3314 Newark Street and the Robin Hood Club Fire of 1912
In 1912 a boys’ Robin Hood Club shack behind 3314 Newark Street in Cleveland Park caught fire, and three engine companies came. Here’s the house’s story.
Architecture
Washington’s built environment is the product of grand ambitions, fierce debates, and brilliant (and sometimes terrible) ideas across more than two centuries. These posts dig into the buildings, architects, and design decisions that shaped the city we know today.
Is the Old Stone House Haunted? Georgetown’s 1765 Survivor
In 1899 a marble sign called this M Street house George Washington’s headquarters. It wasn’t true. It probably saved the house.
The Colonnade: Washington’s Quiet Dignity Address, 1966 to Now
Four senators, a former Supreme Court Justice, and the Carter White House all lived in the same Glover Park high-rise. Reader tip from Bob.
Newton Theater: The 1937 Brookland Movie House Behind the 12th Street CVS
On July 29, 1937, a capacity crowd packed a brand-new 1,007-seat Art Deco movie house at 12th and Newton NE. Look up: the ziggurat is still there.
The Avalon Theatre in Chevy Chase DC: 100 Years of Movies
In 1923 the Chevy Chase Theatre opened at 5612 Connecticut Avenue NW. Renamed the Avalon in 1929, it survived 78 years of Hollywood and one Loews bankruptcy that gutted it in 2001. Neighbors raised roughly $750,000 and reopened it in April 2003. The lights are still on.
1627 Lamont Street NW: A 1908 Walk-Up With a 1927 Front-Page Tragedy
On the evening of September 21, 1927, a Washington attorney named Alexander G. Bentley walked into a room at the Houston Hotel on E Street near Ninth and shot himself. He was 52. The Washington Post ran it on page one the next morning. His home address, given in the second sentence: 1627 Lamont Street … Read more
The General Scott Apartments: A 1940 Deco Landmark on Scott Circle
Robert O. Schultz’s 1940 General Scott Apartments at 1 Scott Circle NW, the mansions it replaced, the WPA underpass beneath, and the 1982 tenant buyout that saved it.
Meridian Mansions: Senators, a Czech Flag, and a Century at 2400 16th Street
The 1918 apartment hotel at 2400 16th Street NW housed ten senators, hosted embassies, and unfurled the first Czechoslovak flag. Today it is The Envoy.
The Rotonda McLean: Tysons Corner’s Original Condo Island
Five circular towers, 1,168 condominiums, and the man who built the Watergate built them too. The story of The Rotonda in McLean.