
Library of Congress 101 Independence Ave, SE 1886-1897 NHL NRHP DC Historic Site
McGill Building 9th and G Streets, NW 1891 Demolished in 1973
First African New Church 2105-07 10th Street, NW 1896 NHL NRHP DC Historic Site
Grace Reformed Church 1405 15th Street, NW 1902-1903 NHL NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Paul J. Pelz was born in Silesia in 1841. His father was a member of the Frankfurt Parliament during the revolution of
1848. In 1851, his family left Germany for the United States. Pelz remained behind to complete his education in
Breslau and then joined his family in 1858. He apprenticed in the New York firm of Detlef Linenau and then came to
Washington, DC. From 1872-1877 he worked as the principal draftsman for the United States Lighthouse Board,
designing numerous lighthouses, including Spectacle Reef on Lake Huron, considered to be one of the best examples
of monolithic stone masonry in the United States. In 1873, Pelz traveled on a tour of European lighthouses; he also
studied public buildings, particularly libraries, in preparation for the design competition for the congressional library.

While still engaged by the U. S.

Lighthouse Board in 1873, Pelz, in
association with John L. Smithmeyer, a
Vienna-born Washington, D.C. architect,
won the competition for the design of the
Library of Congress. Thirteen years later,
in 1886, Congress authorized construction
of the library according to the designs of
Smithmeyer and Pelz. Smithmeyer was
appointed architect alone, but after two
years, when he refused to accept inferior
concrete for the foundation, his
commission was revoked. The
commission was awarded to the Army
Chief of Engineers, Brigadier-General
Thomas L. Casey, who then retained Pelz The Library of Congress Jefferson Building
for the preparation of a new design. Source: Historic American Buildings Survey – 1983
However, Pelz was dismissed in 1892 and
replaced by the General’s son. In the end, much of Pelz’s original design was built, even though he was not involved
with the construction supervision.

In addition to the Library of Congress, Smithmeyer and Pelz designed a number of other notable buildings including
Healy Hall at Georgetown University; the Carnegie Library and Music Hall in
Allegheny, Pennsylvania; the U.S. Army and Navy Hospital in Hot Springs,
Arkansas; and the U.S. Soldiers Home Library in Washington, DC
(demolished in 1910). Their partnership dissolved in 1889. In 1893, Pelz
consolidated his practice with the office of Frederick W. Carlyle. (The two
German architects previously collaborated on the Riggs Building located at
1503 Pennsylvania Avenue.) Pelz, however, was the firm’s principal designer.
Together, Pelz & Carlyle were the first architects to design houses for the
Cleveland Park Company. The houses they designed contained an eclectic
mixture of Georgian decorative details that set the tone for the future
development in the new neighborhood. In addition to his larger
commissions, including the Grace Reformed Church, Pelz designed a number
of commercial and residential buildings. His most notable commercial
building was the Romanesque Revival McGill Building (demolished in 1973).
He was also responsible for over 75 houses in Washington, ranging from
mansions to speculative rowhouses. The finest surviving mansion is the
Grace Reformed Church house at 2201 Massachusetts Avenue. Pelz withdrew from active practice in
EHT Traceries Inc., 1990 1913 because of failing eyesight; he died in Washington on March 30, 1918.

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Library of Congress Manuscripts Division
Obituary Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 6 articles
Dictionary of American Biography Vol. 7 Pt. 2 - 411-12
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 221
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects 91-92
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital 1908-09 366
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 466
Other Sources:

Garraty, John A. and Mark C. Carnes, eds. American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Volume 17, 265-266.

“The Authorship of the Designs for the Congressional Library Building at Washington.” American Architect and Building
News. June 29, 1895. Volume 48, 134.

Washington D.C. With its Points of Interest. New York: Mercantile Illustrating Co., 1894. Historical Society of Washington
DC Collection. Pages 74-75.

White, James T. The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. New York: James T. White & Company, 1936. Volume
25, 424-425.

William, Kim Prothro. Grace Reformed Church, Sunday School, and Parish House National Register of Historic Places Registration
Form. Traceries: Washington, D.C., 1991.

Wood, Kathleen Sinclair. Cleveland Park Historic District National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Washington,
DC: Cleveland Park Historical Society, 1987.

York, Wick. “The Architecture of U.S. Life-Saving Stations.” The Log of Mystic Seaport. Spring 1982, 3-20.

Notes: For image of Healy Hall, see John L. Smithmeyer biography.

The Library of Congress Manuscripts Division has a collection of Paul J. Pelz’s papers, including a handwritten list of
Pelz’s buildings apparently compiled by the architect himself.

Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Walter Gibson Peter

Biographical Data
Birth: 06/24/1868 Place: Georgetown
Death: 1945 Place: Washington, DC
Family:
Education
High School: Rittenhouse Academy
College: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1888-1890)
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Smithmeyer and Pelz, A. B. Bibb Source: Slauson, History of the City of Washington
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 30 Date Issued: 04/27/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1897 Latest Permit: 1926 Total Permits:74 Total Buildings: 88
Practice Position Date
Hornblower and Marshall Draftsman ca. 1890-1898
Peter and Marsh Partner/Architect 1898-1926
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1899 Fellow of the AIA: 1912
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, Commercial Buildings, Hospitals, Schools, Churches
Styles and Forms: Beaux Arts, Georgian Revival, Colonial Revival, Neo-Classical
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Georgetown, Southwest
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Evening Star Building 1101 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 1898 NRHP DC Historic Site
William Syphax School 1360 Half Street, SW 1901 NRHP DC Historic Site
Elizabeth G. Randall School 65 I Street, SW 1906 NRHP DC Historic Site
Strong John Thomson School 1200 L Street, NW 1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Takoma Branch Library 416 Cedar Street, NW 1911 NRHP DC Historic Site
First Church of Christ, Scientist 1770 Euclid Street, NW 1912 Designation Pending
Farmers and Mechanics Bank 3068-3072 M Street, NW 1921-22 Georgetown Historic District

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Significance and Contributions

A native of Washington, Peter attended the Rittenhouse Academy and studied

architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After apprenticing
with Smithmeyer and Pelz and A. B. Bibb, he was employed as a draftsman at
the prominent architectural firm of Hornblower and Marshall. In 1898, Peter
entered into a partnership with William J. Marsh. Both architects were native
to Washington and mostly likely met while working in the offices of
Hornblower and Marshall. Several sources state that Peter was a junior
partner, although it appears that the two architects shared design
responsibilities.

One of the Marsh & Peter’s earliest commissions, the Evening Star Building
(1899) was also one of its most notable. The elegant 13-story Beaux Arts-style
building was constructed of white marble and offered scenic vistas of the
Capitol Building. Ornamented with decorative details, it is one of the most
exuberant office buildings along Pennsylvania Avenue. The grand interior
two-story vaulted lobby also featured marble walls and floors. The building
was constructed for the newspaper company and served as its headquarters for
nearly sixty years. Following the construction of the Evening Star Building,
Marsh & Peter became one of the city’s most prominent architectural firms.
They designed a number of large residences for the city’s elite including
Colonial Revival-style houses for Aldis B. Browne (1908; demolished) and
John S. Flannery (1915) in the Sheridan-Kalorama and Kalorama Triangle
neighborhoods.

The firm was also responsible for several commercial buildings including the
Union Trust and Storage Company (1900, demolished) and the Farmer’s and
Mechanics Branch of Riggs Bank (1921-1922). Marsh and Peter designed the Farmer’s and Mechanics Branch
building to address its prominent corner location at the intersection
of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, NW in Georgetown. The Neo-
Classical building features a dramatic gold-leafed dome and an
entrance flanked by Corinthian columns, leading architectural
historians Pamela Scott and Antoinette J. Lee to describe it as “one
of the most effective corner buildings in the District of Columbia.”

In addition to their residential and commercial work, Marsh and

Peter designed a number of public, institutional, and religious
buildings. They were responsible for a remodeling and expansion of
Walter Reed Hospital in 1908, the Takoma Branch Library (1911),
and the First Church of Christ Scientist (1913). Marsh and Peter
also designed several schools in the District including the Syphax
School (1901), the Edmonds School (1903), the Randall School
(1906), and the Cardozo School (1907), among others. These
buildings were “temples of education” that incorporated the latest
advances in school design and facilities planning.

The biographical directory The History of the City of Washington

summarized Marsh and Peter’s successful practice: “Few firms that
have been launched in business but ten years can turn and point out
Randall School, 65 I Street, SW the many noble structures that have been planed, designed, and
EHT Traceries, Inc. Photo erected under their supervision as can the Messrs. Marsh & Peter,
Peter, Walter G. Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

whose success has been little short of phenomenal. As compared with many competitors in this and other cities,
while young in years, their work stands boldly forth, bearing all the characteristics of the combined talents of members
of this most progressive firm.” Marsh suffered a stroke and died at the age of 62 in 1926; however Peter continued to
practice under the name of Marsh and Peter until 1932. Walter G. Peter died in February of 1945.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 222
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
1908-09 369
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital 1923-24 302
1938-39 671
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 469
Other Sources:
Beauchamp, Tanya Edwards. Public School Buildings of Washington, D.C., 1862-1960 National Register of Historic
Places Multiple Property Documentation Form. Great Falls, VA.: Tanya Edwards Beauchamp Associates,
2001.
“Home is Nearly Finished.” Washington Post, 1 November 1908, R6.
“Plan Fine Buildings.” Evening Star, 11 December 1902.
Slauson, Allan B., ed. A History of the City of Washington, Its Men and Institutions. Washington, D.C.: The Washington
Post, 1903.
Scott, Pamela and Antoinette J. Lee. Buildings of the District of Columbia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Notes:
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Frank D. Phillips
Biographical Data
Birth: 12/7/1889 Place: Beaufort, SC
Death: 3/17/1966 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Ada (wife); Frank D. Phillips, Jr. (son); Margaret (Phillips)
Troiano (daughter)
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1924 Latest Permit: 1940 Total Permits: 67 Total Buildings: 109
Practice Position Date
Frank D. Phillips Architect and Builder 1924-1941

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival
DC Work Locations: Chevy Chase, Brightwood, Crestwood, Takoma, Tenleytown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling 3703 Legation Street NW 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 3534 Quesada Street NW 1935 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 3500 Rittenhouse Street NW 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1603 Van Buren Street NW 1937 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rock Creek Park Historic District
Dwelling 5929 16th Street NW 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

In 1889, Francis (Frank) DuBose Phillips was born in Beaufort, South Carolina. As a young man, he worked as an
automobile electrician. By 1924, he had married his wife Ada, and they lived in Washington D.C. with his two
children Francis and Margaret.

Between 1924 and 1940, while working as a structural

engineer, Phillips was also a prolific developer of single
family houses. He designed and constructed 109
dwellings in D.C. and was listed as the owner of 127
buildings on D.C. building permits during the same
period. Phillips employed the Washington, DC firm of
Dillon & Abel and, later, Joseph H. Abel (see entry for
Abel) as architects on the buildings that he did not
design. From 1924 to 1936, he built houses exclusively
in Chevy Chase, D.C. Colonial Revival or Tudor
Revival in style, his dwellings were typically three-bay,
two-story brick buildings with construction costs
3703 Legation Street NW; 1926
between $6,000 and $10,000. Houses that Phillips
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
designed in the 1920s such as 3703 Legation Street NW
often display Colonial Revival-style elements and vernacular house forms like the Four Square. Phillips occasionally
repeated his designs, but more often varied them slightly with a different front entrance.

After 1936, Frank D. Phillips worked mostly east of

Rock Creek Park in the northwest DC neighborhoods
of Brightwood, Crestwood, and Takoma with a few
projects in Chevy Chase and Tenleytown. Although
Phillips averaged two dwellings per permit, he often
purchased several lots on the same street or within a
tight area for development. For example, he
constructed twenty-one houses on the 5900 to 6500
blocks of 16th Street NW in the Brightwood
neighborhood and eight houses in the 4800 block of
Blagden Avenue NW in the Crestwood neighborhood.
In both neighborhoods, he mixed Colonial Revival-style
5929 16th Street NW; 1939 and Tudor Revival-style dwellings to vary the
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 streetscapes.

Phillips appears to have retired as the designer of his

buildings in 1940. Between December 1949 and August
1950, eight D.C. permits for eight buildings were issued
to Phillips as an owner; it is not known how long he
continued to develop new properties. Phillips lived in
the house he built at 3500 Rittenhouse Street NW. At
the time of his death on March 17, 1966, Frank and his
wife Ada were living in a condominium at 4740
Connecticut Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.

3500 Rittenhouse Street NW; 1936

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 –not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects- not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Post, Times Herald Date: 3/20/1966 Page: n/a
Other Sources:
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910. Charleston, SC.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1920. Wilmington, DE.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. District of Columbia.
Notes:
Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include permits until
1949. Frank Phillips may have been active as an architect after 1949, so his actual permit numbers are not reflected
here.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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William Sidney Pittman

Biographical Data
Birth: 4/21/1875 Place: Montgomery, Alabama
Death: 3/14/1958 Place: Dallas, Texas
Family: Wife, Portia Washington Pittman; sons William Sidney, Jr.
and Booker; daughter Fannie P. Kennedy
Education
High School:
College: Tuskegee Institute (1895-1897)
Graduate School: Drexel Institute of Art and Science
Source: Drexel University,
Apprenticeship: http://www.drexel.edu/guide/alumni/contributing.aspx.

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1905 Latest Permit: 1911 Total Permits: 57 Total Buildings: 63
Practice Position Date
William Sidney Pittman, Washington, D.C. Principal 1905-1912
William Sidney Pittman, Dallas, Texas Principal 1912-?
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Single-family dwellings, churches, stores, community centers, offices, theaters
Styles and Forms: Renaissance Revival
DC Work Locations: U Street, Buena Vista; Fairmount Heights, Md.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Anthony Bowen YMCA 1816 12th Street, NW 1908-1912 NRHP DC Historic Site
715 61st Avenue, Fairmount
Charity Hall c. 1908 NRHP DC Historic Site
Heights, Maryland
Garfield Elementary Public
2435 Alabama Avenue, SE 1909 NRHP DC Historic Site
School

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Significance and Contributions

William Sidney Pittman was one of the first formally-trained black architects in the country. He was born on April 21,
1875 in Montgomery, Alabama. His mother, a former slave, worked as a laundress, and his father, a butcher, died
when Pittman was still in his teens. In the fall of 1892, at the insistence of his mother, William enrolled at nearby
Tuskegee Institute, the premier vocational school for blacks in the nation. William worked during the day for his
uncle, who was a carpenter, and attended classes in the evening. William completed the three year curriculum in just
two years and received a certificate of completion in 1897. Upon his graduation, he secured a loan from Tuskegee
Institute and a letter of recommendation from the institute's founder and principal, Booker T. Washington. He
entered Drexel Institute of Art and Science in Philadelphia and received a diploma in architectural drawing in 1900.

One of the conditions of Pittman's loan from Tuskegee was that he would return to teach at the school. To fulfill this
obligation he taught in the Mechanical Industries Department, and served as Tuskegee Institute's architect, designing
numerous campus structures valued at $250,000. Pittman moved from Alabama to Washington D.C., in 1905 and
worked briefly as a draftsman for the prominent African-American architect John Anderson Lankford before opening
his own architectural practice in an office on Louisiana Avenue, N.W.

Pittman's early career successes can be attributed to two

significant events. In 1906 he won the competition to
design the Negro Building for the 1907 Jamestown,
Virginia Ter-Centennial Exposition. The building
celebrated the semi-centennial anniversary of the
Emancipation Proclamation. Although the building did
not remain standing after the end of the Ter-Centennial,
the award of the contract guaranteed Pittman increased
recognition. Secondly, his marriage in 1907 to Booker T.
Washington's daughter, Portia, insured his acceptance by
Negro Building, Jamestown Exposition, 1907. http://arch-n-black. the influential and powerful black community, and
blogspot.com/2007/04/african-american -architect-william.html. provided him with the exposure necessary to win clients
and commissions. His credentials as a prominent black architect in Washington, D.C., were heralded in a 1906 article
in the Washington Bee:

There is no man who has come to this city who has gained a better reputation as an architect than
Mr. W. Sidney Pittman, formerly of Tuskegee, Ala. Mr. Pittman
has been in this city a little over a year and by his gentlemanly
deportment and perseverance he has won the confidence and
respect of the people. Mr. Pittman has made drawings for some
of the largest contractors and builders in this city. He has the
reputation of being the best colored architect in the United
States...

Pittman and his family lived in the African-American community of

Fairmount Heights in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where he
designed his house. He took an active interest in the development of
the neighborhood, forming the Fairmount Heights Improvement
Company, whose purpose was to construct a social center for the
community. Pittman had Charity Hall constructed, which was used for
social events, as a church, and as the community’s first school.

The Anthony Bowen YMCA, also known as the Twelfth Street YMCA
(1816 12th Street, NW), was erected between 1908 and 1912. It is Garfield Elementary Public School.
Pittman’s most enduring architectural legacy in Washington, D.C. This DC Public Schools

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Late Victorian/Renaissance Revival-style building was the home of the first African-American chapter of the Young
Men’s Christian Association. The cornerstone was laid by Theodore Roosevelt. The Bowen YMCA was designated a
historic property in Washington, D.C., in 1975, and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1994. In 2000 it was
restored to house the Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage.

After receiving several commissions in Texas, Pittman moved to Dallas in 1912, where he practiced architecture until
the late 1920s. He was the first practicing black architect in Texas, and he mainly designed churches and institutional
buildings. His most notable building was the Pythian Temple (1916), erected as the state headquarters of the black
fraternal organization, the Knights of Pythias. He also designed projects in Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and
Waxahachie.

In 1928, Pittman separated from his wife Portia, who returned to Tuskegee, Alabama. Pittman remained in Dallas
and, with waning commissions, turned from architecture to carpentry. He died on March 14, 1958, of coronary
thrombosis. He was 83 years old.

Anthony Bowen YMCA, 1979. Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage
1816 12th Street, NW, 1816 12th Street, N.W.
HABS DC-361-4. Travlr, July 11, 2009, http://www.flickr.com/photos/travlr/3709457773/

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 3/15/1958 Page: B2
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 226
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it

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 DC Architects Directory

Other Sources:
Hughes, Laura Harris and Laura V. Trieschmann, Twelfth Street Young Men’s Christian Association Building. National
Historic Landmark Nomination, March 1994.
"Mr. W. Sidney Pittman." The Washington Bee, October 20, 1906, p. 1.
Stewart, Ruth Ann. Portia: the Life of Portia Washington Pittman; The daughter of Booker T. Washington. New York:
Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1977.
Wilson, Dreck Spurlock. African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary 1865-1945. New York: Routledge, 2004. 319-
321.
---. "Twelve Select Black Architects, A Historical Perspective: William S. Pittman." Unpublished paper, revised July,
1983.
Notes:
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William S. Plager
Biographical Data
Birth: July 4, 1860 Place: Petersburg, W.V.
Death: After 1947 Place:
Family: Wife, Sarah; son, Raymond B. Plager; daughter, Mrs. Frank
Metler
Education
High School: Petersburg Grammar School, 1870-78
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, February 24, 1907, 29.
Architectural Practice
Registration Number: Exemption by
DC Architects’ Registration Date Issued: 1925
Affadavit
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1899 Latest Permit: 1940 Total Permits: 229 Total Buildings: 404
Practice Position Date
Own Practice Builder 1902-03
Own Practice Architect 1904-40

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Detached dwellings, rowhouses, apartments, theaters, commercial buildings, duplexes
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival, Italianate
DC Work Locations: Woodley Park, Capitol Hill, Connecticut Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Downtown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Home Theater 1228-30 C Street, NE 1915 NRHP DC Historic Site
Store 2655 Connecticut Ave., NW 1934 Woodley Park Historic District
Downtown Historic District,
Independent Order of Odd
419 7th Street, NW 1917 Pennsylvania Avenue National
Fellows Temple
Historic Site
Central Savings Bank (later
7th and I Streets, NW 1917 Downtown Historic District
Riggs Bank)
The Rita, apartment building 400 Seward Square, SE 1905 Capitol Hill Historic District

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Significance and Contributions

William S. Plager, was born in Petersburg, West Virginia, in 1860. He attended eight years of school at Petersburg
Grammar School from 1870 to 1878.

Plager started practicing architecture in 1895. In the first decade

of the twentieth century he worked extensively in the southeast
and northeast quadrants of the city, primarily designing apartments
and large groups of rowhouses. He designed nearly 50 rowhouses
for owner/developer Thomas H. Pickford in Southeast
Washington. Among the apartment buildings he designed were
the Keystone (1904) at 428 8th Street, S.E., The North Carolina
and The Georgia (1905) at 309 and 311 4th Street, S.E., and The
Rita (1905) at 400 Seward Square, S.E. All of these apartments are
located in what is now the Capitol Hill Historic District.

Plager’s later work included commercial properties. He designed

the Home Theater at 1228-1230 C Street, N.E., in 1915 for the
Home Amusement Co. at the cost of $25,000. Plager was a trustee
of the newly formed company. Construction slowed in the
District during the First World War, but in July 1917 Plager was
listed as architect for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
(IOOF) Temple, 419-23 7th Street, N.W., still standing and owned Home Theater, 1228-30 C St., NE (1915)
by the Order in 2010. The building was constructed seven stories Robert K. Headley, Motion Picture Exhibition in
tall with an Indiana limestone front and a Mansard roof. Designed Washington, D.C., p. 49.
for both lodge and business use, it had show windows on the
ground floor and was occupied by numerous lodges and a furniture company, Mayer & Co. By the 1930s it also
housed offices of a few associations.

IOOF Temple, 419 7th St., NW (1918) Central Savings Bank, 831-33 7th St., NW (1917)
Library of Congress, HABS DC – No. 604-1 EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

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In 1917, W.S. Plager also designed the Central Savings Bank, later a Riggs Bank branch office, on the southeast corner
of 7th and I Streets, N.W. The Central Savings Bank is a two-story Classical Revival building, and when Hamilton
Savings Bank bought the property in 1920, it became the first branch bank location of any bank in Washington.

Plager continued to design rowhouses, duplexes, and detached dwellings through the 1920s and into the 1930s. He
also did work for commercial properties, designing buildings in the 5000 block of Connecticut Avenue, N.W., in 1927
and the store at 2655 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., in 1934 for owner Andrew Anselmo.

When the Board of Examiners and Registrars implemented standards in 1925, Mr. Plager lacked the architectural
training necessary to qualify as registered architect. However, because Plager had been in practice more than ten
years, Plager was qualified to practice architecture under the grandfather provisions of the law. Several of his
residential commissions were published in The Washington Post in 1937. The year Plager died is unknown but he was
last listed in the District of Columbia directory in 1948 at 1930 Kearney Street, N.W.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post, searched through ProQuest
Obituary: none
Publication: Date: Page:
found
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 226
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“Central Savings Bank Opens Aug. 1.” Washington Post, July 28, 1917, 5.
Cinema Treasures. www.cinematreasures.org/architect/1556/
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. William S. Plager Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Headley, Robert K. Motion Picture Exhibition in Washington, D.C. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc.,
Publishers, 1999.
“Home Amusement Co. Trustees Named.” Moving Picture World, 25 no. 7 (August 14, 1915), 1189.
Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Independent Order of Odd Fellows Building file, HABS DC – No. 604-1.
“Mrs. William Plager Succumbs Here at 80.” Washington Star, June 19, 1939.
“Two Stores Planned.” Washington Post, August 29, 1937.
Notes:
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Thomas M. Plowman
Biographical Data
Birth: ca. 1829 Place: Philadelphia, PA
Death: 04/10/1879 Place: Washington, DC
No Photograph Available
Family:
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1873 Latest Permit: 1878 Total Permits: 16 Total Buildings: 26
Practice Position Date
Starkweather & Plowman Architect 1868-1872
D.C. Territorial Government Inspector of Buildings 1872-1877
Private Practice Architect and Civil Engineer 1872-1879
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions: Served as D.C. Inspector of Buildings in the mid 1870s.
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses
Styles and Forms: Italian Villa Style, Second Empire
DC Work Locations: Georgetown, Shaw
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Cooke’s Row 3000 block of Q Street, NW 1868 NRHP DC Historic Site
Lincoln Hall 9th and D Streets, NW 1867 Destroyed by fire in 1886
Freedman’s Savings and Loan 701 Madison Place, NW 1872 Demolished

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Significance and Contributions

Thomas M. Plowman was a builder from Philadelphia

who arrived in Washington, D.C. after the Civil War
to partner with Norris Garsom Starkweather, an
architect from Philadelphia who came to Washington
via Baltimore. Together, Starkweather and Plowman
designed Cooke’s Row (1868), four Italianate double
“cottage villas” on the north side of the 3000 block of
Q Street, NW in Georgetown. Legend has it that
Henry Cooke, the first territorial governor of the
District of Columbia, commissioned the row of
houses for his twelve children. Starkweather and
Plowman’s exuberant design combined the Italian villa
style with the fashionable Second Empire style. Upon
their completion, the Evening Star commented: “The
outline of these superb residences is varied and
picturesque while the details are constructed and
arranged in a manner displaying great skill and refined
taste in art of design both as pertains to grace and ease
Cooke’s Row in Georgetown
of outline originality, novelty and effective beauty in
Source: Splendours of Georgetown: 25 Architectural Masterpieces.
detail….” Starkweather and Plowman were also

responsible for the remodeling of St. John’s Church in

Georgetown, and the Academy Building for the Covenant
Church of the Visitation (1872-1873).

In 1872, Plowman was appointed Inspector of Buildings in the

District’s territorial government which had been created in
1871. In 1872, the District first required building permits and
Plowman’s responsibilities included the approval of permit
applications. Plowman served five years and resigned in the
fall of 1877.

Plowman continued to practice while holding office. He

established his own architecture and civil engineering firm in
1872. In Washington, Plowman represented several
Philadelphia investors, constructing ‘Philadelphia Row’ on 11th
Street, SE. He also invested in the St. James Hotel and
oversaw its reconstruction, but ultimately failed in this venture.
As an architect, he was responsible for a number of rowhouses
in the Shaw neighborhood and is also credited with the
Freedman’s Saving and Loan Building (1872). The
Freedman’s bank was established by white philanthropists to
provide African Americans with access to credit and
investments. In 1873, Plowman took on an apprentice named
Calvin Brent who would later become the first African
American architect in the District of Columbia. Brent later
served as Plowman’s foreman during the mid 1870s.
1502 13th Street, NW Plowman died suddenly on April 10, 1879.
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 04/11/1879 Page: 1
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 227, 272
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:

“First Colored Architect.” The Washington Post, 9 October 1909.

Tatman, Sandra L. Biographical Dictionary of Philadelphia Architects, 1700-1930. New York: G. K. Hall & Company, 1984.

Tudor Place Historic House and Garden. Splendours of Georgetown: 25 Architectural Masterpieces. Washington, D.C.:
Commission of Fine Arts, 2001.

Wilson, Dreck Spurlock. African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. New York: Routledge,
2004.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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William Mundy Poindexter

Biographical Data
Birth: 1846 Place: Richmond, VA
Death: 12/20/1908 Place: Washington, DC
Family:
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1875 Latest Permit: 1901 Total Permits: 24 Total Buildings: 28
Practice Position Date
U.S. Treasury Clerk/Draftsman ca. 1867-1874
Private Practice Architect 1874-1908
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1882 Fellow of the AIA: 1889
Other Societies or Memberships: Founding member of the Washington Chapter of the AIA and served as its
President in 1889 and 1890. Member of the Masons and the Cosmos Club.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, Commercial Buildings, Institutional Buildings
Styles and Forms:
DC Work Locations:
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Columbian University 15th and H Streets, NW 1883 Demolished
Southern Railway Building (add.) 1500 K Street, NW 1893/1899 NRHP DC Historic Site
U. S. Soldiers Home Armed Forces Retirement
1887-1890 NRHP DC Historic Site
(Sherman Building Expansion) Home Grounds
Pres. Cleveland House (add.) Cleveland Park 1887 Demolished in 1927

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Significance and Contributions

William M. Poindexter was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1846. He served in the telegraphic corps of Confederate
Army during the Civil War prior to his captured by the Union Army in 1865. Nothing is known of his education or
training, but he arrived in Washington circa 1867 to work as a clerk and draftsman in the Office of the Supervising
Architect of the U.S. Treasury. Working under A. B. Mullet, he designed several marine hospitals across the nation.
In the Office of the Supervising Architect, he joined a group of men who would later become Washington’s most
preeminent architects in the late nineteenth century. Poindexter established his own practice in 1874, although he
periodically partnered with prominent architects such as Joseph Hornblower, Paul Pelz, and J. A. Henry Flemer.
Most of Poindexter’s work was residential; his most notable residential work was the enlargement of President Grover
Cleveland’s summer home in Washington in 1887, wrapping a fanciful Victorian porch with a turret around the 1868
stone farmhouse the President had purchased in Cleveland Park.

Poindexter also designed small-scale commercial buildings as well as several large institutional buildings including the
Columbian University Building at 15th and H Streets, NW (1883; demolished) and several buildings at the U.S.
Soldiers Home. He was in charge of renovations and expansion of the Sherman Building, the original 1862 hospital
on the Soldiers’ Home grounds which had 1870s alterations and additions. Poindexter partnered with Flemer to
design the 1887 renovation and expansion, which included removal of the 1870s mansard roof, upper story additions,
and the construction of a north wing. The enlarged building’s appearance was transformed from a Second Empire
style to a cohesive Richardson Romanesque style. Poindexter was also responsible for several institutional buildings in
Virginia including the State Library in Richmond.

Poindexter was a founding member of the Washington Chapter of the AIA, serving as its first Vice President. He
later served as President in 1889 and 1890 and also served on the national board of the AIA. Poindexter died
suddenly on December 20, 1908.

Sherman Building, view to northeast, showing original Sherman building, view to southwest, showing north
building (left), annex (center) and north addition. addition designed by Poindexter.
Soldiers’ Home, now Armed Forces Retirement Home Soldiers’ Home, now Armed Forces Retirement Home
EHT Traceries, 2009 EHT Traceries, Inc.

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Evening Star Date: 12/21/1908 Page: 7
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 227-228
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 477
Other Sources:

Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.

Trieschman, Laura, Carrie Barton and Emily Eig. Armed Forces Retirement Home National Register of Historic Places
Registration From. Washington, D.C.: Traceries, 2007.

Wood, Kathleen Sinclair. Cleveland Park Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington,
D.C.: Cleveland Park Historical Society, 1987.

Notes:
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Irwin S. Porter
Biographical Data
Birth: 10/14/1888 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 01/02/1957 Place: Washington, DC
No Photograph Available
Family: Married to Isabel B. Porter, two sons and a daughter
Education
High School: Central High School (1906)
College: George Washington University
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 50 Date Issued: 05/04/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: Latest Permit: Total Permits: Total Buildings:
Practice Position Date
Hornblower & Marshall Draftsman 1907-1912
Waddy B. Wood Manager 1912-1922
Porter & Lockie Partner/Architect 1922-1949
Irwin S. Porter & Sons Architect 1949-1957
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1920 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Founding member of the Washington Building Congress, member of the D.C.
Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects, and the President of the Washington Chapter of the AIA (1936).
Awards or Commissions: Board of Trade Awards in Architecture for the Evening Star Parking Plaza (1940)
Buildings
Building Types: Office Buildings, Hospitals, Garages, Industrial Structures, Schools, Residences, Religious Buildings
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival styles, Art Deco
DC Work Locations: Downtown, upper Northwest
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Brookings Institution 722 Jackson Place 1931 Demolished
Jorss Iron Works 1224 24th Street, NW 1931 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Brownley Building 1309 F Street, NW 1932 NRHP DC Historic Site
Lutheran Church of the
212 East Capitol Street, NE 1935 NRHP DC Historic Site
Reformation
Walker Building 734 15th Street, NW 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Scottish Rite Temple 2800 16th Street, NW 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Islamic Center 2551 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1949-54 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Irwin S. Porter was born in Washington in 1888 and, after attending Central High School, he graduated from The
George Washington University School of Architecture. He worked as a draftsman for five years with the noted
Washington architectural firm of Hornblower and Marshall, and then worked with prominent architect Waddy B.
Wood from 1912 to 1922. In 1922, he formed a partnership with fellow GWU alumni Joseph A. Lockie.

Porter & Lockie’s early commissions were for houses in some of Washington’s most affluent neighborhoods. These
houses were primarily designed in Classical Revival styles. However, their design for the Brookings Institute (1930,
demolished) marked a departure from their past residential designs based on historical precedents and launched their
commercial practice. The firm gained local and national recognition for its use of Art Deco design motifs in
commercial and institutional buildings. For example, the National Register of Historic Places-listed Brownley
Confectionary Building (1931) featured a band of aluminum panels with zigzag and sunburst motifs between the first
and second floors. Throughout the 1930s, Porter &
Lockie designed numerous Art Deco-style
commercial buildings.

The firm’s institutional buildings, such as the

Lutheran Church of the Reformation (1935) and the
Scottish Rite Temple (1940) were praised by the
architects’ contemporaries for successfully blending
symbolism and restraint in simple, yet meaningful
designs. The Evening Star Parking Plaza (1940,
demolished) received the Board of Trade Award in
Architecture for its innovative use of curtain walls
and architectural concrete, and its striking modern
design for a utilitarian structure.

Porter and Lockie remained in partnership for more

Islamic Center, 2551 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Source: Library of Congress, HABS DC 491-2
than 25 years until Joseph Lockie’s death in 1949.
After Lockie’s death, Porter practiced with his sons,
James I. and Steven S. Porter, in the firm of Irwin S. Porter and Sons. His final major commission was the Islamic
Center, a mosque and cultural institution commissioned by several Muslim nations to promote international
understanding. The complex is a unique western interpretation of Islamic architecture and featured rich “Persian”
ornamentation and details. Porter died in Washington in 1957.

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Lutheran Church, 212 East Capitol Street, NE 734 15th Street, NW

EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010 EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 01/04/1957 Page: B2
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory 1956 441
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 227
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Callcott, Stephen. Brownley Confectionary Building National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Washington, D.C.:
D.C. State Historic Preservation Office, 1994.
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Porter and Lockie Questionnaire for Architects’ Roster and/or Register of Architects Qualified for Federal Public Works, 15 May
1946, AIA Archives Collection.

Notes: See Joseph A. Lockie biography for photographs of Scottish Rite Temple and Brownley Building.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Frederick Bennet Pyle

Biographical Data
Birth: 09/07/1867 Place: London Grove, PA
Death: 03/16/1934 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married to Ellen Passmore Pyle; one daughter, Elizabeth.
Education
High School:
College: Swarthmore College (Graduated in 1889)
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Historical Society of Washington, DC
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 25 Date Issued: 04/15/1926
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1891 Latest Permit: 1889 Total Permits: 156 Total Buildings: 309
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Architect 1891-1934
Commissions: Architect for the Cleveland Park Company (1896/1906-1914)
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1899 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Society of Friends; Member of the Board of Trade and the Board
of Appraisers; Director of the Equitable Building and Loan Association; Member of the Rotary, Racquet, University,
Cosmos, and Columbia Country Clubs; Also active in the Temple-Noyes Lodge, Almas Temple, and Phi Kappa Psi.
Served as President of the Washington Chapter of the AIA in 1913.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, Commercial Buildings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Shingle Style, Flemish Revival, Spanish Renaissance/Baroque, Mission Style,
Beaux Arts
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Cleveland Park, Mount Vernon Square, Mount Pleasant, Kalorama, Shaw
Name Location Date Status
1801 Park Road, NW 1903 NRHP DC Historic Site
Hecht Company Building 517 7th Street, NW 1903 NRHP DC Historic Site
Pyle House 3319 Newark Street, NW 1905 Cleveland Park Hist. Dist.
Equitable Savings and Loan Building 915 F. Street 1911-12 NRHP DC Historic Site
Philipsborn & Company Building 606-612 11th Street, NW 1919 NRHP DC Historic Site
City Club 1320 G Street NW 1921 NRHP DC Historic Site
Evans Building New York Ave. & 15th St., NW 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

The son of Robert L. and Elizabeth (Walton) Pyle, Frederick B. Pyle was born in London Grove, Pennsylvania on
September 7, 1867. Following his graduation from Swarthmore College with a Bachelor of Science degree, Pyle
moved to Washington around 1891 and
established an individual practice. Early in his
career, may have worked under Glenn Brown
and Arthur Heaton. Apt at designing in a wide
range of styles, Pyle made a name for himself
designing single-family dwellings, including
numerous residences in Cleveland Park, Mount
Pleasant, and Kalorama around the turn of the
century. He worked as an architect for the
Cleveland Park Company in 1896, during which
time he designed three houses, all of which share
similar curvilinear shapes and Federal-style
details. He returned to work in Cleveland Park
in 1905, designing a house for himself as well as
a number of other houses in the Tudor and
Shingle styles. In 1905, he also provided plans Hecht’s Department Store Building, 517 7th St., N.W.
Mark Guelzian, Sept 23, 2010
for Samuel Woodward, the founder of the http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/5034828889/
Woodward & Lothrop Department Store, for a
series of rowhouses on Bancroft Place in the Shaw neighborhood.

In the twentieth century, Pyle expanded into downtown

commercial buildings, which were typically of steel
frame construction. Pyle’s storefronts were some of the
most highly decorated in downtown Washington and
featured ornamental lions heads, eagles, plant forms, and
classical motifs. His most notable works include the
Equitable Savings and Loan Building (1911-12), which
he designed in conjunction with Arthur B. Heaton, the F
Street portion of the Woodward and Lothrop
department store (1912), the Philsborn & Company
Building (1919), the City Club (1921), and the Evans
Building (1924).

Pyle resided in the large gambrel-roofed house he

designed in Cleveland Park from 1906 to 1918, after
which he lived in the Wardman Inn. In 1926, he moved
to Wesley Heights where, according to his obituary, he
“won the admiration of the entire community.” Pyle
died in 1934 following a prolonged illness.

Nordlinger Building, 606-612 11th St., NW

EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Cleveland Park Historical Society
Obituaries Publication: Evening Star Date: 04/19/1934 Page:
Publication: Leaves of Wesley Heights Date: 04/19/1934
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 233
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 38-39 1921-22 319
1929-30 584
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:

Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.

Kelsey & Associates. Historic Survey of Shaw East. Washington, D.C.: D.C. Historic Preservation Division/Historical
Society of Washington, 2001-2002.

Wood, Kathleen Sinclair. Cleveland Park Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington,
D.C.: Cleveland Park Historical Society, 1987.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

George Nicholas Ray

Biographical Data
Birth: 9/3/1887 Place: Washington DC
Death: 8/5/1959 Place: Rehoboth Beach, DE
Family: Married Lucy Lane Ray; one daughter & three children by a
previous marriage
Education
High School: D.C. Public Schools
College: University of Pennsylvania
Graduate School: Certificate of Proficiency from The George
Washington University
Apprenticeship: Source: The Historical Society of Washington, DC
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 57 Date Issued: 04/15/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1912 Latest Permit: 1930 Total Permits: 97 Total Buildings: 149
Practice Position Date
Waggaman and Ray Architect 1918-1920
Private Practice Architect 1920-1933
Randall H. Hagner & Co. Manager/Architect/President 1934-1954
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Metropolitan Club and the Columbia Country Club; An avid
boater and member of the Annapolis Yacht Club.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, Commercial Buildings, Public Buildings
Styles and Forms: Beaux-Arts, Classical Revival, Georgian Revival, Tudor Revival
DC Work Locations: Sheridan-Kalorama, Dupont Circle, Connecticut Avenue
Name Location Date Status
2415 California Ave., NW 1916 Sheridan-Kalorama Hist. Dist.
Waggman-Ray Commercial Row 1145 Connecticut Ave, NW 1915-1921 NRHP DC Historic Site
Riggs-Tomkins Building 3300 14th Street, NW 1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
B. F. Saul Building 925 15th Street, NW 1924 Designation Pending
Rust Building 1439 K Street, NW 1925 Demolished in 1978
The Chancellor 214 Massachusetts Ave, NE 1926 Capitol Hill Historic District

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Significance and Contributions

George N. Ray was both an architect and a prominent realtor. Born in 1886 in Washington, D.C., Ray studied
architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. Upon returning to the District, he designed several large houses,
including the Georgian Revival-style 2415 California Street, N.W. in 1916, now home to the Brazilian Delegation to
the Organization of American States. In 1917, Ray established the firm of Waggaman & Ray with local architect
Clarke Waggaman. Like Ray, Waggaman was a native Washingtonian, born in 1877 to a wealthy and respected family.
Unlike his partner, however, Waggaman lacked a formal training in architecture. He spent his early life traveling in
Europe and subsequently attended law school. But when he inherited a substantial fortune from his grandfather in
1906, Waggaman turned to architecture. He was soon receiving commissions from wealthy clients for elegant,
classically inspired houses. Much of his work is located in the Dupont Circle and Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhoods,
and in Woodley Park, which he helped to develop.

