This past weekend I finally went to the library to check it out. It just so happens that my local library is the main branch of the DC library system and was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe! Completed in 1972, the library measures in at 400,000 sf and is the only public library ever designed by Mies. 
Steel & glass with some brick privacy walls at the first floor, this is a rare example of modernism in dc replacing the old Andrew Carnegie donated 1903 beaux arts building nearby (which unfortunately is vacant). The building is typical of Mies's style -with a grand exterior public entrycourt. The interior is delightfully open and filled with natural light.
In 2007 it was designated a historic landmark by the district and rightfully so. Unfortunately, while the upkeep on the facility is adequate it seems to have been bastardized. The grand spaces are littered with subpar clutter and tacky lighting belying Mies's modernistic vision: not a barcelona chair or table in site! It's still a great space though I was surprised to find!
The library seen through 2 more typical traditional dc office buildings.
The library seen through 2 more typical traditional dc office buildings.the open interiors (entry lobby)
The library is great -who needs blockbuster or amazon??!! I got 2 great books as well as numerous movies and cds. I'm reading 'Dior by Dior' - the autobiography of the designer first published in 1957 - it's incredible to read the backstory and his rather modest take on his abilities! Also checked out 'Antoine's alphabet, Watteau and his world' which is a historical fiction based on the life of the painter. Both definitely are worth a read!
Sorry for the poor picture quality, it was pouring rain and I was juggling an umbrella!
This Sunday, I attended the Dupont Circle house tour. Included in the stops was one of my favorite house museums -definitely my #1 in DC. The Anderson House was completed in 1905 and is a great example of the gilded age right here in DC. Currently, the building houses the Society of the Cincinnati since 1937and is operated as a house museum as well.
The approach to this house is what I love most about it. While on a busy city street, just 2 blocks from Dupont Circle, you would think you were in a quiet suburb. The house fronts the street, but has a walled entry courtyard which blocks most of the noise. It hasn't been changed (the upkeep on this house is AMAZING) and it still has beautiful and environmentally friendly gravel which does a lot to muffle any street noise. 
This is a huge 50 room mansion but the scale may not convey that. Look how tall these entry portals are! The house was designed by the Boston architects Arthur Little and Herbert Browne in the Beaux-arts style as the winter home of Larz Anderson III and his wife Isabel. Anderson was a diplomat to many countries, including Japan in 1912 and the house is filled with remnants of his time there. 
The house is what you would expect: breathtaking! There are both English and Italian influences, as well as many parts and pieces of European palaces and cathedrals (including an entire choir stall in a small room off the entry). Every room is ornate featuring carved wood walls, murals, gilded ceilings, ornate iron work and intricate marble and wood floors.
The approach into the house belies its size, another thing I like about it. You enter into a small hallway, you can turn left to a small staircase up to the gallery, or to the right you go through a small room filed with a choirstall from a cathedral and into the main stairhall with amazing trompe l'oeil wall paneling. This large painting from 1911 dominates the top of the stair landing - placed there to seem as if the procession of women is about to come down the stairs.
And you can rent it for parties, as seen above. At the top of the mainstaircase is this landing below with intricate marble herringbone floor and beautiful tapestries. You can go into the 2nd floor gallery seen here, or into 2 beautiful french salons -all gold and white 18th century France.
The gallery houses many items in display cases as well as a majestic view over Massachuestts Avenue and the beautiful Cosmos Club across the street (my #1 place I need to get into at some point in dc!, anyone have connections?). 
The dining room has more tapestries and is pretty massive. What a place to have dinner! Attached through a double padded doorway is the beautiful corner butler's pantry with tons of windows - grand placement for such a service space. Of course I was in heaven surrounded by beautiful antique china!
I found this image of the home in the 1940s - you can see it hasn't changed much. Now to the left is a very large opulent hotel and a mid century apartment building to the right -both dwarfing the mansion and built RIGHT up to the walls!
