Leon E. Dessez Explained

Leon Emil Dessez
Birth Date:12 April 1858
Birth Place:Washington, D.C.
Nationality:American
Occupation:Architect
Known For:Architect, First resident of Chevy Chase, Maryland

Leon Emil Dessez (April 12, 1858 โ€“ December 25, 1918) was an American architect in Washington, D.C. He designed public buildings in the District of Columbia, and residences there and in Maryland, and Virginia, including some of the first in Chevy Chase, Maryland, where he was the community's first resident. His D.C. work includes the 1893 conversion of the Shepherd Centennial Building into the Raleigh Hotel[1] [2] and the Normal School for Colored Girls (1913), designed with Snowden Ashford.

Early life

Dessez was born in Washington, D.C., on April 12, 1858. Bessie Semmes Dessez, mother of Captain J.H.S. Dessez and Elizabeth S. Dessez.[3]

Career

Dessez began his career employed under Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey on plans for the Washington Monument and spent three years as an architectural and engineering draftsman in the Navy Yard at Washington.[4] He and Lindley Johnson of Philadelphia designed the first four houses in Chevy Chase, Maryland and Dessez became its first resident.[5]

Dessez was elected to the American Institute of Architects as fellow 1896. He was one of the Washington, D.C., AIA chapter's charter members in 1887 and he served on a committee for the restoration of the Octagon House, now the AIA headquarters. He also worked pro bono to develop Washington, D.C.'s building codes and investigated school building construction and design. He died in Washington, D.C., on December 25, 1918.

The National Register of Historic Places includes several buildings he designed, including: Lucinda Cady House, 7064 Eastern Ave., NW. Washington, D.C.; Engine House No. 10, 1341 Maryland Ave., NE. Washington, D.C.; Miner Normal School, 2565 Georgia Ave., NW. Washington, D.C.; and Truck Company F, 1336-1338 Park Rd. NW Washington, D.C.[6]

Other works

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lost Washington . John DeFerrari . 2011 . 9781609493653 . .
  2. Goode, Capital Losses: A Cultural History of Washington's Destroyed Buildings, 2003, p. 218.
  3. Web site: Interments in the DC Congressional Cemetery. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131224103513/http://bytesofhistory.com/Cemeteries/DC_Congressional/Obits/D/Obits_Dessez.pdf. 2013-12-24. 2013-12-21. Bytesofhistory.com.
  4. Web site: Leon E. Dessez . archinform.
  5. Book: Historical Dictionary of Washington. Robert Benedetto. Jane Donovan. Kathleen Du Vall. 2003. 9780810840942. . 2013-08-16.
  6. Web site: Query by architect . Elkman.net . 2013-08-16 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120723134422/http://www2.elkman.net/nrhp/querybyarchitect.php . 2012-07-23 .
  7. Web site: Archival Image & Media Collection . Digital-libraries.saic.edu . 2015-02-26.
  8. News: Orton . Kathy . House of the Week | Capitol Hill row house for $3.3 million - Where We Live . . January 4, 2013.
  9. Book: Applewhite, E. J. . Washington Itself: An Informal Guide to the Capital of the United States. . . 1993. 9781568330082.
  10. Book: Scott, Pamela . Buildings of the district of Columbia. . . 1993. 9780195061468.
  11. Book: Recording Historic Structures. . . December 1, 2003. 9780471273806.
  12. Book: Journal of the American Institute of Architects . . . December 25, 1918.
  13. Web site: [House ("residence") for E.J. Stellwagen, Baltimore (i.e., Biltmore) Street and Columbia Road (lot 2, block 2), N.W., Cliffbourne, Washington, D.C. Front elevation] |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |date=1899].
  14. Web site: Maryland Historical Trust - Inventory Form for State Historic Sites Survey . Maryland Historical Trust . 2013-12-21.
  15. Web site: Sah Archipedia . Sah Archipedia . 2013-08-16.
  16. Web site: A Guide to the James Goode Photograph Collection, Circa 1750s, 1759, 1892, 1899 James Goode Photograph Collection VC 0010 . Ead.lib.virginia.edu . 2008-07-28 . 2013-08-16.
  17. Web site: Footsteps of Achievement : The Historic Kappa Heritage Trail . Wdchumanities.org . 26 February 2015.
  18. Web site: 1997.01.02.09 . Chevychasehistory.pastperfect-online.com . 2013-08-16.
  19. Web site: Powell Junior High School (demolished) | Flickr โ€“ Condivisione di foto! . Flickr.com . 2008-05-07 . 2013-08-16.
  20. Web site: Cause sought in Field Club blaze ยป The Times West Virginian . Timeswv.com . 2013-08-16 . dead . https://archive.today/20130630105816/http://timeswv.com/intodayspaper/x681671875/Cause-sought-in-Field-Club-blaze/print . 2013-06-30 .