Waggaman & Ray’s first commission was a large house at 1904-1906 R Street, N.W. for developer Harry A. Kite in
1917. Together, the architects designed a number of buildings in the Dupont Circle and Kalorama neighborhoods.
Their designs were rooted in the aesthetics and philosophies of the Ecole des Beaux Arts and the City Beautiful
Movement, producing handsome Beaux Arts and Classical Revival-style dwellings for upper-middle-class
professionals. The untimely death of Waggaman in 1919 from the influenza pandemic ended the two-year
partnership.

Riggs Bank Branch Building at 14th and Park Road - 1986

Source: National Register of Historic Places

After Waggaman’s death, Ray continued to design residences—he is credited with more than fifty houses, primarily
located in fashionable neighborhoods along Connecticut Avenue, N.W. His houses exhibit elements of the Classical,
Georgian, Tudor Revival, and French Urban Vernacular styles. Ray also expanded his practice into apartment,
commercial, and office work. He designed many important buildings in the city including several branches of the
Riggs Bank, most notably the Dupont Circle Branch (1922), and the H. L. Rust Office Building (1925; demolished).
His remodeling of many of the facades along Connecticut Avenue between K Street and Florida Avenue transformed
the street from an architecturally eclectic residential thoroughfare to a major shopping strip. Through his work, Ray
formed a close relationship with real estate business owner Barnard Francis Saul. In 1921, Saul hired Ray to design
the B. F. Saul Building fronting on McPherson Square. The five-story temple front building demonstrates Ray’s skill
in applying the Classical Revival style to bank architecture. Ray later designed Saul’s personal residence at 23rd Street
and Wyoming Avenue, N.W.

At the beginning of the Great Depression, Ray turned his attention to real estate. Beginning as sales manager for
Randall H. Hagner & Company in 1931, he became the company's president six years later at the time of Mr. Hagner's
death. To a limited degree, he appears to have maintained his architectural practice during these years. In 1953, ill
health forced him to resign as head of the company, though he was elected Chairman of the Board. He died in 1959.

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: Evening Star/Washington Post Date: 08/06/1959 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 234
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 621 (Waggaman)
Other Sources:

Callcott, Stephen. Waggman-Ray Commercial Row National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form.
Washington, D.C.: D.C. SHPO, 1994.

“G. N. Ray Elected Realty Firm Head.” Evening Star, 1 August 1937.

Goode, James. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.

Holtzman, Grace Waggaman, Clarke Waggaman, AIA 1877-1919: A Tribute. Published by the author, 1986.

Slauson, Allan B., ed. A History of the City of Washington, Its Men and Institutions. Washington, D.C.: The Washington
Post, 1903.

Waggaman & Ray architectural drawing archive. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Hilyard Robert Robinson

Biographical Data
Birth: 12/3/1899 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 6/29/1986 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Married Josephine Helena Rooks, 1931
Education
High School: M Street High School, grad. 1916
College: Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Arts (1917);
University of Pennsylvania (1919-22); Columbia University (1922-24)
Graduate School: Columbia University (M.A., 1931); University of
Berlin, Germany (City Planning, 1931-32)
Apprenticeship: Vertner Woodson Tandy (Harlem, NY), summers Source: African American Architects, A Biographical
192, 1922; Paul B. LaVelle (NY), 1922-24 Dictionary 1865-1945, p.351
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 217 Date Issued: 4/30/1930
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1936 Latest Permit: 1942 Total Permits: 25 Total Buildings: 117
Practice Position Date
U.S. Public Works Administration Chief architect c. 1933-35
Robinson & Williams Partner 1941
Robinson, Porter & Williams Partner 1935-45
Hilyard R. Robinson Principal 1935-62
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1946 Fellow of the AIA: 1984
Other Societies or Memberships: National Capital Planning Commission (Appointed by President Truman, 1950-
55); Director, Washington Housing Association; Alpha Phi Alpha; National Technological Association; National
Association of Housing Officials
Awards or Commissions: 1st, 2nd, and 4th Cash Prizes, and Medal, Magazine of Architecture, 1928; three Architectural
Design competitions, in series; 2nd Prize, Washington Board of Trade, 1943, Renovizing Competition, for Excellence
in Design; Prize of Merit, Washington Board of Trade, 1952
Buildings
Building Types: Low-income housing developments, detached dwellings, apartment buildings, classroom buildings,
churches, theaters
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Art Moderne, Art Deco, Bauhaus influences
DC Work Locations: LeDroit Park, NW; Alabama Avenue, SE; Howard University, NW; Anacostia Park
neighborhood, NE
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Langston Terrace Dwellings 21st Street and Benning Rd., NE 1934-38 NRHP DC Historic Site
Howard University campus Howard University campus
1938-60 NRHP DC Historic Site
buildings (Georgia Avenue, NW)

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Ralph Bunche House 1510 Jackson Street, NE 1941 NRHP DC Historic Site
99th Pursuit Squadron Training Tuskegee Army Airfield,
1941 NRHP DC Historic Site
School Chehaw, Ala.
Frederick Douglass Homes 1200 Alabama Ave., SE 1941 NRHP DC Historic Site
Arthur Capper Dwellings M Street, SE 1952 NRHP DC Historic Site
Aberdeen Gardens Hampton, Va. 1936 NRHP VA Historic Site

Significance and Contributions

Hilyard Robert Robinson is regarded as one of the most prolific and successful African-American architects working
in Washington, D.C., in the first half of the twentieth century. He specialized in low-income urban housing solutions,
working both privately and for the federal government. Robinson completed major housing projects in several states
as well as more than ten buildings for Howard University in Northwest Washington. He was heavily involved at
Howard in the 1920s and 1930s, serving as head of Howard’s architecture department from 1926 to 1933.

Born in Washington on Capitol Hill in 1899, Robinson attended the local high school for black students, M Street
High School. He went on to study at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Arts before serving in
World War I in France. While abroad as 2nd Lieutenant in the 350th U.S. Field Artillery, he was deeply inspired by
French architecture in Paris. Upon
returning to the U.S., Hilyard
Robinson set out to be an architect.

Robinson studied architecture at

the University of Pennsylvania and
transferred to Columbia University
to continue his undergraduate
architectural studies. He then also
received his graduate degree in
architecture from Columbia in
1931. While at Columbia he
apprenticed as a draftsman for
Vertner Woodson Tandy and for
Paul B. LaVelle. His began his first Langston Terrace Housing Project, 21st Street and Benning Road, NE
job at Howard University in 1924 Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-H814- 2189-023
as a part-time teacher in the
recently organized School of Architecture. Teaching and remodeling modest dwellings in Washington, Robinson was
exposed to the slums and decrepit dwellings of many poor black residents. This experience led to his thesis work at
Columbia on congregate housing. There was a lack of subsidized housing in the U.S., so Robinson and his young
wife went to Europe, where Hilyard studied at the University of Berlin and became acquainted with modern architects
Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, and Erich Mendelsohn. Breuer directed Robinson to the new public housing in
Holland, which would influence Robinson’s designs in the U.S.

Robinson began his career in Washington during the Depression, working for the U.S. Housing Authority of the
federal government to survey the nature of the housing needs of the city’s poor residents, and to plan an experimental
urban community. This research further informed Robinson’s thinking, which had already begun to be shaped by the
urban housing projects of Europe and Scandinavia. The major result was Langston Terrace Dwellings in Northeast
Washington, which incorporated design influences from public housing in Holland and Germany into New Deal
housing in America. The complex was the first government-funded public housing project in Washington and the
second in the U.S. – it was part of the New Deal relief work begun by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Robinson
included art and highly stylized elements in his design, in keeping with his belief that fine art could inspire and uplift

Robinson, Hilyard R. Page 2 of 4

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underprivileged residents.

Large housing complex commissions allowed

Robinson to combine his studies of urban
planning and architectural design. In 1935 he
was the supervising architect for the Aberdeen
Gardens community in Hampton, Va., which
was the only New Deal resettlement community
built by African Americans for African
Americans. Aberdeen Gardens covered 440
acres and consisted of 158 modest red-brick
houses. Robinson designed it as a “garden-
house” development, within which public space
and landscaping were as important as the
individual houses. The U.S. government later
shifted its focus from single-family subsidized
housing to high-rise apartment buildings. Aberdeen Gardens Houses; Hampton, Va.
Aberdeen Gardens, in its design and in its African American Heritage, Virginia, aaheritageva.org, accessed 9/15/10
connection to the African American community,
is a rare and valuable piece of American history.

Robinson is listed on permits for well over 100 buildings in the District of Columbia. Most of these buildings were
for the Alabama Avenue housing project in 1940 in Southeast Washington, almost all of which have been demolished.

The most acclaimed privately-commissioned single-family residence designed by Robinson was the Bunche house at
1510 Jackson Street, NE. It is a surviving example of Robinson’s modern international design style. The residence
was designed for Ralph Bunche, recipient of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize and the first African-American desk officer
at the State Department. Most of Robinson’s
other extant work in Washington is now in use
by Howard University as classrooms and
dormitories.

Robinson’s designs incorporated art, European

Modernism, and Art Deco influences, but they
were inextricably linked to the purpose of the
building. The focus of his architecture was
always to serve the people that would use it.
Illustrating this attention to a building’s
purpose, Robinson’s designs for desk lighting
and clothes storage in the Cook Hall dormitory
at Howard were widely praised and imitated at
the U.S. Naval Academy.

In addition to Washington, D.C., and Virginia,

Robinson worked in Michigan, Alabama,
Ralph J. Bunche House, 1510 Jackson St., NE Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, HABS DC,WASH-232 drew designs for the government of Liberia
(for the World’s Fair that was canceled due to the outbreak of the Second World War). He not only designed mass
housing, but also private residences, churches, military compounds, classroom buildings, university dormitories,
university theaters, and public parks.

In the later years of Robinson’s career, he was active in the National Capital Planning Commission (1950-55) and
worked on campus projects for Howard University. He went into semi-retirement in 1962 but maintained his office

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until his death. In these years Robinson completed significant designs for a wing at Provident Hospital and for
Southern Baptist Church, both located in Baltimore, Md. Robinson died at Howard University Hospital on July 2,
1986.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Washington Post searched through ProQuest; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs
Other Repositories:
Division digital collection
Publication: Washington Post, death notices Date: 7/3/1986 Page: D6
Obituary:
Publication: Washington Afro-American Date: 7/12/1986 Page: unknown
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
1956/1st 466
American Architects Directory 1962/2nd 593
1970/3rd 770
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 239, 240
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Bond, Max. “Still Here: Three Architects of Afro-America: Julian Francis Abele, Hilyard Robinson, and Paul R.
Williams.” Harvard Design Magazine, No. 2 (Summer 1997).
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Lenier, Glen B. “The Langston Terrace Dwellings.” Trans-Lux, A Publication of the Art Deco Society of Washington. Vol. 2,
Issue 3, August 1984.
Mumford, Lewis. “The Skyline.” New Yorker, April 29, 1938, 66.
Papers of Hilyard R. Robinson. Manuscript Division, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University,
Washington, D.C.
Quinn, Kelly, Ph.D. in American Studies. “A Consideration of Hilyard Robinson’s Contributions to Modern
Washington.” University of Maryland, College Park.
Tracey, Patrick. “Coming Full Circle; The only New Deal homestead built by blacks for blacks, Aberdeen Gardens in
Hampton, Virginia, becomes a model community once again.” Historic Preservation May/June 1995, 65-71, 114.
Wilson, Dreck Spurlock. African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. New York: Routledge, 2004.

Notes: Because the building permit data base does not include permits issued after 1949, the number of permits listed
for Robinson represents only the initial years of his career.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Gilbert LaCoste Rodier

Biographical Data
Birth: 4/29/1889 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 1/8/1971 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Ada Rebecca (wife); sons Gilbert L. Rodier Jr. & William B.
Rodier
Education
High School: Tech High School, Washington, DC

College: Corcoran School of Art, Washington, DC (1905-1908);

Graduate School: George Washington University School of

Architecture (1912-1913)

Apprenticeship: Washington Star, January 10, 1971

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 83 Date Issued: 4/15/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1908 Latest Permit: 1948 Total Permits: 54 Total Buildings: 112
Practice Position Date
Paul J. Pelz, Washington DC Draftsman May – Oct 1906
Harding & Upman, Washington, DC Draftsman 1907-1908
George O. Totten, Washington, DC Draftsman 1908-1910
U.S. Quartermasters Dept., Washington, DC Arch. Draftsman & Construction Engineer 1910-1922
George O. Totten, Washington, DC Arch. Draftsman & Construction Engineer 1922-1923
Rodier & Kundzin, Washington, DC Architect 1923-1928
Gilbert L. Rodier, Washington, DC Architect 1928-1961
U.S. Public Housing Authority Director of Technical Division c. 1933-1961
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 3/5/1926 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Washington Chapter, AIA

Awards or Commissions:
Washington Evening Star Model House Campaign (1926); architectural director of Ideal Homes Exposition of the
Washington Real Estate Board (1928)
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, Row Houses, Apartments, Printing plant, Church, Stores
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, French Eclectic, Spanish Eclectic, Italian Renaissance Revival

DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, Georgetown, Brightwood, Takoma, Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase, Barnaby
Woods, Tenleytown

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Notable Buildings Location Date Status

NRHP DC Historic Site
Residence 1014 Massachusetts Ave NE 1908
Capitol Hill Historic District
Signal Corps Reservation, Ft.
Warehouse 1919 NRHP DC Historic Site
Myer, VA
NRHP DC Historic Site
Residences 3200-3208 Porter Street NW 1922
Cleveland Park Historic District

Voegtlin House 2525 Belmont Road NW 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site

Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District

Apartment Building 739 Newton Place NW 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site

St. Columba’s Protestant

4201 Albemarle Street NW 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
Episcopal Church

The Bulletin Building 717 6th Street NW 1928 NRHP DC Historic Site

Residence 3140 Davenport Street NW 1929 NRHP DC Historic Site

Significance and Contributions

Born April 29, 1889 in Washington, D.C., Gilbert LaCoste Rodier graduated from Washington Technical High School
in 1905 followed by three years of night school at the Corcoran School of Art from 1905 to 1908. During this period,
Rodier worked as a draftsman in the D.C. offices of Paul J. Pelz and of Harding & Upman. From 1908 to 1910,
Rodier worked as a draftsman for prominent D.C. architect George Oakley Totten.

In 1908 and 1909, Rodier was the architect of record for eight buildings and a private stable, most of which were
designed for developer Robert Allen. His two- to three-story, Colonial Revival-style brick row houses were
constructed on Capitol Hill and in Georgetown. In 1909, Rodier designed four two-story, frame, single dwellings in
the Brightwood neighborhood.

In 1910, Rodier took a position in the U.S.

Quartermaster’s Department as an architectural
draftsman and construction engineer. While working,
he attended one year of night school at the George
Washington University School of Architecture (1912 to
1913). By 1917, Rodier was married with two children;
he and his family lived in East Falls Church, Virginia.
During World War I (1917-1918), Rodier designed a
network of roads at Arlington National Cemetery and
completed measured drawings of Arlington House
among other projects. When the war ended, Rodier was
sent to Paris, France to oversee the cemeteries where
American soldiers’ were buried (Obituary, The
Washington Star, 1/10/1971). 1014 Massachusetts Avenue NE; 1908
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
In 1921, Rodier began designing private dwellings while
continuing his work for the War Department. In 1922, he left government service and worked for the firm of George
Oakley Totten for a year as an architectural draftsman while continuing private work under his own name. During this
period, Rodier designed Colonial Revival-style, two-story frame dwellings and two-story, brick row houses in the
Tenleytown and Cleveland Park neighborhoods. These designs emphasized the front entrance which frequently
incorporated side lights and a fan light or a pedimented front portico.
Rodier, Gilbert L. Page 2 of 6
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In 1923, Gilbert L. Rodier started a private firm with

Arved L. Kundzin, an architect trained in Estonia who
had just left his position as the first secretary to the
Latvian Legation in Washington. Between March 1924
and February 1928, the firm of Rodier & Kundzin
received 31 building permits for 78 buildings in D.C.
Most of Rodier & Kundzin’s work consisted of single
dwellings, row houses, and duplexes. The two-story,
brick, frame, and concrete block row houses and
duplexes were designed in the Colonial Revival, Tudor
Revival, and Spanish Eclectic styles. Estimated
construction costs ranged between $5,000 and $10,000.
Most were designed for the Washington, D.C. builder,
Robert Munro. Rodier & Kundzin also designed single
3204 Porter Street NW; 1922 dwellings for Munro in the Colonial Revival and Tudor
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 Revival styles; construction costs for these ranged from
$12,000 to $18,000. Most of the 72 detached dwellings
were erected in the northwest neighborhoods of Chevy Chase, Cleveland Park, Mount Pleasant, and Brightwood.
During the same period, Rodier & Kundzin produced designs for Maryland houses such as the stone house for Mr.
and Mrs. P.D. Poston of Woodside Park, Maryland that was illustrated in a June 13, 1926 Washington Post display
advertisement.

Rodier & Kundzin designed slightly more costly houses

for individual owners. Two distinguished examples are
the two designed for Dr. Carl Voegtlin, which were
built in the Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood. The first
was a two-and-one-half-story, cinder block house
located at 2525 Belmont Road NW (1924). Constructed
in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, it features a
stepped-back, tri-partite façade, smooth stucco walls,
and molded door and window surrounds. The low-
pitched, hipped, red-clay-tile, roof on the main block is
flanked by wings surmounted by flat roofs with raised
parapets. In 1925, Voegtlin commissioned another
house at 2450 Belmont Road NW. Rodier & Kundzin
designed this 50-foot-by-74-foot house in the Spanish
Eclectic style with asymmetrical massing, stucco walls, 2525 Belmont Road NW; 1924
and rectangular and arched windows. The combination District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
hipped-and-gabled roof is covered with red clay tiles.

In addition to dwellings, Rodier & Kundzin designed several commercial buildings and a church. In 1924, they
designed a row of three, one-story, brick-and-concrete stores that feature pilasters, plain friezes, and flat roofs (517-
521 8th Street SE). The firm also designed one apartment building (1925) in Mount Pleasant; the three-story, brick and
concrete building still stands at 739 Newton Place NW. St. Columba’s Protestant Episcopal Church (1926) is the only
church that the firm designed; it still stands at 4201 Albemarle Street NW. The stone-clad, concrete tile church was
designed in the Gothic Revival style. The last building designed by Rodier & Kundzin was The Bulletin Building
(1928), which is located at 717 6th Street NW and is listed on the D.C. Inventory of History Sites. The United
Publishing Company constructed the three-story building to house its offices and printing operation. In 1928,
Kundzin left private practice and joined the D.C. Office of the Municipal Architect as an associate engineer; the firm
dissolved shortly thereafter.

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Throughout his career, Rodier was active in professional

organizations and a leader in his field. In 1923, Rodier
became an associate member of the Washington, D.C.
Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)
and was elected its secretary from 1925 to 1928. In
1926, Rodier became a full member of the AIA. In
1931, he was elected as Washington Chapter president.

Just after the District’s architect’s registration law was

enacted in 1925, Rodier was registered as an architect by
exemption with the D.C. Board of Examiners. Four
years later, Rodier passed a verbal senior examination to
become a fully registered architect in D.C. in order to
gain reciprocal status with the state of Virginia.
The Bulletin Building; 1928
Rodier was well known and respected among the 717 6th Street NW
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
community of D.C. architects. In July 1926, the
Washington Evening Star established a model house
campaign under the direction of noted D.C. architect, Horace Peaslee. Rodier was selected to design the brick Italian
Community House on 5th Street NW near Longfellow Street. In 1928, the AIA appointed Rodier as architectural
director of the Ideal Homes Exposition of the Washington Real Estate Board. That year, he also was selected as one
of three judges for the first contest of outdoor lighting sponsored by the Electric League. In 1936, Rodier once again
served as a judge—this time for the Fifth Annual Exhibit of works by federal architects sponsored by the Association
of Federal Architects.

In 1925, Gilbert L. Rodier joined Horace Peaslee and

other prominent members of the D.C. Chapter of the
AIA to form the Allied Architects of Washington, DC,
Inc., a loose confederation of prominent local architects
who banded together to pursue large public and semi-
public commissions in the city. Modeled on a similar
architectural group started in Los Angeles in 1919, the
Allied Architects worked collaboratively, sometimes
holding internal design competitions and then selecting
and combining the best elements of the winning
designs. The group’s bylaws provided for one-fourth of
the corporation’s net proceeds to be spent on efforts to
Longsworth House Office Building; 1933 advance architecture in the District of Columbia and to
Architect of the Capitol (www.aoc.gov) educate the public about good design. The group’s
most prominent commission was the design for the
Longsworth House Office Building (first design
submitted 1925; completed 1933). Other designs and studies pursued by the group included the never-built National
Stadium on East Capitol Street; the DC Municipal Center; designs for a downtown Naval Hospital; the Naval
Academy Memorial Gates; a DC National Guard Armory proposal; design and planning studies of Georgetown; alleys
in DC; and a study for the beautification of East Capitol Street. The Allied Architects disbanded in 1949.

Circa 1933, Rodier accepted a position with the Public Works Administration (PWA) (later the U.S. Housing
Authority) as director of the technical division. The PWA was created to raze slum housing and build new, low-cost
housing. With the passage of the Wagner-Steagall bill known as the Housing Act of 1937, the PWA tasks were
incorporated under the new U.S. Housing Authority. Among Rodier’s nationwide projects as director was the
planning for removal of substandard housing and construction of low-cost homes for families. Circa 1936, Rodier
moved with his family to D.C. from Virginia; his residence and office were located in at 4515 Ellicott Street NW.

Rodier, Gilbert L. Page 4 of 6

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Gilbert L. Rodier continued to accept commissions

from private clients in addition to working at PHA, but
he produced fewer designs between 1928 and 1948.
Only eleven permits were recorded under his name as
architect; only one of those dates to after 1940. During
this period, Rodier designed mostly single-family,
detached dwellings that varied in size, style, and
materials. His largest commission was a two-story,
stone, French Eclectic-style house located at 3140
Davenport Street NW. With an estimated construction
cost of $29,000, the house, built for J.O. Harrison, is the
largest, single extant example of Rodier’s residential
work. Rodier also designed four row houses in
Georgetown in the Colonial Revival-style. Located at 3140 Davenport Street NW; 1929
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
3225-3231 Reservoir Road NW, the two end row
houses are three stories tall while the middle two are
two stories tall. The three-bay, brick houses feature wide wooden cornices with either modillion blocks or dentils.
The two-story houses feature elliptical fanlights over the front door and their faux mansard roofs are pierced by
dormers. The three-story houses feature elaborate door surrounds capped by pediments.

In 1961, Rodier retired from the government. That year, he applied to the AIA for membership emeritus status,
verifying that he was retired and no longer engaged in the practice of architecture. In 1971, Rodier died at the age of
81 and was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
“Arlington House, Arlington Memorial Cemetery,” Architectural
1924 March, v. 40 89-96
Forum
“Arlington House,” Architectural Record 1924 Jan., v. 40 89-96
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 p. 240
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects-not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Star Date: 1/10/1971 Page: n/a
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Gilbert L. Rodier Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Gilbert L. Rodier correspondence with the Board. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Social Security Death Index. Ancestry.com.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1900. Washington, DC.
Rodier, Gilbert L. Page 5 of 6
 DC Architects Directory

Other Sources (cont’d):

U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910. Washington, DC.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. Washington, DC.
U.S. Department of State. Passport Application, 1920.
Wells, John E. and Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955. Richmond, VA: New South Architectural
Press, 1997.
World War I U.S. Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 record for Gilbert L. Rodier. Ancestry.com.

Notes:
Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include permits until
1949. Gilbert L. Rodier was active as an architect after 1949, so his actual permit numbers are not reflected here.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Rodier, Gilbert L. Page 6 of 6

 DC Architects Directory

George T. Santmyers
Biographical Data
Birth: 9/15/1889 Place: Front Royal, Virginia
Death: 12/26/1960 Place: Wheaton, Md.
Family: Wife: Dorothy F.; three children
Education
High School:
College: Washington Architectural Club Atelier, 1908-1912.
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: James Goode, Best Addresses, 179
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 734 Date Issued: 1/16/1951
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1909 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 3553 Total Buildings:15,689
Practice Position Date
George T. Santmyers Principal 1914-1960
Santmyers and Thomen Partner Post-World War II
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment houses, detached and row houses, commercial buildings.
Styles and Forms: Colonial revival, and eclectic Tudor, Gothic and Moorish revival styles, Art Deco, Art Moderne,
and International styles.
DC Work Locations: All quadrants. Most of largest apartment buildings are in Northwest Washington.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Rowhouses 2721-2767 Woodley Place, NW 1924 Old Woodley Park Hist. Dist.
Meridian Manor 1424 Chapin St., N.W. 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment house 3901 Connecticut Ave., N.W. 1927 NRHP DC Historic Site
6000-6020 and 6030-6050 13th
Fort View Apartments 1938 NRHP DC Historic Site
Place, N.W.
Normandie 6817 Georgia Avenue, N.W. 1938 NRHP DC Historic Site
Delano 2745 29th Street, N.W. 1941 NRHP DC Historic Site
Macomb Gardens 2800 Woodley Road, N.W. 1941 NRHP DC Historic Site
Park Crest Gardens 4100 block of W Street, N.W. 1941 NRHP DC Historic Site
Yorkshire 3355 16th Street, N.W. 1941 NRHP DC Historic Site
Tunlaw Park 3850 Tunlaw Road, N.W. 1953 NRHP DC Historic Site
Santmyers, George T. Page 1 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Wiltshire Crescent 3801 Connecticut Ave., N.W. 1953 NRHP DC Historic Site
Wiltshire Parkway 3701 Connecticut Ave., N.W. 1953 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.
Significance and Contributions

George T. Santmyers practiced architecture in Washington,

D.C., for fifty years. He was one of the city's most prolific
and important architects of the twentieth century. While
Santmyers is credited with the design of commercial buildings,
banks, churches, public garages, and thousands of private
residences, he is most celebrated for his contribution to
apartment building architecture in the metropolitan area of
the nation’s capital. As the architect for over 440 apartment
buildings in the course of his long career, Santmyers devoted
his skills and energy to producing notably designed buildings
with efficient plans.

Santmyers was born in Front Royal, Virginia, and spent his 3901 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
early years in Baltimore, Maryland. He moved to Washington William Lebovitch, 1995
as a teenager, completed high school, and began several years National Register of Historic Places Nomination
of training through apprenticeship in the offices of local
architects. Santmyers' name first appears on a building permit in 1909, and by 1914, at age twenty-five, he had opened
his own architectural office. The work produced by his office far outstripped that of any other Washington, D.C.,
architect. The D.C. permit database credits Santmyers with designing 15,689 buildings by 1949, while only a handful
of other architects designed more than 1,000 buildings and no other listed in the database designed more than 1,600.
Still designing and running his office in 1960, he completed his last apartment building design at the age of 72 just six
months before his death.

In the first decade of his practice, almost all of Santmyers' commissions were for single family dwellings,
predominantly row houses. He also designed a few small apartment buildings and rows of one-story stores. Beginning
in the mid-1920s, while continuing to design many hundreds of rowhouses, he began receiving commissions for larger
and more elaborate apartment buildings. Santmyers designed apartment buildings in a variety of styles, using more
traditional, classically inspired architecture in his early buildings; entering a transitional phase based on classical
precedents with elements of twentieth century modern architecture; and culminating in work designed in full-blown
expressions of the Art Deco, Art Moderne and International styles in the 1940s and 1950s.

Santmyers' early apartment buildings from the 1920s were typically Colonial Revival in style, symmetrical in
composition, and employed a formal vocabulary based on architectural elements associated with the American
Georgian and Federal periods. A majority of these buildings featured a centrally located doorway adorned with a
prominent portico, symmetrical fenestration patterns with molded lintels, and classical embellishments such as
enclosed tympanums and ornate entablatures. The design of Santmyers apartment buildings was in keeping with the
traditions of the time and reflected the architectural expressions accepted nationwide. Two notable examples from
this period of Santmyers work are the Colonial revival style Meridian Manor, 1424 Chapin St., N.W., (1926), and the
Tudor revival style 3901 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., (1927). In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Santmyers began to
tentatively employ a more modern aesthetic, with a slight simplification of the composition and ornamentation of his
designs. Often he presented traditional revival elements such as pilasters, string courses, and symmetrical fenestration
with modern materials and embellishments such as glass bricks and stylized interlacing with reeding or fluting.

Santmyers' apartment designs of the late 1930s reflect the influence of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on
apartment design. The New Deal agency, created in 1934, espoused many of the principles of planning and design
that had been developed and advocated by forward-thinking urban planners, architects, developers, social reformers
and others in the post-World War I era who wanted to apply principles of well-planned communities and modern,
quality living spaces and conveniences to housing for moderate income families. The principle mechanism through
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 DC Architects Directory

which FHA operated was to provide mortgage insurance that made the financing and construction of low and
moderate income housing a more secure investment. While the FHA avoided mandates on architectural style, its
guidelines sought to encourage quality of design and materials while achieving economy through simplification of
architectural detail, reliance on form, massing and materials to create aesthetically pleasing effects, efficient use of
living space, and use of innovative materials. It favored the construction of low rise and garden apartment buildings
set on ample grounds that provided light and ventilation in contrast to the urban tenements of the nineteenth century.

Santmyers designed some FHA-insured apartment buildings for moderate income families and many of his buildings
of the late 1930s, whether or not they were FHA-insured, reflect the planning principles espoused by the FHA.
Santmyers' buildings in his stylistically transitional period of the late 1930s reveal his experimentation with the
amalgamation of traditional and modern aesthetic and materials that would prove both economical and aesthetically
pleasing to residents. His designs more strongly reflect his predilection for the modern aesthetic, thus representing a
stylistic tension between historic precedents and modern styles that was occurring both in Santmyers' work and in the
fields of architecture and design generally. The Fort View Apartments, 6000-6020 and 6030-6050 13th Place, N.W.,
constructed in 1938-1939, are a significant example of his transitional period, illustrating Santmyers' exploration of the
continuum of traditional and modern architectural expressions. The buildings' expanses of glass brick, geometric
interlacing with fluting, linear masonry patterns with projecting headers to create string coursing, and cast stone
entrance surrounds with horizontal reeding are juxtaposed with a classic composition, traditional materials,
symmetrical fenestration, and a centrally located entry bay. The siting and plan of the low-rise Fort View Apartments
are indicative of garden apartments with set backs from 13th Place that create landscaped (albeit shallow) yards, paved
walkways to the entries, and E-shaped plans that provide a maximum of cross ventilation and privacy. While the form
and siting of the Fort View Apartments was in keeping with FHA principles which favored low rise buildings in
expansive settings, Santmyers also designed one of his best-known mid-rise buildings, the Normandie, in 1938. This
five-story, 98-family, red brick building at 6817 Georgia Avenue, N.W., was one of a number of large apartment
buildings designed by Santmyers in the years leading up to World War II. In this period Santmyers moved further
toward the modern aesthetic, further exploring asymmetrical compositions and modern materials.

In the 1940s Santmyers fully embraced the Art Deco, Art Moderne, and International styles, abandoning all elements
of the period revival styles. His buildings from this later period comprise his most celebrated works and his buff-brick,
linear massed buildings are found throughout the city. Several of his most noted works date from 1941. The Art Deco
style Delano, 2745 29th Street, N.W., was included in James Goode's book, Best Addresses, and was described as having
one of Washington's finest remaining Art Deco lobbies. Three other important pre-World War II Santmyers
apartment buildings or complexes are Macomb Gardens in Woodley Park, Park Crest in Glover Park and the
Yorkshire on Sixteenth Street, N.W.

During World War II, the federal

government imposed controls on
building materials, allocating them for
the construction of modestly priced
housing in areas, including metropolitan
Washington, D.C., where the influx of
war workers had created severe
shortages of affordable housing for rent
or purchase. The D.C. permit database
shows that Santmyers designed
numerous apartment buildings, flats,
and rowhouses in this period when the Santmyer’s original 19412 Perspective of the Delano
output of many other architects James Goode, Best Addresses, 375.
dwindled to a trickle. These modest buildings were built principally in the northeast and southeast quadrants of the
city and some were constructed in the southwest quadrant.

After World War II Santmyers continued to design row houses and apartments to meet the postwar demand for
reasonably priced housing. Santmyers also worked in partnership with James Thoman and, as described by Goode,

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 DC Architects Directory

"designed a number of prominent modernistic apartment houses" in the 1950s including the Wiltshire Parkway and
the Wiltshire Crescent on Connecticut Avenue and Tunlaw Park in Glover Park.

Today, Santmyers is most celebrated for his Art Deco, International style and Art Moderne apartment buildings from
the 1930s, 40s and 50s but his legacy of housing stock designed over half a century, ranging from modest row houses
to grand apartment buildings in size, and from Colonial Revival to modern in style, is larger than that of any other
Washington, D.C., architect.
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Publication: Washington Post Date: 12/27/1960 Page: B3
Obituary:
Washington Star 12/27/1960 B4
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 248
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“Apartment Buildings in Washington, D.C. 1880-1945.” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property
Documentation Form. Prepared by Traceries, 1993.
Building at 3901 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Prepared by
Stephen Callcott, D.C. Historic Preservation Division, January 1997.
“Fort View Apartments.” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Prepared by EHT Traceries,
Inc., November 2009.
Goode, James M. Best Addresses. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988
“Meridian Manor,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Prepared by Laura H. Hughes and
Simone M. Moffett, EHT Traceries, Inc., December 2000.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Santmyers, George T. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Thomas Franklin Schneider

Biographical Data
Birth: 1859 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 06/09/1938 Place: Washington, DC
Family: married Mary Osborn Beach (1891); three children.
Remarried Margaret McGowan (1927)
Education
High School: DC Public Schools
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Cluss & Schulze Source: Historical Society of Washington, DC
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1884 Latest Permit: 1928 Total Permits: 167 Total Buildings: 496
Practice Position Date
Cluss & Schulze Draftsman/Architect 1875-1883
Private Practice Architect/Real Estate Investor 1883-1938
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1887-1894 Fellow of the AIA: 1889
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Washington Board of Trade, Columbia Country Club, and
Congressional Country Club.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Single Family Residences, Rowhouses, Apartment Buildings
Styles and Forms: Classical, Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque
DC Work Locations: Mount Vernon Square, Dupont Circle, Strivers’ Section, Greater U Street, Kalorama Triangle,
Sheridan-Kalorama
Name Location Date Status
Row houses 1700 block of Q Street, NW 1888 Dupont Circle Historic District
Schneider Triangle Square 53 1889 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1614-1616 20th Street 1891 Dupont Circle Historic District
The Cairo 1615 Q Street, NW 1894 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1619 New Hampshire Ave., NW 1898 Dupont Circle Historic District
The Albemarle Apartments 1700 T Street, NW 1900 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Iowa Apartments 1325 13th Street, NW 1900 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Thomas Franklin Schneider was born in Washington in 1859, the son of a German-born printer. Educated in D.C.
public schools, Schneider went to work at the age of 16 in the local architectural office of Cluss and Schulze. At the
time, Cluss and Schulze was a successful enterprise responsible for the Franklin School (1858), the Smithsonian Arts
and Industries Building (1876) and the Department of Agriculture Building (1867-68; demolished in 1930). In 1883,
after eight years with Cluss and Schulze, Schneider left the firm. He was only 23 years old when he set up an
independent practice at 929 F Street, N.W., with $500 in borrowed capital. The young architect enjoyed immediate
success. The Evening Star ran a profile of Schneider in its November 5, 1889 edition. It offers an interesting look at
this important architect at an early point in his career, which took him into real estate speculation as well as
architecture:

"The Young Napoleon of F Street." That is the term applied to a certain young architect of this city
by his friends. "Why, it's just a few years ago that I was going to school with him playing 'Old Man'
and buying a cent's worth of taffy, which we divided at recess," said an acquaintance. And it was
just last Saturday that the young Napoleon paid $175,000 for a row of lots on Q Street, occupying
the whole front of the square between Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets. Upon this square he will
erect a row of residences. Just across the street is another row of some thirty pressed-brick houses
which he completed last year. His operations in building for the past four years have been upon the
most extensive scale.

When the young man came out of school he put out his shingle as an architect over a modest little
office in the third story of a building on F Street, where he still holds forth. He got a start and put
his first money into a house, devising the plans himself. When it was built he sold it at a profit.
This was the beginning. He has kept on building and selling, putting his profits into other buildings.
Many of his houses were sold before completed and payments made, which he would immediately
resolve into bricks and mortar for another venture. Good judgment in buying lots, taste and
ingenuity in planning, the architectural features of the residences and business ability to keep his
money moving, gathering profit as it rolled, have made him one of the solid men of the city. He is a
young looking man, with a slight mustache, and a modest, retiring air, but he certainly is what the
Westerners call "a hustler."

As a result of the combination of his

design skills and business acumen,
Schneider became one of
Washington’s first successful
architects-developers. His work was
primarily single family houses at first;
but after 1889, he focused on
apartment buildings. In 1894, he
built the twelve-story steel-frame
Cairo Hotel, then the tallest
apartment building in the city. Its
audacious height earned it the name
“Schneider’s Folly” as architectural
critics condemned its height and
others in the real estate community
contended that it would fail
spectacularly. However, it was a great
success, offering luxurious housing
with modern amenities such as Rowhouses, 1700 Block Q Street, NW
elevators and electric lighting to part- Library of Congress, HABS DC 510-1

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 DC Architects Directory

time Washington residents. In response to Schneider’s twelve-story

Cairo Hotel, the District Commissioners passed legislation in 1894
restricting building heights to 90 feet on residential streets and 110
feet for commercial streets.

Schneider retired in 1915. During his the last years of his life he
traveled around the world, in part to study architecture. Schneider’s
obituary in the Evening Star credited the prolific architect with more
than 2,000 residences and 26 apartments and hotels in the city of
Washington.

