Munsey Building, 1327-1329 E Street Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

Significance: The Munsey Building is the work of one of the country's most prominent architectural firms, McKim, Mead and White. The original structure, designed in 1905, was typical of the firm's application of the principles of the Italian Renaissance palazzo, a vertical tripartite composition of classical elements, to the tall buildings of the twentieth century. These principles are evident, although simplified and reduced in scale, in the 1915 addition which altered the facade and added a large wing on the west and a twelfth story. The facade is a less monumental than other buildings designed by McKim, Mead and White in the Washington area, such as the Army War College and the Washington Club. This is not true of the interior of the building, which, with its high quality materials and classical details, established Munsey as one of the more elegant private office spaces in the city. AS an urban design element, the Munsey building's facade helps to define the open square at the western end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-40
Survey number: HABS DC-358
Building/structure dates: 1905 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: ca. 1910- ca. 1915 Subsequent Work