The historic columns of the Willard Hotel are now decked out in holiday cheer.
There has been a hotel at this location since 1816. Rightly so, due to its location being just a 15-minute walk to the White House. This is a special place where everything seems to happen decade after decade.
The Willard Hotel undoubtedly has a unique spirit or sense of place. The classical Roman term Genius Loci definitely applies here. The term means a spirit of a place, which can also be a guardian spirit. Basically, it's an intangible quality that you can be perceived spiritually and physically. It's as if all the past people who have tread the hallways of this building left something of themselves behind for us to sense.
The Willard's spirit is complicated and lively. Political parties, wedding parties, corporate parties, famous writers, songwriters, musicians, motion picture people and regular people have all contributed to the spirit of this place. Henry Willard, the former chief steward of the seamer Niagara, acquired the property in 1847. He converted six disparate structures into one four-story swanky hotel, the center of Washington society. Every U.S. President since Franklin Pierce has either stayed at the Willard or attended events there.
President-elect Abraham Lincoln stayed there for 11 days awaiting his inauguration. In 1865, John Wilkes Booth was seen giving glaring looks at General Grant's wife in the dining room of the Willard. This occurred on the very day of Lincoln's assassination.
Julia Ward Howe stayed there. Union soldiers marching by singing John Brown's Body inspired her to write The Battle Hymn of the Republic while at the Willard.
President Grant loved to sit by the lobby fireplace at the Willard, smoke a cigar and drink. He was pestered by people seeking favors. Legend has it that he coined the term "lobbyist" there.
Calvin Coolidge lived there his entire term as vice president and part of his term as president.
Martin Luther King stayed at the Willard in the days leading up to the I Have a Dream speech in 1963.
P. T. Barnum, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, the Duke of Windsor, Harry Houdini, Gloria Swanson, and Charles Dickens have all called the Willard home, at least for a night.
The Willard was expanded into a 12 story Beaux-Arts structure in 1901, fell into disrepair in the late 1960s, was miraculously saved from demolition, and fully restored to its full grandeur in 1986.
Historic details abound. State seals appear in the plaster work of the lobby's ceiling.
The place is absolutely stunning. And the best thing is you don't need to pay thousands of dollars to experience it. You can hang out in the lobby at no charge.
Decades ago, my friend, Skip, would frequently take his sack lunch in the lobby while working at the Department of Energy. Fond memories. Don't be shy, open the palatial doors, stroll through Peacock Alley, and absorb some of the spirit.
Take a walk with Birkenstock.
