The Richman Towers apartment building, located at 3055 16th Street, NW, was designed by Edwin Armstrong Weihe (1907-1994) and built by local builder and developer Louis Richman (1902-1970). Constructed in 1954, Richman Towers has fifty-six studio, one and two-bedroom units. Advertised amenities included “unusual window advantages,” mail and trash chutes on each floor, individual a/c control in each unit, outside terraces, and a roof garden.
3055 16th Street, NW..
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Richman Towers apartment building, located at 3055 16th Street, NW, was designed by Edwin Armstrong Weihe (1907-1994) and built by local builder and developer Louis Richman (1902-1970). Constructed in 1954, Richman Towers has fifty-six studio, one and two-bedroom units. Advertised amenities included “unusual window advantages,” mail and trash chutes on each floor, individual a/c control in each unit, outside terraces, and a roof garden.
Well known for his design of office buildings, Weihe designed ninty office buildings in the K Street corridor. 1001 Connecticut Avenue at the northeast corner of Connecticut Avenue and K Street (above the Farragut North metro station), 1666 K Street (directly east of Farragut Square), and the old YMCA site, 1701 K Street, to name a few. Other well-known Weihe designs are the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel in Crystal City, J. W. Marriott’s first hotel built in 1957, and the Crystal House apartment buildings at 1900 S. Eades Street, named for the small crystal chandeliers in each passenger elevator. In collaboration with Charles E. Smith, Weihe designed scores of apartment and office buildings in Crystal City and the Skyline areas in Virginia.
From the late 1800s, and before the construction of Richman Towers, an “old colonial home” owned by affluent watchmaker William E. Ramsay (1862-1939) occupied the lot. Known as the Ramsay House, the large 13-room, 2-bath house sat at the triangular plot at the intersection of 16th and 15th Streets and Kenesaw Avenue. “The home, in the Sixteenth Street “Embassy Row,” was a landmark of an older day. It stands on the promontary [sic] where Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets come together at Irving Street.” Washington Post, 16 Dec 1939.
In late December 1939, Mr. Ramsay murdered his wife and took his own life after an argument over Christmas travel plans. In 1904, the Ramsay house address changed from 1502 Kenesaw Avenue to 3053 16th Street. Richmond Towers sits on the old Ramsay property.
Today, Richman Towers is owned and managed by Jubilee Housing, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides high-quality, affordable housing in the Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights neighborhoods. Jubilee owns ten properties, providing approximately 300 residential units for Ward 1 residents.
Although 3055 16th Street, NW, is located within the Meridian Hill Historic District, it is not designated as a contributing structure.
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