Architecture sights in Washington, DC
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Mt Zion United Methodist Church
One of the sites that recall the history of Georgetown’s 19th-century free black community, who lived in an area known as Herring Hill is this church, founded in 1816 and DC’s oldest black congregation. Its original site, on 27th St NW, was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
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Union Station
How beautiful is Union Station? Well, even commuters who use it to get to work – people who should loathe the sight of it – say the grand entrance hall, meant to resemble a Roman triumphal arch, never fails to impress. This was the first structure built in accordance with the McMillan plan, the 1901 campaign to revitalize DC’s then dead urban core. Union is one of the pinnacles of the beaux arts and city beautiful movements that transformed the American urban landscape in the 20th century. Besides being an architectural gem, Union is also a semi-minimall and serves as Washington’s main rail hub. The main hall, known as the Grand Concourse, is patterned after the Roman Bat…
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Scottish Rite Temple
The regional headquarters of the Scottish Rite Freemasons, also known as the House of the Temple, is one of the most eye-catching buildings in the District. That’s because it looks like a magic temple lifted out of a comic book, all the more incredible for basically sitting amid a tangle of residential row houses. It’s as if someone plopped the Parthenon in the middle of Shady Acres suburbia. There’s a lot of heavy Masonic symbolism and ritual associated with the building. Thirty-three columns surround the building, representing the 33rd Degree, an honorary distinction conferred on outstanding Masons. Two sphinxes, Wisdom and Power, guard the entrance, and past the gates …
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Embassy Row
How quickly can you leave the country? It takes about five minutes; just stroll north along Mass Ave from Dupont Circle (the traffic circle the neighborhood is named for) and you pass roughly 50 embassies housed in mansions that range from the elegant to the imposing to the out there, plus the foreign soil they technically rest on. FYI, the ‘electronic embassy’ (www.embassy.org) is a good resource on all things diplomatic in town. Many consider the 4-acre British Embassy the queen of the row. Look for a fantastic 1928 redbrick mansion with a statue of Winston Churchill out the front, with one foot placed on British soil, the other outside the embassy property line, pl…
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Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
The largest Catholic house of worship in North America can host 6000 worshippers (Some might say that’s when the building is at critical mass. Get it? Sorry.) This is an enormous, impressive, but somehow unimposing edifice, more Byzantine than Vatican in its aesthetic. Outlaid with some 75,000 sq ft of mosaic work and a crypt modeled after early Christian catacombs, the (literal) crowning glory is a dome that could have been lifted off the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The Marian shrine sports an eclectic mix of Romanesque and Byzantine motifs, all anchored by a 329ft minaret-shaped campanile. Downstairs, the original eastern-style crypt church has low, mosaic-covered vault…
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Georgetown University
The namesake of the neighborhood is the cornerstone of its identity, infusing the surrounding streets with its mixed patrician/party atmosphere. Founded in 1789, Georgetown was America’s first Roman Catholic university, and was originally directed by the country’s first black Jesuit, Father Patrick Healy. Notable Hoya (derived from the Latin hoya saxa, ‘what rocks’) alumni include both Clintons; notable lecturers include Madeleine Albright. The campus is handsome, if not overwhelmingly so. Near the east gate, the imposing, Flemish-style 1879 Healy Building is impressive with its tall clock tower. Lovely Dalghren Chapel and its quiet courtyard are hidden behind.
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L Ron Hubbard House
For three years (1957–60) the father of the Church of Scientology occupied this rather handsome Dupont house, working on developing his own religion for the masses. Today, Hubbard’s old house is something of a shrine for scientologists from around the world. OK, OK: we know Scientology has become a bit of a straw man in recent years, an easy word association with ‘kooky, ’ but it’s also a religion with millions of adherents, and said worshippers take this place pretty seriously. We’re not saying you have to, but if the spirit moves you (as it were), this is the Scientology equivalent of Bethlehem, or something close to it. This is also where the Founding Church of Sciento…
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Octagon Museum
The apex of the Federal style of architecture pioneered in the USA also happens to be the oldest museum in America dedicated to architecture and design. Designed by William Thornton (the Capitol’s first architect) in 1800, the building is a symmetrically winged structure designed to fit an odd triangular lot. Behind it, the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) large modern offices wrap around like a protective older brother. AIA operates Octagon House and the building was closed for renovation as of press time, but should be open by the time you read this; tours ($5 prerenovation) can be arranged by calling ahead.
