The Oswego and The Exeter - View this location on map These twin apartment houses are notable among Washington's early multiple-family dwellings. Built soon after the 1896 opening of an electrified streetcar line on U Street, the Oswego (built 1900) and the Exeter (built 1904), reflect the changing nature of housing in an increasingly urbanized city. This type of moderately priced and attractively designed apartment house, conveniently located in an established neighborhood, helped to popularize apartment living for Washington's middle class. The buildings demonstrate an early use of the same design for twin buildings, which was to become a much-used technique for architects and developers in providing economical apartment housing. The buildings are the earliest extant apartment commission (at age 29) of architect B. Stanley Simmons, who went on to design more than 60 apartment houses in the city; they also represent the work of developers Lester Barr and Franklin Sanner. Each is three stories, T-shaped in plan with facades of tan brick atop a limestone base, with stone lintels, and sheet metal pediments and cornices; facades mix late Victorian and early Colonial Revival elements, including bay-like center pavilions with attenuated pilasters and pedimented door surrounds. 1330 U Street, NW, Washington , DC Historical

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