Capitol Hill Restoration Society

CHRS Projects

CHRS Annual House and Garden Tour
Saturday, May 11 4-7 pm and Sunday May 12, 2013 12-5 pm

CHRS is pleased to present the 56th Annual House & Garden Tour on Mothers' Day weekend. United by the theme, "In the shadow of the Capitol: Old traditions, new beginnings," this year’s tour showcases more than a dozen traditional and contemporary properties and artfully landscaped gardens in one of the oldest parts of Capitol Hill.

This 1.2-mile walkable tour between First, Third, C and South Carolina, SE, includes modern renovations as well as traditional homes, from a one-bedroom alley dwelling to a three-story B&B. Each has a different perspective on interior design and a story to tell about traditions and new starts. The Capitol Hill House and Garden Tour is the longest continuously running house tour in the city, and supports the many civic and historic preservation projects of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society.

Sponsors: CHRS gratefully acknowledges the sponsors who make the tour possible:

           Gold Sponsor:      National Capital Bank
       Silver Sponsor:    Riverby Books
           Bronze Sponsor: Schneiders of Capitol Hill
                                           The Smith Team
When: Saturday May 11, 4-7 pm
            Sunday May 12, 12-5 pm

Tickets: $25 in advance / $30 the weekend of the tour. Your ticket is good for both days.

Local Ticket Outlets from April 15:

   Appalachian Spring             Union Station                         682-0505
   Riverby Books                        417 East Capitol St. SE            543-4342
   Coldwell Banker                  605 Pennsylvania Ave., SE    546-6321
   Groovy dc                             323 7th Street, SE                  544-6633
   Hill's Kitchen                        713 D Street, SE                     543-1997
   Homebody                            715 8th Street, SE                  544-8445
   Prudential Pen Fed Realty 216 7th Street, SE                608-1880
   Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital                                                          921 Pennsylvania Ave., SE     543-3893
    American Legion Post        224 D Street SE

Eastern Market Ticket Booth:
     April 19-20, April 26-27, May 4-5 & May 11-12
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History of the House Tour

Each year since 1958, CHRS has organized a tour of homes, gardens and other structures on Capitol Hill. This annual event, held every Mother's Day weekend, showcases approximately ten renovated buildings in the 200-year-old community. Community grants are usually awarded from a portion of the proceeds.

A list of previous House Tour houses by location is here . The list is divided between NE and SE, then alphabetically by street. A list by year is located here.

Former tour brochures have been scanned for your reference:

1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972

1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987

1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002

2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012

House and Garden Tour Community Grants Awards

Since 2000, CHRS has donated 20 percent of net House Tour proceeds each year to worthwhile projects of Capitol Hill organizations. The CHRS Board has established criteria for grant awards and a committee reviews annual grant applications. Grant applications are due around Labor Day each year; awards are usually made in October.

Community Grants Awards (also known as the Beall Bequest Grants in honor of former CHRS President and community activist Austin Beall) of varying sizes have been made every year since the Board first approved the concept in February, 2000. Grants have been awarded for these projects, among many others:

To collect oral histories in a local neighborhood
To expand a local playing field
To restore ironwork at a small triangle park
To fund an anti-littering video produced in part by children residing in local
low-income housing, as well as many others

[NOTE: the grant progrm has been tempoarily suspended because the funds are being utilized to support the "Beyond the Boundaries" program which is developing data about structures adjacent to but outside the boundaries of the Capitol Hill Historic District.]

Art on Call: Call Box Revitalization Project

Introduction

Years ago, back at the turn of the 20th century, before telephones and cell phones were ubiquitous, there were ornamental iron boxes on poles at many street corners throughout the city. They were not only attractive, but they served a civic purpose as well. Residents could turn in a fire alarm or the police in the precinct house could check on the progress of an officer on patrol. Then came the 1970s when the police had other means of checking back to the precinct house and the number of false fire alarms rocketed causing problems for the fire department. The 911 emergency system was instituted and the police and fire call boxes were inactivated.

Just before the turn of the 21st century, several Hill residents and others from across the city began wondering how these relics from another time could once again grace their communities. The Art on Call project, under the direction of Cultural Tourism DC through an agreement with the DC Department of Transportation, is the answer.

Neighborhood organizations across the Hill – Capitol Hill Restoration Society, Barracks Row Main Street, H Street Main Street, Hill East, North Lincoln Park, Stanton Park – have joined together to work on this project. This web page can tell you how to get involved in the project – or what will be happening on a corner near you.

