The alleys of DC and the stables were the pulse of the city. To destroy an original stable and replace it with a building of "that looks like a stable" reveals profound ignorance of the value of architectural originality. The stables and the alleys were where the ecology of urban change occurred. Their stories reflect many lives and are living artifacts of 200 years of human experience in Washington. Historic replication is no substitute for historic preservation.
Contact Information
If you would like to contact the author to discuss the preservation of alley structures please feel comfortable to do so through the e-mail address alleysdc@yahoo.com . The world of D.C. alley dwellers is small and meaningful change can only come through connecting with each other.
Neglected Neighbors by Weller 1909 - The John C Winston Company
The Mews of London by Rosen 1982 - Webb and Bower
The Secret City by Green 1967 - Princeton University Press
Alley Life in Washington by Borchert 1982 - University of Illinois Press
About Me
stable preservationist
Washington, DC, United States
I live in an 1899 stable in the middle of an historic landmark alley collection of stables. There is much work to do to raise the awareness of the historic contribution of alley lives in DC from the past as well as the present. This is a living ecology that is recognized by very few. Please share your thoughts with the community on the blog.
The owners of the EFN Lounge and Motley Bar have responded promptly to community questions about trash management in the alley behind the stable.
Due to the increase in traffic to the 1318 business there has been an extreme amount of waste generated. After carefully assessing this issue and how to keep our staff and neighbors safe and in a clean environment, we have increased our waste removal to 3 days a week including Saturday. In an attempt to maintain cleanliness, I have instructed all staff to store waste inside the building until it can be disposed of properly. I read the blog and saw the images; I agree that it is unacceptable.
I do my best to respond positively to any concerns regarding 1318. I am open to discussion as to how waste can be disposed of in a way that eliminates a dumpster as the venue does not have an area that is away from customers on premise. Storing waste in the building near customers would be in violation of health codes. My solution was to keep the waste in the building after the business day and I would personally load it into the dumpster for removal the following morning. This way waste is not every visible to customers or neighbors.
I do apologize for this hurdle in making our community more visible for positive growth.
It's really not necessary to trash the neighborhood (around the corner from Azi's Cafe on 9th Street). For a more encouraging view of Shaw Living check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw1Xe5dKqOU (credit goes to RenewShaw for this link).
(the editor has no promotional or any other connections with this video source)
(photo behind the "EFN bar" stable in Naylor Court)
Isn't it sad that there is a persisting mentality in much of Washington D.C. that the sole purpose of alleys is for trash, vehicular access, drugs, robberies and prostitution.? Alley trash is just like graffiti. It sends a message about the neighborhood - not a good one. Some alleys in the city may be beyond salvage but the National Register Historic alleys of Blagden and Naylor Court are in their early days of restoration and desperately need protection. NPO, HPRB, DCRA, BZA, ANC's and the community - step up it up a notch! We're talk'n trash here.
Community anger is rising about how badly these alleys are being treated. Don't you think that it is beyond time to leave the past of horse manure and corruption and move into a more civilized era of people and places? Let's stop trashing this place.
The original building that once lived beside the Queen of Sheba has long faded from local memories leaving the party wall we now see. The author has labeled this photo to clarify the elements of the composite building that today, fully occupies the property. Even the originally separate two-story stable has had a layer built on top of the original building. In the near future, this view of the building will disappear as a new Burmese restaurant and apartment complex will be born beside it to hide the glimpse of insight into how these buildings evolve over a century. This photo also serves to underscore why developers are tearing down stables at the rear of buildings so that they can quietly access and destroy the bones of the rest of the historic building while leaving the front facade (sometimes historically insignificant) undisturbed.
Interpreting the past lives of old buildings is like doing an architectural/archeologicalautopsy. Each building carries its own scars, personalities and underlying pathologic processes. Many have had superficial face lifts. Many look great on the outside but are in terrible shape inside. Some have had easy lives and others hard lives. The Queen of Sheba (1503 9th Street NW) is a great example. The original stable – the bones of which can still be made out – was built in 1890 for $400 and measured 20’ x 23’. [Two stories – Owner: A. Long, Builder: JC Yost]*
The associated home in front of it facing 9th Street, was built in 1901 for $5,000 and measured 23’ x 32’. [Three stories – Owner: A. Long, Architect: Edward Woltz and Builder: J.C. Yost]* Since the lot measures 95 feet in length and today has a fully occupied property footprint, the deduction is thatforty feet (95 feet – 55 feet = 40 feet) of the property footprint consisted of “infill construction” to join all of the elements together.
You can see the same process in the wall of the building to the North of the 9th Street BP Station. It’s easy to see how this evolution would escape notice unless the building is revealed in its entirely as occurs when neighboring structures disappear.
The complexity of past architectural history can make the HPRB decision making process daunting at times. It can be difficult to sort out what is original, what has been added, what can be demolished and what needs to be saved!
* Data retrieved from the Kraft database of buildings in WashingtonDC
While horse drinking troughs were on almost every block years ago, few people would recognize them today. Sometimes owners add "equine artifacts" to their stable so that passersby can recognize the origin of the building. An example is on the wall of this stable in Georgetown near the Key Bridge. (The horse trough photo is from Shorpy's web site)
Although horses have long left the city of Washington, lingering reminders exist all around us. These little artifacts are seen by many but are probably recognized by few. For example, when you walk down 10th Street between P and O NW you will find a rein ring embedded in the east side curb about half way down the block. Perhaps this would have tethered a milk wagon horse or a street cleaning horse and wagon. If you continue down walking down 10th Street you will encounter an old mounting block embedded in the sidewalk on the west side between M Street and L Street. This reminder of our equine past was saved from destruction by local resident Jim Loucks who manages an architectural firm, has a design education and is an historic architectural preservationist. The development of a “people’s” (10th Street) park on the east side of this block beside Café Cozy Corner is another example of Jim’s proactive thinking and community activism. Sometimes when walking in alleys you will even see horse-head-height rein rings secured between bricks in the walls of old stables. Too bad all of the old iron drinking troughs in the city have been destroyed, for they would have made great city boulevard planters or even homeland security barriers! Who could have predicted “back then” what life would be like in D.C. today. One suspects that the iron horse drinking troughs were scrapped decades ago to help support the efforts of another American war.
The Claremont Riding Academy on West 89th St. between Columbus and Amsterdam Aves. is closing this Sunday after the weekend's riding is done. Opened in 1892, Claremont is the oldest continuously operated horse stable in the U.S. It was initially used as a livery stable, but was turned into a riding academy in the 1920s. Riding lessons are given in a small ring on the main floor, while stables occupy the basement and upper floors, which horses reach via ramps. Owner Paul Novograd said he was closing the business because pedestrian traffic was becoming too congested along Central Park's bridle trails, making it difficult to ride. Homes will be found for the roughly 45 horses that currently stable on 89th St.
The building that houses the ClaremontRidingAcademy is located at 175 West 89th St. on the north side of the street. It was designed 115 years ago by Frank A. Rooke, who also built The Gershwin Hotel on East 27th St. According to the AIA Guide to New York City, the structure narrowly escaped destruction in the 1960s when urban renewal advocates called for its removal from the neighborhood and replacement as part of a consolidated stable facility inside Central Park, but preservationists prevailed. 175 West 89th is now a New York City Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places, so any alterations will have to be approved by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission. We imagine that after washing away 115 years of horse smell, the four-story building could be worth a lot of money as a residential conversion project.
Last year we wrote about how luxury condo developers got the jump on the Landmarks Preservation Commission by removing the facade of the Dakota Stable on 77th st. and Amsterdam Ave. before the building could be landmarked, thus removing any reason for it to be landmarked. The stables at West 89th should avoid this fate because the building is already landmarked. Urban equestrians may now have to decamp to Brooklyn's Kensington Stables located in Prospect Park, which has well-used bridle trails. And although information is fairly difficult to come by, there is a horseback riding facility on Ward's Island.
After more than 100 years of service, the nation’s oldest operating stables closed its doors.
The familiar sight of horse and rider cruising through Manhattan’s Upper West Side in New York is only a memory now. The Claremont Riding Academy officially closed its doors Sunday after more than 100 years of service to equestrians throughout the city. The four-story stone stable located between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues originally opened as a livery stable in 1892 but became a riding school in the 1920s, offering lessons and hiring out horses for use on bridle paths within Central Park. Owner Paul Novograd says dwindling business contributed to closure of Claremont, which was one of the oldest continuously operating stables in the United States. The building was declared a city landmark in 1990, so its exterior can't be changed without approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. However the building’s interior, which looks like it hasn’t been changed in decades, does not hold the same protection. New homes are being sought for the 45 horses from the stable.
