Stoneleigh Court, completed in 1902, was home to many Washington notables over the years, including Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. The view above shows the corner of Connecticut Avenue on the right and L Street NW on the left. The Blake Building went up on the site in 1966 and maintained a little hint of the Stoneleigh Court appearance.

Although I didn't "join" immediately, I've been viewing Shorpy since the beginning. You would think I would be used to finding out that the buildings we are looking at are gone. Apparently not. When I saw this one, I set to packing and calling the moving company. Vonderbees caught me just in time, and I'm sitting here in tears. Sigh. Fire hazard, whatever, they always find an excuse.

Alas, the razing of these beautiful masonry buildings had less to do with beauty and more to do with safety. A series of particularly lethal fires in the 40s and 50s, such as the Chicago Our Lady of Angels fire in 1958, led to much stricter building and fire codes being implimented in the US. For most buildings built before World War I, it wasn't financially feasible to retrofit the buildings to make them safe. Most were torn down to make way for safer, albeit uglier, structures.

Kind of amazing at the lifespan some of these great masonry buildings had; short ones I mean. 57 years is just barely "broke in".

Here's more information on this great building which is now sadly gone:

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/2618/lost-washington-stoneleigh...

Three one-legged ghosties in one pic.

[There are at least four one-leggers.]