Park Tower (Washington, D.C.)

Park Tower
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	2440 Sixteenth St., NW Washington, D.C.
Coordinates	38°55′19″N 77°2′14″W
Built	1928-1929
Architect	William Harris
Architectural style	Art Deco
MPS	Apartment Buildings in Washington, DC, MPS
NRHP reference No.	89001744
Added to NRHP	October 30, 1989

The Park Tower is an historic structure located in the Meridian Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It has been listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites since 1988 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

History

William Harris designed the structure, which was completed in 1929. It was one of the first buildings in the city to break away from the Beaux-Arts and Colonial Revival styles that predominated in Washington architecture up to that time. The building was home to congressmen, professionals and other notable people in the 1930s and illustrates the desire to maintain Sixteenth Street as fashionable street on which to reside.

Architecture

The five-story structure features an irregular plan with a ziggurat-like main façade. The rooftop loggia rises above squared bays. The exterior is a series of repetitive bays covered in golden buff-colored brick. The building also features limestone and patterned brick with chevron, diaper and oak leaf motifs.