Jackie Kennedy grew up surrounded by horses, nurtured her passion and became a highly respected life long equestrian. When she was living in Washington Jackie would often flee the city to the quiet of Kennedy’s 300 acre retreat at “Glen-Ota” in Middleburg. Apparently JFK was allergic to animal fur and did not share her passion for horses. Caroline’s pony – Macaroni – would often wander the White House grounds eating the grass and occasionally the White House roses! There were no stables at the White House for they had been destroyed by President Taft to make way for his modern motorcar! Stombock’s Fine Riding Apparel on M Street in Georgetown supplied Jackie’s equestrian needs. For more formal attire she turned to Oleg Cassini and other haute couture designers. Her connection with Cassini had an strong equine link, for he had been an instructor of horsemanship in the US Army Calvary in Fort Riley Kansas, he had played polo for the army team and had hunted on more than 20 hunts. According to Vicky Moon’s book “they shared the passion although never rode together.” Her saddles were from the Steuben Saddle Company which was founded in 1894 and manufactured in Stans Switzerland. After her death the estate sale estimate for her saddle was $300 - $500 however, it surprised many by selling for $90,500.
Few assigned protective agents could keep up with Jackie when she was riding so a good looking 27-year-old US Parks Department Private by the name of Denis Ayres was assigned to cover her. Ayres eventually became a Sergeant Major of the US Park Police with over 90 horses under his control – most likely housed in the building that is now the DC Archives at 1300 Naylor Court. With guests, Jackie would ride at RockCreekPark.
Nobody who has ever seen footage of JFK’s funeral could ever forget the pathos evoked by the riderless horse with reversed boots. The horse – Black Jack - was a sixteen year old hybrid between a quarter horse and a Morgan. He served at the funerals of Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, Lyndon Johnson and General Douglas MacArthur. “Several years after the funeral, Jackie received a letter from the secretary of the Army, asking her if she might want to include him in her stable. She wrote back and politely declined saying it would be better to have him continue in military service.”(ref) After 24 years of distinguished service he was euthanized at the age of 29 on Feb 6th 1976, he was given a full military funeral followed with burial on the FortMeyer parade ground, Summerall Field. His stall became a shrine.
Jackie moved to New York (1040 5th Avenue) following JFK’s death after trying to live in Washington. While in NYC she continued to ride several times a week through the ClaremontRidingAcademy on the upper West Side at 175 West 89th Street. This was a 5 story Romanesque revival building built in 1892 by Edward Bedell listed in the NY Landmark Commission as a National Historic Site. Originally a livery stable, designed by Frank A. Rooke who specialized in stables and factories it is allegedly the oldest continuously operated stable in the country. There were more than 100 horses living in the stable and it housed a commercial sized elevator for the horses along with a 65’ x 75’ arena. The horses (and their perspective riders) were specially trained to be accustomed to the NY traffic.
Jackie usually rode alone in the morning. The Claremont Stables would bring a horse to the Engineer’s Gate north of the GuggenheimMuseum at 19th and 5th Avenue for a ride along the 5 mile long bridle path around the reservoir, built by landscape designer Frederick Law Olmstead in 1858. Today the reservoir bears Jackie’s name.
“The Private Passion of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Portrait of a Rider” by Vicky Moon, Harper Collins Publisher 1st Edition 2005
This creative adaptive reuse of an old corner gas station in Takoma Park is an excellent example of using a community theme from the past (art Deco and transportation) that at the same time allows new uses which somehow seem to "fit", as though it was always this way.
Adams Morgan-Columbia Area
If done well, homogeneous or thematic storefronts can be very effective in creating a sense of "belonging" and cohesiveness in communities without losing individuality.
In 1980 Mary Means initiated and directed the Main Street program for the National Trust for Historic Preservation[1].This program focused on the importance of the historic interconnection between buildings, rather than on individual historic properties. Buildings lived and worked in concert with each other and it began to make sense that preservation of connected collections of buildings was important for sustained revitalization. The program established a “four-point approach[2]”for successful implementation.
Organization
This is the most difficult element of the process and generally needs to be under a single “umbrella organization.”
Promotion
The streetscape project needs to promote itself by providing reasons for people to visit an exciting and revitalized area.
Design
This is a highly visible element of the process, signaling to the community that something very different is happening.
Economic Restructuring
Local banks, particularly when working collectively can provide financial support for it is now well recognized that revitalized properties are good for business.
In addition to the “four-point approach” for preservation of streetscapes through Main Street programs, the NTHP outlined a further eight principles that it felt were also important for successful implementation.
1. Comprehensiveness: - the project needs to involve more than isolated buildings that do not have any connection with each other. It needs to be an ongoing process.
2. Incrementation: - small early projects are important to encourage others and also to increase the ability of the organizations involved to tackle larger projects
3. Self-help: - local leadership is important to sustain the initiatives, even though much help can be obtained through the National Main Street Center in Washington D.C.
4. Public-private partnership: - this is pivotal
5. Identification and capitalization on existing assets: -clarification of the uniqueness of the locale to help guide revitalization
6. Quality: - high quality must be a major focus in design, promotion and execution.
7. Change: - influencing the prevailing community attitudes is important, as the Main Street program shifts public preconceptions
8. Action orientation: - recognition of the value of visible change to remind the community of the vitality of the program
Tyler [2] in Historic Preservation importantly identified several reasons why Main Street programs sometimes fail in communities.
· “The project manager was not working full time and could not follow through on initiatives.”
· “Some downtown groups were unhappy with the new show in town and sabotaged efforts of the Main Street project office.”
· “The Board of Directors tried to accommodate too many groups and became too large and unwieldy.”[3]
Historic preservation is “good for business” and good for the vigor of communities. Awareness of the steps in the process, principles and reasons for failure as outlined above is valuable and vital for the success of initiatives. The work that is happening today along 9th Street NW and 7thStreet NW in Washington D.C.[4]is destined to succeed, given adherence to the advice offered by the NTHP National Main Street Center - an organization that since its inception has garnered over $11 billion in private and public investment, rehabilitated over60,000 buildings and created over 174,000 new jobs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] National Main Street Center of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20036 (http://www.mainst.org)
[2] In Historic Preservation - an introduction to its history principles and practice by Norman Tyler, W.W. Norton & Company, 2000
A light blue Victorian home lives at 403 P Street NW with a small stable-like building behind it. There is currently a dumpster in front of the building on P Street and there are neighborhood rumors that the rear building is going to be torn down to make space for parking or expansion of the primary building. The home (built in 1890) was designed by George S. Cooper, an architect who designed about 850 buildings in Washington. The building in the rear was built in 1891, measures 15 feet by 27 feet and has many of the typical features of a stable or a small warehouse. The original permit describes it as being a “fuel house and storeroom.” No architect is listed for this building but the builder was Galloway and son.
Unlike Naylor Court NW, with a unique collection of small buildings that has been protected by law (every address) through the National Register of Landmark Historic Properties since 1990, this alley building has much less (if any) protection. The author is unaware of a unifying HPO policy that governs their decision making process about stables and other small alley buildings in the city. This little building (403 rear P Street NW) is not a part of a unique and cohesive collection, although there are several stables in the alley.
In the author’s opinion, at the very least, the building should be documented architecturally, (dimensions, inner structure etc), bricks salvaged where possible for use in historic preservation projects in the city (these bricks are in high demand), the original “hayloft doors” salvaged and eye kept out for archeological artifacts that might be uncovered during the process of its destruction, should that eventually happen.
Stables and other small rear alley buildings are prime targets for destruction, because their disappearance makes it so much easier for developers to gain access to work on the rear of the primary building. These are charming little properties that can almost always be restored, rehabilitated and adaptively reused given the expertise and the will to do so. Stables and utilitarian alley buildings are very simple structures. These buildings are a unique and characteristic historic architectural feature of WashingtonD.C. today, for no other major cities in America have such a sizable number of standing stables. Some go back to Lincoln’s era and are irreplaceable.