Some Capitol Hill Architects and Builders

Albert H. Beers, architect (1859–1911). Originally from Bridgeport, Connecticut, at the time of his death he lived at 757 Park Road, NW, Washington, D.C.; his office was at 1342 New York Avenue, NW. Beers worked extensively with Harry Wardman, and two of their projects appear on the National Register of Historic Places. Beers designed many rowhouses for Wardman and is credited with Wardman’s breakthrough designs for “daylighter” rowhouses. He also worked with other builders, including Harry A. Kite, Chris Cox Dawson, George Barkman, and T. J. McCubbin.
Clement A. Didden, architect (active 1873–1923). Didden was a talented architect and a member of a distinguished Capitol Hill family. He practiced with his son, George A. Didden, as C. A. Didden & Son from 1905-1918. In addition to the store at 206 Warren Street, NE, Didden also designed a Neoclassical house for Bartholomew Daly at 1312 East Capitol Street (1908).
Edwin Horatio Fowler, architect, draftsman and Capitol Hill resident.
Charles Gessford, architect/builder (1831-1894). Gessford, who lived at 661 South Carolina Avenue, SE, was one of the best-known builder/ architects on Capitol Hill. His work includes “Philadelphia Row” (132-144 Eleventh Street, SE) and Queen Anne-style brick rowhouses (824-832 D Street, SE; 638-642 East Capitol Street). He also built alley dwellings (Gessford Court). He borrowed to build his houses; when the Depression of 1893 hit, he was left with houses that no one would buy. He died a year later and was buried at Congressional Cemetery.
Lewis Wentworth Giles, architect (1894-1974). Giles was a wellknown African-American architect who graduated from Armstrong Technical and studied architecture at the University of Illinois. After serving in World War I, he worked in the office of Isaiah Hatton from 1918 to 1921. In 1921, he opened his own office at 1200 U Street, NW. He designed many churches (Rock Creek Baptist Church, 4201 Eighth Street, NW; New Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Fifty-eighth and Grant Streets, NE), offices, apartment buildings and houses in Capitol Hill, Brookland, Eastland Gardens, Capitol View and Deanwood. Later, his home and office was at 4428 Hunt Place, NE, a house that he designed.
Herman R. Howenstein, builder (1877-1955). Howenstein was a major Washington developer in early twentieth century. He built many “daylighter” porch-front rowhouses including several on Capitol Hill, beginning in the early 1900s. His rowhouses often feature a straight slate mansard roof with a gable dormer. Later, with a partner, he built and owned a number of large apartment buildings, including 1301 and 1321 Massachusetts Avenue, NW; as well as the Wakefield, Potomac Park, Chatham, Highview (2505 Thirteenth Street, NW), and the Embassy (1613 Harvard Street, NW). In 1933 and 1934, lenders foreclosed on Highview and the Embassy. The foreclosure sale proceeds were less than the mortgage balances. Howenstein and his partner had personally guaranteed the mortgages, and were liable for this deficiency, which they could not pay. As a result, they both went bankrupt in 1935. Howenstein had $13.80 in cash plus the stock in H. R. Howenstein Co. (also bankrupt) and owed almost $400,000. He died in 1955, after a long illness.
Harry A. Kite, builder (1882-1931). He was a prominent Washington developer who built many “daylighter” porch-front rowhouses all over Washington including many on Capitol Hill, as well as apartment buildings (Kew Gardens, 2700 Q Street, NW).
Albert E. Landvoight, architect (1892-1955). He was born in Washington and attended McKinley High School. He began working for Harry Kite in 1913, served in World War I, and afterward continued to work as an architect. He designed residences and apartments for Kite and for Boss & Phelps.
George T. Santmyers, architect (1889-1960). He studied architecture at the Washington Architecture Club Atelier (1908-1912), worked as a draftsman for Harding & Upman, Washington, DC, and began his own practice in 1914. He designed many apartments and hundreds of rowhouses, including many on Capitol Hill, for Thomas A. Jameson and Harry Kite.
Alexander H. Sonneman, architect (1872-19??). He was born in Montgomery County, Maryland, and attended high school in Rockville. He studied architecture with his father (who had taught architecture at the University of Giessen, Germany) and began practicing architecture in 1901. He worked extensively for Harry Kite, designing rowhouses and apartment buildings including Kew Gardens, 2700 Q Street, NW. In 1910 he designed two-story Mediterranean Revival rowhouses with front porches and over-hanging red tile roofs for the entire Square 862 (Seventh/Eighth/D/E Streets, NE, including Lexington Place, NE). Sonneman remained active through 1954.
B. Stanley Simmons, architect (1872-1931). He came to Washington as a child, and later studied architecture at M. I. T. He was one of the most prolific architects in Washington, and worked with every major developer, including Harry Wardman and Lester Barr. He started designing and building houses in the 1890s, before he moved on to bigger commissions. His rowhouses at 1345-1363 Constitution Avenue, NE, date from his early career. Simmons designed more than 60 apartment buildings between 1890 and 1926, including The Wyoming (1810 Wyoming Avenue, NW, considered by some to be his masterpiece), and the Embassy and the Highview for Howenstein. He also designed the National Metropolitan Bank, 15th and G Streets, NW (1905); the Barr Building at Farragut Square (1929); the Elks Club, 919 H Street, NW (1908, demolished); and the Fairfax Hotel, 21st and Massachusetts Avenue, NW (1921).
George W. Utermehle. Upon the death of George W. Utermehle on April 16, 1889, the Evening Star newspaper noted that Utermehle had “done more to build up the city than any other man, being at the time of his death the largest individual owner of property in the District...