While in Paris this past fall I left tourist central to finally pay a visit to the Parc Monceau in the 8th arrondissement, namely to see the magnificent
Musee Nissim de Camondo (more on that another time) and what remains of
Ledoux's Rotund de Chartres (more on that later too!).
The park was built in the 18th century as a private park for the Phillipe d'Orleans, Duke of Chartres, and his friends. Under the Haussmanization of the area, creating the city we all love today, the park was turned over to the public surrounded by a very luxury sort of 'gated' community.
Today this neighborhood is one of the chicest of the city. Many of the grand houses have been converted into coveted apartments, corporate headquarters, and embassies much like
Kalorama here in Washington, DC.
The grand house below is the European corporate headquarters for Rolex.
The houses span many different styles but all date to the 1860s.
Imagine working for your government in one of these beautiful embassies!
Below is the back of the Nissim de Camondo which has a private gate into the park. 6 houses have exclusive use of the park 'after hours' as their own backyard.
The park itself was designed in an English or natural style. The area may be quite small today but is jam packed with architectural follies such as this bridge below.
Many of the follies are original to the 18th century and were meant to lend an aire of exoticism.
The park is popular with children; this is a family neighborhood of apartments without yards after-all.
The colonnade below surrounds a man made 'lake'.
Many of the sculptures were put in place in the late 19th century and refer to poets and artists.
Many of the follies were built to look old in the 18th century but have been even more weathered due to wars (in this very park!) as well as pollution.
My favorite is perhaps the small Egyptian pyramid.
Maybe it's the architect in me but I enjoy parks with sculpture and architectural follies such as these so much more than just plain nature; it's the juxtaposition.
Leave it to the French; this witty nod to the Egyptian Pyramid hides some electrical work and stands about 4' tall.
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.
This part of washington is the residential part of the city. From the zoo you can walk along rock creek park which is in a gorge below these neighborhoods. I've always loved these enormous old decorative bridges that connect these neighborhood. This one spans between Woodley Park and Kalorama.
This iconic mural announces your entry into Woodley Park from Kalorama - recognize the face? Marilyn Monroe of course!
Crossing over the bridge, you come into Kalorama. Kalorama is home to many of the grandest homes in the city built around the turn of last century, many embassies and along Connecticut Ave and the other major roads these GRAND old apartment buildings. Much of the work my firm does is in this area.
This building has this marvelous gazebo on the roof that looks out over the park. I've always wanted to go up there! Also notice the beautifully ornate and colorful corbels under the roof and the surround of the front door -all terra cotta. My dream apartment would be a small one-bedroom up there overlooking the park (pipe-dream maybe, but practical size wise anyway!)
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.
These steps were built in 1911 when the neighborhood was being developed at the height of the city beautiful movement and later were rebuilt (following decades of neglect) in 1999 by a group of neighbors. They now hold a rather romantic character and many a DC girl has been proposed sitting here in summer. Now who needs to go all the way to Rome when we have our own Spanish Steps in our backyard!
Last weekend's weather brought us a beautiful rainbow! I snapped this while crossing the bridge from Woodley Park into Kalorama. I hope it brings a smile to your face! It was actually a double rainbow, you can almost see the 2nd one disappearing in this photo to the right over Kalorama. 
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