In many ways the lives of buildings, companies and communities function as ecology. One use gives way to another, as times and needs change. Everything is interconnected –so clearly witnessed today as we watch the downfall of practically everything. Vacant land in the late 1700’s gave way to stables and alleys which gave way to auto repair shops which gave way to either abandonment or adaptive reuse. Blagden Alley and Naylor Court like most alleys in Washington, housed people, horses and small community-based businesses. Needs were met, even if they were humble. For example, there was a bicycle repair shop in Blagden Alley in 1900 and artisan shops. Of course there were also illegal gin joints, and brothels filling somewhat less wholesome demands. It was a thriving macroeconomic culture that was easily understood and made sense. As alleys were destroyed by government intervention, focus turned to the street side of life allowing the inner core of blocks to quietly rot.
Little corner street side gas stations - once community fuel lines – eventually gave way to big oil corporations and were also gradually abandoned or destroyed. Yet all is not yet lost, for today Frank Asher has created a corner garden shop at the South West corner of 9th and N northwest called “Old City Green” on the site of a former gas station that had crumbled beyond recognition.
OLD CITY GREEN Mission: To invite nature back into the city by supporting local landscapers with market value product and by providing the Shaw community and D.C. at large with plants, garden supplies, training and opportunities to increase awareness of and appreciation for “our urban garden”.
This “new green growth” is helping to draw together a community in a loving and healing way, much like the early small tendrils of growth in nature after a forest fire. This is a welcome and healthy metaphor of new hope in a community that struggles daily to look for signs of anything positive. Maybe it’s time for all of us to take our eyes off the “big picture” of world economic crisis, “talking heads”, blogs and “politicomedia” and focus once again on helping each other in ways that are close to home and understandable.
In Frank’s own words…
OldCity Green….Why now?
“I started out as a small gardener/landscaper, picking up dog poop and pulling weeds out of the tree boxes in Dupont Circle.” frank Asher explains, “I had to buy product from local garden centers nearby and/or nurseries out in the burbs…That was time consuming and hurting my business. There were discounts up to 20% given to industry gardeners, but it wasn’t any more than discounts given to regular “membership” customers. In essence, I was unable to really make a profit in cost of goods and supplies…Any small retail business will tell you where there profit is… I have always thought: How can I help other gardeners/landscapers like myself stay afloat? Especially now when people are cutting back. We’re still working out the business and legal issues, and hope to have to co-op up and running in full swing by mid April 09. The Landscapers Co-op will not only support the professional gardeners and landscapers it will also help community gardens and garden associations. It will help create a new urban capacity to grow food, mitigate environmental threats and cultivate a unique sense of beauty and common unity.” Noted cosmologist Thomas Berry says all communities need a compelling story. Well, said Frank: Old City Green is about honoring the connections we have with each other…How the individual can be supported by his/her immediate community of friends and a the same time, give back to the local neighborhood and the community at large.
What is strange about this is that most business people have never heard of the “triple bottom line” …I am happy that OldCity Green can introduce this model and be a part of something bigger than just making a buck.
It was 9 years ago when I started cleaning out tree boxes in my neighborhood. They had been abandoned and were full of dog doodoo and weeds... A merchant in Dupont Circle offered to pay me to maintain the boxes and in just a short time Fairies' Crossing was born. I then took a Master Gardening class and my business in planting and designing gardens just took off from there...I must admit, I am one lucky man to get to play in the dirt. I want to help bring people and plants together... OldCity Green helps me make that wish come true.
The Architecture of Transportation in the Capitol Region
The eighth biennial symposium on the historic development of
Metropolitan WashingtonD.C., March 7th and 8th 2009, Society of Architectural Historians
The Adaptive Lives of WashingtonDC Stables over 150 Years
Stables are architecturally simple yet elegant structures, melding form and function. Because of this simplicity and their “hidden” location in alleys, many DC stables have been blessed with multiple lives over the past 150 years. Originally built to house horses, carriages and hay, their classic features – bollards, square two story configuration, hayloft door and beam, horse head height windows, cupolas and massive doors and hinges – make them readily recognizable today. Some were private and small while others were commercial and large. The occasional stable was born into elegance as part of an estate (such as the Heurich mansion). With the civil war, came a massive demand for D.C. stables that continued throughout the city’s period of reconstruction. However, by 1900 few new stables were being built as the automobile eclipsed the horse and carriage, street car lines developed and demand declined.
Nonetheless, their simple architecture allowed easy conversion of many stables to alley auto repair shops. The transition from stables for horses to auto repair shops was not difficult, for the mechanics of coaches had similarities to the early automobile. The leaf springs for example on a model T Ford as well as the wooden spoke wheels were easy for a blacksmith to repair. For a while, some large stables catered to both automobiles and horses. Eventually however, people either adapted or went out of business. In the peak of the automobile era, 14th Street was an auto showroom corridor. The alley stable auto repair shops served the needs of a poorer community who could barely maintain their cars. Cars were abandoned, stolen and set on fire.The drug and prostitution trade flourished in choked alleys and crime surged. The neighborhoods felt into decline for many years and people were fearful of investing in homes. Today, that is slowly changing.
These were hard lived years for stables. Some were abused but most were neglected. Many were destroyed as alleys began to be abolished by government fiat through a series of alley abolition acts started in the Depression by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1934 with the creation of the Alley Dwelling Authority “to provide the discontinuance of the use as dwellings of the buildings situated in alleys in the District of Columbia.” No alley houses were to be inhabited after July 1st 1944. Ironically a long period of building stagnation in D.C. (after the1968 riots) protected many of the remaining stables. Today, few alley auto repair garages exist but stables are slowly being rediscovered and restored to live adaptive new lives as musician and artist studios, offices or homes.
Unlike the labyrinths of London mews, intact collections of stables are virtually nonexistent in D.C. today.Almost none were built outside of the city as it was defined by turn of the century maps, for a moratorium of building stables was passed. To search for stables within Washington, one only needs to read a city map from 1900 which defined the borders of the city. After 1900, very few stables were built, partly because of the decline in demand and partly because of the inherent fire hazard of stables. They are almost all within the confines of an alley for they served the elegant homes on the street side and it was a way to reduce the noise and smell that accompanied an active stable.
Today, stables have a hard earned right to be protected (two D.C. alleys and their stables were recognized as National Historic Landmarks in 1990) and nurtured so that they can continue to thrive. They uniquely remind us of their struggles and the roles that they have played in the special history of Washington, its alleys, transportation, commerce and the arts. They have a special charm that is timeless.
The stables in WashingtonD.C. can be classified into several categories: - small and utilitarian private stables, moderate sized stables, large commercial stables (such as the US Parks stables) and elegant “mansion stables” such as the (White House stables). As one walks through the city with a trained eye it become easy to spot stables in the alleys even though many have either been joined to their primary building or been modified almost beyond recognition.
They are all two stories in height for the hayloft occupied the second floor. There is a second story central hayloft door with a beam and pulley. Remnants can still be seen in some stables. The lower level always had a large carriage door for the horses and vehicles with the edges protected by characteristic bollards and an adjacent smaller door for people. The huge stable doors were hinged to the wall, secured with massive plates that extended several brick spans into the wall and the row of bricks above the plate were laid “end on.” Many stables have “horse head height windows” that allowed sun and fresh air inside the stable. Older stables had been poorly ventilated and the toxicity of the ammonia levels and other equine respiratory threats resulted in a high sickness rate amongst the working horses. Occasionally one will glimpse a rein ring on the wall of the stable or the remnants of a cupola to vent the hayloft and control temperature.
It is not widely appreciated that some of the stables in Washington, especially the larger stables were built by well known architects, such as Nicholas T Haller, who also built the Warder Building and the Luzon Apartment building. The quality of his work and that of other architects is evident today, for a number of these stables are intact today.
Clearly, the lives of the stables in WashingtonD.C. paralleled the evolving story of transportation.In 1828 when the C and O canal was completed, goods were transported from the Town of George to WashingtonD.C. by horse. There is still evidence of a mule stable in Georgetown by the canal today. By 1835 canal traffic slowed with the completion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway into Washington. By 1862 the first horse car service began, connecting the Capitol to the State Department and an experimental electric trolley began in 1888. By 1890, a cable car operation commenced. All of these advances significantly affected Washington residents’ abilities to move goods and themselves around the city and the need for horses diminished rapidly. While the horse car operation ended in 1898 car barns at either end of the streetcar run still exist and have been adaptively reused as residences. In 1897 the first automobiles drove along Washington streets signally the finality of the horse driven era of transportation.
