Recall the -gate suffix that has become synonymous with scandals? That all began here at the Watergate Complex. It started 50 years ago.
This luxury complex has modernist buildings. It sits on the banks of the Potomac River. The Watergate is an icon like no other in Washington.
The Watergate was a pioneering example of urban redevelopment. It aimed to renew an aging industrial area. It offered urban and suburban amenities. The design was conceived by 1961. It was substantially complete by 1971. The six interconnected buildings include Watergate East. There is also 2600 Virginia Avenue. The Watergate Hotel is here. You will also find Watergate West. Watergate South is included and 600 New Hampshire Avenue.
The Watergate is an early example of expansive views over rivers and parks. It was a striking departure from the city’s planning and architectural traditions. It offered a mix of uses creating a self-contained unit. But in doing so, it erased an older urban fabric of buildings and streets. It left an insular town within the city.
The Watergate was also a visually striking addition to the city. Curvilinear forms relate the buildings to each other and to the site. Concrete is used both as a structural and finish material. This was one of the earliest projects to employ computer-aided design. Luigi Moretti designed the Watergate. He was an Italian Futurist architect. This is perhaps his most famous work.
The landscape design accentuates the space. There are plantings and fountains. Pools are on successive gentle terraces. They afford views toward the river.
The Watergate is notorious in American history. It is the location of the bungled break-in. It happened at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972. The subsequent cover-up led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. The word “Watergate” entered the lexicon. Scores of derivative “-gate” scandals followed.
The Watergate became one of Washington’s most desirable addresses. That happened when construction completed on the first building in 1965. The ten-acre campus was designed to be a city within a city. It included apartments and generous sized offices. It even had a hotel. Upscale amenities and retail stores were included. Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Valentino were here.
The building has long attracted high-profile Beltway types. Celebrities stayed here. Nancy Reagan and her girlfriends were known as the Gucci coochi cost too muchi group. Bette Davis could be spotted drunk in the lobby. She clutched a paper bag of mini booze bottles. Katharine Hepburn made her own breakfast with steak and eggs. She bought them from the Watergate supermarket. Playwright Tennessee Williams left behind his latest manuscript. A hotel employee recovered it behind the headboard.
The Watergate is where political heavyweights partied. Georgetown hostesses were here. Well-connected socialites and influential makers enjoyed themselves. They had long strings of pearls and dark money. Democrat or Republican. It didn’t matter. The Watergate kept its secrets.
Monica Lewinsky lived next to Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole. Bob Dole once sent a dozen doughnuts. He sent them to the journalists staking out Monica’s apartment. This happened after her affair with President Clinton went public. Jacqueline Mars lived here. She was the heiress to the Mars candy fortune. Tenor Plácido Domingo lived here. Clare Boothe Luce also stayed here. She was a journalist, politician. She was the wife of the Time-Life publisher, Henry Luce.
Republican socialite Anna Chennault held court from her penthouse apartment. She hosted high profile guests. They included Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and J. Edgar Hoover.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hosted annual holiday festivities. She prepared meat dishes hunted by Justice Scalia. Condoleezza Rice owned two apartments. One was her gym and guesthouse. Her soirees were dignified. Rice played the piano. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma played too. Sometimes Attorney General John Ashcroft was on the keys.
Nixon’s 1968 election put the Watergate on the map. It became the residential seat of power. It was nicknamed the Republican Bastille.
The Watergate was home to many in Nixon’s cabinet. Attorney General John Mitchell lived here. His wife Martha did too. Economic advisor Herbert Stein was a resident. Secretary of Commerce Maurice Stans lived here. Transportation Secretary John Volpe stayed here. Nixon’s personal secretary Rose Mary Woods resided here. All became household names. Their roles in the reelection scandal plagued Nixon’s presidency in 1972.
The smallest residential units originally sold for $17,000. The sprawling penthouse apartments sold for $200,000. A typical resident was about 50. They arrived with more dogs than children.
Today, guest key cards say, “No need to break in.” The phone number is 617-1972. That stands for June 17 1972. The Watergate embraces its scandalous history.