Greek Revival Architecture Tour
Courtesy of the National Park Service.
LOCATION: Overlooking Arlington Cemetery (Metro: Arlington Cemetery, Blue Line)
ARCHITECT: George Hadfield
CONSTRUCTED: 1802-18
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One of the most pure Greek Revival houses in the country; a robust and primitive Doric, modeled on the Temple of Poseiden at Paestum.
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Arlington House is a prime example of the "power house," meant to demonstrate the status of the inhabitants.
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Viewed on the oblique, much like Greek temples were meant to be viewed at an angle.
Courtesy of Allie Caufield on flickr.com.
NAME: The Old Patent Office Building (Now the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery)
LOCATION: 8th and F Streets NW (Metro: Gallery Place-Chinatown, Red, Yellow, and Green Lines)
ARCHITECTS: South side by Robert Mills. Also involved: Town and Davis, Wm. P. Elliot, Edward Clark, Adolph Cluss, Thomas U. Walter
CONSTRUCTED: 1836-37
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Robert Mills explores the classic orders in thtress buildings: Doric Order in Patent Office Building, Ionic Order in street facade of U.S. Treasury Building (1836-69), and Corinthian Order in General Post Building (1836-69)
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Mills' portico is a fairly exact copy of the principal portico of the Parthenon.
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Original, grand steps led up to what was then the principal floor (now the second floor). The steps were removed when F Street was regraded.
Lautman Collection, National Building Museum.
LOCATION: 451 Indiana Ave., NW (Metro: Judiciary Square, Red Line)
ARCHITECT: George Hadfield
CONSTRUCTED: 1820-50
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More complex iteration of Greek Revival: austere porticos with Ionic columns and columns in antis on pavilion wings.
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Shows Georgian influence with recessed, arched windows and a 5-part plan (central mass with flanking wings and pavilions).
