Andrew Jackson Downing originally designed the D.C. Mall. Championed the “balloon frame made out of two-by-fours spaced 18 inches apart rather than the older, and more expensive, post-and-beam method of construction. Balloon-frame homes did not require skilled craftsmen and could rapidly be constructed by two or three men having basic carpentering skills.” (72)

(Palen, J. John. The Suburbs. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995. Print.)