Harrison Street Apartments are examples of Garden Apartment Buildings. They were designed by skilled Washington design architect Appleton P. Clark and were constructed in 1936. Clark had a varied architectural practice producing some of the city’s finest Victorian residences and many other important apartment commissions. His more public work for DC Public Schools and local sanitary housing companies the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company and Washington Sanitary Housing Company established Clark as one of Washington’s most influential architects. Although the Harrison Street Apartments were built by a private owner, Michael A. Mess, they exemplify many of the characteristics of Washington’s 1930s sanitary housing.
