Washington's Apartment Building Tradition: Capitol Hill 1900-1914

The following study considers the historical influences and rich tradition of apartment living in Washington and specifically features Capitol Hill’s early twentieth century Beaux Arts apartments. Drawing on design elements seen elsewhere in the city, but scaling them appropriately for the comparatively modest and traditional streetscape of Capitol Hill, architects employed a typological language of symmetrical facades with rusticated or otherwise defined ground levels, stacked bay windows, tripartite definition, and heavily corniced rooflines. With the dedicated apartment building still a relatively new building type in Washington, developers commissioned these structures in the hopes of attracting tenants and turning a profit.