The Cairo Apartment House

NCinDC, August 3, 2008,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2727275056/
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary Publication: Evening Star Date: 06/10/1938 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 5 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 251-52
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Helwig, Anne H. Schneider Triangle National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, DC: District of
Columbia Historic Preservation Office, 1980.
Kohler, Sue A and Jeffrey R. Carson. Sixteenth Street Architecture Volume 2. Washington, DC: The Commission of Fine
Arts, 1988.
Traceries. The Cairo Historic Landmark Application. Washington, D.C.: Historic Preservation Review Board, 1990.
Traceries. “Historic Context of Downtown Survey Area.” 920-930 F Street, NW Program of Mitigation, June 1990.
Reed, Candace. “T.F. Schneider (1858-1938): The Young Napoleon of F Street.” Design Action Vol. 2 No. 2
(March/April 1983), 8-9.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Robert O. Scholz
Biographical Data
Birth: 9/25/1895 Place: New York, NY
Death: 07/08/1978 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Married with a daughter
Education
High School:
College: Armour Institute of Technology (Chicago) 1911-1914
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: H. Clyde Miller Source: Collection of Robert R. Scholz, Washington, D.C.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 763 Date Issued: 06/11/1951
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1919 Latest Permit: 1943 Total Permits: 68 Total Buildings: 134
Practice Position Date
H. Clyde Miller (Chicago) Draftsman 1914-1917
Kalman Steel Company (Chicago) Engineer 1917-1918
U.S. Navy Engineer 1918-1920
Howard Etchison Architect 1920
George N. Ray Architect 1921
Private Practice Architect 1922-1960
Baer & Scholz Architect/Builder 1922-1931
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Board of Trade; Served on the Board of Directors of Union First
National Bank of Washington and the Board of the Perpetual Federal Savings and Loan Association; Member of the
Corinthian and Annapolis Yacht Clubs.
Awards or Commissions: Consulting Architect for the Perpetual Federal Savings and Loan Association
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment Buildings, Commercial Buildings
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival, Gothic Revival, Art Deco
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Foggy Bottom, Cleveland Park, 16th Street, Kalorama
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Rowhouses 1806-1818 24th Street, NW 1924 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment house 2755 Macomb Street, NW 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment house 3707 Woodley Road, NW 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Alban Towers 3700 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1928-29 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Bishop’s House 3010 Wisconsin Ave., NW 1927 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Keystone 2150 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 1931 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Eddystone 1301 Vermont Avenue, NW 1937 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Munson 2212 Eye Street, NW 1937 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Milton 2222 Eye Street, NW 1938 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Bay State 1701 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
General Scott 1 Scott Circle, NW 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Pall Mall 1112 16th Street, NW 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions

Robert O. Scholz was born in New York City on September 25, 1894. His parents had recently emigrated from
Germany and the family moved to Chicago where Scholz’s father painted china for the Marshall Field Company. He
attended grammar school and three years of high school in Chicago. From 1911 to 1914, he enrolled at a technical
college, the Armour Institute, in Chicago, but did not receive a degree. Scholz worked as a draftsman in the office of
H. Clyde Miller in Chicago from 1914 to 1917 and then worked for a year as an engineer for the Kalman Steel
Company. During World War I, Scholz served in the Navy, moving to Washington to work for the U.S. Navy’s
Bureau of Yards and Docks as an engineer, where he remained until 1920.

Scholz began designing apartments in 1920, when he became an architect for Howard Etchison, a prominent builder
who was active in apartment house construction in Washington, D.C. from circa 1910-1925. The next year he took a
position as architect in the office of noted Washington architect George N. Ray, who was known for his neo-classical
commercial buildings. In 1922, Scholz established his own practice and also formed a partnership with David A.
Baer, a lawyer who had recently become a builder specializing in apartment buildings. During the 1920s, Scholz was
actively involved in apartment house construction as an architect, builder, and owner. Scholz was joined in the
business by his younger brother, Oscar Richard Scholz, who worked on the building side of the business. Trained as
a draftsman, Oscar Scholz came to Washington at age sixteen and supervised construction throughout his career.

In 1928-29, Baer & Scholz was responsible for designing and constructing the largest apartment-hotel in the city. The
five-story Alban Towers contained 132 apartments. Scholz designed it in the Gothic Revival style to complement the
nearby Washington Cathedral and St. Alban’s School. The building proved so popular that Baer & Scholz expanded it
a year after it was built to include 84 more units. Other notable apartment buildings designed by Scholz included
2755 Macomb Street, N.W. (1926), 3707 Woodley Road, N.W. (1926), and the Bishop’s House (1927). Scholz also
designed the row of elegant Classical Revival-style town houses in Kalorama at 1806-1818 24th Street, N.W. (1924)
that was constructed by Baer & Scholz.

In the early 1930s, Scholz founded his own firm, the Robert O. Scholz Company, with his brother. Although the firm
of Baer & Scholz was listed in city directories as late as 1936, it does not appear to have been active in apartment
construction after 1931. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Scholz designed six large apartment buildings with Art
Deco detailing in Foggy Bottom, including the Keystone (1931), the Munson (1937), the Milton (1938), and the
Keystone (YEAR). Scholz was interested in innovations in building technology. He designed decorative elements in
aluminum, newly popular in that period. He also experimented with cooling systems and, in 1940, designed one of
Washington’s first air-conditioned apartment buildings, the General Scott, at 1 Scott Circle, N.W. The other Scholz
apartment buildings of this period were the Eddystone at 1301 Vermont Avenue, N.W., (1937) the Bay State at 1701
Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., (1939) and the Pall Mall at 1112 16th Street, N.W. (1940).

The General Scott and Pall Mall were the last large downtown apartment buildings Scholz designed. Many of his later
buildings were for commercial use. Scholz’s brother and business partner Oscar Scholz died in 1954. After his
brother’s death, Scholz became involved in oil drilling investments and did not actively continue his architectural
Scholz, Robert O. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

practice, although he still maintained an office. Scholz officially retired from his architectural practice in 1954 and
died at the age of 82 in 1978.

Alban Towers
Source: James Goode, Best Addresses

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: The Washington Post Date: 07/08/1978 Page: C16
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 252
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it

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 DC Architects Directory

Other Sources:

“David A. Baer, Builder, Dies at Age of 58.” Washington Post. 13 July 1947.

Goode, James. Best Addresses: A Century of Washington's Distinguished Apartment Houses. Washington, D.C.:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.

“O. R. Scholz, Official of Architects and Contractors Firm.” Evening Star, 23 November 1954.

District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Robert O. Scholz Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.

Scholz, Robert R. Interview with Andrea F. Schoenfeld. Washington, D.C.: EHT Traceries, 18 July 2006.

Traceries. “Apartment Buildings in Washington, D.C. 1880-1945 Multiple Property Document.” July 1993.

Wirz, Hans and Richard Striner. Washington Deco. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1984

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Paul Schulze
Biographical Data
Birth: 1/13/1828 Place: Breslau, Silesia, Prussia (now Poland)
Death: 1/19/1897 Place: Oakland, California
Family: Son Henry A. Schulze
Education
High School: Technical High School, Breslau
College: Berlin and Vienna
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1878 Latest Permit: 1893 Total Permits: 24 Total Buildings: 42
Practice Position Date
Cluss and Schulze Principal 1879-1889
Schulze and Goenner Principal 1891-1894

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Grand Army of the Republic, President of the Palette Club, the Washington
Sangerbund
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Institutional buildings
Styles and Forms: Rundbogenstil/Romanesque Revival, Second Empire
DC Work Locations: The Mall, Downtown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Old Patent Office Between F and G Streets and
1877-1878 NRHP DC Historic Site
reconstruction Seventh and Ninth Streets, NW
Arts and Industries Building 900 Jefferson Drive, SW 1879-1881 NRHP DC Historic Site
Army Medical Museum and Independence Avenue
1886 NRHP DC Historic Site
Library (demolished) and 7th Street, SW
Concordia Lutheran Evangelical
1920 G St., N.W. 1891 NRHP DC Historic Site
Church

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Significance and Contributions

Paul Schulze is an architect best known for his collaborative work with fellow German architect Adolf Cluss. Schulze
was born in Breslau, a city in Prussia (now Poland) in 1828. He studied art and architecture in Berlin and Vienna; while
in Vienna, he participated in the political uprisings of 1848 and afterwards sought refuge in the United States. He
arrived in Boston in 1849. There, he designed Appleton Chapel and Boylston Hall at Harvard College. In 1857, scarce
commissions pushed Schulze to move to New York, where he practiced with Charles Gildemeister, architect of the
Crystal Palace in New York (1853, demolished).

Schulze joined the New York Volunteers at the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861), and served as an Engineer
Officer and a Lieutenant until 1862. After his military service, he returned to New York and worked with Paul F. Schoen
from 1866 to 1875 and William G. Steinmetz from 1875 to 1876. In 1869, Schulze founded The Palette Club with noted
American architects Hunt, Renwick, and Le Brun, who
had worked together on a design for the New York State
Capitol in Albany. The Palette was a society for
architects, painters, and sculptors in New York and was
very popular through most of the 1870s.

In 1877, Schulze moved to Washington, D.C., and

entered into a partnership with Adolf Cluss that lasted
until 1889. These two architects designed a number of
iconic Washington buildings including the Arts and
Industries Building of the Smithsonian Institution at 900
Jefferson Drive, SW (1879-81), the Army Medical
Museum and Library on the Mall at Independence
Avenue and 7th Street, SW (1886) (demolished) and the
Model Hall and other renovations in the Old Patent
Arts and Industries Building, 900 Jefferson Drive, SW, c. 1883. Office building (now the Smithsonian American Art
Smithsonian Institution Archives. Museum) in 1877-78, after a major fire.

Schulze also worked with Albert Goenner from 1891 to 1894 in Washington, D.C. They designed the Concordia
German Evangelical Church, 1920 G St., N.W., (1891). Schhulze was listed as an architect in Washington, D.C., city
directories through 1895.

In April, 1895, Schulze’s health began to decline and he went to live with his son, San Francisco architect Henry
Schulze, in Oakland, California. Schulze died on January 19, 1897 at the age of 69.

Army Medical Museum and Library (demolished),

6825 16th Street, NW. National Library of Medicine,
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/medtour/armymuslib.html
Model Hall, Old Patent Office (now SAAM).
Adolf-Cluss.org.

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post, searched through ProQuest; Ancestry.com; Adolf-Cluss.org
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 6 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 55, 111, 253
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects IV 6-7
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1956 542
Other Sources:
“A six-story building to be erected.” Washington Post, July 23, 1890, 8.
Beauchamp, Tanya Edwards. “Adolph Cluss: An Architect in Washington during Civil War and Reconstruction.”
Records of the Columbia Historical Society, 48 (1971-72), 338-358.
Cluss, Adolf. “Paul Schulze.” Remarks at the March 12, 1897 meeting of the Washington Chapter of the AIA.
“Schulze, Paul; Architectural Drawings.” Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera, The
Winterthur Library. Call Number Fol. 204.
U. S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, District of Columbia, 1880.
Notes: Permits for Paul Schulze are for the firms Cluss and Schulze, and Schulze and Goenner.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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B. Stanley Simmons
Biographical Data
Birth: 1872 Place: Charles County, MD
Death: 09/08/1931 Place: Washington, DC
Family: married to Katherine Regina Murphy; nine children
Education
High School:
College: University of Maryland
Graduate School: Boston Institute of Technology (now M.I.T) - 1895
Apprenticeship: Source: Historical Society of Washington, DC
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 150 Date Issued: 11/26/1926
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1890 Latest Permit: 1930 Total Permits: 276 Total Buildings: 728
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Architect 1891-1932
Simmons and Holloway Architect 1920-1922
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1920 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Member of the Columbian Historical Society, the Elks, Knights of Columbus,
Chamber of Commerce.
Awards:
Buildings
Building Types: Banks, Hotels, Commercial Buildings, Civic Buildings, Schools, Churches, Theaters, Apartment
Buildings
Styles and Forms: Beaux Arts, Georgian Revival, Gothic Revival
DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, Georgetown, 16th Street, Strivers’ Section, Mount Pleasant, U Street, Downtown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
The Oswego and The Exeter 1326-28 and 1330-32 U Street, NW 1896 NRHP DC Historic Site
National Metropolitan Bank 613 15th Street, NW 1905-07 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Wyoming 2022 Columbia Road, NW 1905 NRHP DC Historic Site
Elk’s Lodge 919 H Street, NW 1906 Demolished in 1980
Jewish Community Center 1529 16th Street, NW 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Barr Building 910 7th Street, NW 1926-28 Designation Pending

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Significance and Contributions

B. Stanley Simmons was born in Charles County,

Maryland, the son of William and Ann Americus
(nee Clements) Simmons. B. Stanley Simmons
came to Washington in 1885 at the age of ten. He
attended the Maryland Institute and graduated from
the Boston Institute of Technology (now M.I.T.) in
1895 and returned to the District where he lived
and practiced architecture for more than twenty-
five years, until his death in 1931. During his
architectural tenure in the District he designed
hundreds of buildings, a number of which have
become significant District of Columbia Historic
Landmarks. Simmons was a prolific designer,
whose work encompassed a wide variety of styles
and building types, including banks, hotels,
apartment houses, commercial buildings, schools,
clubs, churches, rectories, theaters, residences, The Wyoming Apartment Building
automobile showrooms, a civic center, as well as the Source: MLK Library Vertical Files
Brookland School. Some of his major commissions included the National Metropolitan Bank on 15th Street, NW
(1905-07), the Elks Club on H Street, NW (1906), the Jewish Community Center (1916), the U.S. Storage Building on
10th Street, NW, and the Fairfax Hotel at 2100 Massachusetts Avenue, NW (1924) (Adams 1982). In 1902, when
Simmons was only thirty-one years old, an article from the December 16, 1902, edition the Evening Star said of him:

...an architect who has added to the beauty and growth of this city. He has designed
some of the largest apartment houses in the city. Among the monuments to his skill
and originality: the Mount Vernon, the Gloucester, the Cumberland, the Henrietta, the
Veronica, the Eastern, the Franklin, and the Dupont are the most conspicuous. Mr.
Simmons is capable and enterprising; these qualities added to an energetic spirit have
brought to him deserved success during his comparatively short career.

Simmons was the first Washington architect to design a purpose-built automobile showroom. In 1904, he designed
the showroom at 1711 14th Street, NW. Other automobile-related facilities he designed included the Donohoe Motor
Company, the Autocar Motor Company, and the R.L. Taylor Motor Company.

His work exhibits great range in style from the small but elaborate Beaux Arts Elks Club to the elegant Georgian
Revival Fairfax Hotel, to the monumental Jewish Community Center, and to the high-rise Gothic Revival Barr
Building (1926) on Farragut Square, a significant example of his long-term professional relationship with the Barr
family. Additionally, Simmons designed the Wyoming Apartments at 2022 Columbia Road, NW (1905-11) and a 1903
addition to the Mount Vernon Apartments on 9th Street, NW (1896), two of Washington’s first large-scale apartment
houses. The Wyoming is evidence of his ability to adapt to an unusual site and aesthetic demands with adroitness and
sensitivity. It is especially significant in that it demonstrates his command of residential needs within the context and
limitations of large-scale apartment design, a problem also resolved with his 1903 addition to the Brookland School.

Simmons was elected a member of the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1920. In 1923,
he was a member of the Board of Trade, Chamber of Commerce, Columbia Historical Society, Mt. Pleasant Citizen’s
Association, Sacred heart Church, Columbia Country Club, Bannockburn Golf Club, Knights of Columbus, and the
Elks Club. He married Katherine Regina Murphy, and had seven sons and two daughters.

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Publication: Evening Star, Washington Post,
Obituary Date: 09/09/1931 Page: 20 (Post)
Washington Herald
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 3 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 260
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09 1923-24 340
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 555
Other Sources:

Adams, Anne H. The Wyoming Apartments National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form. Washington, DC:
DCRA Historic Preservation Division, 1982.

Eig, Emily and Laura Harris Hughes. Apartment Buildings in Washington, D.C. 1880-1945. Washington, D.C.:
Traceries, 1993.

Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Delos Hamilton Smith

Biographical Data
Birth: 5/10/1884 Place: Willcox, Arizona
Death: 7/21/1963 Place: Alexandria, Va.
Family: Married Iris Bland, 1928; one daughter, Marisa Smith
Education
High School: Public school, Washington, D.C.
College: George Washington University, B.S. Architecture, 1906
Graduate School: George Washington U., M.S. Architecture, 1916
Apprenticeship: Office of Supervising Architect, Treasury, 1906;
Hornblower and Marshall, 1907-09; Hill and Kendall, 1910-11; J.H. Source: Washington Star, February 6, 1926
DeSibour, 1911-12.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 5 Date Issued: 4/13/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1911 Latest Permit: 1938 Total Permits: 18 Total Buildings: 24
Practice Position Date
Kendall & Smith Junior Partner 1912-1916
Delos H Smith Principal 1916-1924
Smith & Edwards Partner 1924-1934
Delos H Smith Principal 1934-40,
Smith & Billings Partner 1940-1941
Delos H Smith Principal ca. 1945-1960
Smith and Burcham Partner 1960-1961
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1920 Fellow of the AIA: 3/12/1952
Other Societies or Memberships: President, Washington-Metropolitan Chapter, A.I.A, 1932; Board of Architectural
Review and Planning Commission, Alexandria, Va.; Secretary, D.C. Board of Examiners and Registrars; Trustee,
Historic Alexandria Foundation; Trustee, Washington Homeopathic Hospital.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Churches, single-family dwellings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Downtown, Rock Creek Cemetery, Sixteenth Street, Capitol Hill
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
St. Paul's Church, Rock Creek
Rock Creek Church Rd, N.W. 1921-1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
(reconstruction after fire)
Residence, Cazenove G. Lee, Jr. 3542 Newark St., N.W. 1930 Cleveland Park Historic Dist.

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 DC Architects Directory

Montgomery County
Rockville, Md. 1932 NRHP DC Historic Site
Courthouse
USHA Low Rent Housing Alexandria, Va. 1938-1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
New York Ave. Presbyterian
1313 New York Avenue, N.W. 1952 NRHP DC Historic Site
Church
Significance and Contributions

Delos H. Smith was a leader in Washington’s architectural community, specializing in ecclesiastical architecture. He
was known for his extensive study of colonial architecture, particularly colonial-era churches.

Smith was born in Willcox, Arizona, in 1884. His father, who had served as U.S. Consul in Mexico and then become
a successful rancher, moved his family to Washington, D.C., where he worked in the War Department. Smith
attended public school in Washington and went on to the Columbian University (now George Washington
University), graduating with a B.S. in Architecture in 1906. He trained in the Office of the Supervising Architect of the
Treasury (1906) and in several prominent Washington architectural firms: Hornblower and Marshall (1907-1909); Hill
and Kendall (1910-1911) and J.H. de Sibour (1911-1912). While training and in the early years of his practice, 1907 to
1916, Smith both studied and taught at George Washington University's School of Architecture. He was a part-time
instructor and an assistant professor of design and building construction and received an M.S. degree from the
University in 1916.

Smith began practicing in 1912 as junior partner in a partnership with Frederick A. Kendall after the death of
Kendall’s previous partner, James G. Hill. During World War I, from 1916 to 1918, Smith worked as Supervising
Engineer at the Naval Academy superintending construction projects. After the war, while practicing on his own he
also began the extensive surveying and photographing of historic buildings, many from the colonial era, which
informed his later work. He conducted the first survey of historic buildings in Annapolis and published articles and
monographs on the colonial architecture of Maryland in American Architect and in The Monograph Series: Recording the
Architecture of the American Colonies and the Early Republic, better known as the White Pine Series of Architectural
Monographs. Between 1918 and 1930 he studied, measured and photographed about 250 early colonial churches and
deposited his material at the Library of Congress. His work was one of the antecedents of the Historic American
Buildings Survey (HABS). When HABS was organized in the 1930s to provide work for unemployed architects and
draftsmen, Smith was appointed consulting architect and served as the supervising officer of the project. His name
appears, generally as photographer, on 95 surveys.

By the early 1920s Smith had established his expertise in the design of
Colonial Revival-style churches. When one of the Washington area’s
earliest churches, St. Paul’s Church at Rock Creek Parish Glebe,
burned in 1921, Smith was selected to rebuild the church incorporating
the remaining exterior walls. Other major church commissions include
the Gunton Memorial Presbyterian Church (now Canaan Baptist
Church), 16th and Newton Streets (1923), and Christ Lutheran Church
(1934). Some of this work was done during his partnership with
Thomas R. Edwards, with whom he worked from 1924 to 1934. Their
office was located at 1707 I Street, N.W.

Smith’s most important residential commission was a Colonial Revival-

style house designed for Cazenove G. Lee, Jr., an heir to the DuPont
fortune. It was constructed in 1927 at 3542 Newark Street, N.W., on
the site of Grover Cleveland’s summer house, Red Top. Built at an St. Paul’s Church, Rock Creek Parish
estimated cost of $58,000, it was modeled on the Lee family’s ancestral Historical Society of Washington CHS 0973
home, Carter’s Grove.

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In the 1930s Smith designed buildings for various government agencies. He won a Board of Trade award for the
Montgomery County Court House, Rockville, Md. (1932) and he designed
laboratory buildings for the Department of Agriculture’s Beltsville Farm
Experimental Station. Working with John M. Billings, he designed two low-rent
housing projects in Alexandria just before World War II.

During World War II Smith was in charge of the Design Division, Norfolk (Va.)
Navy Yard as a Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve and oversaw drafting
production for a variety of industrial and military projects. After the war he
returned to his Washington practice and was principally involved in ecclesiastical
work. One of his most important post-war commissions was the New York
Avenue Presbyterian Church (1950) for which he designed an enlarged copy of the
previous church on the site.

Smith was active in

the American Institute
of Architecture and its
New York Ave. Presbyterian
Washington chapter.
Church
As president of the Historical Society, PR 1736A
chapter in 1923 and
1924, Smith was a proponent of establishing a system for
registering architects. When the District established a
Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects in 1925,
Smith served as its first secretary. In his later years, Smith
moved to Alexandria, Va., where he was a charter
member and trustee of the Historic Alexandria
Cazenove Lee residence, 3542 Newark St., N.W. Foundation. He retired from architectural practice in
EHT Traceries, 2010 1961 and died in 1963.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Historical Society of Washington, D.C. photograph collection; Historic Washington Post
Other Repositories: searched through Proquest; Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division; St. Paul’s
Church, Rock Creek Parish, Archives, Washington, D.C.
Publication: Washington Post Date:7/22/1963
Obituary: Page:
Washington Star 7/23/1963
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory 1956 514
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 2 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 263-64
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24 1934-35 827
1938-39 774
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Delos H. Smith Collection, Manuscript MS 90.6, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

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District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Delos H. Smith Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
EHT Traceries, Inc. “Rock Creek Parish Glebe (Amendment 2010), National Register of Historic Places Registration
Form, 2010.”
Historic Alexandria Foundation Collection, Local History/Special Collections, Alexandria Library, Barrett Branch,
Alexandria, Va.
Proctor, John Clagett, ed. Washington Past and Present: A History. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc.,
1930.
Smith, Delos H. “A Forgotten Mansion – Tusculum.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society 50 (1952), 158-165.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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J. Wilmer Smith
Biographical Data
Birth: 9/9/1893 Place: Burnt Mills, MD
Death: 1/1/1979 Place: Bethesda, MD

Family: Donald K. Smith (son)

Education
High School: McKinley High School, Washington, DC
College: George Washington University School of Architecture
Graduate School: Unknown.

Apprenticeship: Unknown.

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 28 Date Issued: July 1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1922 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 25 Total Buildings: 15
Practice Position Date
Eugene Bradbury, Charlottesville, VA General work 1915-1916
Waggaman & Ray, Washington, DC Architectural draftsman 1916-1918
George N. Ray, Washington, DC Architectural draftsman 1919-1921
D.H. Smith, Washington, DC Architectural draftsman 1921-1922
A.B. Mullett & Co., Washington, DC Designer 1922-1925
J. Wilmer Smith, Washington, DC Architect 1925-ca.1960
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1923-1935 Fellow of the AIA: n/a
Other Societies or Memberships: None known.
Awards or Commissions: None known.
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, Flats, Stores
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Cleveland Park, Georgetown, Sheridan-Kalorama, Anacostia, Southwest, Gallaudet Univ. area
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling 1101 Holbrook Terrace NE 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
1605-1613 West Virginia
Dwellings 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
Avenue NE
NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwellings 1615-1621 34th Street NW 1937
Georgetown Historic District

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Notable Buildings (cont’d) Location Date Status

Dwelling 1827 24th Street NW 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site

Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District

Significance and Contributions

Born September 9, 1893 in Burnt Mills, Maryland, Joseph Wilmer Smith attended both grammar and high school in
Washington, D.C. Between 1913 and 1914, Smith was enrolled at George Washington University’s School of
Architecture. While in school, Smith co-authored the book Measured Drawings of Georgian Architecture in the District of
Columbia, 1750-1820 with Harry Francis Cunningham and Joseph Arthur Younger. From 1915 to 1916, he performed
general work in the architectural office of Eugene Bradbury in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1916, Smith moved back to
DC where he worked as an architectural draftsman and supervised construction projects for the firms of Waggaman &
Ray, George N. Ray (see entry for Ray), and Delos H. Smith (see entry for Smith).

In 1922, J. Wilmer Smith became a designer with the prominent Washington, D.C. architecture firm of A. B. Mullett
(see entry for Mullett) & Company. That year, the first building permit registered to Smith was for two, Colonial-
Revival style, two-story, frame dwellings on Porter Street in the Cleveland Park neighborhood in Northwest D.C.
(3010 and 3012 Porter Street, NW). In 1923, Smith became a member of the Washington Chapter of the American
Institute of Architects (AIA).

In 1925, J. Wilmer Smith left the firm of A.B. Mullett &

Company to start his own practice. He also joined the
Allied Architects of Washington, D.C. In 1925, Horace
Peaslee (see entry for Peaslee) and other prominent
members of the D.C. Chapter of the AIA formed the
Allied Architects of Washington, D.C., Inc., a loose
confederation of prominent local architects who banded
together to pursue large public and semi-public
commissions in the city. Modeled on a similar
architectural group started in Los Angeles in 1919, the
Allied Architects worked collaboratively, sometimes
holding internal design competitions and then selecting
and combining the best elements of the winning
designs. The group’s bylaws provided for one-fourth of 3010 Porter Street NW; 1922
the corporation’s net proceeds to be spent on efforts to District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
advance architecture in the District of Columbia and to
educate the public about good design. The group’s most prominent commission was the design for the Longsworth
House Office Building (first design submitted 1925; completed 1933). Other designs and studies pursued by the
group included the never-built National Stadium on East Capitol Street; the D.C. Municipal Center; designs for a
downtown Naval Hospital; the Naval Academy Memorial Gates; a D.C. National Guard Armory proposal; design and
planning studies of Georgetown; alleys in D.C.; and a study for the beautification of East Capitol Street. The Allied
Architects disbanded in 1949.

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In 1926, Smith designed two individual dwellings and

five row houses for developer C. H. Small & Company
that were part of the July 1926 Evening Star of
Washington’s “Model House” campaign organized by
Horace W. Peaslee. Known as the “Brick Georgian
Row Group” and located in the Trinidad neighborhood
of Northeast D.C., the brick and frame, Colonial
Revival-style dwellings feature corner quoins (1605-
1613 West Virginia Ave., NE). The two individual
houses are end units attached to row houses of different
styles and materials. They are notable for their
decorative wood quoins and string course above the
second floor windows.
1611 West Virginia Avenue NE; 1926
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
Smith executed few commissions between 1926 and the
late 1930s. In 1937, he appears to have returned to
active practice. That year, Smith designed four row houses in Georgetown and a detached dwelling in Cleveland Park.
In Southwest D.C., he designed a three-story building that contained retail stores on the first floor with apartments on
the second and third floors. In March 1938, Smith discussed details of these projects in his verbal senior examination
with the D.C. Board of Examiners. The Georgetown row houses, located at 1615 –1621 34th Street NW, were three-
story, Colonial Revival-style brick dwellings with seven rooms that included a kitchen with “plenty of room, with the
modern equipment, to put two servants to work,” a “colored” bathroom, and one “white” bathroom. Smith designed
the Cleveland Park residence of William L. Breese (4634 30th Street NW) in the Colonial Revival-style; the house is a
two-story brick building that incorporated three bathrooms, a “Garwood air conditioning plant,” and slate roof. The
three-story store and apartment building at 1129 4th Street SW no longer stands. According to the Smith’s D.C. verbal
examination, the first-story stores were constructed of concrete with brick cladding, while the four, four-room
apartments in the upper stories were of frame
construction with brick cladding.

In 1939, Smith’s sole recorded permit was for a three-

story cinder-block-and-brick house located at 1827 24th
Street NW in the Sheridan-Kalorama area. Perhaps the
most formal of his extant work, the Classical Revival-
style house has stone quoins on the first-story corners
and in the door surround, stone keystones on the first
and two of the second story windows, and a stone string
course above the first-story level. Built for Genevieve
K. Ascheberg, the house features a three-bay façade
with a centered “frontispiece” adorning the entrance.
The stone frontispiece is composed of an arched entry
surmounted by a pedimented window that is framed by
1619 34th Street NW; 1937
consoles. A prominent cornice with dentils, parapet,
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
and low-sloping hip roof cap the dwelling.

From 1940 through 1945, J. Wilmer Smith designed five flats for the S&R Building Company (also known as the S&R
Construction Company). Located in Anacostia in Southeast D.C. as well as in the Southwest quadrant of the city, the
flats were two-story, cinder-block-and-brick buildings. The two extant buildings—1124 3rd Street SW and 1706 28th
Place SE— differ in design. Both are a marginally Colonial Revival in style. The Southwest D.C. building has a side-
gable roof and contains four, two-story units, while the Anacostia building features a flat roof and a central entrance
that provides access to garden-style apartments.

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In 1953, J. Wilmer Smith became certified as an

architect by reciprocity with Virginia. Though little is
known of his work in the 1950s, Smith maintained his
architectural practice in D.C. through 1960, when, at the
age of sixty-seven he most likely retired. On January 1,
1979, at the age of eighty-five, Smith died in Bethesda,
Maryland.

1827 24th Street NW; 1939

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 p. 264
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: The Washington Post Date: 1/3/1979 Page: C4
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. J. Wilmer Smith Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. J. Wilmer Smith correspondence with the Board. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. District of Columbia.
World War I U.S. Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 record for J. Wilmer Smith. Ancestry.com.
Wells, John E. and Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects 1835-1955. Richmond, VA: New South Architectural
Press, 1997.

Notes:
Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include permits until
1949. J. Wilmer Smith was active as an architect after 1949, so his actual permit numbers are not reflected here.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.
Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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Robert K. Smith
Biographical Data
Birth: June 2, 1908 Place: Wichita, KS
Death: April 3, 1999 Place: Wichita, KS

Family:

Education
High School: Unknown
College: Kansas State Agricultural College (majored in Architecture;
graduated 1929) Kansas State Agricultural College
Graduate School: 1929 Yearbook
Source: Google Books
Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1935 Latest Permit: 1943 Total Permits: 153 Total Buildings: 256
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Architect 1935-1943
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Kappa Sigma Fraternity; Gargoyle Club (Architecture Club at Kansas State)
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, Flats, Apartments
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Colonial Village, Palisades, East Washington Heights
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling 2927 Northampton Street NW 1935 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 3249 Worthington Street NW 1937 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 2331 Huidekoper Place NW 1937 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 3210 Davenport Street NW 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 5151 Palisade Lane NW 1941 NRHP DC Historic Site
Flat 432 33rd Street SE 1942 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment 5025 Hanna Place SE 1942 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Born in Wichita, Kansas in June 1908, Robert Kenneth Smith attended Kansas State Agricultural College where he
graduated with a degree in architecture in 1929. In the early 1930s, Smith moved to Washington, D.C.

D.C. issued Smith his first building permit in May 1935 and his last in July 1943. Most of his work consisted of house
designs for Paul T. Stone and M.L. Stone, two prominent Washington area developers. The majority of the houses
Smith designed for the Stones were located in the Chevy Chase area of D.C., with a few located in Takoma and
Colonial Village in Northwest D.C. and in the Brookland area of Northeast D.C. Paul T. Stone developed large
sections of the Colonial Village neighborhood of Northwest D.C. and the Middleton Lane area of Bethesda, Maryland.
M.L. Stone acted as both owner and builder for his own projects.

Responsible for the design of over 190 dwellings

between 1935 and 1943, Robert K. Smith designed two-
story, brick, Colonial Revival-style houses. His designs
ranged from Cape Cod cottages to three-to-five-bay,
center hall Colonials with gambrel, gable, or hipped
roofs. Construction costs ranged from $6,000 to
$12,000, with the more expensive dwellings
incorporating architectural details such as molded
cornices with modillions and front porticos. One
notable exception was the house at 3210 Davenport
Street NW that Smith designed as a large, three-bay,
Colonial Revival-style, stone house with a hipped roof
pierced by three dormers. On the first story, the house
had two multi-paned, bay windows that flanked a center 2927 Northampton Street NW; 1935
door with a molded, stone surround. District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

In the 1930s and early 1940s, Robert K. Smith designed

houses for private individuals and two other
developers—the Wesmond Building & Investment
Company and the Barnaby Woods Development
Company. The houses that Smith designed during this
period were very similar to those that he designed for
Paul T. and M.L. Stone. One exception was the house
at 5151 Palisade Lane that was designed for Barnaby
Woods. Larger in size than most that Smith designed,
the Colonial Revival-style, five-bay, brick house with a
gable roof features a center bay with an elaborate door
surround flanked by hexagonal windows on the first
story and a recessed porch area on the second story.
3210 Davenport Street NW; 1940
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

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In 1942 and 1943, Smith designed a number of flats and

garden-style, low-rise apartment buildings in the East
Washington Heights neighborhood of Southeast D.C.
For the South Washington Development Company,
Smith designed Colonial Revival-style, two-story garden
apartments with center entrances and low-pitched, hip
roofs (432 33rd Street SE and 3301 Ely Place SE). The
Bradbury Development Company (builder Harry P.
Giddings) commissioned Smith to design duplexes
(5100 blocks of Hanna Place SE and H Street SE; 740
& 742 51st Street SE). These two-story, brick buildings
featured flat roofs and a header course above the
second-story windows that extended the width of the 5151 Palisade Lane NW; 1941
building. Designed for H. P. Giddings, Smith’s flats District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
featured a decorative brick, dentilled, string course
above the second-story windows; the duplexes and the
two-story, garden-style apartments have center entrances and flat roofs (741 & 747 51st Street SE; 5000 blocks of
Hanna Place SE and H Street SE). From Smith’s
designs, E.D.H.
Construction Company built rows of two-story, brick,
garden-style flats with flat roofs and simple, brick string
course above the second-story windows (700 & 800
blocks of 51st Street SE; 5000 blocks of Hanna Place SE
and H Street SE).

After 1943, there is no known record of Robert K.

Smith working as an architect in D.C. In 1999, he died
in Wichita, Kansas.

5025 Hanna Place SE; 1942

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it

Smith, Robert K. Page 3 of 4

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Obituary Publication: Not found. Date: n/a Page: n/a

Other Sources:
Kansas State Agricultural College Yearbook, 1929 (Google Books).
Social Security Death Index. Ancestry.com.
Notes:
Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include permits until
1949. It is not known if Robert K. Smith was active as an architect after 1949. Any actual permit numbers after 1949
are not reflected here.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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John L. Smithmeyer
Biographical Data
Birth: 1832 Place: Vienna, Austria
Death: 3/12/1908 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family:
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs
Apprenticeship: Chicago, IL (1850s) Division, Washington, DC
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1879 Latest Permit: 1886 Total Permits: 8 Total Buildings: 10
Practice Position Date
Practice in Indianapolis Architect 1860s
Superintendent of public buildings in the
Office of U.S. Supervising Architect 1869-1872
South
Potomac Terra Cotta Works Manager (believed to be) c. 1872
Smithmeyer & Co. President/ Architect 1875-1876
J. L. Smithmeyer & Co. President/Architect 1877-1884
Smithmeyer & Pelz Partner/Architect 1888-1889
John L. Smithmeyer President/Architect 1890-1908
Superintendent for Building Inspector
District of Columbia c. 1904-c. 1907
Snowden Ashford
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1875 Fellow of the AIA: 1886
Other Societies or Memberships: Founder and first President of the Washington Chapter/AIA, served three terms
as its President, 1902-1904
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Academic, government, hospitals, institutional, residential, hotels, bridges
Styles and Forms: Beaux-Arts Classicism, Romanesque Revival, Greek Revival, Queen Anne
Work Locations: Capitol Hill; Georgetown; Anacostia; Hot Springs, Ark; Allegany, PA; South Bend, Ind.; Old Point
Comfort, VA
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
NHL NRHP DC Historic
Healy Hall Georgetown University 1876-1881
Site, Within Georgetown HD

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Library of Congress 10 1st Street, SE 1886-1897 NHL DC Historic Site

U.S. Soldiers Home Library
Washington, D.C. 1877-1882 NRHP DC Historic Site
(demolished 1909)
3044 O Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 1882 Georgetown Historic District
Grant Memorial Bridge Washington, D.C.;
1887 NRHP DC Historic Site
(unbuilt) Arlington, Va.
Ruppert Home for the
2300 Good Hope Road, SE 1901 NRHP DC Historic Site
Aged (burned down 1975)
William Ludlow School
Washington, D.C. c. 1904 NRHP DC Historic Site
No longer extant
U.S. Army & Navy Hospital Hot Springs, Ark. ca. 1884 NRHP DC Historic Site
Old Court House South Bend, Ind. ca. 1854 NRHP IN Historic Site
Carnegie Free Library and
Allegheny, Pa. 1887 NRHP PA Historic Site
Music Hall
Hotel Chamberlain
Old Point Comfort, Va. 1890-96 NRHP DC Historic Site
(burned down 1920)

Significance and Contributions

John L. Smithmeyer is best known for his role in designing the Congressional Library (1886-1897), now the Library of
Congress’s Jefferson Building. Born in Vienna in 1832, Smithmeyer came to the United States as a young man and,
with no formal education, served his apprenticeship in Chicago in the 1850s before beginning his professional practice
in Indianapolis in the early 1860s. In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, Smithmeyer enlisted in the United States
Army, and was placed in charge of the Artillery Depot, Indiana District. After the Civil War, Smithmeyer took a
position in the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury as superintendent of public buildings of the South
(1869-1871). Smithmeyer oversaw the construction of several buildings in cities such as Alabama, New Orleans, and
Charleston, South Carolina. After moving to Washington in the early 1870s, Smithmeyer is believed to have worked
for a short period of time as manager of the Potomac Terra Cotta Works in northeast Washington, D.C.

Smithmeyer first achieved minor success as an architect with the commission for the design of a new courthouse in
South Bend, Indiana (built c. 1854). Smithmeyer gained national renown once he and his associate, German-born
architect Paul J. Pelz, won the competition to design the proposed Congressional Library in 1873. However, it wasn’t
until thirteen years later, in 1886, after additional competitions and resubmission of plans, that Congress authorized
construction of the library according to the designs of Smithmeyer and Pelz. During this time, Smithmeyer embarked
on a European tour of major libraries in order
to better improve the firm’s design.
Smithmeyer was appointed architect alone,
but after two years, when he refused to accept
inferior concrete for the foundation, his
commission was revoked. The commission
was awarded to the Army Chief of Engineers,
Brigadier-General Thomas L. Casey, who
then retained Pelz for the preparation of a
new design. However, Pelz was dismissed in
1892 and replaced by the General’s son,
Edward P. Casey. Smithmeyer and Pelz went
Smithmeyer and Pelz Design for the Library of Congress, 1889-1896 to court to secure compensation for their
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, ADE Unit 2043 no. 982 years of work, enlisting the aid of the
Smithmeyer, John L. Page 2 of 5
 DC Architects Directory

American Institute of Architects. In the end, much of their original design was built, even though they were not
involved with the construction supervision.

In Smithmeyer and Pelz’s partnership, Smithmeyer

was primarily responsible for overseeing the firm’s
business side and Pelz, a skilled draftsman, prepared
many of the drawings. In addition to the Library of
Congress, Smithmeyer and Pelz designed a number
of other notable buildings including the Healy
Building at Georgetown University (1876-1881); the
Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Allegheny,
Pennsylvania (1887); the U.S. Army and Navy
Hospital in Hot Springs, Arkansas (ca. 1884); and the
U.S. Soldiers Home Library in Washington, D.C.
(1887-1882, demolished in 1910), as well as several
residences in Washington, D.C. Smithmeyer and
Pelz also designed Hotel Chamberlin in Old Point
Comfort, Virginia for restauranteur and gaming Healy Hall, Georgetown University
magnate John Chamberlin. Built in 1890-96, the Library of Congress, HABS DC 118-3, 1968
massive Queen Anne hotel contained the latest in
amenities, including a bowling alley, shops, and railroad and telegraph offices. The building burned down in 1920.
Plans for the proposed Grant Memorial Bridge, designed to cross the Potomac River in order to facilitate travel
between Washington and Arlington, Virginia, although presented to the House Committee on Public Buildings and
Grounds, were never realized.
When the Smithmeyer and Pelz partnership dissolved in 1889, Smithmeyer continued to practice under his own name,
designing such buildings as the Ruppert Home for the Aged of the District of Columbia (1901). The building, which
opened in 1902, and was named for the German immigrant and philanthropist Christian Ruppert and his wife,
Eleanora, was located on Good Hope Hill, near Anacostia, northwest of the German Orphan Asylum of Anacostia,
and commanded impressive views of Washington and the surrounding area. Circa 1904, Smithmeyer served for a
couple of years as superintendent for District of Columbia
Building Inspector Snowden Ashford.

