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DC One of Washington's best-kept secrets, The Brewmaster's Castle is the most intact late-Victorian home in the country, and a Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. The Christian Heurich Mansion was built in 1892 by a German immigrant, who became one of Washington's wealthiest and most distinguished citizens and philanthropists. Born in 1842, Christian Heurich became a brewmaster while still in Europe and arrived in the United States at the close of the Civil War.
By 1873 he was the sole owner of the Christian Heurich Lager Beer Brewery, which later became the Christian Heurich Brewing Company. On April 19, 1955, Mrs. Heurich deeded the "Christian Heurich Memorial Mansion" to the Historical Society, which received the building shortly after her death on January 24, 1956, and occupied it until 2003. The interior of the house, including most of the family furniture, has been carefully preserved much as it was when the Heurichs lived there.
Some of the most interesting interior elements in the house include: the curving staircase made of brass, marble and onyx; the elaborately carved wooden fireplaces in nearly every room; the large quantities of gold leaf decoration; and the richly ornamented bathtubs and washbasins. The mansion was recently returned to the Heurich family when the Historical Society sold it to the family-operated Heurich House Foundation, which has pledged to preserve the house and continue to operate it as a museum. |
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