Glenwood Cemetery Chapel

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Built in 1892, the Glenwood Cemetery Mortuary Chapel is a significant example of the Romanesque Revival style of architecture, exemplifying the widespread influence of the design principles of Henry Hobson Richardson. The building is the notable work of Glenn Brown, one of the most influential Washington architects of his generation and a national leader of the American Institute of Architects.

The Chapel epitomizes the design principles Brown espoused early in his career, before initiating a seminal campaign to improve the planning and architecture of the federal city along classical lines. The building is the focal feature of Glenwood Cemetery, a product of the "rural cemetery" movement (chartered in 1854, after an 1852 ordinance that banned cemeteries within the city limits). The chapel is centered within a central circle on the picturesque undulating grounds laid out by civil engineer George F. de la Roche. The chapel is built of Flemish bond brick, with a massive steep-pitched slate roof, dormers, a Syrian-arched entrance, and a rose window.

DC Inventory: August 17, 1988
National Register: January 9, 1989