Page 129 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Washington, DC

GEORGE T OWN  127

be came an auto supply store,
and in the 1990s the New York
gourmet food store Dean and
Deluca opened a branch here.
Today M Street and the
adjacent blocks are home to a
collection of fashionable stores
and restaurants. Young buyers
shop for alternative music at Hill
& Dale Records and alternative
clothing at Urban Outfitters.
National chainstores such as
Banana Republic, Anthropologie,
CB2, and Starbucks have The elegant facade of the Post Office in Georgetown
branches along M Street. The
fashiona ble Cady’s Alley, at 7 Washington Post State Capitol building in 1832
3318 M Street, is a haven of Office and the Boston Custom House
trendy boutiques and high in 1837, was called to the city
end furnish ing stores. 1215 31st St, NW. Map 2 D2. @ 30, of Washington, DC in 1852. He
Clyde’s restaurant at num ber 32, 34, 36. Open 9am–5pm Mon–Fri, designed several other Italianate
3236 is a Georgetown institution, 9am–2pm Sat. buildings in the capital, but this
famous for its “happy hour.” post office is the finest example
Built in 1857 as a customhouse, of his work. The granite custom-
the still-functioning Georgetown house was converted to a post
Branch of the Washington Post office when Georgetown’s
Office is interesting both fortunes declined.
historically and architecturally. The building underwent
A customhouse was a money- a renovation in 1997 that
producing venture for the Federal increased its accessibility but
govern ment, and the US govern- retained the integrity of Young’s
ment’s investment in such an simple, functional design.
expen sive building serves as In 2013, the post office was
evidence of Georgetown’s sold. Today, the space is used for
importance as a viable port for private offices. A small post office
many years. Architect Ammi B. station still exists, but the archi-
Attractive houses lining the bustling Young, who was also responsible tecturally interesting interior is
M Street for the design of the Vermont not accessible to the public.

The Thomas Beall House The Laird-Dunlop
(number 3017) was built in House (number 3014)
1794 by one of Georgetown’s was built by John Laird
most prominent families. It who owned many of
has since been occupied Georgetown’s tobacco
by the Secretary of War warehouses. Laird
during World War I, and by modeled his home
Jackie Kennedy, who lived on those in his native
here for a year after the Edinburgh. It was
death of JFK. subsequently owned
by President Lincoln’s
Number 3025–3027, son, Robert.
with its raised mansard
roof, shows the influ-
ence of the French
during this period. Unusual
flat roof

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