The 14th Street corridor car showroom era too has passed, for today there is only one remaining dealership within the city. Despite the rapidly fading past and new demands of the future, many stables have managed to survive and adapt to other lives.
The value of the contribution of the stables to the ebb and flow of city commerce and transportation is often lost in the quest to develop new businesses and residences.Even in circumstances where it is impossible to save a stable there is still the opportunity to at the very least archive its dimensions and structural features and even explore the site archeologically. This was done with the White House stables as reported in a 2004 Washington Post article “Below Ground, Washington’s Lost History.” The White House stables had been razed to the ground by Taft in 1912 to make room for his new motorcar.
There are many impediments to salvaging stables in addition to the government alley abolition acts. For example, it is still not legal to have a residence that faces a 15 foot wide alley. Stables cannot be easily separated from the rest of the property on which they reside so cannot be bought as individual entities. The wear and tear of many years of abuse and neglect have taken such a toll on many structures, that there is little incentive to properly repair and restore the building.
The art of brick and pointing repair was lost for many years and eclipsed by the ease of use of Portland cement which ultimately destroyed the very structure it was trying to save. Bricks became stress points through this rigid mortar and lost the limestone “give and take” that has allowed European buildings to stand for centuries. A welcome resurgence of interest in the value of limestone mortar is occurring today.
In one alley the Save Our Stables (S.O.S.) initiative was created this fall to spawn an awareness of the historic nature of the Washington alleys and the lives of the buildings within them. Despite protection through the National Register of Historic Landmarks, Blagden Alley and Naylor Court alley structures continue to be torn down and replaced with modern buildings. “The greenest building is one that already exists.”
References
Alley Life in Washington – Family, Community, Religion and Folklife in the City, 1850 – 1970 by James Borchert, University of Illinois Press, 1980
The SecretCity – A History of Race Relations in the Nation’s Capital by Constance McLaughlin Green, Princeton University Press, 1967
The Mews of London – A guide to the hidden byways of London’s past, by Barbara Rosen and Wolfgang Zuckerman, 1982
The Timeless Way of Building, by Christopher Alexander, OxfordUniversity Press, 1979
Memories of the Buggy Days, by Henry W. Meyer, Brinker Printing Company, 1965
American Stables – an architectural tour by Julius Trousdale Sadler Jr. and Jacquelin D.J. Sadler, New York Graphic Society Boston, 1981
Saving America’s Treasures, National Geographic, National Trust for Historic Preservation 2001
Preservation and Conservation – principles and practices, Proceedings of the North American International Regional Conference, Williamsburg, Virginia and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Sept 10 – 16, 1972, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1976
Neglected Neighbors by Weller,The John C Winston Company, 1909
Coach Houses of Toronto – by Margo Salnek, Boston Mills Press, 2005
Loft Living – recycling warehouse space for residential use by Kingsley C. Fairbridge and Harvey-Jane Kowal, Saturday Review Press/E.P. Dutton and Co. Inc, 1976
Yesterday the Historic Preservation Office of the DC Government released their updated inventory of Washington Historic properties and sites. The alley community needs to keep this designation in the forefront of their minds whenever any thought of development within the Naylor Court Alley is raised for discussion. It’s very simple - these properties are protected by law.
The destruction of the 1863 stable and its 1868 home that was allowed to occur over the past July 4th 2008 weekend must not happen again. The community cannot be apathetic; neither can it relax its sense of vigilance. The information about alley protection is in the public domain and needs to become learned as community knowledge. The historic alleys no longer pose the urban threat to the city that they once did. The old mindset of government, architects and urban planners is hard to influence, but 50 years from now, others will be grateful that some in the past could see far enough ahead into the future to fight for a dream that they themselves will not live to see realized.
This month there is a wonderful article in the Washingtonian magazine discussing the history of historic architectural preservation in WashingtonD.C. by Larry Van Dyne. I highly recommend it to anyone with any interest at all in the architectural history of this city. It is insightful, well written, well balanced and filled with a myriad of facts and small vignettes of the struggle between progress and preservation.
“Robert Peck – who has held top positions at the Preservation League, the Greater Washington Board of Trade and General Services Administration – sums up the past 30 years this way: Preservationists once had to sit in the path of the bulldozer to save buildings. Then we got one of the strongest laws in the country and had to adapt to having lots of leverage.”
Blagden Alley and Naylor Court were recognized in the article for their unique role in the history of the city: - “Blagden Alley and Naylor Court preserves examples of the alley dwellings that once housed many of Washington’s working poor.”
While landmark historic designation is designed to confer protection, this does not always happen. It’s up to the community to consolidate and focus their efforts to protect buildings such as the Rhodes Tavern built in 1800 that was summarily razed as was the home of Francis Scott Key at the entrance of the bridge that now bears his name. While these were examples of failures to protect history, there are many stories about how communities rallied to save buildings that would otherwise have perished.
“Each year the Preservation League (since 1996) garners press coverage by issuing a list of ten historic places it considers the city’s “most endangered” … The local list usually includes some landmarks that are legally protected but are deteriorating or face a threat from development as well as places that have yet to gain recognition.” A nomination has been submitted for Blagden Alley and Naylor Court this year in light of recent aggressive development and destruction of landmark protected historic properties in these alleys. This article clearly demonstrates that a coalition of caring individualists can ultimately make profound differences in the world Washington D.C. historic preservation.
These are two of the most frequent descriptors that weave through conversations when historical preservation architects discuss proposals for modern buildings in the midst of a group of historic properties. How large is the proposed structure? What is its configuration? Does it comfortably blend into the architectural environment? Does its presence somehow diminish the neighborhood? Mindful of these questions, the HPO and HPRB continually struggle to balance their approach to a first proposal that allows one to distinguish what is original from what is new, yet simultaneously encourage a tasteful continuity with the past. The final building should not appear contrived but rather, an interpretation of the spirit of the neighborhood. Builders and developers on the other hand strive to maximize the use of their allotted “footprint” of land. With the restrictions of 60/40 ratios of land use restrictive covenants, this often means “going vertical.” Getting the proportions right at the beginning is the key, for once a structure has been approved it very unlikely to be disapproved after the fact simply because the plans and products look somewhat different and (even objectionable) when the project is finally constructed in full scale. Not all of the city is designated as “historic” even though properties in non historic areas date back to the 19th Century and are identical in configuration to their protected peers elsewhere. This problem is under vigorous discussion.
The first block of P Street NE is an excellent example of one new building that “got it right” and a new addition “got it wrong.” It all comes down to values. Sometimes it takes the collective consciousness of a neighborhood to guide the decision making of all stakeholders. There are standards and guidelines and then there is common sense.
New construction on a double lot that blends elegantly with its environment.
New “pop up” construction that is visually jarring and entirely out of sync in massing and context.
Iam not well-suited to repetitive, detail-heavy work. For example, putting the Christmas lights back in their little plastic holder -- snapping the bulbs in, looping the wire back and forth, getting it all neat enough to slide back into the cardboard box -- is the sort of task that drives me mad. After a few minutes, I want to scream and throw things.
But the world needs the detail-oriented and the persnickety. The world needs Brian Kraft.
Slim, shaven-headed, soberly dressed, Brian looks like he would have been at home in a medieval monastery copying snippets of scripture, and in a sense that's what he did. Brian catalogued every building permit issued in the District of Columbia over a 72-year period. Working to the warm hum of a microfilm machine and the click of his laptop, Brian transferred details of the more than 60,000 D.C. building permits issued between 1877 and 1949 to a database he created.
It took him seven years.
"It was a long, hard slog," Brian said. "It's not a job I would wish on other people."
The building permit is the starting point of any structure's history. Like a birth certificate, it includes all sorts of information historians might want decades later: who built the building, who designed it, what it was for, how much it cost, what its roof was made of.
Brian, 46, had been a computer science major at Penn State. He was also interested in history. After graduating, he moved to Washington, where he became obsessed with the city's neighborhoods: Who built them? When? He consulted the microfilm stored in the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library's third-floor Washingtoniana Room.
"I was scrolling through the microfilm, and I'm thinking 'This is data,' in a way people in history or preservation wouldn't."
The pool of data had been dipped into here and there before. Brian proposed to drain it.
Coincidentally, David Maloney, the state historic preservation officer, had been thinking along the same lines. Brian was hired as a contractor. Said David: "It is truly amazing that we found somebody who was willing and capable of doing that, of just grinding it out."
