WASHINGTON, DC

[ HOME ] [ TOURS ] [ HISTORY ] [ DIRECTIONS ] [ EVENT RENTALS ] [ CONTACT ]

HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN HEURICH HOUSE

The Heurich Mansion was built in 1892-1894, during Dupont Circle’s golden era as the city’s premier residential neighborhood, by German immigrant, American citizen, brewer, real estate magnate, and philanthropist, Christian Heurich (HI-rick).

The mansion was the city’s first fireproof home, having been built of reinforced steel and poured concrete, a novel construction technique at the time, and unheard of for residential construction. To ensure its safety, none of the fireplaces were ever used, and the top of the tower features a salamander, in mythology, a creature that guards against fire.

A distinguished example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, this Category Two Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places enjoys a reputation as the most intact late-Victorian home in Washington D.C., and has been featured on A&E’s "America’s Castles" and HGTV’s "Dream Builders."

The 31-room home is replete with hand-carved wood, 15 fireplaces with individually carved mantles and cast bronze fire backs, hand-painted ceiling canvases, luxuriously furnished rooms, and original turn-of-the-century Heurich family collections.  

It is also noted for incorporating the most modern technology of the day, including full indoor plumbing, circulating hot water heat, central vacuum system, venting skylight, elevator shaft, pneumatic and electric communication systems, and combination gas and electric lighting fixtures.

The Brewmaster’s Castle lends itself well as a way to tell the story of one of Washington’s most successful businessmen, of the role of Germans in the growth of the nation’s capital, of residential life in Washington’s premier residential neighborhood in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and as a showcase of hand craftsmanship and modern construction techniques of the era.

THE WORLD’S OLDEST BREWER

Continuing to actively manage his brewery until his death in The Brewmaster’s Castle in 1945 at 102, Christian Heurich was renowned as the world’s oldest brewer, was Washington’s second largest landowner (after the federal government), the largest employer of Germans in the nation’s capital, and was regarded as the patriarch of the Washington business community and of the American brewing industry.

In October 1872, Heurich and a partner took over a brewery located a block south of the home at 1229 20th Street, NW; on 2 August 1873, Heurich bought his partner’s interest and established his own brewery.  Within 10 years, Heurich became the largest and most successful brewer in the nation’s capital, and twice expanded his 20^th Street brewery until it ran most of the length of both sides of the block from M to N Streets.

In 1894-1895, the remarkable growth of his beer business led him to build his third, and Washington’s largest brewery, on over a city block in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood, which is now the site of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Also built of poured concrete and reinforced steel, a technique for which Heurich was considered a pioneer, it was the first fireproof brewery in the United States.

HEURICH FAMILY PHILANTHROPY

In May 1955, Heurich’s widow, Amelia, donated the family home to the Columbia Historical Society (now The Historical Society of Washington, D.C.) as a memorial to her late-husband, and for use as the Society’s first permanent headquarters.  Founded in 1894 to collect, preserve, and teach the history of the nation’s capital, the Society occupied the Heurich Mansion from Amelia Heurich’s death in 1956 until it relocated to the City Museum in 2003.

At the time Christian Heurich, Jr. watched his mother present the deed for the family home to the Historical Society, its president was General Ulysses S. Grant, III, who served from 1952 until his death in 1968.

SAVED FROM BECOMING A RESTAURANT

In fall 2001, the Historical Society put the landmark up for sale, in preparation for its move to the City Museum it had established at the Carnegie Library on Mt. Vernon Square.

The following year, the Society was on the verge of selling the home to a restaurateur who intended to turn it into a private club, when, for the fourth time in 47 years, the Heurich family stepped in to save this nationally renowned landmark, and to secure it’s future as a cultural treasure.

CONTINUES ROLE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

With an audience of the region's more than 5 million residents and 22 million visitors who come to the nation's capital each year, the museum re-opened to the public in September 2003.

The Victorian garden remains open on weekdays as a unique respite from the downtown bustle, and the museum is available for private tours and special event rentals.

The Heurich House Foundation’s goal is to preserve for perpetuity this unique cultural resource, optimize its educational and cultural role, effect complete conservation and restoration efforts, and augment existing endowments to ensure its financial vitality.

The Foundation welcomes your participation...by bringing friends to tour the landmark...by spreading the word of The Heurich House...or by making a contribution to help retire the debt incurred to purchase and preserve this historic resource.

TIMELINE    SALAMANDER    TOP   CONTACT