Former Hamilton Arms to be Redeveloped

At the ANC meeting this week, a plan was presented to renovate the group of properties between 1220 and 1234 31st St. For many years this complex has been called Hamilton Court and it was primarily used for offices. But in the middle part of the the 20th century, it was called the Hamilton Arms, and it was a truly wild and original place.

Hamilton Arms was created by a retired colonel named Milo Brinkley in 1939. Originally centered around a coffee shop, the property was home to dozens of dwellings that attracted a distinctly bohemian crowd. It was supposedly the location of DC’s first salad bar and pot party.

I wrote more at length about the property way back in 2009, but in response to the possible renovation of the property, I dug back into the archives for photos of just how off-beat the property was.

Famously the property had a swimming pool that the community would gather around nightly. By the time the Arms closed up in the late 70s, it was in fairly rough shape:

But that’s partially because the city condemned its use as a swimming pool in the 1953:

Brinkley later joked to the Washington Post that the city actually saved him some grief with the condemnation (although a resident disagreed…):

The coffee shop actually closed in 1957 due to losing its liquor license (for being too close to the Christian Science church). (An article at the time stated that the coffee shop actually existed for 22 years prior to 1939 at 1514 31st St., but I could not verify that). This is what the coffee shop looked like:

Another notable feature for the property was the extensive ceramic work that Colonel Brinkley’s daughter Mary applied throughout the complex to walls and furniture. Unfortunately I could not find a good photo of that, but here is Mary cutting the pieces in 1968:

The story of this property is so rich, and it’s a great example of how much fascinating (and frankly weird) history in Georgetown can often fade to black. I hope the redevelopment can bring it back into the light.