Smithmeyer, elected a Fellow of the American Institute of

Architects in 1886, was the founder and first president of the
Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects,
serving three consecutive terms as its president from 1902-
1904. Smithmeyer was also author of several brief works on
architecture, including “Suggestions on Library Architecture,
American and Foreign” drawing on his extended European
tour, and “Strictures on the Queen Anne Architecture” and
“Our Architecture and its Defects.” Despite the critical
Hotel Chamberlin, Old Point Comfort, Hampton, success of the Library of Congress, Smithmeyer died
Virginia, Built 1890-96, Burned 1920 destitute in 1908.
Virginia Historical Society

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Additional Images:

1910-1915 Image of the Library at the Armed Historic Image of Carnegie Free
Forces Retirement Home Library of Allegheny
Historical Society of Washington, D.C., General Photograph Allegheny Regional Branch, The Carnegie Library of
Collection Pittsburgh

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives, Washington, DC; The Washington Post (1877-
Other Repositories:
1990). Proquest Historical Newspapers.
Publication: Washington Post
Date: 3/13/1908 Page: -
Obituary: American Architecture & Building News, Vol. 93,
3/25/1908 15-16
Pt. 1
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
Dictionary of American Biography
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 266
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects 91-92
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 562
Other Sources:
Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia, 1875, 1898. Washington, D.C.: R.L. Polk Co., 1875, 1898.
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
Cole, John Y and Henry Hope Reed. The Library of Congress: the Art and Architecture of the Thomas Jefferson Building. New
York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1997.
George, Hardy. "Georgetown University's Healy Building." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 31, No. 3
(Oct., 1972), 208-216.
Historic American Building Survey (HABS), “Georgetown University, Healy Building, Thirty-seventh & O Streets,
Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC, HABS DC,GEO,118
“J.L. Smithmeyer, F.A.I.A.” American Institute of Architects Quarterly Bulletin. 1908-1909, Vol. 9, pg. 38-39.
“The Passing of John L. Smithmeyer, Architect.” Architectural Record, 1908, July Vol. 24, pg. 77-78.
Smithmeyer & Pelz, architect. “Architectural drawings for the Library of Congress,” Washington, D.C. [graphic].
1889-1896. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Smithmeyer, John L. History of the Construction of the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. [Washington, Beresford,
printer] 1906.
Smithmeyer, John L. Page 4 of 5
 DC Architects Directory

Virginia Historical Society. Lost Virginia: Vanished Architecture of the Old Dominion. Online Exhibition, 2001.
http://www.vahistorical.org/exhibits (accessed September 16, 2010).

Notes: Architectural Drawings for the Library of Congress, the Healy Building at Georgetown University, and the
Grant Memorial Bridge are housed at the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Albert Speiden
Biographical Data
Birth: 6/12/1868 Place: Fairfax County, Va. (Alexandria)
Death: 3/22/1933 Place: Manassas, Va.
Family: Wife, Effie Nelson; brother, William Speiden
Education
High School:
College: Columbian College, Washington, D.C. (LL.M. 1888-1890)
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Manassas Museum News, vol. 11 no. 1, 1993.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 62 Date Issued: 4/17/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1898 Latest Permit: 1931 Total Permits: 222 Total Buildings: 402
Practice Position Date
Albert Speiden Clerk, Draftsman, Salesman, Architect 1887-1891
U.S. Patent Office Draftsman 1890s
Speiden Bros. Draftsman 1892-1893
Speiden & Speiden Principal c. 1896-1933

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1920-1933 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Manassas Town Council 1909-1919, Kiwanis Club, Manassas Volunteer Fire
Department
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Movie theaters, churches, apartment buildings, government buildings, single dwellings, rowhouses
Styles and Forms: Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Modern Movement, Spanish Mission Revival, Gothic Revival
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Capitol Hill, and Arlington County, City of Alexandria, and City of Manassas,
VA
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
DC Historic Site, Dupont
The Johnson 1731 20th Street NW 1899
Circle Historic District
DC Historic Site, Dupont
Apartment building 1603 19th Street, NW 1899
Circle Historic District
DC Historic Site, Capitol
Bernard Flats 1018 East Capitol Street, NE 1901
Hill Historic District
DC Historic Site, Mount
The Oakmont 225 Morgan Street, NW 1903
Vernon Sq. Historic District

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Rehabilitation of the
1000 Jefferson Drive, SW 1907 NRHP DC Historic Site
Smithsonian Castle
NRHP for the Manassas
Town Hall, Manassas, Va. 9025 Center Street 1915 Historic District (local historic
district as well)

Significance and Contributions

Speiden & Speiden, Architects, was a successful partnership between brothers William and Albert Speiden. Their
practice was based in Washington, D.C., and they designed houses, churches, government buildings, apartment
buildings, and movie theaters in the Washington metropolitan region. There was a great diversity of styles in the
Speiden designs, ranging from large Colonial Revival houses to modest Craftsman bungalows, and from Gothic
Revival churches to a stone hut weather observatory on the summit of Mt. Whitney in California. William Speiden
died in 1914, but Albert Speiden continued to practice under the name Speiden & Speiden until his death in 1933.
Albert Speiden, the younger of the two brothers, lived in Manassas, Virginia, and designed many of the historically
significant buildings still standing in Old Town Manassas. He is acclaimed as the most prominent architect of the city
of Manassas, honored by the extensive collection of his works archived at the city’s Manassas Museum.

Albert Speiden was born in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 12, 1868. He attended Washington, D.C., public schools
and then went on to earn a law degree in 1890 from what is now
George Washington University (then called Columbian College).
He and his brother William also studied architecture and drafting.
The brothers both worked for the U.S. Patent Office as draftsmen
in the early 1890s before starting their own architectural practice.

The Speidens began working under their own names in 1896 as

Speiden & Speiden, Architects, on G Street, N.W. Speiden &
Speiden is listed as architect for over 400 building permits in the
District, with well over half of them issued before William’s death
in 1914. The partnership’s earliest work in Washington was
primarily focused on dwellings and additions, but also included
larger apartment buildings. Two of Speiden & Speiden’s apartment
buildings designed in 1899 are D.C. Historic Sites in what is now
the Dupont Circle Historic District. The first was 1603 19th St.,
NW, just north of the circle, and the other was The Johnson, just a
few blocks northwest at 1731 20th St., NW. Both structures are
four-story brick buildings designed in the Queen Anne style with
Colonial Revival influences. Just two years later in 1901, the The Johnson, 1731 20th St., NW, 1899,
partners designed Bernard Flats on Capitol Hill (1018 East Capitol Speiden & Speiden drawing
Street, NE). The brick and stone apartment building is again Manassas Museum, courtesy of Virginia Speiden Carper
reflective of the Queen Anne style but with Classical Revival details, such as swag ornamentation over the main
entrance. They also designed The Oakmont Apartments in 1903, a D.C. Historic Site that is in the current Mount
Vernon Square Historic District.

The Speidens always maintained ties with their home state of Virginia and they worked extensively in Washington’s
northern Virginia suburbs. The Arlington County neighborhoods of Lyon Park and Lyon Village, created under the
direction of developer Frank Lyon, retain several of Albert Speiden’s house designs from c. 1920. These
neighborhoods are both listed in the National Register of Historic Places in large part for their architectural
significance. One of his best Spanish Mission Revival designs was the private home of Frank Lyon; the house known
as Lyonhurst (4651 25th Street North, now known as Missionhurst) was completed in 1907 and was the first house in
Arlington County to use electricity. Speiden’s work in the Rosemont neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia, which
dates from 1908 to 1930, is also largely extant and includes examples of his unique octagonal layouts of second-floor
Speiden, Albert Page 2 of 5
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rooms.

Speiden & Speiden consistently

designed rowhouses, attached, and
detached houses in Northeast and
Northwest Washington for many
different owners and builders. A
noteworthy example of a detached
dwelling by Speiden & Speiden is 2112
19th St., NW (1910), a contributing
building in the Washington Heights
Historic District. This building is an First brick commercial building in Clarendon, Va.
example of Spanish Revival style, Plans for Jacob Bernstein by Speiden & Speiden, 1908.
constructed of brick clad in stucco and Washington Post, December 13, 1908, R2.
covered by a hipped Spanish tile roof with a centered dormer window and overhanging eaves. A hood mold with
ornate, heavy wood brackets marks the main entrance (see drawing below).

Speiden & Speiden’s architectural legacy is not limited to residential buildings. Of their over 2,000 designs in Virginia
and Washington, D.C., some of their most notable include civic, commercial, cultural and religious buildings. There is
evidence that in 1907 they worked on one of the rehabilitation efforts for the Smithsonian Castle on the National
Mall. Then, in 1908, the Washington Post credited Speiden & Speiden with designing the second brick building ever
erected in Clarendon, Virginia. It would be the first brick building in Clarendon used for business purposes. In 1911,
their portfolio became yet more diverse when the Washington Post reported that Speiden & Speiden designed the new
headquarters of the Perpetual Building Association’s offices at 11th and E Streets, NW. Finally, while moderately
sized church designs were common for Speiden & Speiden, Albert Speiden’s last church design in the District was his
grandest. It was for the Mount Pleasant Methodist Episcopal Church in 1916, and it stands in what is now the Mount
Pleasant Historic District at 3146 16th St., NW. The church is a monumental Classical Revival-style building, most
recently owned by Meridian Hill Baptist Church. It was damaged by fire in 2008, but still stands (see below).

Albert Speiden’s personal life also affected his career in architecture.

In 1901, he married Effie Lee Nelson, daughter of the clerk of the
Prince William County court. When the court moved to the city of
Manassas near the turn of the twentieth century, Nelson purchased a
large lot on Battle Street and deeded a parcel to Albert and Effie to
build their home. As of 1904, the couple was living on Battle Street in
a house of Albert’s design, which included influences of the then-
fashionable Craftsman and Colonial Revival styles. During this early
period, Speiden commuted into Washington every day on the
Southern Railroad train, which divided the city. Albert Speiden had a
considerable impact on the growth of the city of Manassas through his
designs for many important buildings there—he designed the Town
Hall at 9025 Center Street (1915, see below), Hopkins Candy Factory
(1922, 9419 Battle Street), Old National Bank (1911, 9366 Main
Street), the Old People’s National Bank (1904, 9110 Center Street), the
Colonial Revival-style Hibbs and Giddings Store (1911, 9129 Center
Street), Trinity Episcopal Church at 9328 Battle Street (1922), the Old Albert Speiden House, 9320 Battle St.,
Manassas Baptist Church (1905, 9010 Center Street), Grace United Manassas, Va.
Methodist Church (1926, 9350 Main Street), and many of the EHT Traceries, 2005.
suburban residences.

Albert Speiden enrolled in the American Institute of Architects in 1920 and registered as an architect in the District of

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 DC Architects Directory

Columbia in 1925. He died in Manassas in 1933; the house he designed and built stayed in the family for decades. In
2006, his daughter Virginia Speiden Carper donated the house on Battle Street to the city’s Manassas Museum System.
She also gave the museum over 700 of her father’s architectural drawings and sketches.

Additional images:

Speiden & Speiden drawing for 2112 19th St., NW.

Manassas Museum, courtesy of Virginia Speiden Carper.
3146 16th St., NW, 1916. For Mt. Pleasant M.E. Church
DCPropertyQuest, 2004

Manassas Town Hall, Center St.,

Manassas, Va., 1915
EHT Traceries, 2005

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 3/23/1933 Page: 4
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 270
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Albert Speiden Application for Registration to Practice Architecture. District of Columbia Archives, Washington,
D.C., 1925.
Edwards, David A. Manassas Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Richmond, Va.: Virginia
Division of Historic Landmarks, 1988.
“Erecting Business Building.” Washington Post, December 13, 1908, R2.
Goodman, Christy. “This Old House Gets a New Lease on Life.” Washington Post, December 31, 2006, T1.
Grandine, Katherine correspondence with Virginia Speiden Carper, daughter of Albert Speiden. Traceries research,
1988.
Harvey, Doug. “Designing Men: Albert and William Speiden, Architects.” Word from the Junction; The Manassas Museum
News. Vol. 11, No. 1, 1993.
Manassas Museum, 9101 Prince William Street, Manassas, VA, Roxana Adams, Curator.
Trieschmann, Laura V., et al. Washington Heights Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form.
Washington, D.C.: EHT Traceries, 2006.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Robert Stead
Biographical Data
Birth: 01/27/1856 Place: New York, NY
Death: 12/19/1943 Place: Philadelphia, PA
Family: Married to Mary Force (1882, d. 1885); married Cynthia
Force
Education
High School:
College: New York City College (Graduated in 1874)
Graduate School: Studied at an atelier associated with the Ecole des
Beaux Arts in Paris, France
Apprenticeship: William Appleton Potter (New York);
Source: AIA Archives
Perouse de Monclos (Paris)
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1882 Latest Permit: 1906 Total Permits: 38 Total Buildings: 67
Practice Position Date
U.S. Treasury Draftsman/Architect 1875- ca. 1884
Private Practice Architect 1884-1923
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1889 Fellow of the AIA: 1889
Other Societies or Memberships: Founding member of the Washington Chapter of the AIA and served as its
President in 1895-1896.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, Schools, Churches, Office Buildings
Styles and Forms: Romanesque Revival
DC Work Locations: Logan Circle
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Epiphany Chapel/Mission House 12th and C Streets, SW 1891/1906 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Maltby Apartment House 200 New Jersey Ave., NW 1887 Demolished
The Metzerott Building 1110 F Street NW 1894 Demolished
St. James’ Rectory 224 8th Street NW 1898 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Lovejoy School 400 12th St. NE 1901 NRHP DC Historic Site
Bowen School 3rd and K Streets, SW 1902 Demolished

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Robert Stead, a native of New York City, was educated at the City College of New York. After graduating in 1874, he
traveled to Europe and studied architecture at an atelier associated with the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He returned to
New York City to work as a draftsman, but moved to Washington in 1875 to take a position in the office of the
Supervising Architect of the Treasury. Over nearly a decade at the Treasury, Stead worked under Supervising
Architects William Appleton Potter and James G. Hill. Stead would later apply for the position of Supervising
Architect in 1897, but was passed over in favor of James Taylor Knox.

In 1882, Stead married Mary Force, the daughter of

William Q. Force, the renowned American history
scholar and head of the Meteorological Department of
the Smithsonian Institution. Robert and Mary Force
Stead were prominent in Washington social circles.
Mary Force Stead died in 1895; Robert Stead later
married her sister, Cynthia Force. Stead had five
children. His eldest son, William Force Stead (1884-
1967) became a renowned poet, scholar, and clergyman.
Another son, Manning Force Stead, followed his father
into the architecture profession.

In 1884, Stead established his own firm and began

designing single-family residences in the downtown area
The Lovejoy School, 400 12th St., NE and in Dupont Circle. His practice soon expanded to
Historical Society of Washington, photo by Emil A. Press, PR 1672A include apartments, schools, offices, and apartments. In
1900, Stead was appointed by the Engineer Commissioner to a three-architect panel (along with Clarence L. Harding
and C. A. Didden) to assist the Inspector of Buildings in preparing plans for pubic schools.

According to Withey’s Biographical Dictionary of American Architects, his notable works include the Rectory for St. James
(1898), a Mission House and Chapel for the Church of the Epiphany (1891 and 1906), the Elizabethan-style Lovejoy
School (1901), the Bowen School (1902), buildings for the Mount Vernon Seminary, an office building at 2307-2309
G Street, N.W., and numerous residences in Washington and the surrounding areas.

Stead was a founding member of the Washington Chapter of the AIA and served as its President in 1895-1896. After
1923, Stead moved his practice to Philadelphia where he spent his remaining years. Robert Stead died in 1943. In his
will, Stead left $80,000 to the District for a playground to be named after his first wife. Mary Force Stead Playground
is located near 16th and P Streets, NW.

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 5 articles
National Cyclopedia of American Biography Vol. 9 332
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 273
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 38-39 1921-22 368
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 567-68
Other Sources:

“Building Inspector’s Plans,” The Washington Post, 18 June 1899, 11.

Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
“Funeral of Mrs. C. F. Stead,” The Washington Post, 14 July 1918, 13.
“Site for Stead Playground is Approved,” The Washington Post, 22 March 1949, B2.
“The New Epiphany Mission Chapel,” The Washington Post, 31 Mary 1891, 10.
“The Stead-Force Wedding,” The Washington Post, 11 April 1882, 4.
“Three Architects Appointed,” The Washington Times, 16 June 1900, 7.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

David Louis Stern

Biographical Data
Birth: 3/26/1888 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 8/31/1969 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Married Marie E. Lucas, 1924; brother, Alfred Stern; sister,
Leona S. Weber
Education
High School: McKinley Technical High School
College: George Washington University
Graduate School: Corcoran Art School
Source: Washington Star, 8/30/1930, reproduceed in
Apprenticeship: Goode, Best Addresses
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 69 Date Issued: 4/27/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1919 Latest Permit: 1940 Total Permits: 150 Total Buildings: 276
Practice Position Date
Stern & Tomlinson Partnership 1919-1926
David L. Stern Architect 1926-1936
David L. Stern Construction Company Architect and Builder 1936-1969

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Washington Hebrew Congregation, Woodmont Country Club, Town and
Country Club
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings, row houses
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Gothic Revival, various exotic revival styles, Art Moderne
DC Work Locations: Upper Connecticut Ave., Adams-Morgan, Dupont Circle, Sixteenth Street, Northeast and
Southeast
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Argonne 1629 Columbia Road NW 1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
Windemere and Harrowgate 1825, 1823 New Hampshire Ave., NW 1925 Strivers’ Section Historic Dist.
Lombardy 2019 I St. NW 1927 NRHP DC Historic Site
Ponce de Leon 4515 Connecticut Avenue, NW 1928 NRHP DC Historic Site
Oaklawn Terrace 3620 16th St. NW 1929 NRHP DC Historic Site
4801 Connecticut Avenue 4801 Connecticut Avenue, NW 1938 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

David L. Stern was born in Washington, D.C., in 1888. He was of German extraction and the son of Louis Stern, one
of the early rabbis of the Washington Hebrew Congregation. Educated in local public schools, Stern attended the
George Washington University, but did not complete his studies before finding employment in a local firm of
architects. After serving in World War I, Stern resumed his architectural career. In 1919, Stern collaborated on the
first apartment house documented as his work in conjunction with Frank Tomlinson. The two formed a partnership,
which lasted seven years. The firm designed 63 apartment buildings during the years 1919 to 1926.

In 1926, the partnership dissolved. Each architect continued to design apartment buildings on his own: 21 have been
identified as having been designed by Stern and 12 have been identified as having been designed by Tomlinson. Stern
established the David L. Stern Construction Company in about 1936 and remained as its head, even while semi-
retired, until his death in 1969.

World War I not only interrupted Stern’s architectural career, it dramatically curtailed the amount of housing
constructed in the city of Washington during the war and afterwards. Because the war effort consumed most of the
civilian industrial capacity, there were severe shortages of materials, including building materials. Meanwhile the
population in Washington, D.C., increased dramatically because of the war-spurred expansion of the federal
government. Consequently, there was a large demand for housing when civilian construction resumed in the early
1920s. Architects, builders, and developers rushed to fill the void and the decade of the 1920s experienced a
burgeoning of both apartment buildings and single-family housing.

Between 1919 and 1929, 737

apartment buildings were
constructed in the city of
Washington, DC. Of these, 77
(more than ten percent) were
designed by the firm of Stern &
Tomlinson or by Stern in his
private practice.

In late 1919, when Stern and

Tomlinson formed their
partnership, their first design,
3115 Mount Pleasant Street, was
stylistically consistent with
apartment building design
prevalent before the war. It is a
moderately-scaled, four-story
apartment building with
projecting bay windows. Its Windemere and Harrowgate Apartments, 1825-1833 New Hampshire Ave., NW
detailing is Colonial Revival. EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

Between 1919 and 1922, Stern and Tomlinson continued to design modest three-, four-, and five-story apartment
buildings, each accommodating fewer than 30 families. These buildings show an evolution in stylistic direction
toward simpler, plainer, flatter façades utilizing the classical vocabulary. Their ornamentation is generally confined to
the main entrance, the cornice line, and sometimes incorporates quoining and beltcoursing.

In 1922, Stern and Tomlinson began to design larger apartment buildings. The first was the Shawmut at 2200 19th
Street, NW, accommodating 71 families. In the same year, they designed the Argonne at 1629 Columbia Road, NW,
to house 242 families. The Argonne is the largest apartment building the partners designed together. Throughout
their partnership, Stern and Tomlinson preferred Classical Revival architectural motifs, although they did explore
Stern, David L. Page 2 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

more exotic stylistic influences at the end of their partnership. One of the last commissions designed by the
partnership, and perhaps the most striking examples of their work together, are the Gothic Revival style twin
buildings, the Windemere (1825 New Hampshire Avenue, NW), and the Harrowgate (1833 New Hampshire Avenue,
NW) designed in 1925 for Washington real estate developer A. Joseph Howar.

In 1926, after Stern opened his own architectural office, his apartment building designs for approximately the next
two years continued to use the restrained Classical Revival design elements of his earlier buildings. Then, between
1928 and 1930, Stern began to design large luxury apartment buildings using a variety of architectural motifs. These
buildings include: the Ponce de Leon at 4515 Connecticut Avenue, NW; the Lombardy at 2019 I Street, NW; the
Sedgwick at 1722 19th Street, NW; the Frontenac at 4550 Connecticut Avenue, NW; and Oaklawn Terrace at 3620
16th Street, NW. This group of buildings forms the core of Stern’s most interesting work and the buildings for which
he is most remembered. Many of these buildings were both designed and built by Stern himself or in collaboration
with A. Joseph Howar, who worked closely with Stern during this time.

Of his luxury apartment buildings, the Ponce de Leon is the one that Stern chose for his own residence. He resided
there until 1933 when he moved to the Broadmoor at 3601 Connecticut Avenue.

Following the stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent building bust during the early 1930s, few buildings were
constructed in Washington, D.C. Stern himself was involved in financial difficulties when the firm of Swartzell,
Rheem, Hensley et al., the original financial backers of the Ponce de Leon (as well as other apartment buildings), went
bankrupt. Apparently these financiers illegally released
the building, allowing Stern to sell the building early in
1929. Consequently, when the bankruptcy proceedings
started, the title to the Ponce de Leon became a
contested issue.

In 1936, Stern founded his own construction company

and continued to design and construct buildings until his
death in 1969. The majority of his pre-World War II
buildings that have been identified are plain brick
structures with little ornamentation, typical of the 1930s
and 1940s construction. One notable exception is 4801
Connecticut Avenue, NW, which is a striking Art
Moderne design built in 1938. In 1939 and 1940, as the
defense build-up was beginning, Stern designed and built
modest row housing in Northeast and Southeast
Washington for several developers including Bolling
Heights, Inc. During the World War II, when residential
construction was limited to defense housing he
constructed two- and three-story apartment buildings in
Southeast Washington designed by other architects. At
the end of World War II, Stern moved his offices to
Northern Virginia. Few of his post-World War II works
Ponce de Leon, 4515 Connecticut Ave, NW, 1929 have been identified.
DC State Historic Preservation Office, NR Nomination, 1994

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Washington Star Date: 9/1/1969 Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page

Stern, David L. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

American Architects Directory – not in it

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 274-5
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Proctor, John Clagett, ed. Washington Past and Present: A History. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc.,
1930., v. 4, 501.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Francis P. Sullivan
Biographical Data
Birth: 6/25/1885 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 2/3/1958 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: In 1911, married Villette Anderson (b. ca. 1888 in Norfolk,
VA); Daughter Mannevillette Sullivan (b. 1913)
Education
High School: Georgetown Preparatory School, 1900
College: Georgetown University (B.A., 1904)
Graduate School: George Washington University (GWU), School of
Engineering (1903-1904); GWU, School of Architecture (1904-1908)
Francis P. Sullivan, ca. 1946 (AIA Archive; Roster File
Apprenticeship: Office of Nathan C. Wyeth, 1904- ca.1909 of Francis P. Sullivan)

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 125 Date Issued: 7/17/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1912 Latest Permit: 1947 Total Permits: 33 Total Buildings: 44i
Practice Position Date
Wyeth & Cresson Intern/Apprentice 1904-1909
Nathan C. Wyeth, Architect Designer, Principal assistant 1909-1917
Francis P. Sullivan Independent work 1912-1917
U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant, Ordnance Department 1917-1918
Capt., Officers’ Reserve Corps (O.R.C.;
U.S. Army 1919-1920
predecessor to the Army Reserve)
U.S. Army Capt.; Major, Finance Department, O.R.C. 1920-192??
U.S. Post Office Department Comptroller 1922-1926
Allied Architects of Washington, D.C., Inc. Member 1925-19??49??
Wyeth & Sullivan Partner 1924--1934
Francis P. Sullivan Independent architect 1934-1955
Sullivan, Smith & Burcham Principal 1955-ca.1958
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1920-51, 1955-58 Fellow of the AIA: 1939
Other Societies or Memberships: President, Washington, D.C. Chapter, AIA (1933); Chair of AIA’s Committee on
the National Capital; President, Cleveland Park-Cathedral Heights Citizens’ Association; Secretary, Allied Architects of
Washington, D.C., Inc.; Central Technical Committee, Civil Defense, D.C.; District Engineer Air Raid Shelter Service;
Chair of Committee on Cultural Development, Washington Board of Trade; Committee of 100 on the Federal City;
Executive Committee, Washington Round Table; Member, D.C. Board of Examiners & Registrars of Architects;
Member, Cosmos Club, Columbia Historical Society, and Society of Architectural Historians; Author, The Portion of a
Champion (1915, fiction); Author of various journal articles on architecture & city planning.
Awards or Commissions: 1929 – Washington Board of Trade Merit Award for Design of Residence of Supreme
Court Justice Harlan F. Stone, (24th & Wyoming Ave., NW); Delegate to International Congress of Architects, Paris,
France, 1937.

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Buildings

Building Types: Dwellings, Office Buildings, Hospitals; Public Buildings

Styles and Forms: Colonial and Classical Revivals; Tudor Revival

DC Work Locations: Foggy Bottom, Capitol Hill, Washington Heights, DuPont Circle, Massachusetts Avenue,
Sheridan Kalorama
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Columbia Hospital for Women 2425 L Street, NW 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site
Loudoun County Hospital Leesburg, Virginia 1917-1918 NRHP DC Historic Site
Residence of Supreme Court
NRHP DC Historic Site
Justice Harlan F. Stone (now 2340 Wyoming Ave., NW 1926
Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District
the Embassy of Afghanistan)
Childrens’ Country Home 1731 Bunker Hill Road, NE 1929 NRHP DC Historic Site
East Wing Addition to Russell Constitution Avenue and 1st
1932-1933 NRHP DC Historic Site
Senate Office Building Street, NE
Carrollsburg Housing Project
SE – Squares 798-800; 824-825 1940 Demolished post 2004
(for Alley Dwelling Authority)
Reconstruction of House and
Senate Chambers, U.S. Capitol U.S. Capitol Building 1949-1950 NRHP DC Historic Site
(with Architect of the Capitol)
Significance and Contributions
Native Washingtonian Francis P. Sullivan practiced architecture in the city for more than 50 years. Over the
course of his career, he worked closely with one of D.C.’s best-known architects, Nathan C. Wyeth, whom
he joined in a partnership from 1924-1934. The firm of Wyeth & Sullivan designed numerous mansions for
wealthy Washingtonians, mainly in Northwest Washington. In addition, the firm and Sullivan alone worked
on hospitals, office buildings, and smaller dwellings.

Born in 1885 in Washington, D.C., Francis Paul Sullivan was the fourth
child of Thomas J. and Mary Collier Sullivan. Thomas J. Sullivan (1845-
1908) was a lawyer and accountant who served as the Assistant Director of
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for 25 years and as Director for the
last two years of his life. Francis P. Sullivan attended Georgetown
Preparatory School and then entered Georgetown University, where he
obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1904. Between 1904 and 1908,
Sullivan studied first engineering and then architecture at George
Washington University.

After completing college and while he attended graduate school, Sullivan

worked as a draftsman and apprentice in the architecture firm of Wyeth and
Cresson. Soon after completing his graduate studies, he was promoted to
Thomas V. Sullivan House, designer and principal assistant in the now independent office of Nathan C.
1851 Vernon Street, NW (1912) Wyeth. He served as principal assistant to Wyeth in the design of the
District of Columbia Office of Swedish Legation (location unknown), the Franklin and Emily MacVeagh
Planning; 2004 House (later the Mexican Embassy at 2827 16th Street NW, 1910),
Emergency Hospital & Dispensary (1711 New York Avenue NW, 1914), and the Loudoun County Hospital
in Virginia.ii While working for Wyeth, Sullivan completed independent work, most of which was designing
buildings for family members, including a two-story, brick row house in the Kalorama neighborhood for his
Sullivan, Francis P. Page 2 of 6
 DC Architects Directory

brother, Thomas V. Sullivan, at 1851 Vernon Street NW (1912).

During World War I, Sullivan joined the U.S. Army and became a Captain in the Ordnance Branch of the
War Department. After the war ended in 1918, he remained employed by the War Department where he
was in charge of auditing war contracts. He left the War Department in 1922 to become Comptroller for the
U.S. Post Office Department.

In 1924, Francis Sullivan returned to architecture and formed a

partnership with Nathan C. Wyeth. Wyeth & Sullivan (1924-
1934) executed many important residential and public
commissions. Most of the residences were completed for
wealthy clients and were executed in popular academic eclectic
styles, such as Neo-Classical and Tudor or French Renaissance
Revival. Among the firm’s most important residential works is
the large, Classical-Revival-style, brick mansion at 2340
Wyoming Avenue NW. Built in 1926 for Supreme Court
Justice Harlan F. Stone, since 1946 the former dwelling has
Residence of Justice Harlan F. Stone (now
housed the Embassy of Afghanistan. Designs for several more the Embassy of Afghanistan) Designed
residences for prominent Washingtonians followed, including a Wyeth & Sullivan, 1926.
Tudor Revival house for Clarence A. Aspinwall executed in AIA “Questionnaire for Architects’ Roster,” Washington,
1928 (2340 Kalorama Road NW); a 38-room mansion for D.C., 12 August 1946 (AIA Archive)
Duncan Phillips, the founder of the Phillips Collection and influential modern art collector (near Foxhall
Road across from GWU Mt. Vernon Campus; designed in 1928; completed 1930; demolished 1988iii); and a
grand, Georgian Revival-style residence for Assistant Director of the Office of Naval Communications and
later Rear Admiral Paul Henry Bastedo and his wife Helen 3055 Whitehaven Street NW (1929).

During the same period, Wyeth & Sullivan executed some

prominent non-residential commissions including the Children’s
Country Home, a school and residence for convalescent children
located 1731 Bunker Hill Road NE (1929-1930; listed on the
National Register in 2003), and several Sullivan-led hospital
designs, including the Columbia Hospital for Women and the
Loudoun County, Virginia Hospital. In 1931, the Washington
Board of Trade recognized the Children’s Home as the
“Outstanding Building of the Year.” In the 1930s, Sullivan acted Children’s Country Home, 1731 Bunker
as consulting architect for the Architect of the Capitol David Hill Road (Wyeth & Sullivan, 1929)
Lynn; in this capacity, he designed the East Wing addition to the Wikipedia.org – Author: Farragutful, 15 October
2011.
Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill (1932-1933).

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In addition to running his own firm, Sullivan was active with an

innovative design collaborative called The Allied Architects of
Washington, D.C., Inc. In 1925, Horace Peaslee and other
prominent members of the D.C. Chapter of the American
Institute of Architects (AIA) formed the Allied Architects of
Washington, D.C., Inc., a loose confederation of prominent local
architects who banded together to pursue large public and semi-
public commissions in the city. Modeled on a similar
architectural group started in Los Angeles in 1919, the Allied
Architects worked collaboratively, sometimes holding internal
Bastedo Residence, 3055 Whitehaven St. design competitions and then selecting and combining the best
NW (1929) elements of the winning designs. The group’s bylaws provided
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
for one-fourth of the corporation’s net proceeds to be spent on
efforts to advance architecture in the District of Columbia and to educate the public about good design.

The Allied Architect’s most prominent commission was the

design for the Longsworth House Office Building (first design
submitted 1925; completed 1933). Other designs and studies
pursued by the group included the never-built National Stadium
on East Capitol Street; the D.C. Municipal Center; designs for a
downtown Naval Hospital; the Naval Academy Memorial Gates;
a D.C. National Guard Armory proposal; design and planning
studies of Georgetown; alleys in D.C.; and a study for the
beautification of East Capitol Street. The Allied Architects
disbanded in 1949. The known members of Allied Architects
were: Horace Peaslee, Louis Justement, Gilbert LaCoste Rodier, East Wing of Senate Office Building
Frank Upman, Nathan C. Wyeth, Percy C. Adams, Robert F. (1932-1933, Sullivan consulting architect)
AIA “Questionnaire for Architects’ Roster,” Washington,
Beresford, Fred H. Brooke, Ward Brown, Appleton P. Clark, D.C., 12 August 1946 (AIA Archive).
William Deming, Jules Henri deSibour, Edward W. Donn, Jr.,
William Douden, W.H. Irwin Fleming, Benjamin C. Flournoy, Charles Gregg, Arthur B. Heaton, Arved L.
Kundzin, Luther M. Leisenring, O.Harvey Miller, Victor Mindeleff, Thomas A. Mullett, Fred V. Murphy,
Fred B. Pyle, George N. Ray, Fred J. Ritter, Delos H. Smith, Alex H. Sonneman, Francis P. Sullivan, Maj.
George O. Totten, Leonidas P. Wheat, Jr., and Lt. Col. George C. Will [member information from C. Ford
Peatross, ed., Capital Drawings: Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C., from the Library of Congress (Baltimore,
MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), pp. 36-38 and fn 39].

Sullivan was a respected member of the architecture profession in Washington, D.C.; he held several
leadership positions in both the national AIA and the D.C. Chapter of the AIA. During his tenure as
President of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the AIA in 1933, Sullivan focused attention on pressuring the
D.C. Municipal Architects Office to contract with private architects to design municipal buildings. During
the 1930s, Sullivan also chaired the AIA’s Committee on Public Works where he and others argued that the
Department of the Treasury should, likewise, employ private firms to both instill greater variety and
creativity in federal design and to employ otherwise out-of-work architects. He succeeded in getting the
Treasury to establish a joint committee on which he served to determine how the department’s Procurement
Division and the AIA could collaborate. In addition, Sullivan’s AIA and professional advocacy activities
included chairing the AIA’s Committee on the National Capital, Committee on Public Works, and the
Committee on Interprofessional Relations.

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In 1937, the AIA selected Sullivan as its delegate to the International Congress of Modern Architecture
(a.k.a. CIAM – Congres International d’Architecture Moderne), an organization of European architects
founded in 1928 by prominent modern designers Le Corbusier and Sigfried Giedion to promote and
disseminate the principles of the Modern Movement in design and city planning. The topic of focus at the
1937 conference held in Paris, France was “Dwelling and Recovery.” Sullivan’s trip to France and his
exposure to Modern design and housing principles may have
influenced his 1940 design of a public housing development for
the D.C. Alley Dwelling Authority. Located in the Capitol Hill
neighborhood at K Street and 4th Street SE, the Carrollsburg
Housing Project incorporated a series of simple, brick-and-tile
block , two- and three-story duplexes and apartment buildings
with little to no architectural adornment. All of the buildings
have been recently demolished and replaced by the EYA
development company’s “Capital Quarters” neighborhood Carrollsburg Housing Project, K & 4th
development. Streets SE (Francis P. Sullivan, 1940).
www.jdland.com
In 1939, Sullivan was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, one of the highest levels of
recognition in the profession of architecture. He was recognized for his architectural and civic
accomplishments, including his dedication to promoting the beautification of the Nation’s Capital.

Sullivan was active in local civic organizations, including the Cleveland Park-Cathedral Heights Citizens’
Association, the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, and as chair of the Washington Board of Trade’s
Committee on Cultural Development. He was a published author of one novel and many articles. His
writings covered architecture and city planning topics and were published in both professional and popular
journals such as the Journal of the American Institute of Architects and House Beautiful.

During World War II, Sullivan served on the Central Technical Committee for Civilian Defense in
Washington, D.C. and as district engineer for the Air Raid Shelter Service. He continued to work during the
war, designing an admissions department addition to Children’s Hospital at 1216 W Street NW (former
location of Children’s National Medical Center). In 1947, he designed a modernist style residence for Robert
Whitely in Woodley Park (2550 28th Street NW). According to one source, in 1955, Sullivan formed a new
partnership with Delos H. Smith and Joseph W. Burcham called Sullivan, Smith & Burcham. Sullivan died
in 1958 after a long illness; he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC- MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it (1946 Roster
Questionnaire available online AIA Historical Architects Directory).
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals –
Sullivan, Francis P. “A Conscientious Artist,” in Pencil Points v.16, Oct. 1935 521-522
Sullivan, Francis P. “Present Status of the Public Works Program,” in
1938 Mar., v. 10 14-16
Octagon

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Biographical Directories (Cont.) Year/Volume Page

Francis P. Sullivan Obituary, AIA Journal 1958 Apr., v.29 181
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it.
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 p. 279
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects-not in it.
1926/27;1929/30;
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital
1934/35; 1938/39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: The Washington Post Date: 2/5/1958 Page: B2
Other Sources:
American Institute of Architects, “Questionnaire for Architects’ Roster,” Washington, D.C., 12 August 1946 (AIA
Archive).
Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Francis P. Sullivan Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Francis P. Sullivan correspondence with the Board. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Williams, Kim. Children’s Country Home NRHP Registration Form, 2003.
Notes: iThe permit counts include all permits issued to the firm of Wyeth & Sullivan and to Francis Sullivan alone.
ii Bushong, et. al., A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter, The American Institute of Architects, 1887-1987

(Washington, D.C.: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987), p. 167; Kim Williams,
“Children’s Country Home,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (National Park Service, October
2003), Section 8, Page 5.
iii According to a 2005 Washington Post article, the 16-acre property is now an enclave of luxury estate homes known

as Phillips Park. Sandra Fleishman, “The Future on Foxhall,” The Washington Post 16 July 2005 (Real Estate
Section).
Georgetown University, Special Collections: Francis P. Sullivan Papers (1825-1945; 4.00 linear feet): Includes file of
proposals and related material, correspondence, printed ephemera, sketches, cyanotype photo prints of
Washington, DC from end of the 19th century.
Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include permits until
1949. Francis P. Sullivan was active as an architect after 1949, so his actual permit numbers are not reflected
here.
The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.
Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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James Knox Taylor

Biographical Data
Birth: 10/11/1857 Place: Knoxville, Illinois
Death: 8/27/1929 Place: Tampa, Florida
Family: Parents: H. Knox and Mary Young Taylor. Married Adele
Chambers, 2/3/1887, no children
Education
High School: Public school, St. Paul, Minnesota
College: Special course in architecture, 1877-79, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: C.C. Haight, Bruce Price, New York, 1879-1882 Source: Lee, Architects to the Nation, 198
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: -- Latest Permit: -- Total Permits: 0 Total Buildings: 0
Practice Position Date
Gilbert and Taylor, St. Paul, Minnesota Partner 1885-1891
Boyden and Taylor, Philadelphia Partner 1892-1895
Office of the Supervising Architect Head draftsman 1895-1897
Office of the Supervising Architect Supervising Architect 1897-1912
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Director, Department of Architecture 1912-1914
Private practice, various locations Principal 1914-1929
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1889 Fellow of the AIA: 1889
Other Societies or Memberships: President, Washington Architectural Club, 1897-98.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, churches, commercial buildings, public buildings

Styles and Forms: Eclectic revival styles in early career, Colonial and Classical revival styles in government career

DC Work Locations:
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
U.S. Court House and Post Office San Francisco, California 1897-1905 NRHP DC Historic Site
U.S. Custom House Portland, Oregon 1898-1901 NRHP DC Historic Site
U.S. Court House and Post Office Butte, Montana 1903-1904 NRHP DC Historic Site
U.S. Court House and Post Office Grand Forks, North Dakota 1905-1906 NRHP DC Historic Site
U.S. Court House and Post Office Atlanta, Georgia 1906-1910 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

James Knox Taylor, as Supervising Architect of the Treasury from 1897

to 1912, promoted academic classicism in the design of federal buildings.
He was widely credited with elevating the quality of federal building
design over the course of his long tenure. As described in 1907 by one
trade magazine, The Brickbuilder, Taylor's incumbency was "a splendid
success in keeping abreast with the spirit of the times," in an era when
many of the best American architects had trained at the Ecole des Beaux
Arts in Paris.

