French-inspired Beaux Arts classicism design shines on Pennsylvania Avenue, just across from the White House. The main hotel building was the first skyscraper in Washington. The building is constructed of a limestone base and cream-painted brick and terracotta that resembles stone masonry. Dozens of American flags adorn the structure’s pediments, iron balconies, and decorative dormers. (Courtesy of Willard InterContinental Washington)
Situated in the heart of the nation’s capital on Pennsylvania Avenue, just across from the White House, is the Willard InterContinental, a historic luxury accommodation hotel presently owned by Carr Cos. and InterContinental Hotels & Resorts.
For 200 years, in fact, the luxury Beaux-Arts architectural style hotel was known for many years as simply “The Willard,” and its prominence was known not just nationwide but internationally. It’s both charming and opulent within and without, generously apportioned with everything from lush leather seating to exquisite, polished mahogany woodwork to stunning chandeliers.
Col. John Tayloe III built six houses on the site in 1816 and leased the buildings, called Tennison’s Hotel, to Joshua Tennison. By 1847, they had run into despair, and Tennison’s son leased them to Henry Willard, who merged them into one structure and then enlarged it to a four-story hotel called the Willard Hotel.
The now 335-guestroom, 69-suite hotel has undergone many “lives.” The present structure was designed by hotel architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh and opened in 1901. A fire in 1922 damaged the building. In 1968, the hotel closed but reopened and was restored to life by the new owners, with an office wing added. In the 1990s, the hotel again underwent a significant restoration.
Today, the hotel is filled with lavish carpets, elaborate windows, wrought iron railings, towering Corinthian columns, and hand-painted ceilings. American author Nathaniel Hawthorne commented in the 1860s, “The Willard Hotel more justly could be called the center of Washington than either the Capitol or the White House or the State Department.”
The three-story entrance portico is Doric Order in design, with aspects of both ancient Greek and Roman architecture. It's ornamented with a balustrade and urn decorations. A skylight awning provides an air of inviting charm, while the polished brass doors convey a hint of the lushness within. (Courtesy of Willard InterContinental Washington)
The Willard’s lobby recalls the Beaux-Arts movement, an academic architectural style expressed through eye-catching décor, grandiosity, and uniformity. The lobby features coffered ceilings, towering marble Corinthian columns, and intricate chandeliers. On the ceiling are 48 hand-painted state seals. The Willard lobby is where the term “lobbyist” was coined by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869 and where Martin Luther King Jr. completed his momentous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. (Courtesy of Willard InterContinental Washington)
The 3,120-square-foot Willard Room is defined by its intricate, gold-hued columns, ceiling moldings, and lighting-medallion designs. These elements are juxtaposed with exquisite oak paneling; the room is spotlighted by brass and bronze chandeliers. The Willard Room is used for meetings and events for up to 350 guests, but in the past, it was established to accommodate a fine dining restaurant. (Courtesy of Willard InterContinental Washington)
Long celebrated since the 1920s is afternoon tea in Peacock Alley, a long hallway with arched windows and French doors. The iconic space serves as an artery to guest and meeting rooms. A vibrant palette of deep navy and pale robin's egg blue, alongside a range of green, gold, and coral hues, is complemented by the elaborate carpet design as well as a new custom wallpaper pattern inspired by peacock feathers. (Courtesy of Willard InterContinental Washington)
Offering grandness belying even its grand exterior, the Willard’s 2,560-square-foot Crystal Room is a feast for the eyes. The meeting and entertaining space features majestic columns in the Beaux Arts style, globe and crystal chandeliers, and ornate hand-carved, gold-leaf crown moldings. The carpeting complements the room’s ambiance. (Courtesy of Willard InterContinental Washington)
The Round Robin Bar is known for its circular design, oak-paneled walls, button-tufted leather seating, and framed portraits of famed visitors. Considered a meeting place for Washington's political and social elite since 1847, the polished mahogany bar’s design is intended to enhance conversation, and the carved-wood ceiling design proportionally mirrors the bar. (Courtesy of Willard InterContinental Washington)
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A 30-plus-year writer-journalist, Deena C. Bouknight works from her Western North Carolina mountain cottage and has contributed articles on food culture, travel, people, and more to local, regional, national, and international publications. She has written three novels, including the only historical fiction about the East Coast’s worst earthquake. Her website is DeenaBouknightWriting.com
