Welcome to The Ontario

The Ontario, completed in 1906, is a landmark apartment building notable both for its eclectic Beaux Arts architecture and for its interesting history. Located in a quiet part of Washington's diverse and popular Adams Morgan neighborhood, the Ontario has been a cooperative since 1953. Some residents work in, or are retired from, politics, law, and government; several are active in the performing and visual arts; others are employed in higher education, medical research, the media, and a variety of other fields. As of this writing, one is a college student, two are in high school, and one is in diapers. Many residents serve on the building's various committees, overseeing everything from the cooperative's annual budget to its herb garden.

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ANYONE who has spent time at the Ontario and looked around has probably wondered why some things are the way they are. In a search for answers, best guesses and informed conjecture, I enlisted the help of Mara Newsome and Alma Hostetler, both of whom have devoted expertise and countless hours to the Ontario over decades of residence, and the Ontario files.

The files from January 1964 to December 1966 reveal that in those three years the building faced what was surely the most serious and complex concentration of challenges to its viability in its nearly 100-year history. Many of the things we are curious about today date from that time, and most are directly related to increasing security and safety.