Kennedy-Warren Apartment Building
| Kennedy-Warren Apartment Building | |||
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| National Register of Historic Places | |||
 Kennedy-Warren Apartment Building |
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| location | Washington, DC | ||
| Coordinates | 38 ° 55 '54 " N , 77 ° 3' 21" W | ||
| Built | 1929-31 | ||
| architect | Joseph Younger , Alexander H. Sonnemann | ||
| Architectural style | Art deco | ||
| NRHP number | 94001039 | ||
| The NRHP added | September 7, 1994 | ||
The Kennedy-Warren Apartment Building is a historic eleven story apartment building in Washington, DC located at 3133 Connecticut Avenue in the northwest of the city between the Cleveland Park and Woodley Park neighborhoods . The Art Deco structure was built between 1929 and 1931 and is adjacent to the Klingle Valley Bridge and the Smithsonian National Zoological Park . The apartment building overlooks Rock Creek Park and was home to several historic figures, including two US presidents .
The Kennedy Warren Building is considered the largest and finest example of an apartment building of this style in Washington, DC. It was declared a District of Columbia Historic Landmark in 1989 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a monument on September 7, 1994 .
history
Establishment
In 1929, Edgar S. Kennedy and Monroe Warren, Sr. decided to commission Joseph to build an apartment building in Northwest Washington, DC. The entrance tower and north wing of the building were opened in 1931 with 117 rental apartments. The building was the first in Washington, DC to use aluminum for the interior and exterior. A second wing was planned, but Kennedy and Warren went bankrupt during the Great Depression and construction of the second wing was halted. In 1937 the BF Saul Property Company of Bethesda , Maryland , to which the building was mortgaged, took ownership of the Kennedy-Warren. An additional 200 residential units at the rear to the east were designed by Alexander H. Sonnemann and built in 1935.
extension
A collection of Younger's drawings were rediscovered in 1987 and the building's owners decided to complete the original plans. The start of construction was delayed for several years due to restrictions in the development plan ; these problems have been partially eliminated through an agreement between the tenants and the building owner. The BF Saul Company undertook to renovate the aging building at its own expense. After the building permit had been granted, the building owner BF Saul Company and the project developers Hartman-Cox Architects LLP were able to start building the second wing, which has around 28,000 square meters of floor space. The estimated construction costs amounted to 48.5 million US dollars .
Younger's original drawings were incomplete, but the architects followed the same architectural style of the now historic wing and used largely the same building materials. Contemporary floor plans and the addition of balconies are the only changes to Younger's original design. Apartments in the original part of the building were measured to create the floor plans in the new wing. In addition, the original wing was renewed from the outside and the main lobby, the lounges and the walkways were renovated. The bricks used for the new building were specially mixed to match those of the original building in terms of color and shape. Hartman-Cox were honored with a Palladio Award in 2006 for the planning of the new 114 residential units and the renovation of the existing building structure.
architecture
The building is considered the pinnacle of Art Deco in Washington, DC Due to the slope of the site to the east and north, it appears larger than it actually is to passers-by on Connecticut Avenue. Six days are located below the entrance level, two of which are for residential purposes, the other four contain a ballroom, parking spaces and rooms for services. The decorative stone carvings in the original wing were made by the Edmonds Art Stone Company of Washington, DC.
Decorative aluminum panels were used on the entrance tower and the wing structures on each of the eleven floors. On the original part of the structure, these aluminum parts were manufactured by Alcoa, the manufacturer of the parts on the new structure was the Boose Aluminum Foundry. Aluminum was also used for the doors to the lobby and the portico. The building was constructed from Indiana bricks and limestone . The compressed air ventilation system uses large nozzles at the back of the building to draw cool air from the park and distribute it into the corridors of the building.
Floor-to-ceiling windows are installed above the entrance. On either side of the portico are two windows with a pair of limestone Aztec eagles above them. Two other such eagles are located on each of the two porticos at the side entrances. At the top of the central tower, two griffins are attached under a copper pointed arch. A frieze with elephants carved into the cement runs along the facade of the building above arcades .
The main entrance hall of Kennedy-Warren is around six meters high and has aluminum banisters and a gallery. When the building was renovated, the lobby was given its original Art Deco look. Wood paneling covers the walls of the hall and a replica of the original chandelier hangs from the ceiling. The lobby ceiling is decorated with intricate geometric figures and sunbeam patterns painted on the beams. A dark green and gold carpet shows floral designs that match the floral designs on the banister and the building's facade. The elevator doors are made of black metal and are decorated with a flower design and a tree representation made of copper.
The Kennedy-Warren amenities include a swimming pool, spa, sauna, conference center, ballroom, concierge and a small grocery store in the entrance tower. A private club in the historic wing includes a lounge and a piano bar.
Well-known tenants
Harry S. Truman rented a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in 1937 for $ 150 (1937; adjusted for inflation: $ 2,666). At that time he was still a US Senator from Missouri . Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, lived in the building before moving to the White House . Furthermore lived Harry Hopkins , HR Haldeman , PJ O'Rourke and other congressmen, senators, admirals and generals in the building.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Kennedy - Warren Apartment Building on the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed August 3, 2017.
- ↑ a b c d e f "History of the Kennedy-Warren" ( English ) Kennedy-Warren Apartment Building. Archived from the original on October 7, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
- ↑ a b c d e "2006 Palladio Awards: Multi-Unit" ( English ) Traditional Building. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
- ↑ a b "Kennedy-Warren Apartments" ( English ) Art Deco Society of Washington. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
- ↑ Benjamin Forgey: Kennedy-Warren's Welcome Addition ( English ) The Washington Post . April 9, 2005. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
- ↑ Palladio Awards 2006 " ( English ) Architecture Week. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
- ↑ a b c Gerard Moeller: AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, DC ( English ). JHU Press, 2006, ISBN 0801884683 , p. 295.
- ^ A b Alan Nichols: Quality High-Rise Living Available For Those Seeking Security, Comfort ( English ) The Washington Diplomat . Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
- ↑ Harry Truman: Dear Bess: The Letters from Harry to Bess Truman, 1910-1959 ( English ). University of Missouri Press , 1998, ISBN 0826212034 , p. 391.
- ↑ Kennedy-Warren tenants balk at charge ( English ) The Washington Examiner . January 25, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
- ↑ a b Harriet Edleson: The Little Black Book of Washington, DC ( English ). Peter Pauper Press, Inc., 2007, ISBN 1593598688 , p. 23.
