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Old Executive Office Building
Truman called it 'the greatest monstrosity in America;' Hoover griped that it was an 'architectural orgy.' Yet the ornate Old Executive Office Building (officially known as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building) delights visitors today. It was designed by Alfred Mullet in the 1870s to house State, War and Navy Department staff. His design was roundly blasted, and poor Mullet killed himself two years after its completion.
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Old Post Office Pavilion
The landmark 1899 Old Post Office Pavilion - nicknamed 'Old Tooth' for its spiky clock tower - is a downtown success story. Threatened with demolition during much of the 20th century, the Romanesque building was restored in 1978 and became a key attraction. Now its beautiful, bunting-draped, 10-story central atrium holds shops, a large food court, a discount-ticket counter and government agencies. Go up to the 270ft-high observation deck.
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Old Stone House
Sitting incongruously in the midst of Georgetown's shopping drag is DC's oldest surviving building. Built in 1765 as a one-room house, it's since been a boardinghouse, tavern, brothel and shop. It was almost demolished in the 1950s, but a persistent (albeit false) rumor that L'Enfant used it as a workshop while designing DC saved it for posterity. The Park Service now maintains it as an example of 18th-century life.
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Organization Of American States & Art Museum Of The Americas
A sort of forerunner to the UN, the OAS is an international organization 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. Behind it, the OAS operates the Art Museum of the Americas, featuring an incredible collection of art that spans the 20th century and the Western Hemisphere.
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Pentagon
The US Department of Defense is housed in what may be the world's biggest office building, built in just 16 months during WWII. About 25,000 people work within its more than a dozen miles of corridors, its five sides surrounding a 5-acre courtyard. This formidable edifice appears impenetrable, an impression that was proven wrong on September 11, 2001, when American Airlines flight 77 crashed into its side. Open only for prearranged group tours.
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Pentagon Memorial
In the fall of 2005 the Pentagon unveiled a new memorial to the 184 victims of the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The poignant memorial plaza occupies almost 2 acres on the west side of the Pentagon building, representing each victim with a pool of light and an inscription read facing either the Pentagon or the sky. The Age Wall on the plaza's western edge grows in proportion to the ages of the victims, who ranged from three to 71.
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Phillips Collection
Founded in 1921, DC's oldest museum of modern art is famed for its extensive collection of impressionist and postimpressionist pieces. Monet, Degas, Whistler, van Gogh and Klee are all represented, with Renoir's panoramic Luncheon of the Boating Party crowning its holdings. Special exhibits are also a big draw. Thursdays the gallery hosts Artful Evenings, featuring live jazz and free appetizers.
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Pope John Paul II Cultural Center
This impressive modern building is an unexpected setting for an interactive museum of the Catholic Church. Five galleries explore the history of the Church, personal faith, and its relation to science, community and social service. The excellent Gallery of Imagination allows visitors to participate in a carillon-ringing ensemble or design an electronic stained-glass window.
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Renwick Gallery
The Smithsonian's Renwick invites you up the stairs of its regal 1859 mansion, then startles you with wild pieces of artistic whimsy. This is the national crafts museum, but 'crafts' doesn't really describe these wonderfully creative artworks. The many playful pieces make it a wonderful place to introduce kids to art. Grownups like the Grand Salon and Octagon Room, recently restored in the grand gilded-age styles of the 1870s and 1880s.
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Sewall-Belmont House
This historic home is a feminist landmark: It has been the home base of the National Woman's Party since 1929, and for 43 years it was the residence of the party's legendary founder, suffragette Alice Paul. Paul spearheaded efforts to gain the vote for women - enshrined in the 19th Amendment - and wrote the Equal Rights Amendment. Docents show you historical exhibits, portraits, sculpture and a library celebrating feminist heroines.
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Smithsonian Castle
James Renwick designed this turreted, red-sandstone fairytale creation in 1855. Today the Castle houses the Smithsonian Visitors Center. This informative first stop on the Mall is a source for an orientation film, multilingual touch-screen displays and free guides and maps such as the excellent Exploring African American Heritage at the Smithsonian pamphlet.
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St Augustine Catholic Church
Let the spirit move you at DC's oldest and sweetest-sounding black Catholic congregation. St Augustine's gospel choir rocks the house every Sunday at . The Mass features the 165-member choir, often clad in Kenti cloth, and talented, spirited soloists singing their hearts out. The Mass is long, but it offers a unique glimpse of the role of religion in contemporary African American society, lively music and a little spiritual nourishment.