And grinding it out is what Brian did. "People said, 'Oh, you just plugged that thing in and downloaded the data?' No, it doesn't quite work like that."
How does it work? "Just eyes and fingers."
Besides the sheer drudgery of copying information from every building permit, Brian had to compare plat maps to make it all make sense to modern eyes. For example, on July 30, 1897, Permit 131 was issued for a row of three brick houses on Yale Street NW, Lot 23, Block 26 of the Columbia Heights Subdivision. Today, Yale Street is known as Fairmont Street, and the houses are on Lots 0832, 0831, 0830, Square 2862. The house numbers have changed, too.
"I wanted it so that the data has current information converted to it," Brian said.
The result of his toil is a searchable database of permits representing 132,000 buildings. You want to find all the wood frame homes permitted on a Tuesday in Cleveland Park? All the churches built in the 1920s? All of developer Harry Wardman's houses? Now you can.
As we sat in the Washingtoniana Room, I asked Brian whether he could look up an address for me: 1440 Otis St. NE. With a few taps of the keyboard, he brought up the information. Permit issued Oct. 9, 1924. Concrete foundation. Shingles on a pitched roof. Valued at $6,000. No mention of an architect, but the builder was listed as A. Jeffery.
"He did quite a lot in Brookland and Woodridge," Brian said. Including the house my father grew up in.
Over the years, Brian became so intimate with the permits that he came to recognize the handwriting of long-dead bureaucrats. He came across odd little buildings, too, such as an airplane hangar built in Wesley Heights in 1910 and a multi-story wooden tower planned for the edge of Rock Creek Park.
The only thing he regrets is that he didn't get up from his chair more frequently and focus off in the distance. "My eyes were fried," he said. "I think it definitely hastened the demise of my close vision."
Brian finished entering the 1877-1949 permits in 2006. He's now in the process of cleaning up the data, and he's started collecting permit information from 1949 to 1958. He expects to be done in about a year and a half. After that: buildings from before 1877.
I am nominating Naylor Court NW and Blagden Alley NW as an historic site that has become endangered because of demolition by neglect, threats of ill-advised alteration and demolition by intent. Despite being listed on the National Register of Landmark Historic Places – which confers protection status to every address in these two alleys – historic buildings continue to be destroyed. They are being replaced by modern structures, many of which appear to be far outside of the boundaries of reasonable architectural context.
These two alleys have a rich history that reflects the development of the inner core of the city of Washington D.C. as it grew. The earliest platt of the alley dates from the late 1700’s.
I have enclosed a letter of support from the President of the Blagden Alley/Naylor Court Association – Richard Neidich - which followed a unanimous vote of support at the most recent meeting. There is widespread support within the neighborhood to preserve, protect and restore the buildings within these two alleys. The Historic Preservation Office has been working with me to raise the level of awareness of the historic value of these buildings. Naylor Court has the largest intact collection of stables in the city (15) and is an unpolished gem in the architectural history of the city.
In the mid 1950’s a group of residents in Foggy Bottom and Georgetown organized an effort to thwart the threatened destruction of the stables and other historic buildings along the C & O canal. This area has become a thriving and emotionally exciting commercial environment and a destination site. Blues Alley is one example of the many success stories in this collection of buildings.Naylor Court and to a lesser degree, Bladgen Alley, have as great a potential for similar future enhancement if protected now.
Nomination by the DC Preservation League on the list of Most Endangered Places will heighten the profile of this historic site and help to increase the awareness of those empowered within the government so that wise decisions in the future can be made to protect this enclave.
There is interest by a local film producer (Todd Clark of Onandon Productions) to develop a film documenting these two alleys.
At the last meeting of the Blagden Alley and Naylor Court Association a motion was entertained to review a collection of 30 years of archived material about the alley.
There are opportunities to apply for grants to survey and inventory the building within these two alleys as well as to create a history document of their past.
The community has spoken with Councilman Jack Evans about the destruction in Naylor Court and he has voiced strong support to protect the alley structures. He also said that this would never have been tolerated in Georgetown. In fact, one small stable in Georgetown was partially torn down and the neighborhood clamor resulted in the building being rebuilt restored completely. The ANC Commissioner (Mike Bernardo) has been very supportive of preserving the historic nature of the alleys as have representatives of the Mayor’s office (Mark Bjorge and Joe Martin).
In July I created a blogspot to document the history of these alleys and their current plight. It can be visited at http://preservingdcstables.blogspot.com .
The original documentation in support of the nomination for recognition as a Historic Landmark property was written in 1990 and has been included with other material of relevance.
Finally, I have included a CD with written material as well as many photographs showing the changes that have been occurring in these two alleys. There is also a video from Channel 7 News that covered the issue of the destruction of one of the stables in Naylor Court last summer.
I hope that you will rule in favor of including Blagden Alley and Naylor Court on the list of the DC Preservation League’s Most Endangered Places 2009. It would be incredibly sad to lose the opportunity to protect these two alleys from further destruction. Historic replication is no match for historic preservation.
John Ruskin wrote the following in "The Seven Lamps of Architecture" (George Allen and Unwin Ltd 1925, Chapter VI, aphorism 31, pp 353-354). His words are as relevant today as it was 80 years ago. Perhaps even more so.
"Neither by the public, nor by those who have the care of public monuments, is the true meaning of the word restoration [meaning the reconstruction, whether total or partial, suggested by revivalism] understood. It means the most total destruction which a building can suffer: a destruction out of which no remnants can be gathered: a destruction accompanied with a false description of the thing destroyed. Do not let us deceive ourselves in this important matter; it is impossible, as it is impossible to raise the dead, to restore [meaning reconstruct] anything that has ever been great or beautiful in architecture. That which I have above insisted upon as the life of the whole, that spirit which is given only by the hand and eye of the workman, can never be recalled. Another spirit may be given by another time, and it is then a new building; but the spirit of the dead workman cannot be summoned up and commanded to direct other hands and other thoughts." (quoted in Preservation and Conservation Principles and Practices - Proceedings of the North American International Regional Conference - September 10th - 16th 1972.)
Michael Carr - who had lived at 1312 Naylor Court from 1986 to 2002 - passed away suddenly on Christmas day in Arizona. After Mike bought the “carriage house” he gradually reconfigured it into “residential and art studio space” (1), for it had been used as an auto repair shop with dead engines and transmissions throughout the lower level. His renovation was featured in the “Building Character” series on HGTV.
Mike’s home was built in 1870 and for many years served as a stable until 1921 when F.J. Simmonds petitioned for a Certificate of Occupancy as a carpenter’s shop on the upper level.The lower level continued to be used for horses and later automobile storage. (The F.J. Simmond’s advertising sign for his business can still be seen on the side of the stable, having been restored by Mike in 1994.) In 1947 the stable began another life when permission was granted to change the Certificate of Occupancy from a carpenter’s shop to an electrical repair shop to repair washing machine motors, armatures and appliances.
Michael Carr’s home as it was when he lived in the alley
Mike’s life followed a diverse path with art always being central. He outlines some of his life through his own internet biosketch (1): -
“I resided in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area from 1968 to 2002. Stationed at 8th and I, Marine Corps Headquarters as a Musician from 1968 to 1970. I received a Master of Fine Arts in Painting, with Honors, fro the GeorgeWashingtonUniversity in 1971. Instructor in Public Schools, as well as college level through 1983. College level courses taught were drawing, painting, design and art history.
From 1966 to the present, produced fine arts and showed in
galleries in various states and the Washington, DC area. I worked for the U.S. Navy as a civilian from 1980 to 2001. Head of the graphics department as an illustrator, then graphic and publication designer and strategic planner. In 1986, purchased a carriage house in Downtown Washington, DC and renovated it into residential and art studio space. In 2002, my renovation was featured in the “Building Character” series on Home and Garden TV.
Community involvement included helping incorporate a two block area into a historic district, now encompassing over a one mile area. I was elected in a District of Columbia general election as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, serving from 1988-1990.
Community oriented performance art projects included “Death of a Dream”. Naylor Court, 1992-1993, producing a 350' acrylic on pavement project as well as twelve 6
'x18' canvases. The “OldCityRepublic”, 1995 to the present, the annual “Potomac Tea Party, 1995 -2001, canvas and enamel pavement painting for the “Million Mom March” against violence in 2000. “Party Animals”, in 2002, with a grant from the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities. 200 artists raised over $5000.00 for community art humanities projects. Founded RomArt Gallery and working studio in Douglas, Wyoming in 2002.”
