The renovated Jefferson Hotel has gotten tons of great press since it re-opened in August, capped off yesterday with a call-out on the Today Show for making Conde Nast Traveler’s annual Hot List of newly opened hotels and spas (you can see the Today clip here). But what gets overlooked is that all the things that make this renovation special — the interior architecture and design, elaborate plasterwork, decorative painting and gilding, and art — come from local sources.
The front entry looks toward The Plume restaurant (where I had a very elegant breakfast today). The plasterwork and decorative painting here were done by Baltimore firms. Photograph by Stirling Elmendorf
The Georgetown architecture firm ForrestPerkins was the architect of record for the entire interior renovation. “We designed everything — we designed the rugs, we designed the lighting, we designed the furniture,” Stephen Perkins told me. They commissioned Kravet Fabrics to create fabric colors exclusively for the Jefferson.
In case you haven’t stayed there yet, here are some guest room interiors:
All guest room photography by Hoachlander Davis Photography
I especially love the floor tile here.
ForrestPerkins not only re-thought the room layouts in this 1923 building, but its interior design scheme, I think, is a nice nod to tradition but with notes of contemporary flair at the same time, such as the orange throw and bolster on the bed, and the neoclassic (Jeffersonian?) toile on the drapes.
There are more than one thousand pieces of framed art throughout the rooms and public areas of the hotels — all provided by one person: Evelyn Avery, a fine art dealer who employs artisans to make handmade frames (full disclosure: I recently signed on with Evelyn to do freelance writing and representation for her). Avery, whose workshop is in Atlanta, recently leased a condo at the Ritz to showcase her collection of art and frames for DC clients.
Some of Avery's framed pieces are visible in this corridor. The plasterwork was done by Hayles & Howe in Baltimore, which also has a workshop in England that has done work in Buckingham Palace. Photograph by Stirling Elmendorf
The renovation team brought in Bill Adair, the owner of Gold Leaf Studios here in DC, which provided some antique frames for artwork and also gilded the bed frames in some of the suites.
One example of Gold Leaf's finish work is at the reservations desk for The Plume.
Here's a delightful closeup of the tiny painting of Monticello on the reservations desk.
The team also contacted The Valley Craftsmen in Baltimore to paint metallic highlights on the plaster — you can see the silver highlights in this picture I took this morning of the ceiling in the lobby:
"It's very intricate -- it requires a unique kind of artistic temperament to hang on and do it," Vice President Tim Thompson said. His company is currently working on decorative elements in the new Buddha Bar at New York Avenue and H Street.
I had a chance to talk to Franck Arnold, the managing director for the Jefferson, whose background includes stints at the Four Seasons in Chicago and several InterContinental properties. He signed on with the Jefferson prior to the renovation in 2005, and saw the project through from start to finish. Needless to say, he is pleased with the results — and the publicity.
Franck Arnold stands in front of "the nest" dining alcove in The Plume.
The Jefferson was mentioned on The Today Show directly after a conversation about a piece in Conde Nast Traveler about first lady Michelle Obama and her boosterism for Washington. “It feels like Mrs. Obama herself is making the [hotel] selection,” Arnold said. “Automatically, people assign The Jefferson as the first lady’s choice.”
The hotel, he added, “is a very nice vitrine — it showcases the city. It’s a very nice American hotel with European flair.”
How nice that our local talents contributed so much to that flair.
Jennifer Sergent. Native Washingtonian. Former editor at Washington Spaces magazine and HGTV. Currently searching for – and writing about – DC’s design voices. Write to me @
I’m ready to make a reservation! How wonderful the design and decor are in line with the time period Virginia is known for. The rooms are beautifully decorated, down to the framed intaglios and arched mirrors. I’m anxious to see it all for myself.
I love the corridor w/the black and white tiles and the dark walls – really stunning.
Wow the tile in the bathroom is breathtaking! I love the color palette of this Hotel -so unique and soothing.
What a beautiful hotel! The guest rooms are so sophisticated, soft and relaxing, and a bit unexpected for a hotel. I love the neoclassic features throughout which is perfect for a hotel in DC. The city should be very proud!
Looks lovely. May have to stay there next time my husband and I do a date night.
Thanks so much for your complimentary piece!
I am an associate at ForrestPerkins, the design/architecture firm responsible for the complete renovation. Specifically, I worked with our principal Deborah Lloyd Forrest on the design of the fabrics upon which you commented, and which Kravet produced for us. You and your readers might be interested in the back-story.
We researched Jefferson’s life and interests thoroughly, and designed two distinct toile fabrics for the hotel. One, in a free-handed “painterly” style, depicts Monticello and its grounds and environs. The plants and trees shown are examples of the plants and trees Jefferson himself selected. Besides Monticello itself, the Pavillion in Jefferson’s garden, where he would sit to observe and write about his plants, and the “Honeymoon Cottage” which was the first building he constructed on the site and in which he and his bride lived while the great house was being built, are portrayed.
The second toile, which you noted as a “Neoclassical (Jeffersonian?) toile”, is indeed Jeffersonian. One of our architects hand-rendered several of Jefferson’s most distinctive buildings, including Monticello and The Rotunda at the University of Virginia, along with architectural details and plans, presented almost in “blueprint” form.
Kravet developed and printed these fabrics, and while the three colorways you will see in the hotel are proprietary to The Jefferson, two other colorways of both designs are now available through Kravet showrooms to the residential market.
Diane, thanks for this very interesting back story. I’ll have to contact Kravet to get closer-up images of those fabrics.