Hotel Washington (Washington, D.C.)

Last updated
Hotel Washington
Hotel Washington - November 2023.jpg
View across Pennsylvania Avenue,
looking up 15th Street (2023)
Location map Washington, D.C. central.png
Red pog.svg
USA District of Columbia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location515 15th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.
Coordinates 38°53′49.1″N77°1′59.8″W / 38.896972°N 77.033278°W / 38.896972; -77.033278
Built1918
Architect Carrère and Hastings
Architectural style Beaux Arts
NRHP reference No. 95000352 [1]
Added to NRHPMarch 30, 1995

The Hotel Washington is a historic hotel located at 515 15th Street NW (between Pennsylvania Avenue and F Street) in downtown Washington, D.C.

Contents

History

The Hotel Washington opened on April 4, 1918. [2] Designed by the architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings, the ten-story, Beaux-Arts hotel is the only commercial building designed by the firm in Washington, D.C. The facade features cream colored sgraffito decoration on a reddish-brown ground.

The Hotel Washington was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1995; in addition, the building is a contributing property to the Financial Historic District, listed on the NRHP in 2006, and the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. [3]

On 14 October 2005, George H. W. Bush, Barbara Bush and Eunice Kennedy Shriver attended a press conference at the hotel to unveil The Extra Mile - Points of Light Volunteer Pathway. It is a mile-long pathway of bronze medallions on 15th Street. Various staff members from the Corporation for National and Community Service and AmeriCorps NCCC attended the event at the hotel. After the press conference concluded, Pres. Bush, Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Kennedy Shriver walked up 15th street to see the medallions.

Following a 2006 buyout and extensive renovation, the property reopened in 2008 as the 317-room W Washington D.C. [4] In 2021 the building was sold, ending its franchise with W Hotels and reverting to an independent Hotel Washington. [5]

The hotel was seen in the films Contact and The Firm . [6] Its roof terrace figured in the movies The Godfather Part II and No Way Out . Frank Murphy and John Nance Garner lived there. [7] The entrance of the hotel was shown in the film Silkwood. The rooftop bar POV is also the location of Diana (Gal Gadot) and Barbara's (Kristen Wiig) lunch in the Wonder Woman sequel WW84 .

Notes

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "Three Stories from Hotel Washington". 24 January 2014.
  3. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/95000352_text
  4. "Historic D.C. Hotel". W Washington D.C. - Official Website - Best Rates, Guaranteed. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  5. Luke Mullins (2021-07-21). "W Washington DC Hotel Is Being Sold and Rebranded". Washingtonian . Retrieved 2021-09-19.
  6. "IMDb: Most Popular Titles With Location Matching "Hotel Washington - 515 15th Street, Washington, District of Columbia, USA"". IMDb. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  7. DeNeen L. Brown (December 31, 2007). "A Many-Storied Inn". Washington Post.


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Avenue</span> Street in Maryland and Washington, D.C., US

Pennsylvania Avenue is a primarily diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the United States Capitol with the White House and then crosses northwest Washington, D.C. to Georgetown. Traveling through southeast Washington from the Capitol, it enters Maryland, and becomes MD Route 4 and then MD Route 717 in Upper Marlboro, and finally Stephanie Roper Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site</span> National Historic Site of the United States in Washington, D.C.

Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in the city of Washington, D.C. Established on September 30, 1965, the site is roughly bounded by Constitution Avenue, 15th Street NW, F Street NW, and 3rd Street NW. The historic district includes a number of culturally, aesthetically, and historically significant structures and places, including Pennsylvania Avenue NW from the White House to the United States Capitol, the Treasury Building, Freedom Plaza, Federal Triangle, Ford's Theatre, the Old Patent Office Building, the Old Pension Office Building, which now houses the National Building Museum, Judiciary Square, and the Peace Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waddy Butler Wood</span> American architect (1869-1944)

Waddy Butler Wood was an American architect of the early 20th century and resident of Washington, D.C. Although Wood designed and remodeled numerous private residences, his reputation rested primarily on his larger commissions, such as banks, commercial offices, and government buildings. His most notable works include the Woodrow Wilson House and the Main Interior Building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Extra Mile</span> National monument in Washington D.C.

