s a rich environment for historic preservation.”
Washington was one of the earliest jurisdictions to create historic districts: first in 1964, although the designation was largely honorary, and later by law in 1978. (Georgetown was even earlier, with the creation of a historic district in 1950 by an act of Congress.)
“We also had some preservation through neglect,” says G. Martin Moeller Jr., senior vice president and curator at the National Building Museum and author of the “AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, D.C.”
“But [the upside] is that we have large areas that are well-preserved — Logan Circle, for example — because there was no pressure to build there in the 20th century,” Moeller says.
The prestige and wealth associated with the region also account for the number of houses worth saving.
Important architects with work in the area range from Robert Mills, who designed structures such as the Washington Monument and the Treasury Department building, and the Smithsonian’s James Renwick Jr. to Beaux-Arts master Nathan Corwith Wyeth and modern masters I.M. Pei and Richard Neutra.
The area has plenty of architectural hybrids, too, either because a building was modified or because a builder used elements from more than one style.
One D.C. real estate developer, Harry Wardman, was so well-known for combining architectural elements and working with multiple architects that he practically created his own style. Some local historians call his houses “Washington Row” or “Wardman” style.
“Styles in places like Washington are frequently modified,” Moeller says.
Throughout the region, you may see a fair amount of “pop-ups” — houses with additions on the top level — as well as rear additions.
Preservation favors “compatible changes” that distinguish new from old but complement each other.
“You can make changes. It can be modern,” says Rebecca A. Miller, executive director of the D.C. Preservation League. “Preservation doesn’t mean you have matching bricks.”
It’s also not unusual for a center-hall Colonial to sit beside a Mid-Century Modern. Yet, says Joan M. Brierton, a historic preservation specialist, “They all work together.”
There always seems to be more to learn about the history of the neighborhoods — a statute you overlooked, a building or house you didn’t notice before. “I’m constantly surprised and delighted by new things,” says Tom Mayes, deputy general counsel at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Here’s an overview of some of what’s in our neighborhoods:
Georgian (mid-1700s to 1830s):
Beware of imitations. There are tons of replicas of this Colonial-era architecture, which features paneled front doors with decorative crowns and flattened columns, called pilasters, on the side. Georgian architecture is rigidly symmetrical, Moeller says.
On the humble end, a Georgian house might be a simple one- to two-story box, two rooms deep. On the upper end, it often has cornices with decorative moldings and might have two-story columns at the outer edge of the front facade.
These homes are often brick or wood, with chimneys on both sides of the house. The Brice House and the Hammond House are examples. The Friendship House, also known as the Maples or Duncanson House, on D Street SE, is another.
The Old Hotel in Dumfries, the 18th-century mansion also known as Williams Ordinary, is crowned by a wood cornice, and its chimneys are visible from the outside.
Federal (late 1700s to 1840):
Another popular period in D.C. architecture — Federal — can run the gamut from the very grand to the quite simple.
Balanced and symmetrical, Federal houses have clean lines but also majesty. Front doors are often surrounded with a decorative crown and have a small entry porch. Larger houses, such as the Woodlawn estate in Mount Vernon, may have side additions known as wings.
Some of the most carefully preserved historic homes are examples of Federal architecture. Among them: Evermay (1623 28th St. NW), Dumbarton Oaks (1703 32nd St. NW) and Halcyon House (3400 Prospect St. NW).
Federal townhouses include the Forrest-Marbury House (3