Taylor was born in Knoxville, Illinois, but raised in St. Paul, Minnesota,
where he attended public schools. He studied architecture at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1877 to 1879 where the Atlanta, Georgia, Courthouse
influence of the Ecole des Beaux Arts was already manifest. His www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100000
classmates included Cass Gilbert with whom he later formed a partnership and William Martin Aiken, his predecessor
as Supervising Architect of the Treasury. He then trained in New York under C.C. Haight and later under Bruce Price.
In 1882 he returned to St. Paul to practice and formed a partnership with Cass Gilbert in 1885. Together they
designed residences, churches and office buildings in various revival styles from Norman Romanesque to Colonial.

In 1892, Taylor moved to Philadelphia, his wife's home town and formed a partnership with Amos J. Boyden.
However, in the lean years following the panic of 1893, he successfully sought a position as a draftsman of the Office
of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury under his classmate William Aiken. He rose quickly, becoming head
draftsman by 1897 and, when Aiken resigned that year, Taylor succeeded him as Supervising Architect.

Taylor's appointment coincided with the implementation of legislation, known as the Tarsney Act, which authorized
the Supervising Architect to select private architects, through competitions, to design the federal government's public
buildings. The legislation had long been advocated by the American Institute of Architects. The nation's rapid
population growth and westward expansion had created great demand for post offices, court houses and
customhouses. When Taylor ascended to the position of Supervising Architect it was assumed that the position would
be primarily administrative and that most design work would be shifted to the private sector. However, as
implemented, the larger federal buildings were generally designed by private architects, including some of the nation's
most prominent ones, but several hundred smaller buildings, primarily post offices, were designed within the
Supervising Architect's office under Taylor's direct supervision. Taylor believed that federal buildings should convey a
sense of dignity and he favored buildings designed along the principles expounded by the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Some
of the buildings produced by his office were designed in the Colonial Revival style but most were in the classical
revival styles typical of the Beaux Arts school. Architectural historian Lois Craig quoted Taylor as writing in 1901 that,
"The [Treasury] Department, after mature consideration of the subject, finally decided to adopt the classic style of
architecture for all buildings so far as it was practicable to do so, and it is believed that this style is best suited for
Government buildings. The experience of centuries has demonstrated that no form of architecture is so pleasing to
the great mass of mankind as the classic, or some modified form of the classic, and it is hoped that the present policy
may be followed in
the future, in order
that the public
buildings of the
United States may
become distinctive
in their character."

U.S. Post Office, Muskegon, Michigan, 1904 Post Office, Annapolis, Md.
Lee, Architects to the Nation, 203. Lee, Architects to the Nation, 202

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The buildings designed under Taylor were standardized to some degree according to function and size but varied in
detail. They exhibit the strong symmetry, horizontal emphasis and classical detailing typical of the Beaux Arts school.
The buildings frequently were designed with a three-bay center section flanked by one bay projecting or receding
pavilions. Roofs were generally flat or low hipped, often with a balustrade. The principal variations were in the
architectural detail. By the end of Taylor’s tenure as Supervising Architect, the policy of designing federal office
buildings in classical revival styles was firmly established.

Although, while in Washington, D.C., Taylor's primary responsibility was for federal buildings across the nation, he
was appointed to serve on the District of Columbia Schoolhouse Commission which reported to Congress in 1908 on
the condition of the schools with recommendations on model schools and standards for school construction.

After serving longer than most Supervising Architects Taylor resigned in 1912 to accept a position as professor at his
alma mater, M.I.T. At the time of his retirement the New York Times wrote that Taylor had "administered the affairs of
his office with zeal, integrity, and admirable comprehension of its requirements…. The work of Mr. Taylor has been
exacting and has been performed with large ability. His successor will find it difficult to live up the standard of
excellence he has maintained."

Taylor was soon appointed head of the Architecture Department at M.I.T. and remained for two years. Little is
known of his subsequent career. He moved from place to place, living for a year or two in Philadelphia,
Northampton, Mass., and Yonkers, N.Y., before finally settling in Tampa, Florida where he died in 1929.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: General Services Administration website at www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100000
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 98 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 38-39 1908-09 465
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 592
Other Sources:
Appleton's Encyclopedia of American Biography
Craig, Lois. The Federal Presence: Architecture, Politics, and National Design. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1977.
Lee, Antoinette J. Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office. New York, Oxford
University Press, 2000.
"Mr. J. K. Taylor's Retirement." New York Times, June 10, 1912, 8.
Reinberger, Mark. "James Knox Taylor: The Academic Revival in Federal Architecture." Unpublished manuscript
submitted in the Seminar on Federal Architecture, Cornell University, Spring 1979. Karel Yasko Collection,
General Services Administration Library.
"Work of Supervising Architect Taylor." Brickbuilder 16, no. 5 (May 1907) 79-83.
Notes: When the Western Association of Architects merged with the American Institute of Architects in 1889, all its
members were made Fellows because WAA members were known as Fellows.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Taylor, James K. Page 4 of 4

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William Waverly Taylor, Jr.

Biographical Data
Birth: 1/29/1896 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 5/29/1986 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Father, William; mother, Georgia; brother, Raymond; wife,
Edmee S.; son, Gerald
Education
High School: Technical High School
College: George Washington University, 1915-18
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, March 30, 1930, R3
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 131 Date Issued: April 1926
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1915 Latest Permit: 1945 Total Permits: 76 Total Buildings: 583
Practice Position Date
Albert E. Landvoigt, Architect Draftsman 1914-15
Shannon & Luchs, Inc. Vice President 1915-28
Architect for Operations, Secretary, General
Shannon & Luchs Construction Company 1915-28
Manager
Waverly Taylor, Inc. President 1930-38, 1940-43
Individual practice Architect 1939, 1947-60
W. Waverly Taylor Realtor 1945-46
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Washington Real Estate Board (Pres. 1940-41), Home Builders Association of
Metropolitan Washington (Pres. 1930-41), National Association of Real Estate Boards (Dir., 1934), National
Association of Home Builders (as of 1940)
Awards or Commissions: Shield of Merit from Good Housekeeping for Better Standards in Building, for Rollingwood,
Md., Development, 1937
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, detached houses, semi-detached houses, duplexes, apartment buildings
Styles and Forms: Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Historic Burleith; Foxhall Historic District; Cleveland Park Historic District; Good Hope Hills,
Southeast
Notable Buildings Location Date Status

Burleith Houses R, S, T, 37th, 38th Streets, N.W. 1923-26 NRHP DC Historic Site
Tudor Revival Rowhouses, Foxhall Road, 44th St., P St.,
1928-1934 Foxhall Historic District
Foxhall Village Volta Place, N.W.

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Rollingwood Development Rolling Rd., Chevy Chase, Md. 1937-38 NRHP DC Historic Site
2800-3200 28th St., S.E.; 3000
block 30th St., S.E.; 3100 block
Good Hope Hills Apartments 1943-45 NRHP DC Historic Site
Buena Vista Terrace, S.E. and
Jasper St., S.E.
Carillon House 2500 Wisconsin Ave., N.W. 1950 NRHP DC Historic Site

Significance and Contributions

William Waverly Taylor, Jr., was born on January 29, 1896, as the first-born of William and Georgia Taylor.
According to the 1900 Federal Census for the District of Columbia, the family lived on Eighth Street, N.E., and
Taylor’s father was a book binder. In Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital published in the 1930s, his listing notes that he
was a descendant of President Zachary Taylor. W. Waverly Taylor went to the District’s technical high school, then
known as the McKinley Manual Training School, graduated in June 1914, and then attended George Washington
University beginning in 1915. He studied architecture while at
George Washington, but left before graduating to enter the First
World War in 1918. He served as a pilot in the Air Service.

While he was enrolled at George Washington, Taylor began

working for Shannon & Luchs Construction Company as an
architect. His World War I draft registration card lists this as his
occupation in 1917. After the war he returned to Washington
and continued working for Shannon & Luchs until 1928. He is
listed as architect on over 400 Shannon & Luchs permits for
dwellings in Northwest Washington. During Taylor’s time with
the company, he was the designer for rowhouses in the historic
Burleith neighborhood on R, S, T, 37th and 38th Streets, N.W.,
adjacent to Georgetown. Herbert Shannon of Shannon &
Luchs thought very highly of Taylor’s work. In recommending
Tudor Revival Rowhouses, 4400 Block of Volta Place, Taylor for registration as an architect in Washington, Shannon
Foxhall Village (1931) described him as “exceptionally well qualified” in building
District of Columbia Office of Planning, PropertyQuest, 2004
construction and as having “very excellent” esthetic design skills.

Taylor started his own development firm, Waverly Taylor, Inc., in 1928. William N. Wood of Charlottesville, Va.,
served as Vice President and W. Leroy Saunders, also formerly with Shannon & Luchs, was the Secretary and
Treasurer. The first major project for Waverly Taylor, Inc. was to continue developing Foxhall Village, which fellow
Washingtonian developer Harry Boss had already begun. Boss was inspired by the urban planning of rowhouse
communities after visiting Bath, England, and developed the
first portion of Foxhall Village with his firm Boss and Phelps.
He designed the rowhouses in a Tudor Revival style in reference
to old English villages. Waverly Taylor, Inc. bought the land
adjacent to where Boss and Phelps were developing, and built
the second portion of Foxhall Village in a complementary style.
The Waverly Taylor, Inc. rowhouses in this area are two or two-
and-a-half stories in height, in a Tudor revival style that features
English bond brick and stucco facades. Many of the Waverly
Taylor houses are double-front houses, with stylistic details and
porches both in the front and in the rear. Waverly Taylor, Inc.
developed more than 80 properties just on 44th St., N.W., and
Volta Place, N.W. by 1932. In total, Taylor was responsible for
106 properties in Foxhall Village. Rollingwood House, Waverly Taylor, Inc., (1935)
Washington Post, July 28, 1935, R5

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In the 1940s Taylor worked for the first time in the southeast quadrant of the District, designing attached and
detached dwellings as well as apartments. The Good Hope Hills Apartments, with over 400 units, were the focus of
Waverly Taylor, Inc.’s development in Southeast Washington. The company both owned and operated these
apartments, which were located on 28th St., S.E., 30th St., S.E., Jasper St., S.E., and Buena Vista Terrace.

In 1945 and 1946 Taylor was not listed as an architect, but rather as a realtor. It is evident that Taylor played many
professional roles, but they all related to extensive development of real estate in the greater Washington, D.C. area. In
addition to his work within the District, Taylor also developed in several Maryland suburbs. He received Good
Housekeeping’s Shield of Merit award in 1937 for Better Standards in Building for Waverly Taylor, Inc.’s Rollingwood
houses in Chevy Chase, Md. The Rollingwood houses were built in a picturesque wooded area off of Brookville Road
overlooking Rock Creek Park. In the book Land Use, Structure, and Change in the Western City, Barry Checkoway listed
Taylor as the contemporary of William Levitt as a large builder who was instrumental in postwar suburbanization and
residential development in the United States.

A 1999 article in the Washington Post credits Taylor with

designing the first rental building in the Washington
Metropolitan area to have central air conditioning. The
building, Carillon House at 2500 Wisconsin Avenue,
N.W., was developed by Waverly Taylor, Inc. in 1950
and housed its first tenants in 1951. According to
Taylor’s son Gerald, his father thought that individual
air conditioning units marred the look of the fronts of
buildings, and he wanted to try something different.

According to the American Architect’s Directory,

Taylor was running Taylor Waverly, Inc. from its
offices at 2501 Tunlaw Road, N.W. in the 1950s and
1960s. Taylor and his wife, Edmee S., lived at 1028 Carillon House, developed by Waverly Taylor, Inc. (1950)
Connecticut Avenue, N.W. at least for a short time. DCRealEstate.com, accessed July 15, 2010

Taylor died in 1986 at the age of 90.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
District of Columbia Office of Planning, DCPropertyQuest.dc.gov; Washington Post searched
Other Repositories:
through ProQuest
Death Notice: Publication: Washington Post Date: June 1, 1986 Page: B6
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
1956/1st 553
American Architects Directory
1962/2nd 696
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 283
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it

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1934-35 883-84
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24
1938-39 825
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Assis, Claudia. “The Sky’s the Limit: At Carillon House, History Comes Along with the View.” Washington Post,
September 18, 1999, H1.
Breiseth, Elizabeth, Laura V. Trieschmann, Ellen Jenkins and Janet Flynn. Foxhall Village Historic District National
Register for Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.: EHT Traceries, 2007.
Checkoway, Barry. “Large Builders, Federal Housing Programmes, and Postwar Suburbanization.” In Land Use,
Structure, and Change in the Western City, ed. by Michael Pacione, 37-60. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Hull, Dana. “Foxhall Village: European Hideaway in D.C.” Washington Post, July 20, 1996, E1.
“Shield of Merit Won by Homes in Rollingwood.” Washington Post, January 17, 1937, R1.
Taylor, W. Waverly, Jr. to Board of Examiners and Registrars. Letter correspondence, 1926. District of Columbia,
Board of Examiners and Registrars. W. Waverly Taylor Application for Registration to Practice Architecture.
District of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
The Cherry Tree, 1918. The George Washington University. Yearbook, published by the Board of Editors for 1918.
W. Waverly Taylor Application for Registration to Practice Architecture. District of Columbia Archives, Washington,
D.C., 1926.
Notes: Permit and building totals combine listings for “Waverly, Wm.” (1 permit, 1 building), “Waverly Taylor” (1
permit, 11 buildings), “Waverly Taylor, Inc.” (1 permit, 9 buildings), “Taylor, Waverly” (8 permits, 46 buildings),
“Taylor, W. Waverly” (3 permits, 3 buildings), “Taylor, W. Waverly, Jr.” (60 permits, 489 buildings), “Taylor, W. W.,
Jr., A. B. Heaton Consult” (2 permits, 24 buildings).
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Taylor, W. Waverly, Jr. Page 4 of 4

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Dr. William Thornton

Biographical Data
Birth: 5/20/1759 Place: Tortola, British West Indies
Death: 3/28/1828 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Wife, Anna Maria Brodeau
Education
High School:
College: University of Edinburgh (1781-1784)
Graduate School: University of Aberdeen (Medical Degree received
1784)

Apprenticeship: Source: National Gallery of Art

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: n/a Latest Permit: Total Permits: Total Buildings:
Practice Position Date
Auteur c.1793-c. 1828
District of Columbia Commissioner of the District of Columbia 1794-1802
U.S. Patent Office Superintendent of the U.S. Patent Office 1802-1828
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Vice President of Medical Society of the District of Columbia (1819), Member of
the Medical Society of Edinburgh

Awards or Commissions: Appointed commissioner of the District of Columbia (1794-1802); clerk in the State
Department, in charge of patents and then superintendent of patents (1802-1828); Awarded the Magellanic gold
medal of the American Philosophical Society (1793) for his Cadmus: or, a Treatise on the Elements of Written Language
Buildings
Building Types: Public and federal buildings, domestic architecture (mansions, free-standing dwellings)
Styles and Forms: Plans exhibit elements of Georgian and Federal Style, incorporate use of simple monumental
forms, with clearly-defined and spatially interesting interior volumes
DC Work Locations: Georgetown; Capitol Hill; Fairfax County, VA; Philadelphia, PA
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
1789-1790
Library Company Building Philadelphia, PA NRHP DC Historic Site
(demolished 1880)

United States Capitol Building Washington, D.C. 1793 drawings NHL NRHP DC Historic Site

Octagon House (now of the

Washington, D.C. 1798-1800 NHL NRHP DC Historic Site
AIA)

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 DC Architects Directory

c. 1805-16
(remodeling plans
Tudor Place Washington, D.C. incorporating c. NHL NRHP DC Historic Site
1794 existing
wings)

Woodlawn Fairfax County, Va. c. 1800 NRHP DC Historic Site

Montpelier (James Madison

c. 1800 (date not
House) [work on main portion Orange County, Va. NHL NRHP VA Historic Site
verified)
of mansion]
University of Virginia (assisted
Charlottesville, Va. c. 1819 NRHP DC Historic Site
Thomas Jefferson)

NRHP DC Historic Site

St. John’s Church, Georgetown Washington, D.C. 1807-1809
Within Georgetown HD

Significance and Contributions

William Thornton, self-taught architect, inventor, painter, horse racer, and public official, is best known as the first
architect of the United States Capitol. Born May 20, 1759, in Tortola in the British West Indies, Thornton lived with
his family in the community of the Society of Friends on the small island of Jost van Dyke. At the age of five,
Thornton was sent to England after his father’s death. In 1781, he attended the University of Edinburgh, where he
studied medicine. Thornton ultimately received his medical degree from Aberdeen University in 1784, although he
never practiced medicine professionally. Soon afterwards, he moved to the United States and became an American
citizen, settling in Philadelphia. In 1789, Thornton won the competition to design the Library Company of
Philadelphia, his first public work of distinction. Located on Fifth Street, the building was considered a great success
and stood until 1880.

In 1790, Thornton married Anna

Maria Brodeau, the sixteen-year-old
daughter of a prominent Quaker
family. She was born in England and
was a talented artist in her own right.
After their marriage, Thornton and
his wife moved to Tortola for two
years. During this time, he learned of
the competition to design the United
States Capitol in the newly created
federal city of Washington. After
returning to Philadelphia by 1792,
Thornton revised his initial drawings
of the Capitol, having realized that his
first design was inadequate. By this
time, Thornton had received
Thornton’s proposed east front, U.S. Capitol, ca. 1795-1797 permission to submit his design after
Peatross, Capital Drawings, Plate 2.4, p. 199 the competition deadline, since none
of the formally submitted plans were found suitable. The revised design drew upon work by Etienne Suplice Hallet, a
French professional whose design for the Capitol was deemed the most successful and who had been hired to

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produce additional studies. Thornton’s design, although still unfinished, was recommended by President Washington
for adoption and, in April 1793, Thornton received a formal notice of the acceptance of his plan, for which he
received five hundred dollars and a prime building lot in the city (No. 15 in Square 634). Since Thornton was not a
practicing architect or builder, Hallet was appointed Supervising Architect of the work. Hallet immediately identified
several structural problems and impractical features, highlighting Thornton’s inexperience, which warranted revisions.
This modified plan was accepted in July of 1793.

Thornton was appointed one of the commissioners of the city on September 12, 1794, and moved to Washington,
largely to prevent further changes and alterations to his design. Conflicting opinions over the Capitol’s design,
however, let to the dismissal of Hallet as supervising architect. He was first replaced by James Hoban (1762-1831),
best known as architect of the President’s house, and then, in 1795, by George Hadfield (1764-1826), an Englishman
who had won many architectural prizes in London before coming to Washington. Thorton’s actual connection with
the Capitol ceased when the office of Commissioner was abolished by Congress in 1802. Benjamin Henry Latrobe
(1764-1820), appointed by Jefferson to the post of surveyor of the public buildings, remained in charge of the work.

Thornton also designed several grand residences in

Washington, D.C., and in the surrounding area. The
Octagon House in Washington, D.C., also known as the
John Tayloe House (1789-1800), was designed by Thornton
for John Tayloe of Mount Airy, one of the most powerful
and wealthy planters of Virginia. The mansion incorporated
an unusual design with oval and circular rooms and, since
1898, has served as the headquarters of the American
Institute of Architects. In 1800, Thornton designed
Woodlawn for Lawrence Lewis, who was married to
Eleanor Custis, Washington’s step-granddaughter. Located
in Fairfax, Va., Woodlawn was sited on a large estate with
lawns and gardens that was originally part of Washington’s
Mount Vernon.
c. 1872 Image of the Octagon House
(1741 New York Avenue, N.W.),
Other residential designs included Tudor Place in the oldest known photograph of the house
Georgetown, built for Thomas Peter (Mayor of American Institute of Architects Library and Archives
Georgetown 1789-98) and his wife, Martha Parke Custis,
granddaughter of Martha Washington. Thornton’s c. 1805
design for the elegant mansion incorporated existing wings erected around 1797 and is today considered one of the
foremost Federal-era mansions in the nation. It is believed that Thornton also designed the main portion of President
Madison’s mansion, Montpelier, in Orange County, Va. Thornton was also the architect of St. John’s Church,
Georgetown (3240 O Street, N.W.), completed in 1809. It is the second oldest Episcopal Church in Washington.

In addition to his distinguished architectural work, Thornton’s interests and activities were diverse and extensive. As
one of earliest District Commissioners, he worked closely with President Washington and Major Pierre L’Enfant in
the planning of the Capitol. Jefferson appointed Thornton clerk in the State Department, in charge of patents, and, as
the first patent commissioner, he headed the Patent Office until his death in 1828. Thornton held a number of patents
himself, many dealing with improvements in boilers, stills, firearms, among other devices. He collaborated with both
John Fitch and Robert Fulton in the development of the steam boat. His extensive writings included three
unpublished novels, numerous pamphlets, and his Cadmus: or, a Treatise on the Elements of Written Language (1793), for
which he was awarded the Magellanic gold medal of the American Philosophical Society.

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As well as being an architect,

magistrate and soldier (he was a
Lieutenant, then Captain, in the
War of 1812-14), Thornton was a
painter, sheep breeder, devotee of
horse racing, and humanitarian.
Long an advocate for the abolition
of slavery, Thornton was active in
the liberation of South America
with the dream of uniting North
and South America. Other
activities included supporting a
proposed republic of freemen in
Africa, promoting the construction
of a Panama Canal and a
Washington Monument, and
organizing a fire insurance
company and gold mine. Thornton
died March 28, 1828 in Washington
and is buried in the Congressional
Thornton’s preliminary design for Tudor Place, 1644 31st St., NW, ca. 1808-1811 Cemetery.
Peatross, Capital Drawings, Plate 1.6, p. 186

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 42 articles
Dictionary of American Biography 9 504-506
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects 1982 (Vol. IV) 211
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 598-599
Other Sources:

Allen, Williams C. History of the United States Capitol: A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics. Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Government Printing Office: 2001.
Architect of the Capitol. Accessed October 25, 2010. www.aoc.gov.
Bell, Marian H. Graham. “Sketch of the Life of William Thornton.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Vol. 20
(1917): 225-228.
Brown, Glenn. “The United States Capitol in 1800.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Vol. 4 (1901): 128-134.
Brown, Gordon S. Incidental Architect: William Thornton and the Cultural Life of Early Washington, D.C. 1794-1828. Athens,
Ohio: Ohio University Press: 2009.
Clark, Allen C. “Doctor and Mrs. William Thornton.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Vol. 18 (1915): 144-208.
Thornton, William Page 4 of 5
 DC Architects Directory

Deering Davis, Stephen P. Dorsey and Ralph Cole Hall. Georgetown Houses of the Federal Period, Washington, D.C. 1780-
1830. Architectural Book Publishing Co., 1944.
District of Columbia Historic Preservation Office. District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites. Washington, D.C.
Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, 1995, updated through 2010.
EHT Traceries Vertical Files.
Evans, George W. “The Birth and Growth of the Patent Office.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Vol. 22
(1919): 105-124.
Forgey, Benjamin. “Capitol Designer Frittered His Capital Capitally.” The Evening Star, July 21, 1976, B-1.
“In the Early Days.” The Evening Star, August 29, 1896, pg. 16.
Papers of William Thornton, Volume 1, 1781-1802 edited by C. M. Harris, University Press of Virginia, 1995.
Paulson, George, M.D. and Ruta Bergmanis Paulson, D.D.S. “William Thornton (1759-1828).” Medical Annals of the
District of Columbia, Volume XXIX, No. 1, January 1960.
Peatross, C. Ford, Ed. Capital Drawings: Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C., from the Library of Congress. Baltimore,
Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.
Peterson, Charles E. “Library Hall: Home of the Library Company of Philadelphia 1790-1880.” In the Proceedings of the
American Philosophical Society, Volume 95, No. 3, 1951.
Rusk, William Sener, “William Thornton, Architect,” Pennsylvania History 2 (1935): 86-98.
Thornton, Anna Maria. “Diary of Mrs. William Thornton, 1800-1863.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Vol. 10
(1907): 88-226.
Thornton, William. National Cyclopedia of American Biography, vol. 13, p. 470.
Washington, George. “The Writings of George Washington Relating to the National Capitol (1791-1799).” Records of
the Columbia Historical Society, Vol. 17 Including the Washington Letters (1914): 70-232.

Notes:
There are many more short references to William Thornton in the Records of the Columbia Historical Society, volumes 31-
59. Included in the bibliography are major references from volumes 1-30.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Frank Tomlinson
Biographical Data
Birth: 9/3/1884 Place: Manchester, England
Death: April 1974 Place: West Palm Beach, Fla.
Family: Wife, Beulah Tomlinson
Education
High School: Stockport Technical School, Manchester, England
(1900-04)
College: Manchester, England (1904-1906)
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 52 Date Issued: 4/27/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1910 Latest Permit: 1930 Total Permits: 124 Total Buildings: 185
Practice Position Date
Harry Wardman Draftsman c. 1918-1919
Wardman & Tomlinson Architect, partner 1919
Stern & Tomlinson Architect, partner 1919-26
Frank Tomlinson Principal 1919-30
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings, attached and detached dwellings, rowhouses, stores
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, Mount Pleasant, Strivers’ Section, Shaw, Woodley Park Historic Districts
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Woodley Manor 2827, 2829, 2831 28th St., N.W. 1919 Woodley Park Historic District
The Argonne 1629 Columbia Road N.W. 1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
1825, 1823 New Hampshire
Windemere and Harrowgate 1925 Strivers’ Section Historic District
Ave., N.W.
Congressional House 236 Massachusetts Ave., N.E. 1926 Capitol Hill Historic District
Park Lee Apartments 1630 Park Road, N.W. 1926 Mount Pleasant Historic District
1445, 1451 and 1457 Park 1445, 1451 and 1457 Park 1928,
Road, N.W. Road, N.W. NRHP DC Historic Site
1929

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Significance and Contributions

Frank Tomlinson was born in Manchester, England in 1884. Not much is known about his early life or architectural
training. He first appears as an architect on a Washington, D.C. building permit in 1910. His World War I draft
registration card stated that he was working as a draftsman for Harry Wardman, a prolific Washington rowhouse
designer, in 1918. At that time Tomlinson was
already married to his wife, Beulah.

Wardman & Tomlinson formed a brief

partnership in 1919, and designed 10
apartments that year. Harry Wardman owned
and built all of these apartments, and
Tomlinson was his partner for architectural
plans. Wardman & Tomlinson’s apartment
buildings included Woodley Manor, a group of
three apartment houses that are extant in what
is now the Woodley Park Historic District
(2827, 2829, 2831 28th Street, N.W.).

In late 1919, Tomlinson began working with

David Louis Stern. They established their
Woodley Manor, 2827 28 Street, NW
th architectural firm, Stern & Tomlinson, and
District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004 completed designs for more than 150 buildings
in the District during their seven year
partnership. Their first design, 3115 Mount Pleasant Street, was stylistically consistent with apartment building design
before the war. It is a moderately-scaled, four-story apartment building with projecting bay windows. Its detailing is
Colonial Revival. Between 1919 and 1922, Stern and Tomlinson continued to design modest three-, four-, and five-
story apartment buildings, each accommodating fewer than 30 families. These buildings show a move in stylistic
direction toward simpler, plainer, flatter façades utilizing the classical vocabulary. Their ornamentation is generally
confined to the main entrance, the cornice line, and sometimes incorporates quoining and beltcoursing.

In 1922 Stern and Tomlinson began to design larger apartment buildings. The
first was the Shawmut at 2200 19th Street, N.W., accommodating 71 families.
In the same year, they designed the Argonne at 1629 Columbia Road, N.W.,
that housed 242 families. The Argonne is the largest apartment building that
Stern and Tomlinson designed together. Throughout their partnership, Stern
and Tomlinson preferred Classical Revival architectural motifs, although the
ornamentation was not limited to that genre. The Flagler, now known as
Madison Hall (736 22nd Street), is an apt example of a Stern and Tomlinson
Classical Revival apartment building. One of the last commissions designed
by the partnership, and perhaps the most striking examples of their work
together, are the Gothic Revival style twin buildings, the Windemere (1825
New Hampshire Ave., N.W.) and the Harrowgate (1833 New Hampshire
Ave., N.W.) designed in 1925 for developer A. Joseph Howar.

The Flagler (now Madison Hall)

736 22nd St., NW
EHT Traceries, 2006

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 DC Architects Directory

The firm of Stern and Tomlinson dissolved in

1926. Upon their parting, Stern opened his
independent office which he named the David
L. Stern Construction Company and
Tomlinson went on to establish the Tomlinson
Realty Company. Frank Tomlinson worked
with George Tomlinson, presumably his
brother, to run the Tomlinson Realty Co. The
company owned and built several large
apartment buildings in 1928 and 1929, usually
between five and eight stories tall, of brick and
stone and with electric elevators. Among these
apartments are 1445, 1451 and 1457 Park
Road, N.W.

The U.S. Social Security Death Index

1457, 1451, 1445 Park Road, N.W. information suggests that Tomlinson retired to
District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004 Florida and lived in West Palm Beach, Fla.,
where he died in April 1974.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
U.S. Census Records, U.S. Draft Registration cards, Social Security Death Index; Washington
Other Repositories:
Post, searched through ProQuest
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 274, 287
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1920. District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. District of Columbia.

Notes: Permit and building totals include listings for “Tomlinson, Frank” (16 permits, 16 buildings), “Wardman &
Tomlinson” (7 permits, 10 buildings), and “Stern & Tomlinson” (101 permits, 159 buildings).
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

George Oakley Totten, Jr.

Biographical Data
Birth: 12/5/1866 Place: New York, N.Y.
Death: 2/1/1939 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Wife, Vicken von Post; sons, George Oakley III and Gilbert
von Post
Education
High School: Newark Technical School (1884-87)
College: Columbia University (1887-91)
Graduate School: Columbia University School of Architecture (1891-
93); Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, Paris (1893-95)
Apprenticeship: Source: Collection of Vicken Y. Totten, M.D.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 15 Date Issued: 4/15/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1899 Latest Permit: 1930 Total Permits: 46 Total Buildings: 48
Practice Position Date
Office of the Supervising Architect, U.S.
Chief designer 1895-1898
Department of Treasury
Totten and Rogers Principal 1899-1907
George Oakley Totten, Jr. Principal 1907-1930

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1899-1939 President, Washington Chapter, 1927
Other Societies or Memberships: Architectural League, International Congress of Architects, Archaeological
Institute of America, Washington Board of Trade, Society of American Military Engineers, Allied Architects, Societé
Centrale d’Architecture de Belgique, Old Russian Society of Architects, Austrian Architecture Society, Spanish
Architecture Society, Chevy Chase Club, University Club
Awards or Commissions: Columbia University McKim Traveling Fellowship
Buildings
Building Types: Private residences, embassies, clubs
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival, Renaissance Revival, Italianate
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Sheridan Circle, Embassy Row, Kalorama Triangle, Columbia Heights,
Meridian Hill, Mount Pleasant
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Christian Hauge House 2349 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1906 NRHP DC Historic Site
“Pink Palace” 2600 16th Street, NW 1906 NRHP DC Historic Site
Old French Embassy 2460 16th Street, NW 1906-7 NRHP DC Historic Site
Charles Evans Hughes House 2223 R Street, NW 1906 NRHP DC Historic Site

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University Club 900 15th Street, NW 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site

Edward H. Everett House 1606 23rd Street, NW 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site
Meridian Hall 2401 15th Street, NW 1923 NRHP DC Historic Site
Warder-Totten House 2633 16th Street, NW 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Mansion 3224 16th Street, NW 1922 Mt. Pleasant Historic District

Significance and Contributions

George Oakley Totten, Jr., was one of Washington, D.C.’s, leading Beaux-Arts architects during the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries. As the official architect for Mary Foote Henderson (1841-1931), Totten helped
transform 16th Street and the Meridian Hill area from an under-developed post-Civil War settlement to an elite
enclave of early twentieth century mansions and foreign legations.

Totten was born in New York City in 1866. He attended public schools in Newark, New Jersey and went on to the
Newark Technical School. He then attended the School of Architecture at Columbia University, earning his Ph.B.
(Bachelor of Philosophy) in 1891 and his M.A. in 1892. Totten was awarded the McKim Traveling Fellowship by
Columbia University, which enabled him to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1893-95. He may also
have studied under Pierre Jérôme Honoré Daumet in Paris.

In 1895, Totten moved to Washington, D.C. to become the chief

designer in the Office of the Supervising Architect in the U.S.
Treasury Department. In 1897, he was appointed an American
delegate to the International Congress of Architects; he held this
position until his death in 1939. Between 1898 and 1899, Totten
opened a practice, Totten & Rogers, with a former college
roommate, Laussat R. Rogers. Together, the pair had offices in
Washington and Philadelphia, where Rogers was based, and they
designed several buildings in Washington. These include what are
now the embassies of Mali in 1899 (2131 R Street, NW) and
Everett House, 1606 23rd Street, NW, 1970. Greece in 1903 (2228 Massachusetts Avenue, NW). In 1907, this
HABS/HAER 258. partnership dissolved and Totten began an individual practice.

Between 1906 and 1928, Totten worked closely with Mary Foote Henderson, wife of Missouri Senator John B.
Henderson. Mary Henderson sought to create an “Avenue of the Presidents” on the boulevard with lavish embassies
and residences. Henderson commissioned Totten to design elaborately ornamented and luxurious buildings, many
intended for embassies and chanceries. Henderson bought up land dotted with small farms and shacks, usually
occupied by freed slaves, in Meridian Hill and had Totten design
buildings for the land. Together, they developed 16th Street into a
monumental avenue. The title of Embassy Row, however, was
officially granted to Massachusetts Avenue. Charles Carroll Glover
was able to convince the British to construct their embassy on
Massachusetts Avenue and other countries followed suit.

The Old French Embassy at 2460 16th Street, NW, was the first
foreign embassy on 16th Street. The embassy was planned and
constructed from 1906-7 and also served as the French
ambassador’s residence from 1907-1925. The four-story building
features domed corner pavilion, loggias, and mansard roofs. The
façades are limestone and terra cotta in the Parisian high style of Old French Embassy, 2400 16th Street, NW, 1910-35.
Louis XVI and the Second Empire. Library of Congress LC-F82-188.

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In 1908, Totten was hired to design the American chancery in Turkey

and a residence for Prime Minister Issez Pasha. Sultan Abdul Hamid,
impressed by Totten’s work, hired him as “Private Architect to the
Sultan of Turkey.” This assignment ended in 1909 with the overthrow of
the sultan. From 1909 to 1917, Totten designed many buildings on 16th
Street and other monumental buildings in Washington, D.C. When the
United States entered World War I in 1917, Totten became a major in
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
University Club, 900 15th Street, NW, 1910-15.On August 22, 1921, Totten married Swedish sculptress Vicken von
Library of Congress LC-B2-2530-14.
Post. The two met when von Post was in town for a showing of her
work; Totten asked if she would consider creating some ornamentation for his buildings. Totten, interested in
historical styles and ornamentation, became well-versed in the subject of Mayan architecture and published a book
entitled Maya Architecture in 1926. He traveled to the Yucatan peninsula to photograph and draw the Mayan buildings,
and championed Middle American Architecture as equal to any on the European continent.

In 1915 Totten built his residence at 2536 15th Street, N.W., set in extensive landscaped gardens. It was a one-story
stuccoed brick building with architectural ornamentation in the Spanish Baroque Revival style. At the time of his
marriage he added a two-story wing for his wife to use for entertaining and a studio. Then, in 1923, he purchased the
massive four-and-one-half story, gable-roofed mansion that had been designed by H. H. Richardson for Benjamin
Warder in 1885. Located at 1515 K Street, N.W., the house was
slated for demolition. Totten reassembled it on his property
with some exterior modifications, reorienting it to Sixteenth
Street and placing it abutting the west elevation of his existing
house. Totten and his family lived in what is now known as the
Warder-Totten House until 1938.

Totten’s commissions outside Washington, D.C., in his later

years include the Post Office in Waterbury, Connecticut (1931)
and the Post Office and Federal Court Building in Newark,
New Jersey, (1934) which he assisted in designing..
3224 16th Street, NW, no date. Images of America, p. 55.
Totten died on February 1, 1939 at the age of 72.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Publication: New York Times Date: 2/3/1939 Page: 20
Washington Post 2/3/1939 24
Obituary:
Washington Evening Star 2/2/1939 ---
Architectural Forum April 1939 54
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 4 articles
National Cyclopedia of American Biography 41 496
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 287-88
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it

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 DC Architects Directory

Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital 1921,26,29,34,38 394,571,700,899,840

Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 603
Other Sources:
Cherkasky, Mara. Images of America: Mount Pleasant. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2007.
Goode, James M. Capital Losses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Kohler, Sue A. and Jeffrey R. Carson, 16th Street Architecture, 2v. Washington, D.C.: The Commission of Fine Arts,
1975.
The National Cyclopedia of American Biography XLI. New York: James T. White and Co., 1956.
Totten, George Oakley, Jr. Maya Architecture. Washington, D.C.: Maya Press, 1926.
Totten, Vicken Y. M.D., Collection. Cleveland, Ohio.
Traceries. “The Totten House and Studio Addition: Historic Documentation and Evaluation of Contribution to the
Warder Totten House.” October 1995.
U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Massachusetts Avenue Architecture. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1973-1975. 2 v.
Notes: Seven buildings from the Permit Database were issued to the firm of Totten & Rogers; the remaining permits
were issued to Totten as an individual architect.
Most of the dwellings Totten constructed are part of historic districts such as Sixteenth Street and Sheridan-Kalorama,
in addition to being individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Horace Trumbauer
Biographical Data
Birth: 12/28/1868 Place: Philadelphia, Pa.
Death: 9/18/1938 Place: Philadelphia, Pa.
Family: Parents, Josiah Blyer and Mary Malvina Fabel; wife, Sara
Thomson Williams; stepdaughter, Helena S. Lara Fennessey;
granddaughter, Sally Lara Parke
Education
High School: Philadelphia public high school
College:
Graduate School: Harvard University, Honorary M.A. (Architecture),
1915
Apprenticeship: George W. and William B. Hewitt (1884-90) Source: Philadelphia and Notable Philadelphians, p. 87
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database * Earliest Permit: 1901 Latest Permit: 1931 Total Permits: 9 Total Buildings: 9
Practice Position Date
Horace Trumbauer Principal 1890-1938

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1931 Fellow of the AIA: n/a
Other Societies or Memberships: T. Square Club, Architectural League of New York, Masonic Order, The Art
Club, The Racquet Club, the Merion Cricket Club, The Downtown Club, The Bala Golf Club, Union League Club
(life member)
Awards or Commissions: First Prize, Third Pan American Congress of Architects, 1927
Buildings
Building Types: Large residences, townhouses, churches, office buildings, hotels, libraries, university buildings,
churches, museum
Styles and Forms: Gothic Revival, Classical Revival, French-Classical Revival, Palladian Revival, Tudor Revival
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Strivers’ Section, Foxhall Road
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
1618 New Hampshire Ave.,
Perry Belmont House 1907 NRHP DC Historic Site
NW
Hon. George F. Huff Residence 1622 18th Street, NW 1906 Dupont Circle Historic District
F. P. Mitchell Residence 1815 Q St., NW 1912 Dupont Circle Historic District
Mrs. E. H. Slater House 1319 18th St., NW 1901 Dupont Circle Historic District
Baker House, later the Embassy
2300 Foxhall Road, NW 1931 NRHP DC Historic Site
of Belgium

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Duke University, two main

Duke campus, Durham, N.C. 1927-38 NRHP DC Historic Site
campuses (with Julian Abele)
Lynewood Hall (Estate of
Montgomery, Pa. 1900 NRHP DC Historic Site
Harry Widener)
Harry Widener Library at Harvard campus, Cambridge,
1914 NRHP DC Historic Site
Harvard University Mass.
Philadelphia Museum of Art (in 26th St. and the Benjamin
collaboration with Zantzinger, Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, 1913-30 NRHP DC Historic Site
Borie & Madary) Pa.
Free Library of Philadelphia 1901 Vine St., Philadelphia, Pa. 1917-26 NRHP DC Historic Site

Significance and Contributions

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pa.