The Extra Mile – Points of Light Volunteer Pathway is a memorial in Washington D.C. Located adjacent to the White House, the monument is composed of 34 bronze medallions honoring people who "through their caring and personal sacrifice, reached out to others, building their dreams into movements that helped people across America and throughout the world". The medallions, each 42 inches in diameter, are embedded in sidewalks that form a one-mile walking path bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue, 15th Street, G Street, and 11th Street, NW. Each medallion includes a bas-relief likeness of one or more honorees, a description of their achievement and a quotation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building</span> United States historic place and federal building

The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, sometimes called Main Justice, is the headquarters of the United States Department of Justice. It houses Department of Justice offices, including the office of the United States Attorney General. The building was completed in 1935. In 2001, it was renamed after Robert F. Kennedy, the 64th Attorney General of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Avenue Corridor</span> Employment and residential corridor in Phoenix

The Central Avenue Corridor is a significant stretch of north–south Central Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona. Roughly bounded by Camelback Road to its north, and McDowell Road to its south, this is one of Phoenix's most vital and heavily trafficked stretches of roads. It is also one of the region's largest centers of employment, with nearly 60,000 people being employed within a three-mile (5 km) radius of this swath of Central Avenue. Major employers here include major banks and financial institutions, hi-tech companies, and several significant law firms and government agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starrett & van Vleck</span> American architectural firm

Starrett & van Vleck was an American architectural firm based in New York City which specialized in the design of department stores, primarily in the early 20th century. It was active from 1908 until at least the late 1950s.

Mendelssohn, Fisher and Lawrie was a significant architecture firm in early Omaha, Nebraska. Fisher & Lawrie continued. A number of their works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilson Brothers & Company</span> American architectural firm

Wilson Brothers & Company was a prominent Victorian-era architecture and engineering firm established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company was regarded for its structural expertise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Post Office (Washington, D.C.)</span> United States historic place

The Old Post Office, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Old Post Office and Clock Tower, is located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. It is a contributing property to the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site.

Dwight James Baum was an American architect most active in New York and in Sarasota, Florida. His work includes Cà d'Zan, the Sarasota Times Building (1925), Sarasota County Courthouse (1926), early residences in Temple Terrace, Florida, Sarasota County Courthouse (1927), Pinecroft, West Side YMCA on 63rd Street between Central Park and Columbus Avenue, Columbus Circle (1934) and Hendricks Memorial Chapel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiehnel and Elliott</span> American architect

The architectural firm of Kiehnel and Elliot was established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1906. The firm did substantial work in Florida, and moved to Miami in 1922. From 1926, it was known as Kiehnel, Elliot and Chalfant.

Vlastimil Koubek was a Czech American architect who designed more than 100 buildings, most of them in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. When he died, he had designed buildings worth more than $2 billion. Most of his work is Modernist in style, although he developed a few structures in other vernaculars. He created the site plan for the redevelopment of Rosslyn, Virginia, and his Ames Center anchored the area's economic recovery. He also designed the World Building in Silver Spring, Maryland, which sparked redevelopment of that town's downtown and the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C., amongst many other buildings. In 1985, Washingtonian magazine considered him to be one of 20 people "who in the past 20 years had the greatest impact on the way we live and who forever altered the look of Washington." In 1988, The Washington Post newspaper said his Willard Hotel renovation was one of 28 projects in the area which made a signal contribution to the "feel" and look of Washington, D.C.

Harvey and Clarke was an American architectural firm formed by Henry Stephen Harvey and L. Philips Clarke in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1921. The firm was active in South Florida for only a few years, but in that time designed a number of distinctive homes, apartments, churches, and commercial buildings. Harvey was a member of the West Palm Beach Planning Commission. Firm member Gustav Maass designed several railroad stations, and became a noted South Florida architect in his own right.

Furness & Evans was a Philadelphia architectural partnership, established in 1881, between architect Frank Furness and his former chief draftsman, Allen Evans. In 1886, other employees were made partners, and the firm became Furness, Evans & Company. George Howe worked in the firm and later became a partner at Mellor & Meigs, another Philadelphia firm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Financial Historic District (Washington, D.C.)</span> Historic district in Washington, D.C., United States

The Financial Historic District, previously known as the Fifteenth Street Financial Historic District, is a historic district in Washington, D.C. that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2006. It was expanded and renamed the Financial Historic District in 2017. There are numerous contributing properties in the historic district that are individually listed on the NRHP, including three that are designated National Historic Landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder Bay</span> Destroyed and rebuilt slum neighborhood in Washington D.C., United States

Murder Bay was a disreputable slum in Washington, D.C., roughly bounded by Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and 13th and 15th Streets NW. The area was a center of crime through the early 20th century, with an extensive criminal underclass and prostitution occurring in several brothels and hotels in the area. The area was completely rebuilt during the construction of the Federal Triangle project in the late 1920s and 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedman's Bank Building</span> United States historic place

The Freedman's Bank Building, previously known as the Treasury Annex, is a historic office building located on the corner of Madison Place and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It sits on the east side of Lafayette Square, a public park on the north side of the White House, and across from the Treasury Building. The adjoining properties include the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building to the north and the former Riggs National Bank to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truman I. Lacey</span> American architect

Truman I. Lacey (1834–1914) was an American architect in practice in Binghamton, New York from 1872 until 1914.