The Hamilton Crowne Plaza, Washington, D.C.
- Architect
- Jules Henri de Sibour
- Year
- 1922
- Style
- Beaux-Arts
- City
- Washington, DC
- Collection
- the city beautiful
The original Hamilton Hotel began in 1851 as the Rugby Academy, a private school, before being converted into a hotel and eventually renamed Hamilton House in honor of Eliza Hamilton Holly, daughter of Alexander Hamilton. After changing hands repeatedly, the property was sold to Felix Lake in 1921 for $450,000, leading to the Beaux-Arts building designed by Jules Henri de Sibour that opened in 1922 at 1001 14th Street NW, just north of Franklin Square.
the building
From school to hotel. The building's predecessor started life in 1851 as the Rugby Academy, converted to the Rugby House hotel by 1862, then renamed Hamilton House in the late 1860s by owners Horatio Bridge and his wife, in memory of her friend Eliza Hamilton Holly.
the style
De Sibour's 1922 design gave the Hamilton an ornate Beaux-Arts facade, the formal, classically detailed idiom he used elsewhere in Washington for buildings meant to project establishment respectability.
More on Beaux-Artsthe architect
Jules Henri de Sibour was a significant Washington, D.C. architect responsible for this Beaux-Arts building.
significance
The Hamilton is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and belongs to Historic Hotels of America, the National Trust for Historic Preservation's official program; it currently operates as a AAA 4-diamond hotel.
nearby
- Almas Temple
- Tower Building
- Engine Company No. 16/Truck Company No. 3
- Denrike Building
- Franklin, Benjamin, School (& Interiors)
- Real Estate Trust Building