The grand Willard Hotel DC, some historical surprises
Most people here in DC know of the Willard : one of the grand dame hotels of the city which one assumes have been there forever. However what most probably don't know (I for one did not) is that the current hotel is actually mostly a recreation of the historic space! We recently hosted a tour of the hotel with our ICAA chapter and the hotel historian had some eye opening surprises for us. Many of the beautiful details which appear to date to the hotel's rebuilding in 1901 when the beaux arts style hotel was built actually date to 1986! Lets back up here. Yes the hotel is historic. Like many hotels however it has been renovated and rebuilt almost continuously since its founding in 1818 (the year is a stretch but is when a hotel was first built on this site). Above is the lobby as it appeared in 1950. One recognizes the overall space but decoration and mid-centuryisms are the focus. And above is how the lobby appeared in 1984! This area of Washington suffered greatly during the...