Mike left his D.C. alley neighborhood in 2002 to live in Arizona to help his aging parents and to pursue his artistic life and other passions. As he told the author shortly after leaving, he had become “tired of waiting for real estate values to go up and crime to go down.”His home in Naylor underwent a magnificent restoration as a private residence several years ago, and was featured on this year’s Logan Circle Christmas tour. The current owner works with film and image media continuing the spirit of Mike’s artistic karma of the past, throughout the home today.
Michael Carr’s carriage house today.
In the early 1990’s, inspired by the notion of chalk outlines as an icon for crime scenes Michael undertook a project of creating a series of “body outlines” in the Naylor Court alley. He eventually painted 452 individual acrylic body outlines within alleys to “commemorate the escalating number of violent deaths in Washington … and began painting outlines of bodies in the style he had seen used at the scenes of homicides depicted in movies and on television.”(2) It’s ironic that chalk outlines have moved into the art world as the “police abandoned its use after many defense attorneys contended the chalk outline tainted evidence from a crime scene.”(2) In addition to being an artist and a well-known “character” in the alley, Mike was an urban activist. At the height of this period in his life, he and five alley compatriots wrote a declaration of independence for Naylor Court. Mike Carr wrote the following (3) for an immediate press release on February 24th 1995: -
“The city of Washington DC, the nation’s capitol, the nation’s murder capitol, the nation’s laughingstock, is now on the verge of losing what little capacity for self-governance it once possessed. The incompetence of its governing officials and bureaucracies has brought the city to its knees, and has caused its residents to flee in droves.
Rather than flee, however, some of the residents of Naylor Court, an inner-city alley, have chosen to take a stand where they live. To this effect, they have declared their independence from the city of Washington, District of Columbia, and resolve themselves citizens of the newly formed OldCityRepublic, a square block historic alley system within a mile of the White House. The rat has been adopted as the Republic’s symbol, intended as good-natured humor.
It is the beginning of a revolution. It is not an armed revolution; rather, it is conceptual, a revolution of thought and humor, taking place both in cyberspace and our neighborhood. It is a revolution against crime, dirt, debt and inept officialdom.
A Declaration of Independence has been written, representatives will be sent to Congress, consenting households will be annexed and diplomatic relations will be established with other governments.
As Marion Barry himself has declared … at this point, the city’s problems are beyond the District’s capacity to solve them (The Washington Post, 1/7/95). Residents all over the city agree. They do not necessarily agree, however, that Congress us any more fit to take over the city than its present officials are. The fact remains that under either scenario, the residents of WashingtonD.C. still are taxed without representation, and receive pitiful, if any services in return for their tax dollars. OldCityRepublic represents a sane alternative to these distasteful options.”
In a 1995 City Paper article (4), Dave Nuttycombe reported that Carr – a Naval Air Systems Command management expert would like to apply his skills to District Government problems. Carr is quoted as saying that “The government of the nation’s capital should be a model for the world; the reality is quite different … I’m very concerned about the quality of life in the District” Apparently Carr presented his declaration document to Mayor Barry on the steps of the DistrictBuilding.
The last remnant of Michael Carr’s alley art.
Michael Carr’s tale is like many, whose sparks of creativity are stimulated by life within the netherworlds of WashingtonD.C.’s alleys and stables. Perhaps people like Mike are drawn to the alley culture because they are free spirits to begin with. At the very least it’s a symbiotic relationship between place and person. Mike’s spirit will remain alive in the memories of those who knew him and doubtless grow anew within others who never knew him but one day might find themselves as kindred souls in the future.Some of Mike’s delightful sketches can be seen on the BAANC blog site (5).
(The author gratefully acknowledges the input from Hal Davitt and Roger Thiel in writing this article)
The National Trust for Historic Preservation request for nominations of historic buildings or areas that are recognized as being at risk of destruction http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered stimulated the author (DC Preservationist) to launch an initiative to help preserve the few remaining Washington D.C. stables – S.O.S. (Save our Stables). On December 7th 2008, the Logan Circle Christmas Tour will feature several stables in Blagden Alley and Naylor Court to share insights into the past seldom seen worlds that lay behind the elegant Victorian homes on the Streets in front of them. (Dakota stables c. 1944 as a garage)
(From the Office for Metropolitan History reported in the New York Times)
Preservationists lost a battle to protect the Dakota, built in 1894 and shown here in 1944, after the owner secured a stripping permit. Soon word spread that a demolition crew was hacking away at the brick cornices of the stables, an 1894 Romanesque Revival building, on Amsterdam Avenue at 77th Street, that once housed horses and carriages but had long served as a parking garage.In just four days the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission was to hold a public hearing on pleas dating back 20 years to designate the low-rise building, with its round-arched windows and serpentine ornamentation, as a historic landmark. But once the building’s distinctive features had been erased, the battle was lost. The commission went ahead with its hearing, but ultimately decided not to designate the structure because it had been irreparably changed. Today a 16-story luxury condominium designed by Robert A. M. Stern is rising on the site: the Related Companies is asking from $765,000 for a studio to $7 million or more for a five-bedroom unit in the building.The strategy has become wearyingly familiar to preservationists. A property owner — in this case Sylgar Properties, which was under contract to sell the site to Related — is notified by the landmarks commission that its building or the neighborhood is being considered for landmark status. The owner then rushes to obtain a demolition or stripping permit from the city’s Department of Buildings so that notable qualities can be removed, rendering the structure unworthy of protection. In the case of Dakota Stables, some preservationists have accused the landmarks commission of deliberately dragging its heels. “The commission had no intention of designating Dakota Stables,” said Kate Wood, the executive director of Landmark West!, a preservation group. “They waited until it had been torn down. It was clearly too late for them to do anything meaningful.” Some commissioners say the landmarks commission and the buildings department should adopt a more reliable alert system to prevent pre-emptive demolitions. “When a property owner goes to the buildings department for a permit to strip, it should be a red flag,” said Roberta Brandes Gratz, who has served on the landmarks commission since 2002. Christopher Moore, a commission member, also said the situation demanded redress. “There is a standard of honor I wish the developers would follow,” he said. “The landmarks commission should have greater authority” over the granting of demolition permits, he added. “All of a sudden, the cornice is gone.”
Stables are architecturally simple yet elegant structures, melding form and function. Because of this simplicity and their “hidden” location in alleys, many DC stables have been blessed with multiple lives over the past 150 years. Originally built to house horses, carriages and hay, their classic features – bollards, square two story configuration, hayloft door and beam, horse head height windows, cupolas and massive doors and hinges – make them readily recognizable today. Some were private and small while others were commercial and large. The occasional stable was born into elegance as part of an estate (such as the Heurich mansion). With the civil war, came a massive demand for D.C. stables that continued throughout the period of reconstruction. However, by 1900 few new stables were being built as the automobile eclipsed the horse and carriage, street car lines developed and demand declined. Nonetheless, their simple architecture allowed easy conversion of many stables to alley auto repair shops. These were hard lived years for stables. Some were abused but most were neglected. Many were destroyed as alleys began to be abolished by government fiat through a series of alley abolition acts. Ironically a long period of building stagnation in D.C. (after the1968 riots) protected many of the remaining stables. Today, few alley auto repair garages exist but stables are slowly being rediscovered and restored to live adaptive new lives as musician and artist studios, offices or homes. Unlike the labyrinths of London mews, intact collections of stables are virtually nonexistent in D.C. today.Almost none were built outside of the city as it was defined by turn of the century maps. Today, stables have a hard earned right to be protected (two D.C. alleys and their stables were recognized as National Historic Landmarks in 1990) and nurtured so that they can continue to thrive. They uniquely remind us of their struggles and the roles that they have played in the special history of Washington, its alleys, transportation, commerce and the arts. They have a special charm that is timeless.
The DC alleys are unique in the nation with their collections of old stables and other bygone commercial buildings such as sausage smoke houses (in Treto Way). Very few are left in the city with the potential to be sensitively developed in an historic manner so that they recall and preserve segments of alley lives of the past. No doubt there will continue to be discussion about traffic management over the coming years with proposals ranging from full traffic access to restricted access to pedestrian access only. Below is an article from Greater Greater Washington that reviews a recent "discussion" about restricting traffic flow from a proposed large development on U Street and 14th Street.
