LPPM MMV "Dupont Circle"

[Dave Monroe]

"The address was a small apartment building on a quiet
street near Dupont Circle, and Siegel dove into the
lobby, in out of the rain, clutching the fifth of
scotch he was carrying as if it were a state secret."
(MMV, p. 1)


"Dupont Circle"

It was the Board of Public works under the leadership
of Alexander Shepherd that spearheaded the way for the
development of Dupont Circle. Nevada Senator William
Morris Stewart led the "California Syndicate" which
bought up tracts of undeveloped land. The style of the
neighborhood was set when Stewart erected his mansion
(now demolished) in the 1870s. By the late 1880s the
Dupont neighborhood was an affluent and vibrant
neighborhood.

In 1871 the Corps of Engineers began construction of
Dupont Circle itself which at the time was called
Pacific Circle. In 1882 Congress authorized a memorial
statue of Rear Admiral Samuel Francis duPont in
recognition of his Civil War service. The bronze
statue was erected in 1884. In 1921 the statue of
Dupont was replaced by a double-tiered white marble
fountain. It was designed by sculptor Daniel Chester
French and architect Henry Bacon. Three classical
figures, symbolizing the Sea, the Stars and the Wind
are carved on the fountain's central shaft.

The Dupont Circle Historic District is a primarily
residential district extending generally in all
directions from Dupont Circle. The area was developed
in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early
years of the 20th century. Two types of housing
predominate in the historic district: palatial
mansions and freestanding residences built in the
styles popular between 1895 and 1910; and
three-and-four-story rowhouses, many of which are
variations on the Queen Anne and Richardsonian
Romanesque Revival styles, built primarily before the
turn of the century. The mansions line the broad,
tree-lined diagonal avenues that intersect the circle
and the rowhouses line the grid streets of the
historic district. This juxtaposition of house types
and street pattern gives the area a unique character. 

When the Dupont Circle area first became a fashionable
residential neighborhood some of this community's
wealthiest residents constructed houses here....

[...]
 
The majority of the houses in the Dupont Circle
Historic District are not mansions, however. The
blocks along the grid streets are lined with rowhouses
that were occupied by middle-class professionals and
official Washingtonians. The styles employed in
designing these rowhouses which were built from the
1880s into the first decade of the 20th century, range
from Queen Anne to Richardsonian Revival to
Renaissance and Georgian Revival. Variations on Queen
Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque were most prevalent
in this area of DC. Some of the rows were designed as
a unit by a single architect while others were
individually built and designed. The row on the south
side of the 1700 block of Q Street, designed in 1889
by T.F. Schneider, is one of the most impressive
Richardsonian rows in the area. The north side of the
2000 block of N Street is one of the finest Second
Empire rows in the district. These houses were built
between 1879 and 1881 by Christopher Thom. 

The 2000 block of Hillyer Place contains a variety of
styles, especially Queen Anne and Richardsonian
Romanesque. One of the most varied and architecturally
intact blocks is the 1700 block of N Street which
reflects the breadth of architectural talent in the
area. A commercial corridor along Connecticut Avenue
and P Street west of the circle developed in this
district. The early commercial buildings are small in
scale and do not detract from the district's
character. In recent years, pressure for large-scale
commercial office development on Connecticut Avenue
has been intense. A number of new office buildings,
some unsympathetic to the historic district line the
northern and southern fringes of Connecticut Avenue. 

Dupont Circle Historic District is roughly bounded by
Rhode Island Avenue, NW; M and N Sts., NW, on the
south; Florida Avenue, NW, on the west; Swann St., NW,
on the north; and the 16th Street Historic District on
the east. The buildings described are private and not
open to the public. Metro stop: Dupont Circle 

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc50.htm

Dupont Circle, Embassy Row & Kalorama

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dupontmap.htm


		
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