Like many of these old working class neighborhoods, the cemetaries were a point of pride. Of course there are fancier, nicer cemeteries in the city(MANY OF THEM), but even in the poorest neighborhoods these beautiful places exist. These tombstones are certainly a lot more engaging than the granite slabs with a name that you see anymore. They speak of the 'inhabitants' and their life. Cemeteries were in places of honor where people would want to spend time remembering their loved ones: parks or places with a beautiful view; nicer than along the freeway out of town. 
The cemeteries of Pittsburgh live on as places where people not only visit their ancestors, but walk their dogs, jog or go to get away from it all. I don't think this is disrespectful but goes to show that we are all a part of something bigger. Is this all a little too deep for a posting about some pretty tombstones? Hope you enjoy them!
I spent the other night watching 
The film is a series of interviews conducted over 3 years and just video watching Karl - very voyeuristic. It starts out slow but by the end you're into the very meat of the biography. You see him working, playing, eating and just hanging out. Topics cover his views on prostitution, fashion, society, life/death, religion, politics and his own childhood. He seems like he would be an amazing friend. I wasn't shocked to see that his entire world is very glamorous -very 'Chanel'. All black and white with no color -pure style. One thing I wondered is he protests so much about how he likes solitude, being alone. I kept wondering 'doth he protesteth too much'? Does he just want a big hug?! Who knows. Now for my favorite part of the film: the filmmaker is in a bathroom at Chanel and there is a sign that says (paraphrasing) PISSING EVERYWHERE IS NOT VERY CHANEL. Ladies and gentleman, I have found my new favorite phrase! I literally paused the movie to go and write this down. From now on, I will say something to be 'not very Chanel' whenever I'm not pleased with it. 
One more time for emphasis: 
I met friends last night for drinks at one of my favorite establishments in DC: the Tabard Inn. Besides having a wonderful restaurant, the charming little hotel has a nice cozy bar area as well. Housed in 3 old joined townhouses on a quiet and charming street right in Dupont Circle, the inn was named after a hotel in England which is referred to in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” as a place of respite for pilgrims. 
The 3 townhouses are all painted gray to blend in with one another.
As you can see, the individual pieces aren't neccesarily nice, but have a lot of personality and charm -adding to the overall ambiance. The dim lighting helps!
Each room of the Inn is decorated individually with quirky antiques and every bedroom has a secretary with books inside! House and Home, an interiors magazine published in Dublin, Ireland, chose a small room in the Tabard Inn for inclusion in an article on the 30 most beautiful bedrooms in the world in its May/June 2005 issue. Rates are very cheap for rooms, but you MAY have to share a bathroom (not sure how I feel about that!). Read more about the inn online 
This past weekend I visited the Washington Zoo (more on that later) and walked through one of my favorite neighborhoods on my walk home that I thought I'd share with you.
Another big beautiful apartment building - this one with a porte cochere. More beautiful terra cotta work!
This is one of the more famous buildings - the Dresden. Notice the building curves - more of it faces the park this way, and also it fits the site better. These windows are HUGE.
This one is an entire city block, I walked up once and peeked into the lobby -as ornate and beautiful as you could imagine! More rooftop gazebos!
Just south of here is the famous curved hilton where Reagan was infamously shot. Not a very pretty building -but the first place I stayed in DC back in high school. 
Across from the hilton is this beautiful mansion -now offices. I would say that was a shame, except it must be dreadfully noisey inside with all the pedestrian and car traffic -it's on a major intersection. 
Now we're in dupont (that intersection i mentioned before is the border of neighborhoods). I've always been fascinated by this building you see here. It's nautically themed -notice the porthole windows and the lighthouse on top! The base houses a retro looking hair parlor and a bakery (firehook). 
This mansion is right on Dupont Circle. It's now a private club but at one time was the Robert Wilson Patterson mansion. Designed by McKim, Mead & white in 1900 -the exterior is all white terra cotta except for the marble columns on the 2nd floor. It houses Washington's first garage ( you can barely see it to the far left). The Patterson's lent the house to President and Mrs. Coolidge in 1927 while the White House was being renovated.