Stanley Simmons

An evening dedicated to Stanley Simmons turns the spotlight on one of Washington, D.C.'s most prolific architects. Simmons designed more than 280 buildings across the capital — row houses, fraternal clubs, commercial and institutional structures, and more than 60 apartment houses. His commissions include the National Metropolitan Bank Building, the Fairfax Hotel, and the Hume School, several of which are now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Simmons trained in architecture at the University of Maryland and MIT, and his practice grew through close collaborations with developers Lester A. Barr and his son John L. Barr. Inspired by the Beaux-Arts tradition and the City Beautiful movement, his early 20th-century buildings took on grand Classical Revival and Renaissance Revival forms. The Houston presentation is an all-ages, standing-room affair at House of Blues, with a cashless venue and a relaxed late-night feel.