History
Documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey under the designation HABS DC-855, this modest adobe structure stood in Washington, D.C., as one of the few earthen buildings recorded by the federal architectural survey east of the arid Southwest. The HABS photographic record preserves what the building itself could not retain, capturing a vernacular form built from sun-dried earth in a city overwhelmingly framed by brick, stone, and masonry construction.
The structure was simple in plan, low in profile, and built without architectural pretension. Its walls were formed from adobe bricks, the same hand-shaped earthen blocks that defined building tradition across New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. In the capital district, however, such construction was an anomaly rather than a regional norm. The high humidity and freeze-thaw cycles of the mid-Atlantic climate were unkind to unfired earthen walls, and adobe buildings rarely survived more than a generation without protective coatings or stucco renderings. The HABS designation as a temporary structure reflects this fragility, suggesting that the building was either documented in anticipation of demolition or recorded as an example of an unconventional regional outlier.
The HABS team produced a sequence of photographs cataloged from HABS DC-855-2 through HABS DC-855-8, providing exterior and interior views, framing details, and contextual shots of the surrounding lot. These images, held by the Library of Congress, remain the principal record of the building's existence. The architect is unrecorded, and the date of construction was not documented in the surviving HABS materials.
The property is now in private hands, and the original adobe walls may no longer survive. The HABS photographs persist as the durable archival trace of an unusual experiment in eastern earthen construction.
Within the broader American adobe tradition, this structure is an outlier rather than a representative example, but its inclusion in the federal architectural record acknowledges that earthen building was practiced, however rarely, far beyond the Southwest where adobe was the dominant building material of the colonial and territorial eras.
Common questions
What is the Adobe Structure (Temporary) in Washington, D.C.?
The Adobe Structure (Temporary) is a documented adobe wall and arch installation in Washington, District of Columbia, photographed by the Historic American Buildings Survey near the Smithsonian Castle. It is an 8-bay adobe brick wall featuring round-headed arches with windows and doors.
When was the Adobe Structure (Temporary) built?
The Adobe Structure (Temporary) exact date of construction is unknown. The HABS documentation captures the structure as a temporary installation on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Where is the Adobe Structure (Temporary) located?
The Adobe Structure (Temporary) was located in Washington, District of Columbia, on the National Mall area near the Smithsonian Institution Building (the 'Castle'), as shown in the HABS documentation photographs.
Does the Adobe Structure (Temporary) still exist?
The Adobe Structure (Temporary) was built as a temporary installation, as noted in its name. It has been recorded through Historic American Buildings Survey photographs at the Library of Congress, which remain accessible to the public for research.
Can you visit the Adobe Structure (Temporary)?
The Adobe Structure (Temporary) was, as its name indicates, a temporary installation in Washington, D.C., and is unlikely to survive on site today. The structure is preserved only through Historic American Buildings Survey photographs held at the Library of Congress, which are publicly accessible for research.