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Meridian International Center
Many people who have lived in Washington for years haven’t even heard of Meridian House, which isn’t surprising –this impressive mansion does spring out of nowhere, looking like the headquarters for some world-dominating secret society. In fact, it’s an education and hospitality center for DC’s international community; the interior grounds are as impressive as the exterior facade. John Russell Pope built the structure to resemble a French country chateau, complete with a stately walled entrance, a charming cobblestone courtyard and a decorated limestone facade.
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Organization of American States
A forerunner to the UN, the OAS was founded in 1890 to promote cooperation among North and South American nations. Its main building at 17th St and Constitution Ave is a marble palazzo surrounded by the sculpture-studded Aztec Gardens. In the small building behind it, the OAS operates the Art Museum of the Americas (www.museum.oas.org), featuring an incredible collection of art that spans the 20th century and the western hemisphere.
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Charles Sumner School & Archives
The stately, dignified Sumner building is a great example of solidly beautiful redbrick 19th-century urban design, but it is an even better testament to civil rights and education. Back in 1877, this was where the first high-school class of African Americans was graduated out of the school system. Today you can find the DC Public School archives here, as well as a museum that displays local public school memorabilia along with exhibits on Frederick Douglass.
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La Maison Française
French for ‘The Maison Francaise’ (heh), La Maison is otherwise known as the French Embassy. The beating heart of Gallic DC occupies eight elegantly landscaped acres, anchored by the marble, modern-esque embassy itself. Countless cultural activities pop off here every week; check the website for listings. Not to stereotype, but if you’d like to sip some good wine and gaze at interesting art, theater, dance and the like, this is the place to visit.
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Cosmos Club
The rich mansion designed to resemble Petit Trianon at Versailles has been the headquarters for the Cosmos Club since 1952. The building is a befitting home for the most prominent social club of DC’s intellectual elite: from the rich, wood-paneled library to the sculpted lion overlooking the blooming gardens, it oozes culture, class, and why-don’t-you-just-keep-on-walking-you ’tude.
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Blaine Mansion
The ominous Blaine Mansion was built in 1881 by Republican party founder ‘Slippery Jim’ Blaine. It looks like it was built by Snidley Whiplash and his dark magic Haunted House construction company. It isn’t actually a diplomatic building, but it ranks as the oldest surviving mansion in the Dupont Circle area.
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Walsh-McLean House
The Walsh-McLean House houses the Indonesian embassy. Gold-mining magnate Thomas Walsh commissioned the home in 1903, when it was said to be the costliest house in the city (not surprising, considering the gold-flecked marble pillars). To honor his fortune, Walsh embedded in the foundation a gold nugget, which has never been found.
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Eisenhower Building
The Eisenhower Building is done up with all the baroque flair of the late 19th-century, also known as the Gilded Age. The sloped mansard roof is European in origin, while its 900 columns are wonderfully ostentatious. Currently the building is used as an office wing of the executive branch.
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Daughters of the American Revolution
The headquarters of the Daughters of the American Revolution, also known as Constitution Hall, is a great example of neoclassical architecture, and supposedly the largest complex of buildings in the world owned exclusively by women.
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Cameroon Embassy
The Cameroon embassy was designed by George Totten, who also designed what is now the Pakistani Embassy. He designed this castle-like mansion for Norwegian diplomat Christian Hauge, who died in a snowshoe accident before its completion.
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Haitian Embassy
There’s not much to say about the beaux-arts jewel that houses the Haitian embassy. It’s a compact, beautiful example of the best of DC-style old-line mansions.
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