An historic residence

The Ringgold-Carroll House, Foggy Bottom, Washington, DC

Our adaptive reuse plan landscape for the Ringgold-Carroll House landscape rehabilitates and reimagines this historically prominent property. Located three blocks from the White House, the house was a boarding home for many notable Washington, DC residents, including Chief Justice John Marshall, before it became the private home of political socialite, Virginia Lowe Bacon in 1923. On the NRHP since 1985, the House presently serves as the headquarters for Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired (DACOR).

DACOR requested new code compliant stairs and an ADA ramp to the House’s main entrance to accommodate older members. We collaborated with National Park Service, the Commission for Fine Arts and the DC Historic Preservation Office on the entrance design, and inserted a new classically inspired 150’ ADA-compliant ramp by surgically cutting through existing walls and reconstructing 300’ of retaining walls to remediate seepage and repair broken bricks. Throughout the site, we precisely removed and cleaned the original brick and Seneca Red limestone coping. and sourced new matching brick to feather into the reconstructed sections . The ramp’s new walls were integrated with the site’s steeply sloping topography via reduced height and context sensitive grading and plantings. New steel handrails with traditional details were painted “DACOR Blue,” an inky blue-black that matches the House’s historic ironwork and façade. Subtle, louvered down lighting was integrated to allow for safe use during evening events.

A mix of Mid-Atlantic native and adapted plants create a lower-maintenance landscape including Bluestar, Coneflower, Witchhazel, Juniper, and Blazingstar while Winter Jasmine drapes the ramp walls. Other species additions included older non-native cultivars from the House’s period of significance (~1820-1920): Boxwood, Bear’s Breeches, Iris, and Pheasant’s Eye Daffodil. Inspiration was drawn from Colonial Williamsburg’s Taliaferro-Cole and Master Gardener’s Gardens, the Tudor Place and Dumbarton Oaks gardens in Washington, DC, and Monticello in Charlottesville, VA.