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St John's Church
A small butter-colored building, St John's isn't DC's most imposing church, but it is one of its most charming. It's the 'Church of the Presidents' - every president since Madison has attended its services at least once. Designed in 1815 by Capitol architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the church reserves a pew (purchased by Madison) for presidential families. Lyndon Johnson prayed here on the first morning of his presidency, after JFK was killed.
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St Mary's Episcopal Church
Built in 1887, St Mary's was home to the first black Episcopal congregation in DC. James Renwick, designer of the Smithsonian Castle, created the beautiful red-brick building especially for the congregation.
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Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum
In 1792 Edward Stabler opened his apothecary - a family business that would operate for 141 years. In 1933 the Depression forced the shop to close; the doors were simply locked, shutting history inside. Over 8000 medical objects and fixtures remained in place. Now it's a museum, its shelves lined with 900 beautiful hand-blown apothecary bottles and strange old items like Martha Washington's Scouring Compound.
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State Department
The State Dept is a forbidding, well-guarded edifice, but you can tour its grand Diplomatic Reception Rooms, where Cabinet members and the Secretary of State entertain visiting potentates amid ornate 18th-century American antiques. Call at least a month beforehand to reserve a tour spot, and bring photo ID; no kids under 12 are admitted.
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Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States convenes in an imposing 1935 all-marble building designed by Cass Gilbert. The seated figures in front of the building represent the female Contemplation of Justice and the male Guardian of Law; panels on the 13,000lb bronze front doors depict the history of jurisprudence. Downstairs is an exhibit on the history of the court and a striking statue of John Marshall, fourth Chief Justice.
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Textile Museum
This gem is the country's only textile museum and as unappreciated as the art itself. In two historic mansions, its cool, dimly lit galleries hold exquisite fabrics and carpets dating from 3000 BC to the present. Accompanying wall commentary explains how the textiles mirror values of the societies that made them. Founded in 1925, its collection includes rare kimonos, pre-Columbian weaving, American quilts and Ottoman embroidery.
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Theodore Roosevelt Island
This 91-acre wooded island in the Potomac off Rosslyn is a wilderness preserve honoring the conservation-minded 26th US president. A large memorial plaza and statue of Teddy dominate the island's center, and trails and boardwalks snake around the shorelines. The island's swampy fringes shelter birds, raccoons and other small animals. A fine place for a hike, it offers great views of the Kennedy Center and Georgetown University across the river.
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Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Set on the south bank of the Tidal Basin, this memorial honors the third US president, political philosopher, drafter of the Declaration of Independence and founder of the University of Virginia - Thomas Jefferson. Designed by John Russell Pope to resemble Jefferson's library, the rounded, domed monument was initially derided as 'the Jefferson Muffin.' Inside is a 19ft bronze likeness; excerpts from Jefferson's writings are etched into the walls.
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Tidal Basin
Beloved for the magnificent Yoshino cherry trees that ring it, the Tidal Basin attracts joggers, strollers and picnickers to its shady banks. The orchard was a gift from Japan in 1912; since then, every year in late March or early April the banks shimmer with pale pink blossoms.
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Titanic Memorial
Near the Waterfront's south end, Waterside Park contains this memorial honoring the men who sacrificed their lives to save the women and children aboard the sinking ship. Just south is Fort Lesley J McNair, an army post established in 1791 and burned by the British in 1814. The Lincoln-assassination conspirators were hung at McNair in 1865; it now houses the National Defense University and National War College (closed to the public).
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Treasury Building
The 1836 Greek-revival colossus (each of its 30 36ft-high columns was carved from a single granite block) is decorated as befits a treasury, with golden eagles, ornate balustrades and a two-story Cash Room, constructed with eight types of marble. US currency was printed in the basement from 1863 to 1880. Unfortunately tours of the building have been suspended, but the website offers a virtual tour under Education.
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Tudor Place
This 1816 neoclassical mansion was owned by tobacco merchant Thomas Peter and his wife Martha Custis Peter, granddaughter of Martha Washington. The urban estate stayed in the prominent Peter family until it opened to the public in 1984 and so preserves pieces of the family's history as well as the country's. Today it functions as a small museum featuring furnishings and artwork from Mt Vernon. Its five acres are beautifully landscaped.
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United States Botanic Garden
Resembling London's Crystal Palace, this iron-and-glass greenhouse provides a beautiful setting for displays of exotic and local plants. Highlights include cycad trees that produce 50lb cones, and the mammoth and smelly Titan Arum. Not technically part of the Smithsonian Institution, it is located at the eastern end of the Mall alongside the Smithsonian museums. Behind the conservatory, across Independence Ave, is the grand Bartholdi Fountain.