"Our curb cut is limited to the present circumstances"
Article and Photo by David Alpert
How often does Councilmember Phil Mendelson (at-large) personally show up to the Board of Zoning Adjustment to testify in support of a variance? I suspect not often, but show up he did at yesterday's BZA hearing on the 14th and U "Utopia" project.
Mendelson read a letter in support of locating the proposed garage entrance on 14th Street instead of in the alley behind. The developer, the Dupont ANC, and local residents and businesses all want this as well. Councilmember Jack Evans also submitted a concurring letter, which his committee clerk, Jeff Coudriet (who also lives nearby), presented at the hearing. The BZA voted to approve the curb cut and all of the variances the developer needed.
I agree in this case. This is an unusual block with an unusual alley system, and the garage entrance poses many problems. But I'm very concerned that this not set precedent for other, less exceptional situations. Along U Street west of 13th, developers plan to replace the one-story, bland Rite Aid with a larger hotel and ground-floor retail. The rear of the building faces a standard alley, but a row of townhouses back onto the other side of the alley. Some of those residents are trying to pressure that developer to build their garage entrance across the 13th Street sidewalk, instead of off the adjacent straight alley.
Bad idea.
Unlike at Utopia, using this alley doesn't require cars to make two sharp turns and take three separate alleys. Unlike at Utopia, there are no alley dwellings. This garage entrance could be located at the eastern end of the alley, so cars only have to drive on a very short part. I'd even be okay with widening the alley a little bit right at the end, so there's enough room for one car in each direction. But another, extremely wide curb cut right next to an existing alley curb cut harms the rest of the public too much, while alley access to the garage harms the local property owners little.
It's clear that some major political chips got called in to get Mendelson to show up in person for the Utopia curb cut, and to generate the repeated letters from Evans supporting neighbors' position on the project. The political pressure was so potent that yesterday afternoon, DDOT decided to withdraw its original comments opposing the curb cut. That's politics, and I don't agree with those who complain about corruption every time an elected official weighs in. Taking positions on issues and pushing agencies on behalf of constituents is what elected officials do, and if you want to influence them, organize.
While Evans and Mendelson weren't wrong about this curb cut, we need to get organized and connected enough to ensure that Council members aren't sending letters in support of every curb cut when some residents don't want traffic in their alley. Alley traffic impacts the residents, but a curb cut impacts everyone else. A curb cut increases the opportunities for vehicles to hit pedestrians and bicycles; it reduces the space we have for sidewalk cafes; it visually widens the street, making drivers go faster.
Fortunately, Mendelson's letter gives us good ammunition for differentiating the Utopia case from others, like the 13th and U Rite Aid/Hotel:
There are very few communities in the District like the one comprising the residents of [the alleys behind Utopia]. The two others that come to mind are Blagden Alley in Shaw and Brown's Court on Capitol Hill ... It is important to consider that this space is atypical. It is unlike the typical square with all the dwellings fronting on the public street, only to back up to alleys. [The residents of these alleys] must walk down their alleys to go anywhere, which creates unavoidable pedestrian and vehicular conflicts.
Public policy must balance a larger impact on a few against the smaller impact on many. Typically, in the political process, the few are better organized and louder than the many. Through this blog and Smart Growth organizations, we the many are getting organized. And I want to make it clear to Evans, Mendelson, and any other elected official that while I don't disagree with their views on the Utopia curb cut, such an exception, and their political muscle on its behalf, should be extremely, extremely rare.
The Economic Development and Zoning Committee is taking action against a series of procedures that they say DC has backwards. As it stands, someone who wants to develop a property needs to go to the Historic Preservation Review Board first to make sure that their proposed development doesn’t violate any historic restrictions. Then the person goes to the Board of Zoning Adjustment, taking them through a tougher process to determine whether their proposal violates any zoning regulations. And finally, they get approval on any use of public space their proposal may involve.
The committee researched other cities’ systems, and they found that in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston, zoning and permit issues need to be resolved before the local historic commission reviews the plans. They concluded, “We believe that the current system in Washington, DC, would be improved by a change in the order of review. Putting the public space and zoning issues ahead of the historic review would give HPRB the ability to review the project in total in making their decision.”
Commissioner Alberti agreed that it makes sense to reverse the order. “How can HPRB rule on design issues when BZA hasn’t ruled on how much space you can occupy and for what uses, and how can BZA decided how much space you can use without talking to Public Space?” he wondered. “DC is anomalous.”
The commission agreed to send a letter to the mayor and DC Council, per the committee’s recommendation, suggesting that the city restructure its permitting process.
Shorpy.com is a photoblog featuring high-definition images from the first half of the 20th century. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a boy who worked in an Alabama coal mine and ironworks in the 1910s. It's a wonderful site for high quality photographs documenting a wide range of elements of Washington D.C.’s history as well as other parts of the nation. One becomes mesmerized and transported in time as you peruse this huge and well constructed gallery! I highly recommend spending a little time here if you have any interest at all in history. (ed)
According to a reliable and well placed source within Washington’s architectural preservation community, this stable (the white one on the left) was nearly destroyed several years ago. Outrage from the Georgetown citizens resulted in “a bonanza of stop work orders,” the demolition ceased after half of the building had been destroyed and the contractor was forced to restore the building to its original configuration. Parenthetically, it was unusual for a WashingtonD.C. stable to be built facing a main street rather than within an alley.
At a community function several months ago, the editor asked Jack Evans about the July 2008 destruction of the 1863 Historic Landmark protected Civil War stable in Naylor court (1316 rear 9th Street). He said he couldn’t understand why it was allowed to be torn down and that if something like that had ever happened in Georgetown the outcry would be overwhelming. He’s right!
In 1954 when developers threatened to destroy the historic stables and warehouses along the canal in Georgetown, the residents of Foggy Bottom and Georgetown created a coalition to save the properties and succeeded. Today, 54 years later, this area has become a destination landmark. Small businesses – such as Blues Alley - are thriving.
“It may be a jazz world, but it looks like it’s going to be a BluesAlley universe-BluesAlley clubs everywhere, BluesAlley CDs and videos, a BluesAlley clothing collection, and even a BluesAlley crystal decanter.
Washington’s well-known jazz club-which attracts legendary jazz performers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Byrd and Wynton Marsalis-has signed a $57 million licensing agreement with a group of Japanese investors to open three clubs next year in Japan, according to BluesAlley owner John T. Bunyan.
And other deals with investors in the United States, Germany and Spain are in the works to capitalize on the popular supper club’s name and knack for booking jazz …”
1316 rear 9th Street (originally a Civil War stable) was a home and furniture repair
shop up until a year before its destruction by a developer/investment company.
Few can see clearly into the future, but it shouldn’t be difficult for all of us to recognize and respect the past. WashingtonD.C. is blessed with many small alley structures that have earned the right of preservation. The history of Georgetown and Foggy Bottom preservation activism should serve to educate the rest of the city. There is no reason why these lessons cannot be used to guide other sections of the city as development continues to threaten our history one brick at a time.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation - Latrobe Chapter
On Tuesday September 23rd 2008, Sally Berk* gave a moving lecture of personal reflections on her life over the past 25 years as an historic preservation activist. She shared her personal principles of architectural preservation. At the end of her lecture Ms. Berk issued a challenge for others to continue her work in historic architectural preservation (for she is retiring) and a plea to support efforts to preserve St. Martin’s Convent and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.
1. Preservation is good business. Preservation building work constitutes 50% of the building efforts in Washington D.C. and accounts for a financial contribution that is equal to that of new construction ($9.5 billion dollars for preservation and $9.5 billion dollars for new construction).
2. Preservation is about managing change and not about preventing it. Change is inevitable. It is wiser to learn how to manage change and have an active and guiding hand in that process than to attempt to thwart it and lose the opportunity for melding preservation and change.
3. Preservation is about continuing the historic context. The background of an area in terms of its legacy (such as music, the arts, and commercial buildings) lends a hand in contextual historic architectural preservation of that area.
4.Preservation is about respecting the historic context. The juxtaposition of new construction that does not respect the historic context of the building or the area diminishes the historic legacy of the properties.
5. Preservation is not about copying history. Some areas of the city that are generally thought of as “historic” have sanctioned new construction that mimics 19th Century architecture, thereby becoming a caricature of their past. Historic replication is not a substitute for historic preservation.
6. One should be able to read the layers of the city. As one walks through any city, one should be able to read the layers of the past as each new era’s unique style of architecture is graciously interdigitated with that of the past. Each layer should be recognizable and appreciated for its era’s contribution to the overall gestalt of the building or collection of structures.
