Lecture on the Architecture of Mihran Mesrobian

Mavi Boncuk | October 14: Lecture on the Architecture of Mihran Mesrobian[*]
by AHS on OCTOBER 8, 2014

Caroline Mesrobian Hickman, Ph.D., a local art and architectural historian and granddaughter of architect Mihran Mesrobian, will give an illustrated lecture on her grandfather’s work on Tuesday, October 14, at 7:00 p.m. at the St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church, 4125 Fessenden Street, NW, Washington, DC.  The lecture is free and open to the public.  It will be followed by a reception.

Mihran Mesrobian was a noted and prolific architect in the Washington, DC area, including Arlington, in the early 20th century.  Of Armenian descent and emigrating from Turkey in 1921, Mesrobian started his career in the United States working for legendary local real estate developer Harry Wardman[**].  He became Wardman’s primary in-house architect and worked on such buildings as the St. Regis and Hay-Adams hotels, as well as Wardman Tower (now part of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel) in Washington.

After Wardman’s bankruptcy, Mesrobian started his own firm in 1930 and completed fine Art Deco structures, such as the Calvert Manor apartments[1] at 1925-1927 N. Calvert Street, the Wakefield Manor apartments[2] at 1215 N. Courthouse Rd. in Arlington, Sedgwick Gardens[3] in Cleveland Park, and the DuPont Circle Building in Washington.

[*] Born in Turkey to Armenian parents, Mesrobian was educated at the Academie des Beaux Arts in Istanbul. He immigrated to the United States and settled in Washington, D.C. in 1921. He began working as a draftsman for Harry Wardman, one of Washington, D.C.’s most prolific and well-known developers. His work during this period included luxury hotels such as the Carlton (1926), the Hay-Adams (1927), and the Wardman Tower (1928). In his private practice, Mesrobian’s Washington, D.C. commissions included the Dupont Circle Building (1931), a rug store at 1214 18th Street, N.W. (1931), and Sedgwick Gardens (1931-1932). Mesrobian’s design work during this period allow him to perfect his skill in combining distinct architectural elements under a primary style; he utilized Byzantine, Medieval, and Islamic elements and united them under a Moderne scheme. In addition to Mesrobian’s residential commissions, he was also responsible for the design of several shopping centers in Arlington County and the neighboring City of Alexandria; only two of his commercial shopping centers are extant. Three of Mesrobian’s other garden-apartment complexes are intact—Wakefield Manor, Lee Gardens North, and Lee Gardens South. Also surviving is a mid-rise garden apartment building, Calvert Manor.  

Marriott Wardman Park

[**] Harry Wardman is responsible for developing huge swaths of northwest DC, from row houses in Columbia Heights to luxury apartment buildings in Dupont Circle. Busy throughout the first few decades of the 20th century, Wardman has arguably made a bigger impact on DC’s residential real estate scene than any other developer. Starting out with modest row houses, Wardman’s buildings grew in scope and luxury as the years went on and many iconic apartments and hotels around the city are, with the help of a variety of architects. 

Wardman didn’t want to leave hotels out of his property portfolio, and The Hay-Adams may be the most iconic lodging he designed in the city. Ornately designed and frequented by DC power brokers (the first family lived there before Obama’s inauguration), the 125-room hotel was designed by Mihran Mesrobian in 1928 in an Italian Renaissance style. On the other end of the size spectrum is Wardman’s Park Hotel, now known as Marriott Wardman Park. Located at 2600 Woodley Road NW (map), the massive complex has more than 1,316 rooms and is the largest hotel in DC. Wardman developed the hotel in 1918 after the First World War, and it has since been home to presidents and other public figures. Tragically, Wardman lost his $30 million fortune in the 1929 stock market crash. He went back to building single-family homes until his death in 1938. SOURCE



[1] Calvert Manor is a historic apartment building located at 1925-1927 North Calvert Street in Arlington, Virginia. It was designed by noted Washington, D.C. architect Mihran Mesrobian and built in 1948, in the Moderne style. Mesrobian was also the builder and owner of Calvert Manor. The three-story garden apartment building is constructed of concrete block with red brick facing, highlighted by light-colored cast stone, cement brick details, and vertical bands of glass block. On December 15, 1997, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places


[2] Wakefield Manor is one of the earliest intact examples of his work in Arlington County, and is the smallest garden-apartment complex designed by Mihran Mesrobian. It stands as the best example of his prolific skills with merging traditional- and modern-style designs into a garden-apartment complex. Wakefield Manor is a small garden-apartment complex consisting of two buildings, one with an “H” shape and one with an “I” shape. Despite the variation of massing, the buildings are very similar in form, detailing, and style, reflecting the Art Deco and Moderne styles. These modern designs were infused with traditional character-defining features of the Classical Revival style, which was more familiar to residents and promoted as the style of choice by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). This coupling was preformed with great proficiency by renowned architect Mihran Mesrobian. The buildings, together providing 67 apartment units (originally 41 units), were built by the construction company of Parreco and Von Herbulis in 1943. 

Wakefield Manor consists of two individual buildings at the southern end of the block bounded by North Courthouse Road, North Troy Street, and North Fairfax Drive. Classically inspired elements include the narrow brick quoins, brick dentil molding, brick water table (painted white), round windows, wood cupolas, and limestone surrounds of the primary entries with fluted pilaster, wide friezes, and squared cornices complete with ogee molding. Additionally, metal and limestone panels have been placed within the brick, illustrating classical motifs. These panels are in striking contrast to the dog-tooth brickwork that lines the cornice and acts as panels between the second- and third-story openings. Glass block is used throughout the buildings as a contrast to the operational casement and double-hung sash.



[3] Sedgwick Gardens, located at 3726 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, is an apartment building on the southwest corner of Connecticut Avenue and Sedgwick Street in Northwest Washington D.C. It is located two blocks from the Cleveland Park Metro. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and is a good example of an Art Deco porte-cochere in Washington.



[4] Lee Gardens North, Arlington County, Virginia 

Lee Gardens North Historic District in Arlington County, Virginia, is an excellent example of a garden apartment complex that illustrates the prolific design skills of architect Mihran Mesrobian and the original standards promoted by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). Although construction of the thirty-acre garden apartment complex began in 1941 with Lee Gardens South, the second-phase construction of Lee Gardens North was completed in 1949-1950 using FHA-insured financing to serve post-war housing needs. The thirty masonry structures, consisting of seven buildings with varying plans set around landscaped courtyards, present stylistic elements and forms closely associated with the Colonial Revival style, which was favored by the FHA. The ornamental detailing of the buildings varies throughout the complex, also drawing . from the Art Deco and Moderne styles of which Mesrobian was so well versed. Mesrobian tailored his designs to the needs of the developer and setting of the surrounding neighborhood. Further, he used the 1934 construction, design, and property standards instigated by the FHA, requirements that had been changed in 1941 when the need for low-cost housing for wartime workers became essential in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. 

The Lee Gardens North complex was completed in 1949-1950. The brick buildings are in the Colonial Revival style, with some fenestration elements influenced by the Art Deco and Modern style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.