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Circling Dupont: Walking One of Washington, D.C.'s Historic Neighborhoods (The popular Dupont Circle Fountain, above, is a popular meeting place). Many of Washington, D.C.'s neighborhoods offer visitors some very interesting "living history." One of my own favorite neighborhoods is Dupont Circle, which I rediscovered recently after an absence of several years. I decided to walk the neighborhood and started out at the most logical point - the trademark fountain at the center of a grassy roundabout, which offers a relaxing spot to take in the passing scene. (A aerial view of the Dupont Circle neighborhood showing its mix of old and new buildings and many trees)
These days, Dupont Circle is a fairly trendy place, but it wasn't always so. Before the Civil War, the area was a rural backwater, but with improvements came the rich, who built mansions still seen on Massachusetts Avenue and inviting brick row houses on leafy side streets. From the fountain, you can fan out on a leisurely exploration of the neighborhood's historic buildings, which provide a contrast to the modern office buildings and newer apartment complexes on the main arteries. But,
well, if it's morning, why don't we slow down a bit first and stop for coffee
and breakfast at a Dupont Circle cultural institution called Kramerbooks and Afterwords
Bar & Grill on Connecticut Avenue. (You won't want to miss Kramerbooks and Afterworks Bay & Grill on your tour of the Dupont Circle neighborhood)
Open until the very late hours of the night, Kramerbooks also serves lunch and dinner with indoor and outdoor seating and live music Wednesday - Saturday night. It's crowded and not fancy, but I love its casual atmosphere - and the big breakfasts. If you have time, you can also browse through the books. Later on, for lunch or dinner, I suggest Pizzeria Paradiso on P Street, known for the 4-cheese pizza and sandwiches with foccacia bread. But back to my walking tour… I found some of the city's finest Beaux Arts, Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne structures on some of Dupont Circle's quiet residential streets. In the 1700 block of Q Street, for example, I admired lovely examples of the Richardsonian Romanesque style of homes, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, who used heavy, sculptured stone facades and towers in his work. Before air conditioning, these sturdy buildings could provide very good insulation against Washington's summer heat. There's more of the Richardsonian Romanesque design in the same block, where 19th-century architect Thomas Franklin Schneider built what have come to be known as Schneider Row Houses. (An example of the Richardson Romanesque style of architecture)
These brown-and-greenstone three-story structures show off a playful mix of turrets, bays, and tiled mansard roofs. Schneider was the same architect who designed the intriguing Cairo building, where I stopped to marvel at the name "Cairo" carved into the stone -- obviously an association with travel and exploration. One of the most interesting neighborhood sites is the Brewmaster's Castle at 1307 New Hampshire. This brick brownstone Victorian with a turret pointing up to the sky is now a museum. Built by Christian Heurich, the mansion was completed in 1894. Heurich made his fortune producing beer, and on a tour of the home, one sees murals that obviously favor beer drinking. Heurich's mansion was the first fireproofed home in Washington, and as a testament to this fact, you can see, at the top of the tower, a Greek salamander, symbol of protection against fire. Massachusetts Avenue, known as Embassy Row, is the site of many foreign embassies in historic buildings. I spotted the flags of the Philippine, Peruvian, and Argentine embassies. (Some of the homes in the neighborhood are gaily painted)
After
a time, I took a break and stopped at the Phillips Collection, the oldest museum
in the United States, located across the street from the small Moroccan Embassy
on tree-lined 21st Street. Duncan and his brother James had collected paintings together until James died at age 34 in the Spanish flu epidemic. As a result, Duncan turned to art for the will to live. "There came a time," he wrote, "when sorrow almost overwhelmed me. Then I turned to my love of painting for the will to live." Over the years, Duncan and Marjorie collected many works, including French artists like Monet and Cezanne, but they preferred Americans, especially the modernists O'Keefe, Marin and Dove. On
my recent visit to Washington, I stayed at the Topaz Hotel, a really funky neighborhood
place on N Street in Dupont Circle. (A playfully decorated room, below, at the Topaz Hotel)
The
spacious guestrooms are decorated with upholstery in richly colored fabrics and
playful patterns. Beds have silky throw pillows and polka-dotted gray and blue
silk upholstered headboards. The Topaz Bar, lined with floor-to-ceiling settees upholstered in sapphire velvet mohair, serves continental breakfast and dinner with an Asian flair, including Shiitake Vegetable Wontons with Ginger Soy Sauce and Crispy Calamari with Red Curry Aioli. In 1901, before there was a Topaz hotel, the building at the Topaz address was known as "Little White House" because President Theodore Roosevelt lived here - another little-known fact in a neighborhood filled with history. IF
YOU GO… For information about the Topaz Hotel, call (202) 393-3000 or visit www.topazhotel.com. There are numerous walking tours of the Dupont Circle neighborhood. Here is a sampling: Moveable
Feast Eleanor
Roosevelt's Washington
Embassy Row Tour For
information about any of these tours, contact info@washingtonwalks.com,
call (202) 484-1565, or visit www.washingtonwalks.com. (Click below for more travel).
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