De.academic.ru/dic.nsf/dewiki/1103227, accessed 9/21/10

Horace Trumbauer was a native and life-long resident of Philadelphia, Pa. He attended public schools until he was
sixteen years old, and then began a six-year apprenticeship in the offices of George W. and William B. Hewitt.
Trumbauer was eager to open his own practice, and did so in Philadelphia at the age of 21. His career was marked
mostly by designs for estates and upper-class townhouses, and through his work he developed close connections to
wealthy families, particularly the Widener and Elkins families. He worked in the cities and suburbs of Philadelphia,
New York City, Newport, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C.

Trumbauer designed both modest and extravagant

buildings throughout his nearly 50-year career. He
designed over 400 country houses, townhouses, and
public buildings with his assistant designers and
draftsmen. The first major commission came in 1893 for
a large residence in a suburb of Philadelphia, and he
worked on several other grand country estates in the
early years of his career. Having established a reputation
as a talented young designer, Trumbauer was hired by
prominent businessman and book collector Harry
Widener as his personal architect. This led to two of
Trumbauer’s best-known designs: a 110-room mansion
for the Widener family, known as Lynnewood Hall; and
the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University.
The library was a memorial to Harry Widener after his Perry Belmont House, 1618 New Hampshire Ave., NW
death aboard the RMS Titanic in 1912, and housed the District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004
gift of his extensive book collection to Harvard, his alma

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 DC Architects Directory

mater.

Although the majority of Trumbauer’s commissions were for the greater Philadelphia area, his work for prestigious
clients led to commissions in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. In 1906 Trumbauer designed Pennsylvania
Representative George Huff’s residence, at New Hampshire and Q Streets, NW. This was just feet away from the
palatial Beaux Arts house for Perry Belmont, another Trumbauer design completed the following year. The Belmont
house was fit to a triangular lot, creating a dramatic presence at the triangle intersection of New Hampshire Avenue,
18th and R Streets, NW. In keeping with the high-profile nature of Trumbauer’s work, these residences were both
located just blocks from a house owned by the Vanderbilts on New Hampshire Avenue at the time. In 1931
Trumbauer worked in Washington again, designing a three-story stone residence for Raymond T. Baker, the former
director of the U.S. Mint (2300 Foxhall Road, NW). The Baker house later became the Embassy of Belgium.

In the later decades of his career, Trumbauer took on several large projects for public and institutional buildings,
especially in Philadelphia. From the mid-1910s to the 1930s he designed the Widener Library (1914), the Philadelphia
Museum of Art (1913-30) and the Free Library of Philadelphia (1917-26). Trumbauer relied heavily on the Classical
revival style for these buildings, with the Free Library
being almost an exact replica of the eighteenth century
architecture in the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

Julian Abele was Trumbauer’s assistant. He was the

first African American graduate of the University of
Pennsylvania’s architecture school in 1902, and
Trumbauer promoted him quickly after he set up new
offices in 1908. In the late 1920s, Trumbauer began
work on designs for Duke University – it was his last
big project, and included both the east and west
campuses as well as the cathedral. Trumbauer did not
see it come to fruition before he died in 1938. Abele
was working closely with his employer on this project,
and was responsible for much of the design of Duke’s
west campus. He saw the project through to
completion. Abele and Trumbauer’s other assistant,
Duke University, Durham, N.C., William O. Frank, kept Trumbauer’s practice in
designs by Trumbauer and Abele
business until 1968.
Frances B. Johnston, 1938, Library of Congress, LC-J7-NC- 2341

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Washington Post, searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning,
Other Repositories:
Property Quest
Publication: New York Times
Obituary: Date: 9/20/1938 Page:
Philadelphia Inquirer
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 92 articles
Dictionary of American Biography Supp. 2 667
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects Vol. IV 230
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 38-39

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 DC Architects Directory

Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 607-08

Other Sources:
Box and Folder Listing, Horace Trumbauer Collection, ca. 1898-1947 (Collection V-36), The Historical Society of
Pennsylvania. Completed May 2008.
“Building $100,000 Home: Representative Huff Expects to Enter New Residence in December.” Washington Post,
August 11, 1907, R4.
“Building Permits.” Washington Post, February 22, 1931, R2.
Horace Trumbauer Architectural Drawings Collections, 1924-1958. University Archives, Duke University Libraries.
Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera, The Winterthur Library. Winterthur, Delaware.
http://findingaid.winterthur.org/html/HTML_Finding_Aids/COL0754.htm
Kathrens, Michael C., Richard C. Marchand, and Eleanor Weller. American Splendor: The Residential Architecture of Horace
Trumbauer. New York: Acanthus Press, 2002.
King, Moses. Philadelphia and Notable Philadelphians. New York: Blanchard Press, Isaac H. Blanchard Co., 1901.
NYC-Architecture. New York Architecture Images – New York Architects: Horace Trumbauer. http://www.nyc-
architecture.com/ARCH/ARCH-Trumbauer.htm
Platt, Frederick. “Horace Trumbauer: A Life in Architecture.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
125, No. 4 (Oct. 2001), 315-349.
Ross, Nancy L. “A Millionaire’s Glorious Folly.” Washington Post, August 5, 1993, 14.
“Social Sets of Other Cities.” Washington Post, August 9, 1912, 7.
“The Embassy of Belgium.” Washington Post, February 20, 1983, SM43.
Trumbauer, Horace. National Cyclopedia of American Biography, vol. 28, p. 440.
“Will be Palatial Home: Perry Belmont Residence Advancing Toward Completion.” Washington Post, April 26, 1908,
E11.

Notes: * Permit information only for the District of Columbia.

Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Baker Residence (Embassy of Belgium), 2300 Foxhall Road, N.W.

Library of Congress LC-H814-T-2453-002

Trumbauer, Horace Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Samuel R. Turner
Biographical Data
Birth: 7/26/1849 Place: Baltimore, Md.
Death: 2/21/1927 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: 1 wife, Clara Virginia Hutchins (divorced), two daughters;
st

2nd wife, Mary Pauline Loveless(d. 1897), four sons, three daughters;
3rd wife, Annie A., one step-daughter
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1877 Latest Permit: 1918 Total Permits: 141 Total Buildings: 324
Practice Position Date
Samuel R. Turner Individual practice 1878 – 1915 or later
U.S. Government Draftsman 1920 (census)
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Home Lodge, Knights of Pythias; Order of Odd Fellows
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, detached dwellings, small commercial buildings.
Styles and Forms: Queen Anne, Renaissance Revival, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: All quadrants, including downtown, Federal Triangle, Shaw, Capitol Hill, Southwest, Southeast,
Eckington, Georgetown
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Six three-story rowhouses 701-711 Thirteenth St. N.W. 1882 Fourteenth St. Historic District
Hockmeyer Residence 719 6th St. N.W. 1888 NRHP DC Historic Site
Twelve two-story rowhouses 34-56 R Street. N.W. 1892 NRHP DC Historic Site
Ten three-story rowhouses 3005-3023 Cambridge Pl., N.W. 1892 Georgetown Historic District
Shop and offices 920 F Street, N.W. 1911 Downtown Historic District
Six two-story row houses 312-322 14th Place, N.E. 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Samuel Rowland Turner was born in Baltimore in 1849. He was the son of a prosperous Baltimore lumber merchant,
John C. Turner, and brother of artist Charles Yardley Turner. At age 19, in 1868, he married Clara Virginia Hutchins.
By 1869, Turner was listed in the Washington, D.C., city directory as a clerk boarding at 455 K St., N.W., and in 1875
he was listed as a draftsman at the Patent Office. He was first listed in the city directory as an architect in 1878. The
first surviving building permit that names him as architect was issued in
1877 for a three-story dwelling and store in the 1200 block of Pennsylvania
Avenue, N.W., and it is probable that this would not have been his first
commission. (Permits issued before July 1877 have not survived.)

Most of Turner’s designs were for speculatively built housing, principally

rowhouses. Turner designed speculative dwellings for numerous investors
and builders in many of the city’s neighborhoods. The rowhouses ranged in
size and cost from one-story, 12’ x 24’ wood frame dwellings in Southwest
Washington to high style three-story, bay-fronted brick rowhouses that
still stand in Georgetown and on Thirteenth Street, N.W.

A particularly fine early example of Turner-designed rowhouses is located

at 701-711 13th Street in the Fourteenth Street Historic District. These
were commissioned in 1882 by Professor C.V. Riley, a professor of
entomology who invested in a number of properties in the neighborhood.
They are typical of the high style Washington, D.C., rowhouses constructed
in the 1880s with projecting bays that took advantage of regulations
1701 Thirteenth Street N.W.
permitting projections beyond the building line. Distinguished by their
EHT Traceries, Inc., 1990
multi-storied polygonal bay windows, corbelled cornices, stringcourses and
other decorative brickwork, they display ornamentation associated with the Queen Anne and Renaissance Revival
styles. Another example of Turner’s high style rowhouses is the row of ten three-story dwellings at 3005-3023
Cambridge Place, N.W., in Georgetown. This 1892 Queen Anne style row also displays highly decorative brickwork.
A somewhat more modest row of two-story Queen Anne style dwellings, also designed in 1892, is located at 34-56 R
Street. N.W. Some of Turner’s commissions in this period were for individual townhouses, such as the one at 719 6th
St. N.W., he designed as a residence for John Hockmeyer, a successful grocer for whom Turner had previously
designed a row of speculative housing on O St. (demolished).

Many of Turner’s early twentieth century rowhouses are

modest dwellings that retain vernacular elements of the
Queen Anne style, principally corbelled brick cornices
and heavy lintels, at a time when the Colonial revival style
was generally predominant. These include 1348-60 C
Street, N.E., (1911); 3308-12 Dent Place, N.W., (1912);
and 312-22 14th Place, N.E., (1914). However, his row at
605-609 Harvard St., N.W., (1914) has some Colonial
revival elements.

Much of Turner’s work has been demolished to make

way for redevelopment in southwest Washington, the
312-316 14th Place, N.E. (constructed 1914) Federal Triangle, the downtown commercial area, Capitol
District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004 Hill and Foggy Bottom.

Turner designed some commercial buildings, including buildings with store and dwelling or store and offices. The
most notable surviving example of a store with offices is the four-story building at 920 F St. N.W., built in 1911 and
modified a few years later for use as a hotel. Another surviving commercial building is at 1112 9th St., N.W. built as an

Turner, Samuel R. Page 2 of 3

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office for a coal and wood yard with apartments above.

D.C. building permit records indicate that 1916 was the last year that Turner was
actively designing for private clients and in that year most of his designs were for
individual detached dwellings. It is probable that during World War I Turner began
working for the Navy Department and that he continued to work for the federal
government for the remainder of his career. Only one D.C. permit bears his name in
each of the years 1917 and 1918 and none thereafter although Turner continued to
be listed in city directories as an architect for most years between 1918 and 1926 (not
listed 1921, 1924, 1925). In the 1920 census Turner is listed twice: as a draftsman in
Dahlgren, Virginia (location of the Dahlgren naval base); and as a draftsman in the
District of Columbia living with his stepdaughter and working for the government.

Turner was married three times. He and his first wife, by whom he had two
daughters, divorced sometime between 1871 and 1873 and in 1874 he married Mary
Pauline Loveless. They had seven children. She died in 1897. By the time of the
1910 census, Turner was married to Annie A. and they lived with her married
daughter, Maud Ferry. Turner died February 21, 1927.

920 F Street, N.W., 1911

Drawing accompanying D.C.
Permit 971, 8-10-1911,
Cartographic Division, National
Archives, College Park, Md.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Ancestry.com; Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American
Other Repositories: Newspapers; DC Office of Planning, DC Property Quest; Washington Post searched
through Proquest.
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 2/21/1927 Page: 3
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 290
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1850, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1920, Virginia.
Notes: Neither Turner nor his wife were located in the 1870 census. Turner is listed in the 1880 census as a
tobacconist but that is presumably an error. He is listed annually in the business sections of city directories as an
architect. Permit 945, March 23, 1882, for 1701-1711 13th St., N.W., lists the architect simply as “Turner” but as no
other Turners are listed as architects in Washington, D.C., in this time period and the dwellings are consistent with
others designed by Samuel R. Turner, it has been assumed that these buildings were designed by Samuel R. Turner.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Walter Valentine
Biographical Data
Birth: 6/1/1901 Place: Nanticoke, PA
Death: 2/20/1969 Place: Washington, DC
Family: wife: E. Joyce Valentine; 3 children: James Walter, Dorothy
(Valentine) Morrissette, Mrs. Louis Cattaneo
Education
High School: Unknown.
College: Lehigh University (1922)
Graduate School: Catholic University of America

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1927 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 165 Total Buildings: 524
Practice Position Date
Illinois Highway Department Engineer 1922-1924(?)
Catholic University, School of Engineering &
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering 1924-1948
Architecture
Designer, Civil Engineer, Construction
Capital View Realty Company ca.1930-ca.1947
Engineer
Evans, Goldstein & Valentine (Builders &
Partner ca.1950-ca.1953
Real Estate Development)
Capitol View Construction Company (Seat Founder & Principal 1955-1964
Pleasant, MD)
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Rotary Club; Lehigh Alumni Association
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Single Dwellings, Duplexes, Row Houses, Gas Stations, Restaurants, Stores
Styles and Forms: Craftsman, Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Capital View, Capitol Hill
Notable/Representative
Location Date Status
Buildings
Gas Station, Rock Creek &
Potomac Parkways (at the 2708 Virginia Ave., NW 1932 NRHP DC Historic Site
Watergate)
1930, 1934-
Capital View; 5200-5300 Blocks,
Duplexes 1936, 1938, NRHP DC Historic Site
Ames Street NE
1940
Valentine, Walter Page 1 of 4
 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Capital View; 5000-5400 Blocks,
Duplexes 1935-1940 NRHP DC Historic Site
East Capitol Street
Duplexes Capital View; 5200 Block, 1937, 1940, NRHP DC Historic Site
Central Avenue SE 1948
Significance and Contributions
Prolific residential developer and designer Walter Valentine was born in 1901 in Nanticoke near Wilkes-Barre,
Pennsylvania. Valentine attended Lehigh University, graduating in 1922. That same year, he began his career as an
engineer for the Illinois Highway Department. In 1924, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he appears to have
completed his graduate studies before joining the faculty of the Catholic University of America as an associate
professor of civil engineering. In 1930, he lived in the Brookland neighborhood that surrounds the university; that
year he reported his profession as “instructor” at a university.

During the late 1920s, Valentine began designing buildings for individual, private clients. His early buildings include
several single-family dwellings and a gas station at 1101 18th Street, NW (1930 for National Oil Corporation). Starting
in 1930, Valentine began working for real estate developers, often designing multi-unit duplexes and row houses.
Notices in the local newspaper about the permits issued for his buildings, identify him as the “designer”; never as the
architect. Trained as a civil engineer, Valentine never
registered as an architect or advertised as such.

In 1930, Valentine began his long association with the

Capital View Realty Company when he designed a
duplex for the company at 5214-5216 Ames Street, NE.
The Capital View neighborhood occupies the far
eastern edge of Washington, D.C. and straddles the
Northeast and Southeast quadrants along East Capitol
Street. In the 1920s, African American businessman,
John Whitelaw Lewis established the Capital View
Realty Company and began to develop the area between
49th, Blaine, 54th Streets and Central Avenue as a
residential subdivision for African Americans, who were
mainly excluded from purchasing property in the city’s 5214 Ames Street NE; 1935
white neighborhoods by restrictive covenants. Between District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
1924 and 1947, the company erected 287 dwellings.
After 1930, Walter Valentine served as their designer.

Valentine’s early Capital View dwellings include a few

detached, single-family dwellings constructed of frame
and brick in the Tudor Revival and Colonial Revival
styles. However, the vast majority of his Capital View
residences are two-story, brick row houses or duplexes.
Common features include full-width, half-hipped roofed
front porches supported on brick or stone-clad square
posts. Rooflines vary from raised and shaped parapets
to faux mansard roofs pierced by small front-gable
dormers. Some of the units include stone accents or
full stone veneers on their facades. One duplex, built at
15-17 53rd Street SE in 1931, displays a sloped roof
5312 East Capitol Street NE; 1935 hidden by a raised parapet and an applied gabled
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 pediment attached at cornice level.

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During the period that Valentine worked for Capital View Realty Company, he continued to teach at Catholic
University and to execute other private commissions, including some for small-scale real estate developers like John M.
King and Harry Sisk. Most of his commissions were for dwellings in Northeast either in the Capital View
neighborhood or nearby. In addition, he designed several commercial buildings in locations scattered across the city.
These included twelve gas stations that were built between 1930 and 1936. One of the few Valentine-designed gas
stations that remain standing is the “Watergate” Exxon station at 2708 Virginia Avenue, NW. The one-story,
concrete, brick and stone building features prominent
front-facing gables and a slate-shingled roof.

After 1938, Valentine pursued real estate development

independently. Around 1950, he formed the real estate
firm of Evans, Goldstein & Valentine, and in 1955, the
Capital View Construction Company (based in Seat
Pleasant, Maryland). Between 1939 and 1949, he
designed and built over 240 dwelling units in the Capital
View neighborhood. Most of the units were row
houses or duplexes and constructed of brick; some
featured full-width front porches. A common feature
of Valentine’s row house and duplex designs were raised
and shaped front parapets adorned with simple square
or circular decorative plaques at the apex. 2708 Virginia Avenue NW; 1932
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
Valentine’s post-1949 designs have not been identified.
Articles from The Washington Post indicate that, in the late 1940s he helped plan and build portions of the Berkshire
subdivision in District Heights, Prince George’s County, Maryland. In 1950, his real estate and construction firm of
Evans, Goldstein & Valentine, obtained a permit to
construct 14, two-story houses on 73rd Avenue.

In 1955, Valentine founded the Capital View

Construction Company based in Seat Pleasant,
Maryland. It is not known what work this firm
undertook. Valentine retired in 1964 and died five years
later; he is buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland,
Maryland.

5200 Block of Central Avenue SE; 1940 & 1948

Photo courtesy of Google.com

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it

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Biographical Directories Cont’d. Year/Volume Page

Dictionary of American Biography– not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960– not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects –not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects –not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Star Date: 2/21/1969 Page:
Other Sources:
Capital View Civic Association, History Committee. Memories of Capital View [brochure], 2010.
Social Security Death Index. Ancestry.com.
The Tower (newspaper of Catholic University of America). http://tower.lib.cua.edu/Repository...
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. District of Columbia.
U.S. School Yearbooks. Ancestry.com.

Notes:
Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include permits until
1949. Walter Valentine was active as an architect after 1949, so his actual permit numbers are not reflected here.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Valentine, Walter Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Kenneth Vieth
Biographical Data
Birth: 11/30/1901 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 4/17/1932 Place: Washington, DC
Family: Mary F. Stamper Vieth (wife); William Henry Vieth (son);
Barbara Ann Vieth (daughter)
Education
High School: McKinley, Washington, DC
College: George Washington University (1919-1920)
Graduate School:

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: Not issued Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1919 Latest Permit: 1932 Total Permits: 100 Total Buildings: 181
Practice Position Date
Woodward & Vieth Architect 1919-1932
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Board of Directors: Woodridge-Langdon Savings & Commercial Bank; Member of Freemasons
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings
Styles and Forms: Craftsman-style bungalows and two-story houses.
DC Work Locations: Brookland, Woodridge, LeDroit Park
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling 2608 Hamlin Street NE 1919 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1403 Kearney Street NE 1922 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling (duplex) 3605 20th Street NE 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions
Born in 1901 in Washington, D.C., Kenneth Vieth attended McKinley Technical High School from 1915 to 1919 and
George Washington University from 1919 to 1920. His father, Henry A. Vieth, owned a real estate business, and,
beginning in 1919, Kenneth designed houses for his father.

In 1922, Vieth formed a construction company with William W. Woodward, a 33-year-old carpenter. Woodward &
Vieth constructed 109 buildings in D.C. between 1922 and 1931. The office of Woodward & Vieth was located in the
Masonic Temple building at 2029 Rhode Island Avenue Northeast. Woodward & Vieth purchased land and built
houses in the firm’s name in addition to the spec houses constructed for Henry Vieth and houses that they built for
other companies and individuals.

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In May 1925, Kenneth Vieth applied to the D.C. Board

of Examiners and Registrars noting that “I have been
designing small houses for the last four years, most of
which have been built by my firm, and request that
permission be granted to me to retain my title as
‘Architect’.” The Board replied that Vieth was “entitled
to practice as an ‘Architect’ but not as ‘Registered
Architect’” and did not issue Vieth a registration
number.

Of the 180 dwellings that Vieth designed, most were

modest, one-story, frame Craftsman-style bungalows
with an estimated construction cost of between $2,000
and $5,000. Vieth also designed two-story brick 2608 Hamlin Street NE; 1919
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
rowhouses and duplexes that incorporated Craftsman
elements such as full- or partial-width front porches
supported on square or round columns set atop tall brick or molded concrete block piers. Built speculatively for the
city’s middle-class and working-class residents, most of the houses designed by Vieth are located in the
Brookland and Woodridge neighborhoods of northeast
D.C. with one development of two-story brick
rowhouses located in the LeDroit Park area. While
some of the buildings have been renovated through the
years with new cladding, many of the houses designed
by Vieth still stand.

In 1925, Kenneth Vieth married Mary F. Stamper of

Drummond, Montgomery County, Maryland. The
couple had two children, William Henry and Barbara
Ann. In 1926, Vieth was elected to the board of the
Woodridge-Langdon Savings and Commercial Bank.

On April 17, 1932, Kenneth Vieth died in an

1403 Kearney Street NE; 1922 automobile accident. He was buried with Masonic rites
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 in Fort Lincoln Cemetery in northeast D.C.

3605 20th Street NE; 1926

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

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 DC Architects Directory

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property Quest; Ancestry.com.
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 295
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital –not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Not found Date: Page:
Other Sources:
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1920. District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. District of Columbia.

Notes:
The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Veith, Kenneth Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Edward O. Volland
Biographical Data
Birth: ca. 1884 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 2/19/1971 Place: Hyattsville, Md.
Family: Father, Charles David; mother, Louisa A.; sisters, Minnie No Photograph Available
Miles and Hilda Scott; wife, Ethel L.; son, Richard E.; daughter,
Grace E.
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1902 Latest Permit: 1929 Total Permits: 146 Total Buildings: 424
Practice Position Date
Edward O. Volland Architect 1904-1923
Carpenter 1924-25

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, attached dwellings, detached dwellings, duplexes, apartments, stores
Styles and Forms: Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Craftsman
DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, Atlas District, Brookland, Petworth, Barney Circle
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Rowhouses 901-915 6th Street, S.W. 1905 Not extant
Rowhouses 618-636 I Street, S.W. 1905 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 37-51 Adams Street, N.W. 1907 NRHP DC Historic Site
300-312 South Carolina
Rowhouses 1907 Capitol Hill Historic District
Avenue, S.E.

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

During his career, Edward O. Volland was called an architect, a carpenter, and a contractor. His father, Charles D.
Volland, was a builder in the Washington area and Edward followed in his father’s footsteps at a fairly young age. He
is first listed as architect on a permit to build in 1902, at which time he would not yet have been twenty years old.

Between 1902 and 1929, Volland designed

hundreds of rowhouses and detached dwellings in
Washington, D.C., and his work was located in all
four quadrants of the District. He designed for
several prolific owner/builders on Washington’s
residential real estate scene: John R. Haislip;
Shannon & Luchs; and George C. Pumphrey,
whose development companies included
Pumphrey & Palmer and Bailey & Pumphrey.
Volland’s early career was mostly focused in
Northeast and Southeast Washington, designing
rowhouses for Haislip and Pumphrey. Examples
of this early work include the 300 block of K
300 Block South Carolina Ave., SE (Capitol Hill) Street, NE, for J. R. Haislip in 1905, and the 300
District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004 block of South Carolina Avenue, SE, for Bailey &
Pumphrey in 1907.

While a significant number of Volland’s earliest rowhouses have been demolished, the majority of his work in the
District remains. He played a large and lasting role in the development and aesthetic of D.C. neighborhoods like
Capitol Hill (northeast and southeast sections), the Atlas District near Capitol Hill in Northeast, Brookland in
Northeast and Petworth in Northwest.

Most of his early designs were Queen Anne style rowhouses in the District, but later in his career he also worked on
detached dwellings and duplexes. In the 1920s he was designing craftsman style single family dwellings in northeast
neighborhoods like Brookland. He primarily designed in brick but it is not uncommon to see stone or frame
dwellings in his oeuvre.

Volland invested in properties in Washington as well as

designing them. In 1921 the Washington Post included
Volland as a buyer of investment properties such as stores
and apartments in the 400 block of R Street, NW. He also
owned and built 1515 Hamlin Street, NE, in 1924, as a
house for his family. The 1930 federal census lists the
Volland family at this address and Edward’s occupation as
the superintendent of a construction company. During his
architectural practice, Volland maintained offices on L and
R Streets, NW, and Kearney Street, NE.

Volland house at 1515 Hamlin Street, NE

District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004

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 DC Architects Directory

Not much is known about Volland’s personal life, but the

issuance of his marriage license to Ethel was noted in the
Washington Post in 1906. He lived a long life, but his last permit
to build in the District is dated 1929, more than 30 years
before he died in 1971. His last residence was in Hyattsville,
Prince Georges County, Md.

3324 South Dakota Avenue, NE (Brookland)

Google Maps, retrieved 9/22/2010

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Washington Post, searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning,
Other Repositories:
Property Quest; Ancestry.com
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post, death notice Date: 2/21/1971 Page: 44
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 295
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“Licensed to Marry.” Washington Post, September 20, 1906, 9.
“Sales of $250,000 by a Single Firm.” Washington Post, September 4, 1921, 29.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910, 1920, 1930. District of Columbia.

Notes: Permit and building totals include listings for “Volland, E.” (27 permits, 115 buildings), “Volland, E. O.” (6
permits, 16 buildings), and “Volland, Edward O.” (113 permits, 293 buildings).
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Earl Von Reichenbach

Biographical Data
Birth: 7/8/1905 Place: Corinth, MS
Death: 11/1/1983 Place: Washington, DC

Family: Alice I. (wife), Robert R. (son), Alice E. (daughter)

Education
High School: Birmingham, AL (1915-1919)
College: University of Alabama (1919-1922)
Graduate School:

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 766 Date Issued: 5/31/1951
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1938 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 191 Total Buildings: 287
Practice Position Date
Earl Von Reichenbach Bricklayer, contractor 1926-1937
Earl Von Reichenbach General administration & drafting 1938-1950
Earl Von Reichenbach Architect 1951-1983
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA: n/a
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, apartments, offices, stores
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival
DC Work Locations: Many neighborhoods in Southeast, Upper Northeast, and Upper Northwest
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling ( duplex) 4430 14th Street NE 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling & Office 611 Raleigh Place SE 1946 NRHP DC Historic Site
Warehouse 1950 Capitol Avenue NE 1948 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment 39 O Street SW 1948 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 2001 Branch Avenue SE 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Earl Von Reichenbach was born in Corinth, Mississippi in 1905 and attended high school in Birmingham, Alabama,
graduating in 1923. During the three years he attended the University of Alabama (1923 to 1926), he studied
chemistry. After leaving college, Von Reichenbach moved to Washington, D.C. Although Von Reichenbach listed
1926 as the start of his architectural practice in his 1940 application to the District of Columbia Board of Examiners
and Registrars of Architects, Von Reichenbach did not actually start designing and supervising the construction of
buildings in D.C. until 1932. Prior to then, Earl Von Reichenbach worked as a bricklayer and contractor.

In 1939, the DC Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects notified Von Reichenbach that his use of the label
of architect in telephone directory listings was inappropriate, since he had not applied to and passed the entrance
requirements of the Board. In 1940, Von Reichenbach applied to the Board of Examiners, but he failed the
examination and was denied registration.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Von Reichenbach

designed mainly two-story brick dwellings. Most of the
houses were unadorned Colonial Revival or Tudor
Revival in style with construction costs ranging from
$4,000 to $7,000. Many of his houses were built in the
Brookland and Deanwood neighborhoods of Northeast
D.C. and in the East Washington Heights
neighborhoods of Southeast D.C.

Von Reichenbach worked for a variety of private

owners and construction firms such as Reliable Home
Builders and Bolling Green, Inc. designing two-story,
brick, individual houses, duplexes, and triplexes. 2001 Branch Avenue SE; 1939
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, he worked for District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
Abshire Construction (listed under various members of
the Abshire family) designing 74 buildings that ranged from single houses to triplexes. A large proportion of his
dwellings are extant with few apparent exterior
alterations.

In addition to dwellings, Von Reichenbach designed

two- and three-story, brick and cinder block apartment
buildings each with a small number of units; six of his
nine apartment buildings were constructed after World
War II. The buildings feature plain, boxy exteriors and
flat roofs. Von Reichenbach’s body of work also
comprises commercial buildings including office
buildings, stores, an auto laundry, and a mattress
factory. These mostly one-story buildings were
constructed of cinder block and brick; the few surviving
commercial buildings are unadorned and have flat roofs.
611 Raleigh Place SE; 1946
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

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 DC Architects Directory

In the 1940s, Von Reichenbach collaborated with other

architects in D.C. In addition to working on single
projects with architects James W. Adams and Gladys
Lloyd, Von Reichenbach collaborated with E.P. Money
on the design of fifteen commercial and residential
buildings. Located in Anacostia, these buildings were
one-story, brick-and-cinder-block stores and two-story
cinder-block-and-brick dwellings with traditional forms
and modest Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival style
elements.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Earl Von Reichenbach’s offices

were located in the Anacostia area. From 1938 to 1943,
he was located at 2106 and then 2111 Nichols Avenue 1950 Capitol Avenue NE; 1948
SE (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard); in the District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
1945 City Directory, Von Reichenbach’s residence was
at 1518 W Street SE. In 1946 he moved his practice and residence to 1219 Good Hope Road, SE.

In 1950, the Board of Examiners once again notified

Von Reichenbach that he was not entitled to label
himself an architect. In December 1950, Von
Reichenbach reapplied for registration, and in May
1951, registration was granted based on an affidavit
certifying that he had practiced as an architect for at
least five years as allowed under Section 19 of the
Registration Act. In 1954, Von Reichenbach applied
for registration in Maryland based on his D.C. standing.

In 1959, Von Reichenbach applied for membership in

the AIA, but there is no record of his being elected to
membership. The DC Board of Examiners and
9 O Street SW; 1948 Registrars of Architects Roster for 1956 and 1962
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 include his name as a registered architect.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals— not in it
Dictionary of American Biography—not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 296
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects—not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital—not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects—not in it

Von Reichenbach, Earl Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Obituary Publication: The Washington Post Date: 11/4&5/1983 Page:

Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Von Reichenbach Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Von Reichenbach correspondence with the Board. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Social Security Death Index. Ancestry.com.

Notes:
Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include permits until
1949. Earl Von Reichenbach was active as an architect after 1949, so his actual permit numbers are not reflected here.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Von Reichenbach, Earl Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Daniel Boone Clarke Waggaman

Biographical Data
Birth: 11/16/1877 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 10/3/1919 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Married Grace Knowlton in 1901; son, Wolcott Clarke
Waggaman
Education
High School:
College: Attended, but did not graduate from, Georgetown College
Graduate School: Catholic University Law School, LLB, 1901
Source: The Waggamans and Their Allied Families, The
Apprenticeship: Reverend Thomas Clarke Edwards, p. 376
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1905 Latest Permit: 1917 Total Permits: 62 Total Buildings: 71
Practice Position Date
Thomas E. Waggaman, Real Estate Lawyer 1901-1905
Clarke Waggaman Principal 1907-1918
Waggaman & Ray Architects Partner 1918-1919

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 10/6/1917 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Sons of American Revolution, Army & Navy Club, Military Order of the Caraboa
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, apartments, commercial buildings, townhouses, country estates
Styles and Forms: Classical revival styles drawing particularly on French and Italian precedents
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, Sheridan Kalorama, Massachusetts Ave. Heights, West End, Connecticut Ave.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
1716 New Hampshire Ave.,
Residence 1909 Dupont Circle Historic District
N.W.
Alban B. Butler Residence 1744 R Street, N.W. 1912 Dupont Circle Historic District
Waggaman-Ray Commercial 1141, 1143, 1145 Connecticut
1915 NRHP DC Historic Site
Row Avenue, N.W.
Residence 2929 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. 1917 Mass. Ave Historic District

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Significance and Contributions

In his brief career as an architect, Clarke Waggaman established himself as a designer of elegant, classically inspired
residences. Much of his work is located in the Dupont Circle and Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhoods – the center of
Washington’s fashionable society in the early 20th century. Clarke Waggaman was the son of Thomas E. Waggaman, a
prominent Washington realtor and long-time owner of the subdivision of Woodley Park. His earliest commissions in
Woodley Park continued his family’s association with that neighborhood. He has been credited with over 100
residential designs in this city, many of which were commissioned by Washington’s social elite.

The Waggaman family was an old and established Maryland family, closely associated with the early history of the
Eastern Shore. The Waggamans generally married well and claimed relationships to a U.S. Senator from Louisiana
and U.S. President John Tyler, whose sister married a Waggaman. Thomas E. Waggaman was described as a
“capitalist, a patron of art and a public spirited and benevolent citizen.” Thomas E. Waggaman began his real estate
career as a broker, specializing in sales and rentals.
Later, his real estate investments grew to include
property in Woodley Park, Wesley Heights, Morris
Addition, and Pennsylvania Avenue Heights. He
was the owner of Woodley Park from 1888-1904.
Waggaman’s collection of art was renowned, and he
is reported to have been the first person in the
United States to collect works by the important
French artists Millet and Corot.

After briefly attending Georgetown College, Clarke

Waggaman was sent to Europe with a private tutor
in 1889. His European experiences greatly
influenced his choice of architectural vocabulary
and stylistic preferences which relied heavily on 2929 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 1917
Italian and French traditions. His father insisted he Massachusetts Avenue Architecture, 1973-75, vol. 2
attend law school and work in the family business.
In 1901, he received a law degree from Catholic
University and went to work as a lawyer for his
father’s real estate business.

Late in 1904, to the astonishment of Waggaman

and the Washington business community, Thomas
Waggaman declared bankruptcy. H. Rozier Dulany
and George B. Truesdell were appointed trustees of
the Waggaman estate, and the legal ramifications of
the bankruptcy proceedings lasted several years.
Subsequently, Thomas E. Waggaman left the city
and retired to a farm near Annapolis, where he died
in June 1906.

The bankruptcy of Thomas E. Waggaman greatly

affected the career of his son. Waggaman and his 1744 R St., NW, 1915
sisters tried to salvage what they could of their EHT Traceries photo, 2002
father’s assets and possessions, but with little success. Thomas E. Waggaman’s home and prized art collection were
sold at public auction. Clarke Waggaman’s law career ended and he became an architect with financial backing from
his maternal grandfather for whom he was named, Daniel Boone Clarke. With an inheritance from his grandfather in
1906, Clarke Waggaman was able to pursue a career in architecture.

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In 1905 at the age of 28, Clarke Waggaman designed his first residential structure. The house was located at 2600
Connecticut Avenue, NW, in Woodley Park (now demolished) and he and his family resided there until 1917. The
next four dwellings Waggaman designed were located along Connecticut Avenue in Woodley Park. These early
designs are not only important structures in the career of Waggaman, but they also represent the continued influence
of the Waggaman family in the development of the suburb of Woodley Park. Waggaman’s fondness for European
architectural traditions, particularly French and Italian vocabularies, coincided with the increasing sophistication of his
clientele in Washington, and the popularity of the design philosophies of the Ecole des Beaux Arts and the City
Beautiful Movement. He continued to receive commissions for both town houses and country estates as well as store
and office buildings. He completed a house at 2840 Woodland Drive for himself and his family in 1917, described by
his granddaughter as his “dream house.”

In 1917, Waggaman formed a partnership with George N. Ray and in the same year he was elected to the American
Institute of Architects. Much of the firm’s work was concentrated along Connecticut Avenue where they transformed
many of the Victorian buildings with classically inspired facades in limestone that created a unified commercial
expression along Connecticut Avenue. In 1919, Waggaman died at the age of 42 during the influenza pandemic. In
his twelve-year career Waggaman designed 135 buildings. He is known for the formality and spaciousness of his
designs and his meticulous attention to interior details.

Waggaman & Ray façade study, The B. F. Saul Company at 15th St., NW (1923)
Peatross, Capital Drawings, p. 112

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: AIA Journal Obituary Date: March, 1920. Page: v.8 p. 16.
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals AIA Journal, 1920 v.8, page 16.
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 267
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it

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 DC Architects Directory

Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09

Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 621
Other Sources:
Edwards, Thomas Clarke. The Waggamans and Their Allied Families. Paramus, N.J.: Rev. Thomas Clarke Edwards, 1983.
(In collection of Historical Society of Washington, D.C.)
Holtzmann, Grace Waggaman. Clarke Waggaman, AIA 1877-1919: A Tribute. Published by the Author, 1986.
U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Massachusetts Avenue Architecture. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1973-1975. v. 2.
Waggaman, Clarke. Drawings in collection of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Architecture,
Design and Engineering Drawings.

Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

.

Waggaman, Clarke Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Harvey Hodgen Warwick

Biographical Data
Birth: 3/11/1893 Place: Kansas City, Missouri
Death: 7/16/1972 Place: Bethesda, Maryland
Family: Married Eugenia Griffith, 1922, divorced 1932; one son,
Harvey Warwick, Jr.; Married Dorothy McDermott 1933.
Education
High School: Glendale, California, one year
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: J. H. Martling, 1913-14, and J.C. Sunderland, 1914-
Source: Collection of Frances Warwick
15, Kansas City, Mo.; E.H. Broomhall, Duluth, Minn., 1915-16.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 98 Date Issued: 11/6/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1919 Latest Permit: 1945 Total Permits:164 Total Buildings: 658
Practice Position Date
Individual practice, St. Cloud, Minn. Principal 1916-17
Edgar Mosher, civil engineer and builder Architect Ca. 1919-1922
Individual practice Principal 1922-
Brief partnership with Louis Justement Partner Late 1920s
Late 1920s to 1972, semi-
Individual practice Principal
retired after ca. 1959.
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 12/22/1959 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: American Hemerocalles Society; founding director, National Capital Daylily Club
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings and complexes, single family dwellings, office buildings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, eclectic English, French and Spanish revival styles, Gothic Moderne, Art Deco
DC Work Locations: Various Upper NW neighborhoods including Petworth; Greenway and Woodland in SE
Washington; Arlington, Virginia
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Hilltop Manor/Cavalier 3500 14th Street, NW 1926 NRHP DC Historic Site
Trinity Towers 3017-3019 14th St., NW 1928 NRHP DC Historic Site
Miramar 1301 15th St., NW 1929 14th Street Historic District
Westchester Cathedral Avenue, NW 1930 NRHP DC Historic Site
Colonial Village Arlington, Va. 1935 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Harvey H. Warwick is ranked as one of the city’s most skilled apartment

building designers of his era., known for quality and innovation in apartment
design He designed two of the Washington area's most significant apartment
building complexes: the Westchester on Cathedral Avenue, N.W., and Colonial
Village in Arlington, Virginia, the first large-scale Federal Housing
Administration-insured apartment complex. Warwick’s Washington apartment
building designs influenced the development of the apartment building type in
Washington, D.C. Colonial Village served as the prototype for the
development of garden apartment complexes in Northern Virginia.

