If you have ever wondered what a true 1930s art deco apartment would look like up close, now is your chance. The Kennedy-Warren--one of the country's most famous Art Deco apartment buildings-- is now leasing units in its newly restored Historic Main Building. The Kennedy-Warren is perhaps the finest example of Art Deco architecture in Washington DC. You may not be able to afford the rent but it's certainly worth checking out the photos!
Built in 1931, the building has been home to countless local and national celebrities, including many Senators, former presidents like Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Larry Summers, Hillary Clinton's parents, and humorist P.J. O'Rourke.
The Historic Main Building has just undergone a massive renovation but thankfully the original 1930s units were not gutted. After consulting with residents and Art Deco specialists, the B.F. Saul Company opted to preserve the original floor plans of most of these charming apartments. Now available for renting, these units offer a unique glimpse back to the 1930s.While the plumbing, electrical, safety, heating, AC and appliances have all been updated, some stunning features of 1930s original apartments remain in the old building:
• Original pre-war glass front Hoosier-style china cabinets and hardware
• Black & white-checkered kitchen floors
• Oak hardwood floors,
• 9-foot ceilings,
• Oversized porcelain tubs.
• Formal dining rooms
• Pewter latches
• Glass doorknobs
Aztec Art Deco
The Kennedy-Warren was designed in the Aztec Art Deco style by architect Joseph Younger. Aztec Art Deco (or "pueblo deco") is an architectural sub-style of the late 1920s and early 1930s that was used mostly in the American Southwest. Unique features of the building include:
• Exquisite metal design: aluminum marquee entrance, railings and balustrades among the finest examples of architectural metal design in the country. Inside, aluminum, sometimes combined with bronze, is used in the fine balustrades, elevator doors and even apartment door peepholes and knockers.
• Aztec eagles carved into limestone in the facade
• Elevator doors with inserts of brass, copper and other metals
• 20-foot lobby ceiling with beams painted in a zigzag pattern of gold and pastels
pyramid copper tile roof
• Art Deco doorknockers
• One of the earliest examples of a forced air cooling system, which is still in use today.
• Milk shafts. Each unit in the historic wings had a small compartment with interior and exterior doors, allowing the milkman to leave milk and dairy products from the hallway. A few still remain
• First building in DC to be all electric without any gas lighting
• The only apartment building in the city with its own ballroom (up for renovation in a few years)
The New South Wing
Although the exterior appears seamless, the Kennedy-Warren actually consists of two wings with separate addresses: the Historic Main Building and the newer South Wing, which was erected in 2004 for $70 million. The exterior of the new building was built to match the original's beautiful Art Deco style but the interiors are decidedly contemporary (features like semi-private elevator entrances, glass enclosed showers with separate Jacuzzi tubs, antique-verdi marble foyers, Crema Marfil marble bathrooms, imported Impala Black granite countertops, maple cabinets and Sub-Zero refrigerators). The penthouse has private elevator and six parking spaces. Residents of both wings can access the resident-only piano bar and health club with a 60-foot lap pool, steam rooms, and individual "Cardio Theater Equipment."
Step Back in Time
B.F. Saul historian James M. Goode, author of "Best Addresses," a guide to Washington's most distinguished apartment buildings says that as part of the renovation he installed in the lobby an exhibit of 85 framed, enlarged photos of DC in 1930s. This permanent collection, culled from the National Archives, historical societies and private collections, is open to the public. Worth checking out if you are in the neighborhood!
Sources:
Interview with James M. Goode, B.F Saul historian
Washington Post
Wikepedia (recently updated for accuracy)
Art Deco Society of Washington
Kennedy-Warren
Images: All except #4 provided by the Kennedy Warren. #4 is from the Art Deco Society of Washington. The "milk door" has been removed from all but a few of the apartments in the historic wing.
Ellen's Thirties Style Small Space
Juan's Garage Turned Modern Guest House
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Commercial Flour Sa...
What Drink Do You Order at a Bad Bar? 25 Food Writers Share Their Safety Drinks
One-Skillet Recipe: Tortilla Espanola with Rainbow Chard
LOVE this building. The suites themselves aren't done up to my taste, but the building itself is absolutely beautiful.
I would kill to live in that buildigh!
I would also Kill to live in that building....
I lived in an art decco building in DC called the Majestic. I sure do miss old apartments with character.
P.J. O’Rourke! I love it. I want to live in a building with as many Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me panelists as possible.
And the kitchen and bathroom are so dreamy my knees knocked together a little :)
absolutely stunning! so glad they kept so much of the original beauty.
I am fa--fa--fa--fainting over that lobby! I would have to dress up to walk through it! So glad that it was preserved rather than updated. And, yes, of course I'd love to live there!
I have the same tiles in my ca. 1928 bathroom! I imagine they're pretty common, but still...
I love the cabinets in the kitchen and that bathroom tile. I lived in an old house in South Carolina that had kitchen cabinets like that. I miss all the storage.
I also love that bathroom. (I just bought house & that's the style I'm planning to redo my bathroom in.) The tub is much to narrow, though.
Wow, what a blast from my past! The K-W was the very first apartment my husband and I shared. While the architectural details and stunning lobby were a treat, it was a verrrrry authentic 1920s apartment, down to the lack of AC, dishwasher, and microwave! Made me appreciate modern amenities.
Seriously, it's a beautiful building. If you're in the neighborhood, it's well worth it just to walk through the lobby and ballroom.
@morrima6 - I think the pic is deceptive. The tubs were HUGE and cast iron. My 6'2" husband still misses the baths there! :)
Most of the smaller apartment complexes in glover park have many of the same 1930's artdeco feel without the cost of the Kennedy warren.
Hey, I live right next to this place! This is actually the first time I've been able to see the inside of it, though.
On another note, the Westchester is another cool deco apartment house in DC.
http://www.jwstone.com/westchester/public/
the virtual staging is a bit bizarre but the bones of the place are awesome! I love art deco style.
You will find a good chunk of the apartments here in [central] LA are built in the 20s-30s in the art deco style. Some of the most fantastic buildings however are located in the rough part of Koreatown.
The bathroom is quite lovely.
The book, "Best Addresses," by James M. Goode - a guide to Washington's most distinguished apartment buildings was out of print for a long time but it's now available from Amazon.
Those are some beautiful apartments!
"Original pre-war glass front Hoosier-style china cabinets and hardware"
There's nothing "Hoosier-Style" about the cabinets in the kitchen - Those are just vintage kitchen cabinets, some of which have glass fronts.
Hoosiers are freestanding pieces of kitchen furniture that were common from the 1890's into the 1920's - They were typically loaded with accessories for baking and food storage, etc.
They are clearly defined here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosier_cabinet
This is great! DC has a lot of buildings with cool interiors. My friend lives in the Westchester, whose lobby was originally decorated by Dorothy Draper. They recently updated it, but kept with the Draper style and left a lot of her touches. It's quite fabulous.
That bathroom makes me weak in the knees.
The building is beautiful, and the lobby is phenomenal, but I'm not so sure about the apartments themselves. They look a bit inauthentic for some reason... can't quite put my finger on what it is that gives that vibe.