“Demolition isn't the only threat to historic sites. Equally threatening can be alterations, additions and new construction that comprise the iconography and/or integrity of the site. The preservationist, therefore, has the responsibility of managing change to the historic artifact. Writing a landmark nomination and obtaining historic designation are only the first steps in an ongoing process that can be controversial and contentious -- and sometimes with luck -- enormously rewarding.”
F Street Lament, Michael Berman, 2000
* After twenty-five years of preservation activism, Sally Berk has a long list of rewarding, vexing, and in some cases, unresolved preservation efforts to her name. Ms. Berk, who holds an undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in preservation from The George Washington University, also served as president of the DC Preservation League from 1995-1998.
"Alley housing in Washingtonis not very well documented. For example, because no city building permits were required before 1877, there is little documentary information on the buildings themselves. Census and city directories did not record alleys until 1858, when the City Directly listed 49 alleys with 348 heads of household. Earlier alleys and those too small to be recorded in directories as well as the conditions of alley life, require archaeological documentation." (page 58)
"A grant from the Department of the Interior funded a survey for potential nomination of the Blagden Alley Neighborhood as an historic district. This survey included researching the historic and archaeological resources within the project area. The historic resources survey involved the investigation of the architectural, social and cultural history of the area encompassing Blagden and Naylor Alleys. Archival research included reviewing tax books, primary and secondary sources, city directories, newspaper accounts, biographical sources, historic photographs and oral histories.
Squares 367 and 368 in which Blagden and Naylor Alleys are located retain a mixture of residential and commercial buildings that illustrate the historic evolution of land use in the City of Washington, particularly the independent development of property facing the public streets versus property facing the alleys."
"Only since the early 1980’s has there been any systematic archaeological work on the development of the city. …. As should be evident, archaeology of alley life in the city has barely begun, but it should have a powerful future. We are particularly hopeful that archaeology be done in the Blagden Alley and Naylor Court neighborhood with the interest and participation of the local community. As Theresa Singleton writes, “African-American archaeology should be seen primarily as a way of framing questions pertinent fo the African experience in the Americas. It is not necessary to restrict such questions to sites with an identifiable or discrete black provenience, but to any site that can illuminate aspects of African-American history and culture.” We believe that historical archaeology can help us uncover the silences of both documents and artifacts and offer a vehicle in which to examine our history and preconceptions of that history. (page 65)"
"In 1880, only 8 percent of the adult males in Borchert’s sample of alley dwellers were skilled. Most of these men were carpenters, barbers, shoemakers, blacksmiths, plasterers or brick masons. Fewer than 7 percent were white collar, proprietors or professional and of these 17 percent were “rag picker”, “rag gatherer”, “rag dealer”, “junk dealer” and 33 percent were “peddler”, jobber”, huckster and horse trader” (page 62)
"Blagden alley was one of the earliest alleys to be developed and was occupied until the 1940’s."
(Opportunities to explore DC Alley history and preserve 1860's buildings are being bulldozed by developers - e.g. 1316 rear 9th Street where two historic buildings have been razed this summer- ed)
Washington is slowly developing a more “European atmosphere” as it thinks and plans its way into a new era of urban development. It is ironic that one of the reasons that some seem to be leaving the city - lack of parking and oppressive traffic - has become a force for change to create a bicycle and pedestrian friendly city with even fewer cars. In D.C. 37% of the population do not even own cars. Bike paths abound. With many new “grocery stores” within walking distances, the incentives to drive diminish. Melbourne has also treasured and managed to preserve its inner alleys - see “Laneways and other pedestrian amenities. It is encouraging to see Washington recognizing the value of “foot traffic” as it proceeds with the plans for development of the old convention center site.
“Redevelopment of the site [old convention center] will facilitate new connections, encouraging flow between diverse downtown communities: historic and predominantly residential neighborhoods to the north and mainly commercial office development to the south. In contrast to the imposing scale that characterizes the surrounding area, the project is designed to be human-scaled, highly permeable and pedestrian-friendly. A civic plaza forms the heart of the project and generous public spaces punctuate the whole neighborhood.”
The following was forwarded by PH - a fellow preservationist and green space planner with an interest and expertise in urban traffic flow http://www.streetsblog.org/
Laneways and other pedestrian amenities Melbourne is filled with hidden "laneways" that cut between major streets downtown. The city has been steadily reclaiming these hidden treasures from traffic and disuse, and the laneways have become renowned for their charm, with al fresco eateries, boutique shops and bars. A number of inviting pedestrian arcades, reminiscent of those in Paris, can be found as well. Sidewalk build-outs for traffic calming are plentiful around town and are put to varied uses, including café seating and bike parking.
As he has been doing in New York City, Danish architect Jan Gehl has been working with the City of Melbourne to improve the quality of its public realm.
All in all, Melbourne is a wonderful place to explore on foot, by tram or by bike -- after you spend half an eternity getting there! Photos: Ken Coughlin
According to Hal Davitt (president of the Blagden Alley/Naylor Court Association) historian Mike Herlong will be guiding a walking tour of these two historic alleys on Saturday September 20th and Sunday September 21st from 12:00 to 2:00. The tour will start at 9th and N at 12:00. From past personal experience, this is a wonderful tour and an opportunity to learn more about these alleys, their structures, the life in the alleys and the role of various preservation organizations. Some parts of the alley such as this wall are beginning to crumble through neglect.
New York has many forgotten alleys wherein there are nests of stables such as "Sniffen Court" (which is on the National Register of Historic Places, just like Naylor Court). You can save the bus or train fare and take a virtual trip to visit the alleys through the links below. The stables were built during the civil war - just like the recently destroyed stable in Naylor Court. "Sniffen Court" is a gated community where the stables have been tastefully preserved and adaptively reused in intelligent ways. This collection of stables is an inspiration for the development and protection of Naylor Court and Blagden Alleys. If one does not have a vision of the future, it is nearly impossible to recognize when that future is being threatened by destruction in the present! The era of the alley abolition mentality needs to fade from our memories for the reasons for which this legislation was crafted in Washington D.C. no longer exist. Now is the time to work hard to preserve what is left after years of demolition and recognize the precious nature of these little buildings.
Douglas Development has recently purchased1234 9th Street NW, a property that once housed a car dealership. The former large showroom windows were replaced by glass blocks many years ago. The space is huge, open and solid. A fading painted sign from the dealership days lingers on the North inside wall as a silent testimony to its past life. Douglas Development has also purchased several other properties on the 9th Street side of the alley (1216, 1218, 1226) as well as their associated alley structures. One of these alley buildings is a small stable that at one time in its life was a "Neighborhood Auto Repair" shop. Remnants of the signage can still be seen over the former stable door. Douglas Development has a history of respecting the Historic Landmark designation of buildings and plans to expertly and sensitively restore the little stable. Perhaps some of the development projects within this collection of buildings may eventually wear an automotive theme woven somewhere into their new lives!
D.C. is a political town. And that fact inevitably influences the look and feel of our surroundings. From feuds over zoning to debates over historic preservation, Roger K. Lewis joins Kojo to explore how politics-- of the partisan and petty variety--- affect the District's 'built environment'.
Guest
Roger K. Lewis, Architect; Columnist, "Shaping the City," Washington Post; and Professor Emeritus of Architecture, University of MarylandCollege Park
"D.C. Historic Stable Demolished" by Stephen Tschida ABC 7 News August 13th 2008
"Preservationists are accusing D.C. of neglecting its heritage. They say the city is green, lighting demolition of irreplaceable buildings. Built over 150 years ago, horse stables still line Naylor Court. Some are upscale homes now but one recently came tumbling down, with the city's blessing. The people who live in this corner of Shaw, with so much history, were stunned to hear the wrecking ball and saddened to see one of the old stables turned to rubble. A spokesperson for the historic preservation review board says the city approved the demolition of the old stable because it had deteriorated dramatically. Some residents are troubled since many of the city's historic buildings are in bad shape. This is not an isolated incident. Behind the old HowardTheatre, cars park on what was a historic building. The city occasionally will approve tearing down a historic building if the developer reconstructs it, but some believe the goal often is simply to clear the way for the sale of the property. In the corner cluttered with history, some residents just hope the days of demolition will slow now that the economy is in the can."
The original story and the video from ABC 7 are linked below.
Posts