Warwick was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 11, 1893, and attended
grade school in Kansas City, Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. His formal
education concluded with a year of high school in Glendale, California. He left
home to live and work with his uncle, an architect, in Kansas City. From 1913
to 1915, he worked in two architectural offices in Kansas City, Missouri, and
he then worked for a year designing school buildings in a Duluth, Minnesota,
Westchester Apartment Building
office. He entered practice in St. Cloud, Minnesota in 1916 but left it to join Library of Congress
the Marine Corps in 1917. LC-H814-T-2564-003

After his Marine Corps service in World War I, Warwick came to Washington, D.C., in 1919. Although he was first
listed in the Washington city directory as an architect in 1919, he initially worked for civil engineer Edgar Mosher
before opening his own practice in 1922. Warwick’s registration to practice in the District was accepted on the basis
of his experience because he did not have the educational requirements to use the designation “registered architect.”
He was briefly associated with Louis Justement in a partnership in the late 1920s.

Warwick's principal client from 1922 until the Depression collapse of the housing market was Morris Cafritz. Cafritz
had recently established a real estate business and, over the course of a long career, became one of Washington, D.C.’s
most successful developers of the twentieth century. Warwick designed numerous single family dwellings for Cafritz
in Petworth and other developing neighborhoods.

One of Warick's first Cafritz commissions was an apartment building -- the first apartment building of the many
Cafritz built. Over the next decade Warwick designed a number of the significant apartment houses built by Cafritz,
including the Parklane at 2025 I St., N.W., (1928) and the Miramar, 1301 15th St., N.W., (1929). Warwick's first
apartment building design was a prosaic composition for the seven-building C-A-F-R-I-T-Z Row on Spring Road,
N.W. The unusual massing seen at the Randall Mansions (1923) at 1900 Lamont Street, N.W., began to reveal a more
distinct talent. The Chalfonte (1925) for developer William S. Phillips, at 1601 Argonne Place, N.W., presented a
Mediterranean façade, distinctly influenced by contemporary Los Angeles apartment building architecture.

Hilltop Manor (now the Cavalier) at 3500 14th St., N.W. (1926) provides an early example of Warwick’s skill in
drawing inspiration from romantic styles, which mimicked English, French and Spanish castles, Tudor manors,
English and French farmhouses, and Italian villas, expressed in the 1920s and 1930s as revival styles. Hilltop Manor's
design, described by contemporaries as “French Renaissance,” is a decidedly transitional design (with both French and
Tudor elements that could be described as Gothic Moderne). It was followed by the Miramar 1301 15th Street (1929).
Warwick designed the Park Lane Apartments, 21st and Pennsylvania, N.W., in 1928 and the Capitol Towers, 208-210
Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., in 1929. Warwick’s Trinity Towers Apartment Building, 3017-3019 14th Street, N.W.
(1928) is a D.C. Landmark. The nine-story brick, tile and concrete building is an important example of Warwick’s
conventional high-rise Gothic Moderne designs. The building's modest appointments and amenities reflect the
transition after the First World War from full-service luxury apartments to buildings conceived and designed for
Washington's growing number of middle class residents.

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 DC Architects Directory

Warwick’s finest high-rise apartment design was for the Westchester (1930). In 1930, Morris Cafritz joined in
partnership with Gustave Ring to conceive the apartment complex to be known as the Westchester on Cathedral
Avenue, N.W. Retaining architect Warwick to execute their idea, the men intended the Westchester as a 28-acre
project with four, eight-story connecting buildings. Employing the Tudor Revival style, Warwick prepared a design
that fully articulated every elevation of the projecting bay designs. Only three of the four buildings were completed as
the Depression reduced developer Gustave Ring's financial
ability to complete his plans.

Working with Gustave Ring in 1935, Warwick designed Colonial

Village in Arlington County, Virginia. This pioneering garden
apartment development was the first large-scale Federal Housing
Administration apartment development in the country. Warwick
produced carefully conceived apartment building designs within
park-like settings. Colonial Village was the area's first garden
apartment complex designed as a planned community. The
complex featured open landscaped courts and sidewalks,
adjacent shopping, and meticulous attention to amenities and the
comforts of renters. Historian James Goode noted in his book
on apartment buildings that, "because of its excellence in design
and construction, Colonial Village became a prototype for Colonial Village, Arlington
dozens of other large garden apartment complexes in other Library of Congress, LC-H814-T01-2497-004
states.” Warwick teamed with Ring once again in 1939 to design Arlington Village, their second FHA-insured garden
apartment complex in Arlington County.

Warwick designed over forty apartment buildings in the Washington, D.C., area from 1922 to 1945. He was a close
associate of Washington developers Morris Cafritz and Gustave Ring and he was associated with builder Paul T.
Stone on several projects including Gunston Hall Apartments in Alexandria, Va. Warwick’s commissions produced
not only some of the area’s most noted garden apartment designs but also examples of modestly appointed garden
apartments complexes in northeast and southeast Washington including the Skyland Apartments and Suburban
Gardens.

Warwick, who employed a variety of architectural styles, produced designs for buildings ranging from the early
interpretations of Art Deco to the Colonial Revival. Art Deco experts Hans Wirz and Richard Striner, writing about a
1941 Warwick office building, stated that: "The Commonwealth Building reveals how his [Warwick’s] style, like that
of so many Washington architects of this period, developed from the highly ornate and eclectic look of the late 1920s
to a style rather neatly poised between Art Deco and the International style by the early 1940s."

Warwick's prominence as an architect is primarily associated with his designs for both large and small apartment
buildings. However, his work also included single-family houses and office and commercial buildings. He designed
the Ambassador Hotel at 1412 K Street (1929), the Commonwealth office building at 1625 K Street (1941), both for
Morris Cafritz.

Warwick was an investor in at least some of the apartment complexes he designed including Gunston Hall
Apartments in which he invested with builder Paul T. Stone. The owner of Gunston Hall was listed on permits as
Stone and Warwick Construction Company. Stone and Warwick Construction Co. also built the Skyland apartment
complex. Warwick was its president and Stone was vice president. Warwick was a stockholder with Ring and Cafritz
in the Westchester until they sold the complex in 1937. Warwick owned the Dunbar Hotel (demolished) at 15th and U
Streets, N.W., once the principal hotel open to African Americans in Washington, D.C. In mid 1950s Warwick gave
up his architectural practice to manage his investment in the Dunbar Hotel but he resumed the practice in late 1950s.

Shortly before World War II Warwick designed a Tudor revival style house for himself at 5910 Bradley Lane,
Bethesda, Md. set in three acres of landscaped grounds. In his later years he was semi-retired and devoted much of his
time to his gardens and the hybridizing of daylilies. He died at the age of 79 in July 1972.

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Historical Washington Post searched through Proquest; Prints and Photographs Division,
Other Repositories:
Library of Congress
Publication: Washington Post Date: July 19, 1972
Obituary: Page: C4
Washington Star July 19, 1972
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 1 article
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 302
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Harvey H. Warwick Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
EHT Traceries, Inc. "Cavalier Apartment Building/Hilltop Manor." National Register of Historic Places Registration
Form, 2007.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
“Skyland, Big FHA Project, Opens Today.” Washington Post, September 10, 1939
Warwick, Harvey to Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects, December 17, 1956. D.C. Archives,
Washington, D.C.
Warwick, Harvey, Jr. “Biographical Sketch of Harvey Hodgen Warwick, Sr., A.I.A.” Typescript, February 15, 1982 in
collection of Frances Warwick (widow of Harvey Warwick, Jr.), Largo, Florida. Transmitted to EHT Traceries
by Harvey H. Warwick III.
“Westchester Firm Sale Deal Closed.” Washington Post, June 3, 1937.
Wirz, Hans, and Richard Striner. Washington Deco. Abbeville Press, Inc., 1994.

Notes: Permit totals include permits listed under Harvey Warwick, Harvey H. Warwick and H. H. Warwick.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

C. E. (Charles Edgar) Webb

Biographical Data
Birth: 4/19/1876 Place: Washington, DC
Death: 5/30/1964 Place: North Beach, MD

Family: Wife: Margaret Dorothy Webb; Son: Charles Webb.

Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: May have worked with William James Palmer, DC
Architect.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1902 Latest Permit: 1921 Total Permits: 145 Total Buildings: 247
Practice Position Date
Private practice (Washington, DC) Draftsman ca. 1894 – ca. 1922
Engineers Section, Construction Division of
Architectural Draftsman ca. 1917 – ca. 1919
the U.S. War Department
Unknown agency, U.S. Government Civil Engineer Pre 1930 - ??
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Row houses, Detached Dwellings, Apartment Buildings, Movie Theaters (conversions), Stables,
Stores, Social Hall.
Styles and Forms: Italianate, Queen Anne, Classical Revival, Colonial Revival.
DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, Deanwood, Congress Heights, Fourteenth Street, Anacostia, U Street, NW,
Palisades, Georgia Avenue.
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Row houses for Walter F. 210-228 10th Street, SE, Capitol NRHP DC Historic Site
1904-1905
Collins, 10th Street, SE Hill Capitol Hill Historic District
The Torraine Apartments 424 E. Capitol Street, NE 1905 NRHP DC Historic Site
Capitol Hill Historic District
The Fairfax Apartments 1200 E. Capitol Street, NE 1907 NRHP DC Historic Site
Capitol Hill Historic District
713-717 North Capitol Street
Jewel Hotel Unbuilt? NRHP DC Historic Site
NE
Dix & Eads Streets Cottages Deanwood 1919-1920 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Movie Theater conversions Various locations, NE, NW, SE 1909-1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Washington, DC
Significance and Contributions
Born circa 1874 in Washington, D.C., little is known about Charles Edgar Webb’s early life or his architectural
training. His father was a machinist. Webb first appears in the city directories working as a clerk in 1892-1893 on 4th
Street, Southeast. By the following year, he had become a draftsman working at 521 4th Street, SE. He continued to
report his profession as “draftsman” through 1904. By 1906, however, he is listed as an architect. For a short period
around 1910, Webb appears to have shared an office with established D.C. architect, William James Palmer; however,
it is not known whether Palmer employed him. Webb maintained a prolific private practice through the early 1920s;
however, during World War I, he worked for the Engineering Division of the Construction Division of the War
Department. That experience led to later full-time work with the U.S. Government. In 1920, his profession is listed
as “Architect, Housing” in the U.S. Census; and by 1930 he reported working as a civil engineer for the U.S.
government.

During his two decades in private practice, Charles

Edgar Webb designed numerous buildings of various
types across the District. The nearly 250 buildings
attributed to Webb between 1902 and 1921 mainly
stand in the Southeast and Northeast quadrants of the
city in the neighborhoods that surround Capitol Hill;
many of his later commissions were erected in the
Deanwood neighborhood and other neighborhoods
located east of the Anacostia River in Northeast. In
addition to new construction, he designed additions and
remodeled houses and commercial buildings for private
clients. He executed much of his work for small-scale
developers who commissioned small residential rows 210-228 10th Street SE; 1904-1905
and individual houses in the city’s expanding residential District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
areas.

Much of Webb’s early work consisted of rather formulaic, Italianate and Queen Anne Victorian style row houses that
were constructed of brick and incorporated semi-octagonal, full-height, projecting bays on their facades and
decorative, corbelled brick cornices. Webb’s row houses typically incorporated rusticated stone lintels above their
windows and doors. A good example stands at 210-228 10th Street, SE (1904-1905). Webb designed the ten-unit row
of two-story, brick residences for local developer, Walter F. Collins. Webb also executed a number of modest, frame,
Queen Anne-style dwellings in Southeast Washington, including the two-story, frame residence that he designed for
R.H. Cowan in the Congress Heights neighborhood (3023 8th Street, SE, 1904).

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Webb designed several small-scale apartment buildings

during the first decade of the 20th century. The
Torraine apartment building near Stanton Park (424
East Capitol Street, NE; designed 1905) is typical of his
work. Designed for Charles W. Newhouser, the three-
story, brick building incorporates the same semi-
octagonal projecting bays that Webb favored for his
row houses. The Fairfax Apartments at 1200 East
Capitol Street NE near Lincoln Park is Webb’s most
elaborate design. The Classical-Revival style, three-
story, red-brick apartment building features an
elaborate, paneled entry sheltered by a classical portico,
bowed and square projecting bays, and a modillioned
cornice. Erected for owner Katherine C. Holt, the The Torraine, 424 East Capitol Street NE; 1905
building retains its elaborate interior decoration, District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
including paneled wood wainscoting, carved wood
mantels and door lintels, inlaid wood floors, pocket doors, and coffered ceilings.

Like his residential work, Webb’s commercial commissions were generally small in scale. Between 1909 and 1910,
Webb executed plans for remodeling seven buildings as movie theaters. One example of his movie theater remodeling
work that remains standing is the former Meaders Theater at 535-537 8th Street, SE in the Barracks Row area. Now
occupied by the National Community Church, the theater opened in 1910; it operated until 1961. The remodeling
work described in the 1909 building permit (#2518, Oct. 11, 1909) included a complete gutting of the interior and the
installation of a new galvanized iron front, at an estimated cost of $30,000. The Stanley-Crandall Company remodeled
the theater again in 1927. Typical of Webb’s store designs is the two-story, brick corner store located at 301 P Street,
NW. Designed in 1914, the building incorporates a circular corner oriel window at the second story above the store
entrance. In 1914, a group of investors lead by J.S. Dugan commissioned Webb to design a new hotel, to be called the
Jewel Hotel, at 713-717 N. Capitol Street NE near Union Station. Although it was likely never built, a 1914 newspaper
article describes an elaborate, four-story, 60-room hotel faced with stucco and white stone and topped by a Spanish tile
roof.

Webb worked outside of Washington, D.C. as well. In

1904, working with architect C.N. Walker, he designed
an eight-room school house and two small cottages in
Hyattsville, Maryland. He also executed a suburban
house for James McCauley near Oxen Hill, Maryland.
A 1906 newspaper article praised Webb’s design saying
that he had incorporated “a number of very pretty
incorporated ideas in suburban building which lend
themselves to the charm of the surroundings.” (The
Washington Times, 16 September 1906).

Between 1917 and 1921, Webb worked almost

exclusively for the real estate development firm of Irvin
& Shank in the Deanwood neighborhood. Webb
designed approximately 30 modest, one-story, frame Interior of apartment in The Fairfax, 1200 E. Capitol
Street NE; 1907
cottages on scattered lots facing Eads Street, Dix Street,
Photo courtesy of www.zillow.com
44th Street, and Clay Street, Northeast. The simple
cottages have pyramidal or hipped roofs, centered brick
chimneys set at an angle, and one-bay, front-gable porches.

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No information has been located to date regarding

Webb’s federal service. He worked for the military
construction division for a period during and possibly
after World War I. He appears to have continued to
work for the federal government in architecture and
engineering until he retired.

Webb retired to the town of North Beach in Calvert

County, Maryland and died in 1964. He is buried at
Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Lodge Hall, I.O.O.F., Langdon Lodge, 2020 Rhode

Island Avenue NE; 1908.
Photo courtesy of www.Google.com
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – Not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – Not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – Not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 303
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – Not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – Not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – Not in it
Obituary Publication: Washington Post Date: 6/1/1964 Page: B4
Other Sources:
Headley, Robert K. Motion Picture Exhibition in Washington, D.C. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.
Publishers, 1999.
Library of Congress, Digital Collections. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1880. District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1920. District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. District of Columbia.
World War I U.S. Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 record for Charles Edgar Webb. Ancestry.com.
Notes:
The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.
Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Webb, C.E. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Edwin Armstrong Weihe

Biographical Data
Birth: 5/15/1907 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: 12/28/1994 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Sister, Laura; brother, Herman; first wife, Caroline Cox (four
children); second wife, Charlotte Kingsley (three children); ten
grandchildren
Education
High School: Central High School, Washington, D.C., grad. 1925
College: George Washington University, B.S. Architecture, 1931
Graduate School: Catholic University, no credits
Apprenticeship: Charles H. Tompkins, Co. (draftsman and designer,
5 years); Kenton D. Hamaker (6 mos.); Stone Construction, Co. (2 Source: WDG Architecture
years)
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 290 Date Issued: 12/2/1936
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1935 Latest Permit: 1949* Total Permits: 123 Total Buildings: 262
Practice Position Date
U.S. War Department Assistant Architect, draftsman 1933-34
Edwin A. Weihe Principal 1938-44
Weihe & Gibbs Partner 1946-48
Edwin Weihe & Associates Partner 1949-62
Weihe, Black & Kerr Partner 1963-67
Weihe, Black, Kerr & Jeffries Senior partner 1968-87
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1946 Fellow of the AIA: n/a
Other Societies or Memberships: Washington Board of Trade, Commissioners Zoning Advisory Committee, Board
for the Condemnation of Unsanitary Buildings, Cosmos Club, Congressional Country Club, St. Alban’s Church
Awards or Commissions: Washington Chapter AIA Centennial Award, 1991; Awards for Superior Design,
Washington Board of Trade, two in 1938, four in 1939, one in 1962
Buildings
Building Types: Office buildings, hotels, apartment buildings, mixed-use commercial structures, subdivision houses
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Streamlined Moderne, Modern Movement
DC Work Locations: Downtown, K Street corridor, Connecticut Avenue business district, Dupont Circle
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
1140 Connecticut Ave., NW 1967
Connecticut Avenue offices NRHP DC Historic Site
1225 Connecticut Ave., NW 1968
Quebec House (apartments) Connecticut Ave. and Quebec St., NW 1949 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

ca.
The Pennsylvania Building 13th Street and Pennsylvania Ave., NW NRHP DC Historic Site
1953
Apartments 4200 Cathedral Ave., NW 1954 NRHP DC Historic Site
Office building 1701 K Street, NW 1952 NRHP DC Historic Site
Hamilton House (apartments) 1255 New Hampshire Ave., NW 1966 NRHP DC Historic Site
Mills Building (offices) 1700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 1966 NRHP DC Historic Site
Crystal City Complex (offices,
Arlington, Va. 1969 NRHP DC Historic Site
apartments, hotel and theater)

Significance and Contributions

Edwin Armstrong Weihe worked steadily as a successful architect in the Washington, D.C., area for more than 50
years. He designed over 60 buildings in downtown Washington and over 100 other notable structures in the District.
His mark on the city of Washington is a significant one, particularly because of his introduction of several space-
maximizing structural innovations, including flat-plate concrete construction, that were widely adopted by other
designers of Washington, D.C., office buildings. A tribute article to Weihe in the Washington Post in 1979 was entitled,
“The Weihe Trademark is Pragmatic Design.”

Edwin Weihe was born on May 15, 1907, in Washington and attended public schools. He graduated from Central
High School in 1925 and then went on to George Washington University. He received his Bachelor’s degree in
architecture in 1931. Weihe gained professional experience from several apprenticeship positions, working as a
draftsman for Norris I. Crandall, Kenton D. Hamaker, and the U.S. War Department. After college he used his
engineering knowledge as well as his design skills working for Stone Construction and for Charles H. Tompkins
Construction Company.

Early in his career Weihe spent the most time working for Charles Tompkins, designing detached subdivision houses
as well as slightly larger projects like the dormitory for the Carmelite fathers at 1600 Webster St., NE. Also in the
mid-1930s Weihe worked as a part-time instructor of architectural design at George Washington University. He
established his own private architectural practice in 1938.

The majority of Weihe’s work was located in Washington, D.C., and in Arlington, Va., but in 1942 he designed
Suitland Manor as part of a $1,250,000 defense housing project in Prince Georges County, Maryland. Suitland Manor

Quebec House Apartments, Connecticut Avenue Entrance at Quebec House Apartments

and Quebec Street, NW EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010
EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

was a group of English-style garden apartments

totaling 108 two-story buildings. The
development firm for the project was Sam
Minskoff & Sons of New York City, which was
responsible for some of the largest pre-World War
II apartment houses and hotels in the nation. He
also designed for privately-funded housing
projects such as Livingston Manor in Southeast
Washington in 1943.

Weihe served in the Navy in the Pacific during the Scale Model of Marriott Motor Hotel, Arlington County, VA
Second World War, but resumed his architectural Washington Post, 3/30/1955, p. 8
practice in partnership with Katherine Gibbs shortly after the war, and they took part in the post-war building boom.
One example of their work is the Quebec House, an apartment building, designed by Weihe & Gibbs in 1948 and
completed in 1949 on Quebec St., NW, near the intersection with Connecticut Avenue. With eight stories and 560
units, Quebec House was large in scale for its time. In 1955 Weihe was once again involved in large-scale
construction as one of the architects of the Marriott Motor Hotel in Arlington County, adjacent to the Fourteenth
Street Bridge and the Pentagon. It no longer exists, but was the largest drive-in motel in the world at the time of its
construction.

In addition to residential neighborhoods in Northwest Washington and commercial centers in Northern Virginia, the
District’s downtown business corridor was the site of many of Edwin Weihe’s projects. In 1963 he formed a new
partnership with Byron B. Black and James R. Kerr, and Alexander H. Jeffries, Jr., would join in 1968. The Weihe
Partnership designed scores of buildings downtown and in Arlington, Va., in the 1950s and 1960s, including: several
office buildings on Connecticut Avenue between K Street and Dupont Circle (1001, 1140, and 1225 Connecticut
Ave., NW), the 13-story Pennsylvania Building at 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, the Mills Building at 1700
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, the office building at 1701 K Street, NW, and the Crystal Plaza office complex (20th St.
and Jefferson-Davis Highway, Arlington). Weihe designed for many of Washington’s most prominent developers
including John Akridge, Oliver Carr and Charles E. Smith.

With Weihe’s extensive experience designing commercial buildings and office space in Washington, he became very
knowledgeable in the issues of zoning and height restrictions. Weihe earned nicknames like “Mr. Zoning,” for trying
to update the District’s zoning and building codes and for participating in debates about regulation changes. He was
always interested in designing to create the maximum amount of usable space, and was the first architect in
Washington to promote flat-plate concrete construction methods to maximize space within the limits set by the
District’s building
height restrictions.
Weihe’s use of sloping
columns to improve
the layout of
underground garages
and simplify the
framing of upper story
setbacks required by
zoning was another
major innovation that
was soon adopted by
the industry. Weihe
also was a leader in the
use of pre-cast
concrete as a building
Mills Building, 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 1140 Connecticut Avenue, NW
cladding material in
Google Maps, accessed 9/16/2010 EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010
Washington.

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 DC Architects Directory

Critics of his work claimed it lacked distinction, to which Weihe replied in an interview in 1979, “I do not endorse
eyesores or extravagance in private buildings. I’d rather be dull and efficient than frivolous.”

In 1991 Weihe was the first recipient of the lifetime achievement award for the Washington metropolitan chapter of
the AIA. He died just three year later at the age of 87. The Weihe Partnership architectural firm continues today as
one of the oldest continuously operating local architectural firms. After Weihe’s death the firm became known as
WDG Architecture, specializing in exteriors and interiors and maintaining offices in Washington, D.C., and in Dallas,
Texas.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post, searched through ProQuest
Publication: Washington Post
Obituary: “Architect Edwin Weihe Dies; Helped Shape Date: 12/29/1994 Page: B4
D.C. Skyline.”
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
1956/1st 591
American Architects Directory 1962/2nd 746
1970/3rd 973-74
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 304
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
“Development Set For Arlington.” Washington Post, July 27, 1941, R5.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Edwin Armstrong Weihe Application for Registration.
District of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Forgey, Benjamin. “Architect Awards to Weihe, Others.” Washington Post, 11/3/1990, D10.
Lyons, Richard L. “Builders Fear Reimposing of 12-story Limit.” Washington Post, March 1, 1953, M11.
“Prince Georges Will Get huge Housing Unit.” Washington Post, March 29, 1942, R3.
“WDG Architecture.” www.wdgarch.com
Willmann, John B. “The Weihe Trademark is Pragmatic Design.” Washington Post, 12/22/1979, C6.
“World’s Biggest Motel Planned on Arlington Site by Hot Shoppes.” Washington Post, March 30, 1955, 8.
Notes: * Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include
permits up to 1949. Edwin Weihe was active as an architect into the 1980s, so his actual permit numbers are not
reflected here.
Permit and building totals include listings for “Weihe, Edwin” (96 permits, 222 buildings), “Weihe & Gibbs” (14
permits, 15 buildings), “Weihe (Edwin) & Gibbs (Katherine)” (11 permits, 23 buildings), “Weihe (Edwin) & Hamaker
(Kenton D.)” (2 permits, 2 buildings).
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Weihe, Edwin A. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Julius Wenig
Biographical Data
Birth: 07/07/1872 Place: Frankfurt, Germany
Death: 05/09/1940 Place: Washington, DC
Family: married to Katherine Wenig; two children
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, 24 Feb. 1907
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 18 Date Issued: 01/15/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1897 Latest Permit: 1940 Total Permits: 425 Total Buildings: 775
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Draftsman 1892-1895
Private Practice Architect 1898-1940
Commissions:
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: November 1919 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Treasurer of the AIA; member of the Washington Architectural Club and the
Washington Building Congress; member of the Washington member of the Elks, the Knights of Columbus,
Alharnbra, and a charter member and president of the Windthorst Club.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses, Commercial Buildings, Institutional Buildings, Apartment Buildings
Styles and Forms: Victorian, Gothic, Craftsman, Italian Renaissance, Classical Revival
DC Work Locations: Georgetown, Mount Vernon Square, Downtown, Sheridan-Kalorama, Foggy Bottom
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
St. Mary’s Orphanage 471 G Street 1902 NRHP DC Historic Site
440-442 Massachusetts Ave., NW 1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Mercantile Savings Bank 719-21 10th Street, NW 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site
Livingston Clothing Store 908 7th Street, NW 1916 NRHP DC Historic Site
2160-62 California Street, NW 1917 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Locker Room 501-511 14th Street, NW 1927 Demolished in 1979

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 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Julius Wenig maintained a thriving architectural firm in Washington, D.C., from 1898
until his death in 1940. He immigrated to the United States at the age of 17 and was a resident of Washington, D.C.,
by 1892. In the 1892 -1895 city directories, Wenig is listed as a draftsman, but any previous education or employment
is unknown. From 1915 until 1940, Wenig’s offices were located in the Mercantile Bank Building, a building he
designed for the Mercantile Savings Fund in 1912. The two-story Classical Revival-style bank with details associated
with the Craftsman movement is an important example of neighborhood savings banks which appeared in
Washington around the turn of the century. The elements of classical architecture present in the building present an
image of stability and financial security.

Julius Wenig’s work consists of a variety of building types that spans the first four decades of the twentieth century.
He designed apartment buildings, commercial buildings, residences, and an automobile showroom during the years
1899-1938. Most of the buildings Wenig designed are classical in style with simplified detailing. He was responsible for
introducing numerous single-story stores throughout the city, often featuring a central show window and a parapet
roof. A few examples of his more notable work are highlighted below:

 St. Mary's Orphanage, located at 471 G Place, and constructed in 1902, is a 3-story Gothic styled building,
which continues to serve as an adjunct building for St. Mary's congregation. The main elevation is
highlighted by a rich stone ornament placed above the entrance with an elaborate quatrefoil design and
Gothic arch.

 The apartment building at 115 New York Avenue, N.W. was also designed in 1902. Wenig's understanding
of apartment architecture is clearly illustrated in his use of the rowhouse form with squared projecting bays
and his reliance on elements typical of Victorian architecture.

 The rowhouse structures at 440-442 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. date to 1910, and are fine examples of early
20th-century residential architecture. Although constructed at a later date than the other buildings in the row,
Wenig carefully presents a strong design compatible in scale and detail to the other buildings.

 The Livingston Clothing Store located at 908 7th Street, N.W. was designed by Wenig in 1916. The architect
employs the same textured buff brick, and Craftsman style brick work and patterns found on the Mercantile
Savings Bank Building.

 Wenig designed the fine Italian Renaissance style commercial structures at 2160-62 California Street, N.W. in
Sheridan-Kalorama in 1917. They are superb examples of the corner retail structures which are found
throughout the city.

Wenig was one of the founders of the Washington Savings Bank along with the treasurer of the Mercantile Savings
Fund Society, John D. Leonard. Wenig was an active member of the Washington Architectural Club, a social
organization of architects that promoted the study of architecture through exhibits and lectures. In 1902, he was a
member of the Washington Architectural Club’s House Committee and presented pencil sketches of St. Mary’s
School and Sisters’ Residences at the Annual Exhibition. Later, Wenig exhibited drawings of the National Permanent
Building Association at the 1911 Washington Architectural Club Exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. He was
also a member of the Knights of Columbus.

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The Mercantile Savings Bank – 1980

Source: Traceries – Downtown Survey

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 305
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Obituary Publication: Evening Star/Washington Post Date: 05/10/1940 (Star) 05/11/1940 (Post)
Other Sources:

“Architects Labor for City Beautiful.” Washington Post, 24 February 1907.

D.C. Preservation League. Mercantile Savings Bank Building DC Historic Landmark Application. 1990.

EHT Traceries, 2160-2162 California Street, NW. Report prepared for Joseph Ney, August 2005.

Hunter, Wendy. 501-511 14th Street (The Locker Room). HABS No. DC-356, October 1979.

Traceries. “Historic Context of Downtown Survey Area.” 920-930 F Street, NW Program of Mitigation, June 1990.

Traceries. Mercantile Bank Historic Landmark Application. Washington, D.C.: Historic Preservation Review Board, 1994.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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 DC Architects Directory

Claughton West
Biographical Data
Birth: March 19, 1885 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: July 1978 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Married W. Annette “Millie” Pope in 1922
Education
High School: Washington D.C. public school
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Offices of William Poindexter Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 138 Date Issued: 10/28/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1908 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 254 Total Buildings: 722
Practice Position Date
United States War Department Architectural Draftsman 1918-1920
Individual Practice Architect 1909-1960
West & Talbott Partner, architect 1919-1921
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships:
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings, rowhouses, duplexes, detached houses
Styles and Forms: Classical Revival, Italian Renaissance Revival, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Connecticut Avenue, NW; Capitol Hill; Dupont Circle; Kalorama Triangle; Washington
Heights
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Kalorama Triangle Historic
The Biltmore 1940 Biltmore St., NW 1913
District
Washington Heights Historic
Emerson Apartment Building 1824 Belmont Road, NW 1916
District
Washington Heights Historic
Apartment Building 1818 Kalorama Road, NW 1916
District
Euclid Apartments 1740 Euclid St., NW 1919 NRHP DC Historic Site
Kalorama Triangle Historic
Kilpin House 2310 Ashmead Place, NW 1920
District
Park Crest, Woodward Kalorama Triangle Historic
2308 Ashmead Place, NW 1922
Apartments District

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The Foreland Apartment 1926 Capitol Hill Historic District

Building 23 2nd Street, NE

Significance and Contributions

Claughton West was a native of Washington, D.C., born in

the District on March 19, 1885. West’s parents, George W.
and Blanche Claughton, were both from Virginia, but he was
raised in Washington. He attended Washington, D.C.,
public schools, including the D.C. Grammar School from
1893 until 1899. He first studied architecture under
respected architect William Poindexter, and was Poindexter’s
apprentice until 1908. West began practicing as an architect
under his own name in 1908. He worked as an architect in
and around the District for over 50 years, designing more
than 600 houses and 40 apartment buildings. He designed
buildings in all four quadrants of the city, but most of his
extant work is in the northern half of Washington. The West’s Plans for Colonial Revival House for Judge George
sheer quantity of residential structures built to his designs G. Perkins (1909)
make West’s work influential and important in the Washington Post,January 24,1909,. CA6
development of Washington, D.C.

West’s early career was marked by the design of residences which were mainly detached dwellings in the suburbs of
Washington. But he exhibited a wide variety in design skill, and according to the Washington Post in 1908, he designed a
new church at Lamont Street and Sherman Avenue in the “Gothic type” with an associate architect, Matthew G.
Lepley. West designed primarily in the northern section of the District and into Maryland, including detached
dwellings in Chevy Chase, Connecticut Avenue Heights, Forest
Glen, and Takoma Park. He gained recognition for a two-story
colonial revival residence for the Honorable George G. Perkins
just over the Maryland state line in Chevy Chase at the
northwest corner of Melrose Street and Connecticut Avenue.
The plans he drafted for the house were published in the
Washington Post in January 1909. Additionally in 1909, West
designed a new storefront and the interiors for the renovation of
the Glover Building at 1419 F Street, N.W.

By the early 1910s West’s focus shifted to designing apartment

buildings. Purpose built apartment buildings became very
popular in the District in this decade, and by 1930 an estimated
fifty percent of the Washington, D.C., population lived in
apartment buildings. Before the First World War, West
designed apartment buildings for builder and architect Joseph J.
Moebs. West designed The Biltmore, a “modern apartment
house,” that Moebs developed in 1913 overlooking Rock Creek
Park at the southwest corner of Nineteenth and Biltmore
Streets, N.W. The six-story apartment building features an
Italian Renaissance Revival door surround and an elaborate
marble main hall on the first floor. The Biltmore is located in
what is now the Kalorama Triangle Historic District. According
The Biltmore, 1940 Biltmore Street, N.W. (1913) to the Washington Post, Moebs and West also worked together on
EHT Traceries, Inc. photo, 2010 apartment buildings in 1912 and in 1915. On his application for

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registration as an architect in the District of Columbia, West noted that he contributed to the designs for the Arlington
Hotel at 1025 Vermont Ave., N.W., which was one of Moebs’ largest development projects, completed in 1917. In
the same decade, West designed two
apartment buildings in the Washington
Heights neighborhood: the Emerson
apartment building at 1824 Belmont Road,
N.W.; and the apartment building at 1818
Kalorama Road, N.W. The five-story
Emerson building exhibits the Italian
Renaissance Revival style with its villa-like
form, while the Kalorama Road apartment
building was designed in the Classical
Revival style.

During World War I West began designing

for Howard Montgomery Etchison, one of
the most prominent owner/developers in
the District in the early twentieth century.
West designed nine apartment buildings for The Euclid Apartments, 1740 Euclid St., NW
Etchison as well as several detached and EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010
semi-detached houses scattered throughout
Northwest Washington. One of the most notable apartment buildings West designed for Etchison was the Euclid in
1919. The Euclid stands at 1740 Euclid Street, N.W., and is categorized as a conventional mid-rise apartment building.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April 2010 largely because of the building’s remarkable
historical integrity. West’s design is in the Classical Revival style with a dramatic overhanging cornice and protruding
bays at the building’s corners.

West entered into a short-term partnership in 1919 with William Randolph Talbott and they maintained offices in the
Homer Building until 1921. During these years West was employed at the U.S. War Department as an architectural
draftsman, and he worked independently for several other prominent Washingtonian developers. His independent
work included rowhouses in the northeast and northwest quadrants of the District for Middaugh and Shannon, and
rowhouses on 3rd Street, N.E., for Waggaman & Brawner Real Estate. His work on 3rd Street, N.E., was razed for
what is now Shaed Elementary School.

When the District instituted registration of architects in 1925 West registered, but he soon allowed his registration to
lapse for nonpayment of fees. Thus he practiced as an architect rather than with the more prestigious designation of
registered architect. West’s practice declined in the Depression years of the 1930s, but he continued designing
residences and renovations at least through the 1960s. In the 1930s and 1940s West primarily designed two-story
detached houses and duplexes in the northeast and northwest quadrants of the District. He worked mostly in brick
and masonry, and designed Tudor Revival and Colonial Revival dwellings. West also undertook several renovation
projects in the latter part of his career. These included the significant renovations he supervised on the Marmel
Apartments at 21 6th Street, N.E., on Capitol Hill in 1963.

At the time of West’s registration as an architect in Washington in 1925, Charles A. Douglas, Esq. described West in a
letter of recommendation as “quiet, dignified, well behaved and generally a young man of character.” Another one of
West’s references, Royce A. Ruess, said West was “very considerate and cautious” with regard to economy in
administration of client’s money.

West died in Washington in July 1978.

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Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
District of Columbia Office of Planning, PropertyQuest.dc.gov; Washington Post searched
Other Repositories:
through ProQuest; Ancestry.com
Obituary: Publication: Date: Page:
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 306
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Adams, Anne H. Euclid Apartments National Register for Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.: Pillsbury
Winthrop Shaw Pittman, 2009.
Eig, Emily Hotaling. Kalorama Triangle Historic District National Register for Historic Places Form. Washington, D.C.: EHT
Traceries, 1987.
“New Flats Near Park.” Washington Post, 6 July 1913, p. CF3.
“Realty Sales Keep Up.” Washington Post, 24 January 1909, p. CA6.
Trieschmann, Laura V., Patti Kuhn, Megan Rispoli, Ellen Jenkins and Elizabeth Breiseth. Washington Heights Historic
District National Register for Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.: EHT Traceries, 2006.
“Two Pleasing Homes: Chevy Chase Circle to Have Attractive Additions.” Washington Post, 24 January 1909, p. CA6.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, District of Columbia, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930.
West, Claughton. World War I Draft Registration Card, 12 September 1918. Local Board for Division No. 9, District
of Columbia.
West, Claughton Application for Registration to Practice Architecture. District of Columbia Archives, Washington,
D.C., 1925.
Notes: The latest permit listed is from 1949, but this is the final year included in the permit database, so there may
have been permits issued to West after 1949.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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Clifton B. White
Biographical Data
Birth: 5/18/1905 Place: Knoxville, TN
Death: 5/1985 Place: Maryland

Family:

Education
High School: Maury High School, Norfolk, VA
College: Beaux Arts Institute of Design, NY (Correspondence
Course)
Graduate School:

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 496 Date Issued: 2/12/1946
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1930 Latest Permit: 1949 Total Permits: 214 Total Buildings: 249
Practice Position Date
George N. Ray, Washington, DC Architectural Drafting 1923-1926
Bauman & Bauman, Knoxville, TN Architectural Drafting 1926-1927
Flournoy & Flournoy, Washington, DC Architectural Drafting 1927-1928
John J. Whelan, Washington, DC Office Manager & Arch. Drafting 1928-1932
Private Practice, Washington, DC Architectural work/Architect 1932-1941, 1942-1966
Engineer Board (U.S. Govt.), Belvoir, VA Chief Architect & Draftsman 1941-1942
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1946-1966 Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Registered Architect in Maryland (#477-A) 7/27/1945.
Awards or Commissions: 1949 Certificate of Merit from Washington Board of Trade
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, apartments, stores, storage buildings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival
DC Work Locations: Capitol Hill, Cleveland Park, Georgetown, Chevy Chase, Brookland (Northeast DC),
Anacostia
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling 2401 Foxhall Road NW 1933 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 7717 17th Street NW 1933 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling (duplex) 525 Quackenbos Street NW 1934 NRHP DC Historic Site
Laboratory 1236 Mount Olivet Road NE 1937 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1856 Plymouth Street NW 1938 NRHP DC Historic Site

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 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Apartment Building 1126 South Carolina Avenue SE 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment Building 3715 2nd Street SE 1945 NRHP DC Historic Site
12430 Scaggsville Road,
Mount Zion Methodist Church 1961 NRHP DC Historic Site
Highland, MD
Significance and Contributions
Clifton Bryan White was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on May 18, 1905. By 1919, his family had moved to Norfolk,
Virginia where he attended Maury High School, graduating in 1923. That year, White started working as a draftsman
for the Washington, D.C. architectural firm of George N. Ray while taking correspondence courses from the Beaux
Arts Institute of Architecture in New York. White continued taking courses for the next four years while working for
Ray until 1926, and then for the firm of Bauman & Bauman in Knoxville, Tennessee from 1926 to 1927. Clifton B.
White moved back to D.C. in 1927; he worked as a draftsman for the firm of Flournoy & Flournoy for a year before
moving to John J. Whelan’s firm, where he worked as a draftsman and office manager from 1928 to 1932.

