Architectural walking tours of Washington,D.C.
Bill Lebovich, former National Park Service historian, architectural historian and photographer, and former adjunct college faculty member, gives weekday and weekend tours of Lafayette Square, Embassy Row, Dupont Circle, Capitol Hill, Georgetown, historic downtown and museums, and custom tours.
To schedule a tour, get additional information, reviews, 
or ask questions, email me at architecturalphoto@mac.com or call (301) 467-2831.
Late 18th century log cabin and pre Civil War stone house, Maryland
Late 19th century textured architecture
In the Adams Morgan section of Washington,DC, an upscale bohemian neighborhood of row houses and distinctive restaurants featuring international tastes, there is equally impressive architecture.
This late 19th century large residence (now residences) shows variety of materials (brick and copper), range of colors (yellowish brick and nearly black copper), and narrow brick with tight joints suggesting weaving, and visual interest through the detailed panels and contrast between various rounds and flat surfaces and roofline.
Watergate update
In 1972 the burglars of the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate rented two rooms at the Howard Johnson’s on Virginia Ave.,across from the Watergate.
The owner of the former Howard Johnson’s, George Washington University, has gutted the building, destroying any remnants of the burglars’ rooms.
HoJo’s will probably not be renamed after Richard M. Nixon.
Unexpected consequences that can occur with photo-editing.
Applying an old principle of black and white film photography that it is better to get the image right at the time of shooting, rather than depending on manipulating in the darkroom, I limit my editing of digital images.
For a photo of an early 19th structure along the C & O canal I could not get far enough back and I had to tilt the camera up, resulting in considerable converging of vertical lines.
I used software to straighten the lines resulting in, unfortunately, cropping of the building.
But much more disturbing was the distortion of the second story windows.
At least I was able to get undistorted images of the end and canal side of the building by crossing the canal.
Andrew Lebovich quoted in today’s New York Times
1801 house on the C & O Canal restored, in 1976 (Bicentennial Project) by National Park Service with assistance of Colonial Dames Chapter III.
Senator John McCain
Yesterday’s New York Times deferentially described the Senator as “being known for his independent streak.”  “Feisty” is another word more often associated with Senator McCain.  But in 1998 I interviewed him for an article in Southwest Art and I was struck by how gracious, soft-spoken he and Mrs. McCain were and his warm feelings towards his staff.  Most striking was sense of equality in the office.  Unlike other offices in the U.S. Capitol, his staff were not jammed together in a small space, while the senator or representative had a massive office at the end of the office, with a grand view of the National Mall.  Senator McCain’s desk and office were only slightly larger than those of staff and in the middle of the suite, 
without the grand view.
The two photographs behind the Senator were gifts from his predecessor Barry Goldwater and it is Goldwater’s desk that McCain now uses. Â To the right of these photographs is one of two Edward S. Curtis images on loan from the Smithsonian Institution.
The remnants of McKim,Mead & White’s Pennsylvania Station, Manhattan
Finished in 1910 and surviving until 1963, Penn Station was Classical Revival architecture at its most monumental and expressive, designed by the leading Classical Revival firm.
The eagle sculpture from the building survives at a commuter stop on the  Long Island Railroad.
A sad commentary on the state of railroads and civic pride in this country 50 years ago.
Capital Trail, Delacarlia Tunnel under MacArthur Blvd.
Built 1910 as tunnel for railroad 
 moving coal between Maryland and Georgetown.
Notice one of the alcoves for someone walking on the tracks to duck into and avoid oncoming train.
The  buttresses flanking the round arched opening and the detailed cornice, along with emphatic barrel vault,  are appropriately architectonic for the powerful railroad engine and its load.
Photographing History 