Although White did not set up in business as an architect until 1932, he was already designing buildings in 1930. That
year, a building permit was issued with Clifton B. White’s name as architect. In 1936, White moved his office out of
D.C. to Silver Spring, Maryland where it remained for the rest of his career.

Through the 1930s, White seems to have had steady work designing single dwellings; approximately half of his work
was done for individual owners and the other half for development and construction companies. He also designed a
few stores and flats. Located mostly near Rock Creek Park in neighborhoods such as Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase,
Brightwood, and Shepard Park, the buildings White designed are also located in Brookland, Deanwood, Capitol Hill,
and Anacostia as well.

White’s designs for dwellings most often took the form

of two-story, three-bay brick houses usually in the
Colonial Revival style and less often in the Tudor
Revival style. Even when designing houses for
developers such as H.G. Smithy Co. or Homesite Realty
Corp. in the same neighborhood or nearby streets,
White varied the layouts from center-hall to side-hall
plans, and the architectural details of the doorways,
window surrounds, and cornices. Most of the dwellings
were estimated to cost from $7,000 to $10,000 to
construct. White did receive larger single commissions
as well. Among these were a two-story, brick house at
1856 Plymouth Street NW estimated to cost $18,000
Buchol’ston Quarries Advertising Card; 1933
and a two-story, stone house at 2401 Foxhall Road NW 2401 Foxhall Road NW
estimated to cost $45,000 for Mrs. Sydney C. Graves. District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars
In 1937, the D.C. Board of Examiners and Registrars of
Architects decided to make an example of White by issuing warrants against him. The warrants charged that he
“engaged in the practice of architecture in the District” and assumed the title of architect without having qualified for
and obtained a certificate of registration. White pleaded not guilty and sought a jury trial. In June 1937 at the trial, the
jury found White not guilty. Results of the trial included suits and countersuits among the complainants and White,
and a decision by the D.C. Board of Examiners to postpone issuing warrants to others.

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Clifton B. White continued to design mostly dwellings

until 1941 when he switched to war service as the
Camouflage Chief Architect and Draftsman for the
Engineer Board at Fort Belvoir, Virginia at the start of
World War II. White stayed at Fort Belvoir through
1942, but he also designed a few dwellings in northwest
D.C during this period. Among them are seven houses
designed for the developer/contractor Jacobson Bros.
and located between Rock Creek Park and Connecticut
Avenue in Northwest. Six of the Colonial Revival-style
dwellings were estimated to cost $12,000 to build a two-
story, brick house over 2,000 square feet in size.

In July 1945, Clifton B. White was registered with the 7717 17 Street NW; 1933
th

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

Maryland Board of Examiners and Registration of
Architects after passing a four day written examination.
White then applied to the D.C. Board of Examiners in January 1946. His registration was granted February 12, 1946
without having to take the D.C. examination on the basis of his having passed the Maryland examination. In January
1947, White applied for membership to the American Institute of Architects (AIA); membership in the Washington,
D.C. Chapter was granted the following month and continued until its termination in 1966.

In the later 1940s, White’s received larger single

commissions in D.C. for commercial buildings. Few of
the stores, automotive repair, or storage buildings
survive. Among the survivors is the heavily altered,
two-story, concrete and brick garage and show room at
4800 Wisconsin Avenue NW. In 1946, White also
received a commission to design a store at 1134 11th
Street NW; the three-story, concrete, brick, and stone
building has been converted into a church building. In
1945, White designed a three-story, International Style
apartment complex at 3715 2nd Street SE. Located in
the Congress Heights area, the complex consists of
three, C-shaped buildings that feature alternating colors
525 Quackenbos Street NW; 1934 of brick in horizontal bands that wrap around the
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 corners.

In March 1949, Clifton B. White was awarded one of

twelve Certificates of Merit by the Washington Board of Trade for his work on the building at 1244 20th Street NW.
White remodeled the three-story, brick, Italianate-style row house as an office building containing six offices.
Removing the Italianate details, White introduced “Colonialized” elements to the building’s façade such as large
windows with multiple, small panes on the first story, a stringcourse, and a plain cornice.

White, Clifton B. Page 3 of 4

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In the 1950s and early 1960s, White’s work included the

1954 Blair Station Post Office and Annex (1954) in
Silver Spring, Maryland, where he designed additions to
the 1949 building and inserted a brick incised with
“Clifton B White/Architect” in the façade of the annex.
In 1961, he designed the Mount Zion Methodist
Church at 12430 Scaggsville Road in Highland,
Maryland.

Clifton B. White died in May 1985 at the age of 80.

3715 2nd Street SE; 1945

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com.
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory—not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals—not in it
Dictionary of American Biography—not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 308
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects—not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital—not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects—not in it
Obituary Publication: Not found Date: Page:
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Clifton B. White Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Clifton B. White correspondence with the Board. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Social Security Index. Ancestry.com.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. District of Columbia.

Notes:
Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include permits until
1949. Clifton B. White was active as an architect after 1949, so his actual permit numbers are not reflected here.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

White, Clifton B. Page 4 of 4

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Frank Russell White

Biographical Data
Birth: 05/02/1899 Place: Brooklyn, New York
Death: 10/24/1961 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: First wife, Eula Griffin; second wife, Carolyn W. White; son,
Frank Russell White, Jr.; daughter, Maj. Dorothy W. Neilson
Education
High School: Valley Forge Military School, 1903-1904
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Washington Post, October 25, 1961, B14.
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 809 Date Issued: Dec 31, 1951
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1911 Latest Permit: 1940 Total Permits: 51 Total Buildings: 71
Practice Position Date
Albert Beers Apprenticeship 1911
Harry Wardman Architect 1911-1917
Frank Russell White Architect 1917-1960

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Board of Trade, Oldest Inhabitants Inc., Almas Temple, Scottish Rite Masons
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Apartment buildings, dwellings, commercial buildings
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Mediterranean Revival, Art Deco
DC Work Locations: Kalorama Triangle, Upper 14th Street, Cleveland Park, Foggy Bottom
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Clifton Terrace 1313-1350 Clifton Street, NW 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site
Wardman Park Hotel 2660 Woodley Road, NW 1917 NRHP DC Historic Site
Chateau Thierry 1920 S Street, NW 1919 Dupont Circle Historic District
Heurich Building 1627 K Street 1938 Demolished early 1970s
York Apartments 532 20th Street, NW 1940 NRHP DC Historic Site

White, Frank R. Page 1 of 3

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Significance and Contributions

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Frank Russell White was born on May 2, 1889. At the age of ten, his family moved
to Washington, D.C., where he remained until his death in 1961. Although Frank Russell White had no formal
architectural training, he designed 51 apartment buildings, some 5,000 single-family residences and numerous
commercial buildings including the Sheraton Park Hotel (formerly the Wardman Park Hotel), Hampton Courts, and
the Heurich Building (1627 K Street, NW).

White trained in the offices of apartment architect Albert Beers around 1908-1911, when Beers was the chief architect
for Harry Wardman. Beers was an excellent tutor for White. Although Beers practiced in Washington for only a short
period, he was an extremely prolific designer and had a profound effect on the development of the city. After Beers’
untimely death in 1911, White took over the design and completion of many of Beers’ projects, including the
Dresden, Northumberland, the Avondale, the Farnsboro and the more modest Royden, Windsor and Princess
apartments. Working with Wardman at this pace of design and execution profited White’s early training and
developed his architectural talents
quickly. Some documentation indicates
that White purchased a partnership
interest in Harry Wardman’s firm at this
time.

During his years with Wardman as one of

his master architects, White designed
important apartment buildings in
Washington’s northwest quadrant which
bear witness to White’s grasp of the
essentials of apartment design and his
versatility in a wide range of styles. Wardman Court (Clifton Terrace), 1312 Clifton St., NW, 1914
During his 25-year career with Wardman Washington Star, 2/6/1915
he is reported to have drawn plans for
over three hundred million dollars in completed projects. White
designed Wardman Court (Clifton Terrace) in 1914 at 1312 and
1350 Clifton Street, N.W., in the Colonial Revival style. The
Lealan, also built in 1914, at 1830 16th Street, N.W. was dressed
in Mediterranean Revival details. In his designs for the
Northbrook Courts- North and South (1917, 3420-26 16th Street,
N.W.), White employed the Classical Revival vocabulary.

White’s amicable separation from Harry Wardman occurred circa

1917 and he began to work with other developers around the
Washington, D.C., area including Joseph A. Howar, Ernest G.
Walker, Fred Gore, Victor Cahill, Zachariah T. Goldsmith, Anita
Eckles and Karla King. At this stage of his career, White
designed the Chateau Thierry (20th and S Streets, N.W.), The
Tiffany (1925 16th Street, N.W.), and Schuyler Arms (1954
Columbia Road, N.W.). He also copyrighted plans for a unique
bomb shelter of reinforced concrete designed to hold 30 people
and cost only $1750.00. Plans, Chateau Thierry (20th and S Streets, NW)
Courtesy of Frank R. White’s daughter, no citation
The failure of the cooperative Parkway Apartments (3220 Connecticut Ave) in 1924-1926 saddled White with
financial difficulties that, combined with the onslaught of the Depression, left him with few architectural commissions
and little financial support. He was arrested in Baltimore in 1931 on counterfeiting charges with his wife and served a
two-year prison term.
White, Frank R. Page 2 of 3
 DC Architects Directory

He appears to have recovered to complete two additional projects in the District. His last two projects were the
impressive 1936, Art Deco Heurich Building on K Street (demolished 1970s), and the 1940 York Apartments in
Foggy Bottom for A.J. Howar. White died on October 24, 1961.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
MS 551 Frank Russell White Drawings, 1919-1946, 1956, 1959 and undated. Historical
Other Repositories: Society of Washington, DC Special Collections Register. Washington Post, searched through
ProQuest.
Publication:
Obituary: Washington Post, Times Herald October 25, 1961 Page: B-14.
Washington Star October 24, 1961
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 308
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30, 38-39
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. Frank Russell White Application for Registration. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Wirz, Hans and Richard Striner. Washington Deco; Art Deco Design in the Nation’s Capital. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution Press, 1984.
Notes: White’s initial application to practice architecture in the District was held upon his successful completion of a
verbal senior examination to be held by the Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects. The Board scheduled
his Verbal Senior Examination on Tuesday April 5th, 1927, but it is not known if he attended the examination or
passed. He submitted an additional application to the Board of Examiners and Registrars of Architects in 1951 to
practice architecture in the District of Columbia. The application was initially denied in October 24, 1951 pending
submittal of additional documentation to establish to the satisfaction of the Board the five years of practice as
required by law. His application was eventually approved December 13, 1951.
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

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George S. White
Biographical Data
Birth: 2/23/1898 Place: Jacksonville, FL
Death: 6/1977 Place: Palm Beach, FL

Family:

Education
High School: Riverside Military Academy Gainesville, GA, (1914-
1916),; Chick Springs Mil.itary Academy, Chick Springs, SC (1916-
1917)

College: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, (1917-1918)

Columbia School of Drafting, Washington, DC (1924-1925); George
Washington University School of Architecture(1925-1926)

Graduate School: Catholic University Architecture School (1927-

1932)

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 795 Date Issued: 10/23/1951
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1928 Latest Permit: 1947 Total Permits: 197 Total Buildings: 350
Practice Position Date
James E. Cooper Architectural drafting 1926-1927
George T. Santmyers Architectural drafting 1927-1928
P.H. Willis Architectural drafting 1928
Volney O. Chase Architectural drafting 1928-1929
George S. White Architect 1929-1977
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: None known.
Awards or Commissions: None known.
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, Apartments, Flats
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival
DC Work Locations: Chevy Chase, Tenleytown, Barnaby Woods, Brightwood, Shepherd Park, Congress Heights,
Trinidad, Anacostia
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Dwelling 5524 39th Street NW 1928 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Dwellings 5208-5216 4th Street NW 1932 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1520 Kalmia Road NW 1935 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1461 Holly Street NW 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment 1235 Queen Street NE 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Apartment 301 Hamilton Street NW 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 3408 Legation Street NW 1939 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 4342 Bladgen Avenue NW 1947 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions
George S. White was born in 1898 in Jacksonville, Florida and graduated from Chick Springs Military Academy in
Chick Springs, South Carolina in 1917. He attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill for almost a full
year before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1918. Sometime after leaving the Army, White moved to Washington, D.C.
where he attended architecture classes at George Washington University from 1926 to 1927 and Catholic University’s
Architecture School from 1928 to 1932.

During college, White worked as an architectural draftsman in the offices of James E. Cooper, George T. Santmyers,
P.H. Willis, and Volney O. Chase and obtained design commissions under his own name. In 1928, White’s first
permit as an architect was for a two-story, brick dwelling located in Chevy Chase, D.C. With an estimated building
cost of $14,500, the Colonial Revival-style house at 5524 39th Street NW was one of the more expensive dwellings that
White designed during his career. The house was
erected for Fred H. Gore.

In 1930, White started his own practice and worked

almost exclusively for developers designing two-story,
brick, three-bay Colonial Revival or Tudor Revival-style
houses that varied slightly in architectural details and
form. Even the five row houses that White designed
for the developer P.H. Willis (for whom he had worked
four years earlier) intermingled Tudor Revival and
Colonial Revival-style buildings. Located at 5208-5216
4th Street, NW in the Petworth neighborhood, the two-
bay row houses vary in porch roofline (from shed roof
to front-gable roof), in cornice details, in chimney
placement (side chimneys for the Colonial Revival
5524 39th Street NW; 1928
houses and front chimneys for the Tudor Revival District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
dwellings), and the presence of dormers.

White worked with Willis on detached, single family dwellings in Shepherd Park and Chevy Chase as well. A large
proportion of White’s designs were commissioned by the Jacobson Brothers who developed many lots in the
Brightwood, Chevy Chase, Barnaby Woods, and Tenleytown neighborhoods. White worked in other neighborhoods
of the city, including projects with Paul T. Stone of Stone Construction in the Barnaby Woods area, and with the
Simpson-Peak Company in Northwest D.C. and Anacostia.

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In 1932, White applied for registration as an architect

with the D.C. Board of Examiners and Registrars, but
failed two of the four written examinations. In 1933,
White repeated the two examinations, passed one, but
failed the other and was again denied registration. He
apparently never retook the failed examination.

From 1935 through 1942, White completed designs for

larger developments as well as for individual dwellings.
In the 500 block of Lebaum Street, SE in the Congress
Heights neighborhood, White designed eleven, modest,
one-story, brick houses for P.D. Crandall (1935) and
5210 4th Street NW; 1932 Merrill Conner (1936). His work for the Jacobson
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 Brothers included fourteen houses in the 1300 block of
Tuckerman Street NW (1937-1938) in the Brightwood
neighborhood. These brick, mostly Colonial-Revival-style houses were listed as three-story on the building permits;
their attics were often lighted by dormer windows. At the same time, White and his assistants provided more than 100
individual house plans for The Simpson-Peak Company, which was developing areas of Montgomery County,
Maryland. From 1939 on, White also worked for the Waggaman-Brawner Realty Corporation that constructed several
two-story, brick houses in the Chevy Chase area of D.C (3300 & 3400 blocks of Legation Street NW; 3100 block of
Tennyson Street NW; 6300 block of 31st Place NW; 6300-6400 blocks of 32nd Street NW; 3100 block of Upland
Terrace NW; 5800 block of Nebraska Avenue NW).

During the 1935-1942 period, White designed two- and

three-story apartment buildings. All of the buildings
were variations of the same form with a Colonial
Revival-style center entrance set in a five-bay, brick
façade. The buildings had flat roofs, sometimes with a
shaped parapet or false mansard on the façade, pilasters
or quoins at the corners, and string courses. George S.
White also co-owned and constructed four apartment
buildings in the Brightwood neighborhood with
developer P.H. Willis. For the apartment building at
1700 29th Street SE, White applied the stream-lined
Moderne style to the same form.
1461 Holly Street NW; 1936
In 1937, White received notice from the Board of District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
Examiners that he was not entitled to advertise as an
architect. In 1941, White applied for senior registration
as an architect in Maryland, but was informed that he
needed to pass a written examination which he did not
take. He continued to perform the “’functions’ of an
architect over the Maryland line” according to the
Maryland Board of Examiners as he did in D.C.
although terming himself a designer rather than an
architect.

3408 Legation Street NW; 1939

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

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 DC Architects Directory

During World War II (1941-1945), George S. White

worked in the Civil Engineer Corps (C.E.C.) at the
Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. In 1945, White
resumed his private practice designing single-family
dwellings for developers. Two years later, he moved to
Florida for health reasons but continued to maintain his
architectural office in Washington. He returned
occasionally to conduct business; this included
preparing designs for almost 50 dwellings for the
Waggaman-Brawner Realty Corporation.

In 1951, White applied once more for D.C. registration

as an architect by exemption based on his more than
five years of practice in the city. After providing proof 301 Hamilton Street NW; 1936
of his continuing practice in D.C., White became a District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
Registered Architect by exemption in October 1951.

White died in June 1977 in Palm Beach, Florida.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 p. 308
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects- not in it
Obituary Publication: Not found Date: Page:
Other Sources:
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. George S. White Application for Registration. District of
Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia, Board of Examiners and Registrars. George S. White correspondence with the Board. District
of Columbia Archives, Washington, D.C.
Social Security Death Index. Ancestry.com.
Notes:
Numbers are from the Building Permits Database, version 2009.2 by Brian D. Kraft, and only include permits until
1949. George S. White was active as an architect after 1949, so his actual permit numbers are not reflected here.

The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.
Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

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 DC Architects Directory

Forrest George Wilcox

Biographical Data
Birth: 10/20/1884 Place: East Providence, RI
Death: 1945 Place: Silver Spring, MD

Family: Helen H. Wardell (wife)

Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:

Apprenticeship:

Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued: n/a
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1927 Latest Permit: 1941 Total Permits: 143 Total Buildings: 231
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Architect 1930-1933

Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA: n/a
Other Societies or Memberships: Masons and Shriners
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, Apartments, Flats, Stores
Styles and Forms: Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival
DC Work Locations: Takoma, Shepherd Park, Brightwood, Deanwood, Chevy Chase, Tenleytown, Barnaby Woods,
Woodbridge
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Apartment 228 10th Street NE 1928 NRHP DC Historic Site
Capitol Hill Historic District
Dwellings 5321-5331 Kansas Avenue NW 1931 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 5370 27th Street NW 1932 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1800 Birch Drive NW 1932 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwelling 1615 Manchester Lane NW 1934 NRHP DC Historic Site

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Significance and Contributions

Forrest George Wilcox was born October 20, 1884 in East Providence, Rhode Island. U.S. Census records indicate
that he worked as a machinist in 1900 and as a chauffeur for a private family in East Providence in 1910. By 1918, his
draft registration card recorded that Wilcox had moved to Washington, D.C. to work as a mechanical engineer for the
Coombs Motor Company. In 1924, The Washington Post noted that Wilcox received a degree in the Almas Temple of
the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (The Shrine), which also indicates that he was a Mason.

In 1927, Wilcox’s name appeared on his first D.C. permit as the architect of two, two-story, cinder-block houses in
the Chevy Chase area of Northwest; the dwellings are no longer extant. Wilcox’s next project—a two-story, brick,
Colonial Revival-style house still stands in the Barnaby Woods neighborhood in Northwest. Wilcox’s other works of
the late 1920s include a two-story, brick apartment building on Capitol Hill and three, one-story, frame dwellings in
the Deanwood area of Northeast D.C.

The 1930 U.S. Census recorded Forrest G. Wilcox’s

occupation as a mill work salesman; however, on his
1933 marriage certificate, Wilcox listed his occupation
as “architect.” The D.C. city directories for 1930-33 list
Wilcox as an architect living in and with an office in
Washington.

Most of Wilcox’s known work as an architect dates to

the 1930s. During this period, Wilcox designed single
and duplex dwellings and row houses for both private
owners and developers such as J.N. Hughes, the
Columbia Construction Company, Samuel Eig, Waple
& James, Inc., and M.B. Swanson. Although the 228 10th Street NE; 1928
preponderance of Wilcox’s designs was Tudor Revival District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
in style, he also worked in the Colonial Revival style.
Two of his Tudor Revival-style Takoma residences were published by the D.C. mail-order house company, Standard
Homes Company, in its 1930 publication Better Homes at Lower Cost.

In 1931, F.G. Wilcox was architect of five building

permits involving Sears, Roebuck & Company houses.
In May 1931, Wilcox revised the Sears plans for houses
at 2429 Hamlin Street, NE in Woodridge and for 3507
Brothers Place, SE in the Congress Heights
neighborhood. The Hamlin Street house seems to be a
brick-clad version of the Tudor Revival-style
“Maplewood” model from Sears, Roebuck & Co. 1932
catalog (#3302). The Brothers Place is a front-gable,
brick house with a prominent front porch similar to
“The Walton” (Sears, Roebuck & Co. 1929 catalog #
P13050). In June, Wilcox served as the architect with
Sears Roebuck & Company listed as the builder for a
370 27th Street NW; 1932 two-story, front-gable, vernacular-style brick house in
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004 the Palisades neighborhood in Northwest D.C. (5430
Carolina Place NW) and a one-story, front-gable, brick
house in the Hillcrest neighborhood in Southeast (2423
32nd Street SE). In August, Wilcox and Sears, Roebuck & Company received a building permit for a two-story, frame
dwelling at 2324 33rd Street SE in the Hillcrest neighborhood’ again the house resembles the Sears “Maplewood”
plans.

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Wilcox generally designed dwellings with an estimated

construction cost between $5,000 and $8,000. Two of
his largest commissions for individual dwellings display
the Tudor Revival-style and cost an estimated $17,500.
The two-story, stone-and-brick house at 1800 Birch
Drive NW (1932) stands in the Shepherd Park
neighborhood, while the two-story, brick-and-frame
house at 5370 27th Street (1932) is located in Barnaby
Woods. Wilcox’s largest Colonial Revival-style house
cost an estimated $25,000 and stands at 1615
Manchester Lane NW (1934) in Brightwood. The hip-
roof of the house is pierced by two stories of dormers,
and the brick house is dominated by a two-story porte-
321-5323 Kansas Avenue NW; 1931 cochere on the façade.
District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004
F.G. Wilcox’s last building permit was recorded in 1941
for a dwelling located at 4309 Street, NW near American University. The three-bay, Colonial Revival-style, brick
46th
house is one of his plainest designs.

By 1942, Forrest G. Wilcox lived in Silver Spring,

Maryland. His World War II draft registration card
records his business as “self-builder—graduate
architectural engineer” and noted that his office was
located in his home. The 1958 obituary for Forrest’s
wife, Helen, indicates that he died in 1945.

1615 Manchester Lane NW; 1934

District of Columbia Office of Planning; 2004

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Washington Post searched through ProQuest; District of Columbia Office of Planning, Property
Quest; Ancestry.com
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 p. 310
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects-not in it
Obituary Publication: Not found Date: Page:

Wilcox, F.G. Page 3 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Other Sources:
Marriage Certificate. Delaware, August 26, 1933. Ancestry.com.
Scott, Pamela. Expansion Architectural Survey Report [for Historic Takoma], October 31, 2002.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1900. East Providence, RI.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910. East Providence, RI.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1930. District of Columbia.
World War I U.S. Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 record for Forrest G. Wilcox. Ancestry.com.
World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 record for Forrest G. Wilcox. Ancestry.com.
Notes:
The Historical Society of Washington, DC’s research library was inaccessible during the course of this project phase;
only online records from the library were consulted.

Prepared by: History Matters, LLC Last Updated: November 2011

Wilcox, F.G. Page 4 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

Lucian Thomas Williams

Biographical Data
Birth: 8/10/1873 Place: Virginia
Death: 11/16/1929 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Wife Frances E.., son Francis B., daughter Hattie S.
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1909 Latest Permit: 1929 Total Permits: 271 Total Buildings: 991
Practice Position Date
Lucian T. Williams Carpenter 1896 Boyd’s Directory
1903, 1906 Boyd’s
Lucian T. Williams Electrician
Directory
Lucian T. Williams Architect 1910 Census
U.S. Housing Corp. Carpenter 1918 Draft Registration
1920 Census; 1927
Lucian T. Williams Contractor
Boyd’s Directory
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: n/a Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Freemasons
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Rowhouses
Styles and Forms: Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Queen Anne
DC Work Locations: Edgewood, Columbia Heights, Tenleytown, Eckington
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Rowhouses 27-39 V Street, NE 1909 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 4421-4429 9th Street, NW 1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 1415-1421 Potomac Ave., SE 1910 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 531-541 Kenyon Street, NW 1911 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwellings 4110-4115 Emery Place, NW 1912 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 220-236 Randolph Place, NE 1913 NRHP DC Historic Site

Williams, Lucian T. Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

4120-4132, 4415-4423 15th

Rowhouses 1914 NRHP DC Historic Site
Street, NW
Masonic Temple 523 8th Street, NE 1914 Capitol Hill Historic District
2010-2024, 2109-2131 4th
Rowhouses 1914-15 NRHP DC Historic Site
Street, NE
205-223 Rock Creek Church
Rowhouses 1915 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rd., NW
Rowhouses 605-637 Otis Place, NW 1919 NRHP DC Historic Site
Rowhouses 1333-1361 Taylor Street, NW 1920 NRHP DC Historic Site

Significance and Contributions

Lucian T. Williams was a prolific designer of rowhouses

throughout Washington, D.C., in the early decades of the
twentieth century, although his name is largely unknown today.
In a twenty-year career as designer and builder from 1909 to
1929, he constructed almost one thousand dwellings in the
District according to building permit records.

Williams was born on August 10, 1873 in Virginia and moved

to Washington, D.C., by 1896. The 1890 business directory of
Genessee County, N.Y., lists Williams as a carpenter in Le Roy,
New York; a town about fifteen miles southeast of Rochester.
In the 1903 Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia, Williams is
listed as an electrician living in Northeast Washington. He
remains listed as an electrician in the directory in 1908.
Rowhouses, 31-27 V St., NE
The 1910 United States Census lists Williams as an architect. DCPropertyQuest, 2004
Later Boyd’s directories document him as a contractor and
carpenter. On his draft registration card from 1918, Williams lists his occupation as carpenter and the U.S. Housing
Corporation, located at North Capitol and E Streets, Washington, D.C., as his employer. The United States Housing
Corporation (USHC) was one of the first federally-sponsored housing programs in the country. It was created in July
1918 as a part of the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Industrial Housing and Transportation. The purpose of the
USHC was to build housing for workers employed in essential war industries and shipyards, providing emergency
housing during a national construction shortage.

Washington, D.C., building permits indicate that most of the

buildings Williams constructed were two-story brick rowhouses.
Most of these dwellings are flat-fronted, three-bay buildings with full-
width one-story porches. Some have false-mansard roofs with
dormers. Like most rowhouses of this period in Washington,
Williams' rowhouses were generally vernacular interpretations of the
highly popular Colonial Revival style. Williams worked most heavily
in neighborhoods in Northeast Washington, including Eckington and
Near Northeast.

In addition to rowhouses, Williams built some detached dwellings on

Emery Place in Northwest Washington in 1912. These were two-
story, two-bay Colonial Revival frame dwellings constructed for J.S.
Dwelling at 4110 Emery Pl., NW
DCPropertyQuest, 2004
Gruver. Williams designed houses for a number of developers,
including Gruver, E.H. Gottwals, the Thrift Building Company

Williams, Lucian T. Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

(possibly associated with Gruver), T.A. Jameson,

and Klimkiewicz & Co.

Williams was also active in the Freemason

community in Washington, D.C. He served as an
officer in the Myron M. Parker Lodge in Northeast
Washington in 1900 and, in 1914, he designed the
Masonic Temple at 523 8th Street, NE, for the
Northeast Masonic Temple Association.

Williams died suddenly in 1929 at the age of 56.

Masonic Temple (now condominiums) 523 8th St., NE

EHT Traceries, Inc., 2010

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Ancestry.com, DCPropertyQuest.dc.gov
Obituary: Publication: Washington Post Date: 11/19/1929 Page: M3
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 – not in it
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 08-09, 23-24, 29-30
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:
Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia, 1896-1927. Washington, D.C.: R.L. Polk Co., 1896-1927.
Ben-Joseph, Eran. “Workers’ Paradise: The Forgotten Communities of World War I.” MIT.
http://web.mit.edu/ebj/www/ww1/ww1a.html (accessed July 16, 2010).
Gazetteer and Biographical Record of Genesee County, N.Y., 1788-1890. Syracuse: J.W. Vose and Co., 1890.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Census, 1910. District of Columbia.
Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Williams, Lucian T. Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Edward Woltz
Biographical Data
Birth: 1859 Place: Washington, D.C.
Death: April 26, 1903 Place: Washington, D.C.
Family: Married to Agnes Rainey
Education
High School:
College:
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source:
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: n/a Date Issued:
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1886 Latest Permit: 1903 Total Permits: 184 Total Buildings: 417
Practice Position Date
Clerk 1877-1879
Draftsman 1880-1881
Architect 1882-1903
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: Fellow of the AIA:
Other Societies or Memberships: Woltz was a member of several secret societies including the Knights of Pythias
and the Knights Loyal of Washington.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Dwellings, stores, churches
Styles and Forms: Romanesque Revival
DC Work Locations: Brookland, Kalorama Triangle, Trinidad, Columbia Heights, Petworth
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Epworth Church 7th and A Street, NE 1895 NRHP DC Historic Site
Dwellings 2001-2017 Kalorama Rd., NW 1897 Kalorama Triangle Hist. Dist.
Dwelling 1001 Irving Street NE 1901 NRHP DC Historic Site
NRHP DC Historic Site
NRHP DC Historic Site

Woltz, Edward Page 1 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Significance and Contributions

Edward Woltz was a Washington, D.C. native who served as a

captain in the Washington Light Infantry. He began his
architectural practice as a clerk in 1877. By 1882, city
directories list Woltz as an architect. In the late-1800s, the
former infantry captain designed numerous two- and three-story
brick dwellings in the District’s new neighborhoods beyond the
original city limits. Woltz’s designs combined architectural
elements of the earlier Victorian period with the popular
Romanesque Revival style. As shown by the row of buildings
that Woltz designed along the north side of the 2000 block of
Kalorama Road, N.W., these semi-detached houses typically
consist of two units separated by a central party wall. The
facades feature two- or three-story projecting bays, often with
picture windows in the first floors. Woltz enjoyed success in
repeating this design formula in neighborhoods such as
Brookland, Kalorama, Trinidad, Columbia Heights, and
Petworth. Woltz’s work is largely uncelebrated, however,
perhaps owing to its ubiquity. A couple of his notable projects
include the Romanesque-Revival Epworth Church at 7th and A 2017 and 2015 Kalorama Road, NW
District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2004
Streets, N.E. and the unique circular house he designed at 1001
Irving Street, N.E. He is also credited with designing homes in Kensington, Maryland, a turn-of-the-twentieth-
century garden suburb in Montgomery County. In 1901, Woltz was appointed as a draftsman in the Office of the
District Building Inspector. He died suddenly on April 26, 1903 at the age of forty-four. Edward Woltz is buried in
Rock Creek Cemetery.

Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories:
Obituary: Publication: The Washington Times Date: 04/30/1903 Page: 12
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – not in it
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 315-16
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in it
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects – not in it
Other Sources:

Eig, Emily and Julie Mueller. Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form.
Washington, DC: Traceries, 1989.
“Funeral of Capt. Edward Woltz.” The Washington Post, 30 April 1903.

Woltz, Edward Page 2 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Kensington Historical Society. Kensington Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Annapolis,
MD: Maryland Historical Trust, 1980.
“New Epworth Church.” The Washington Post, 7 July 1895, 10.
Robinson & Associates. Brookland/CUA Metro Station Area Plan Neighborhood History and Inventory of Existing Historic and
Cultural Resources. July 2006.
Notice of Edward’s Woltz’s Appointment as Draftsman. The Washington Times, 2 May 1901, 3.

Notes:
Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Woltz, Edward Page 3 of 3

 DC Architects Directory

Waddy Butler Wood

Biographical Data
Birth: 1869 Place: St. Louis, MO
Death: 01/26/1944 Place: Washington, DC
Family:
Education
High School:
College: Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College
Graduate School:
Apprenticeship: Source: Blank & Stohler Photo
Architectural Practice
DC Architects’ Registration Registration Number: 53 Date Issued: 04/15/1925
Permit Database Earliest Permit: 1894 Latest Permit: 1935 Total Permits: 146 Total Buildings: 183
Practice Position Date
Private Practice Architect 1894-1902
Wood, Donn & Deming Partner/Architect 1903-1912
Private Practice Architect 1912-1941
Professional Associations
American Institute of Architects Date(s) Enrolled: 1908 Fellow of the AIA: 1916
Other Societies or Memberships: President of the Washington Architectural Club (1907-1908); President of the
Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (1917-1918); Member of the Society of Cincinnati and
the Metropolitan Club.
Awards or Commissions:
Buildings
Building Types: Residences, Schools, Hospitals, Churches, Apartment Buildings, Office Buildings, Civic Buildings
Styles and Forms: Romanesque Revival, Georgian Revival, Classical Revival, Spanish or Tuscan Revival
DC Work Locations: Dupont Circle, U Street, Kalorama, Massachusetts Avenue, Chevy Chase
Notable Buildings Location Date Status
Union Trust Company Bldg. 740 15th Street, NW 1890 NRHP DC Historic Site
East Capitol Street Car Barn 1400 East Capitol Street 1896 NRHP DC Historic Site
Armstrong Manual Training School 1st & P Streets, NW 1901-1902 NRHP DC Historic Site
Barney Studio House 2306 Mass. Ave., NW 1902-1903 NRHP DC Historic Site
The Bachelor Flats 1737 H Street, NW 1905 NRHP DC Historic Site
Masonic Temple 1250 New York Ave., NW 1907 NRHP DC Historic Site
Martha S. Tucker House 2320 S Street, NW 1908 Mass. Ave Historic District
Greystone 2325 Porter Street, NW 1913 Rock Creek Park Historic District

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 DC Architects Directory

Notable Buildings (Cont.) Location Date Status

Woodrow Wilson House 2340 S Street, NW 1915 Mass. Ave Historic District
The Victor Building (addition) 724-26 9th Street, NW 1925 NRHP DC Historic Site
Department of Interior 18th & C Streets, NW 1936 NRHP DC Historic Site
Significance and Contributions

Waddy Butler Wood practiced architecture

for 48 years in Washington, D.C., from 1892
to 1940, a period of great expansion and
development of the city. He was born in St.
Louis, Missouri, one of six children of
Captain Charles Wood, a Confederate soldier
and native Virginian. When Wood was still a
child, the family returned to Ivy, Virginia.
He attended the Virginia Agricultural and
Mechanical College (now Virginia
Polytechnic Institute) for two years studying
engineering. Wood left school at the age of
18 to join a C&O Railroad Engineer Corps
survey. He arrived in Washington in 1891,
determined to fulfill a dream of becoming an
architect. Wood first worked as a draftsman
and studied architecture books at the Library
of Congress in the evenings. Although self
taught, he became a skilled architect and
Union Trust Building, 740 15th Street, NW
opened his own architectural office in 1892. NCinDC, August 16, 2008,
He began his career designing modest http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/2832611488/
residences in Northeast Washington. His
first large commission in 1895 was for the Capitol Traction Company to design its new car barn in Georgetown (M
Street and Key Bridge). He also designed the East Capitol Street Car Barn in 1896.

In 1902, Wood formed a partnership with Edmund Donn, Jr. and William I. Deming. Donn, a skilled architect
educated at the Boston Institute of Technology (now M.I.T.) and Deming, a construction engineer and graduate of
Columbian College (later The George Washington University) complemented the creative Wood, who served as the
firm’s chief designer. The firm was known for its outstanding and imaginative design while maintaining reasonable
and affordable costs through the honest use of materials. The firm’s work was not limited to modest buildings,
however. Wood, Donn and Deming are credited with several prominent homes in Kalorama including the General
Charles Fitzhugh Residence located at 2253 R Street, NW (1904); St. Patrick’s School and Parish Hall located at 9th
and G Streets, NW (1904); the Union Trust Bank Building located at 740 15th Street, NW (1907); and the Masonic
Temple located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW (1907-1908).

In 1912, the partnership was amicably dissolved. As an independent architect, Wood continued to capture prestigious
commissions. He focused his attention on commercial and government work, accepting commissions for residential
work only for mansions of Washington's elite. During this period, he designed buildings for large corporations such
as the Potomac Electric Company, designing 999 E Street, N.W., the Union Trust Company Building at 738-740 15th
Street, NW, the Masonic Temple at 801 13th Street, NW., the Southern Railway Building at 1500 K Street, NW, the
Commercial National Bank at 1405 G Street, NW, and the Department of the Interior Building. His commissions for
private interests and large residential structures included the remodeling of the old Holton Arms School, the
remodeling of the Chevy Chase Club, and the design for homes of Frederick Delano, George Cabot Lodge, Dr. Cary
Grayson, and Henry Fairbanks, whose house at 2340 S Street he later remodeled for Woodrow Wilson. Wood
designed All Saints Episcopal Church on Chevy Chase Circle in collaboration with Arthur Heaton. His Chevy Chase

Wood, Waddy B. Page 2 of 4

 DC Architects Directory

houses include Nos. 4 and 8 Oxford Street and 15 East

Melrose Street. Wood included the Chevy Chase
residence of Howe P. Cochran on the selected list of his
works which he submitted to the American Institute of
Architects for its files.

Wood was also active in and did extensive work with

the Washington Architectural Club and the local
chapter of the American Institute of Architects, serving
as president in 1917 and 1918. Wood retired in 1940 to
his country home in Warrenton, Virginia.

The Bachelor Flats, 1737 H Street, NW

Goode, Best Addresses, 64
Sources
Vertical Files AIA Archives DC HPO HSWDC MLK Library
Other Repositories: Smithsonian Institution Architectural Records Collection
Biographical Directories Year/Volume Page
American Architects Directory – not in it
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals – 24 articles
Dictionary of American Biography – not in it
Directory of District of Columbia Architects: 1822-1960 2001 316
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects – not in it
Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital – not in 23-24 1938-39 905
Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects 1970 670
Obituary Publication: Washington Post Date: 01/26/1944 Page:
Other Sources:

Bryan, Gray MacWhorter, Waddy Wood’s Residential Structures in Washington, D.C. Master’s Thesis Submitted to
the University of Virginia School of Architecture, 1980.

Bushong, William, Judith Helm Robinson, and Julie Mueller. A Centennial History of the Washington Chapter. Washington,
DC: The Washington Architectural Foundation Press, 1987.

Eig, Emily. “Waddy Butler Wood, a Biographical Sketch of the Architect.” In Look, David W. The Interior Building: its
Architecture and its Art. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, 1986.

Wood, Waddy B. Page 3 of 4

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Ganschinietz, Suzanne. Union Trust Building National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington, D.C.:
Historic Preservation Division, Dept. of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, 1983.

Goode, James. Best Addresses. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.

“Noted Architect Has Perpetuated Washington’s Finest Traditions. Evening Star, 15 September 1940.

“The Work of Wood, Donn, and Deming.” Architectural Record April 1906, 245-158.

Notes: Waddy B. Wood’s papers are archived at the Library of Congress

Prepared by: EHT Traceries Last Updated: October 2010

Wood, Waddy B. Page 4 of 4