Heurich House Museum

The Heurich House Museum’s mission is to explore the American Experience through the legacy of German immigrant Christian Heurich and his Washington, DC brewery, and to create a just path to success for local small-scale manufacturers. The museum works to reinvent the traditional historic house museum model by bridging Heurich’s world with modern DC. We explore the city’s unique history and connect it to today’s local small businesses, artisans, and craft beer makers through innovative programming that cannot be found anywhere else in the community.

Our dual mission of public history education and public service relates directly to our core philosophy: that house museums should be dynamic places that are relevant to our modern communities. For many years, Heurich’s story was the museum’s focal point, with other voices left out of the narrative. Our mission today: (1) expands our historic interpretation to include people whose voices had been muted, and (2) extends the service we provide our community by giving business support to modern small-scale manufacturers.

The Heurich mansion was built in 1892-4 for German-American immigrant Christian Heurich (1842-1945), whose brewery was the largest in DC and a household name. It is the city's best-preserved example of Richardsonian Romanesque residential architecture and one of the most landmarked interiors in DC. The mansion incorporated many technological advancements, including metal speaking tubes, electric lighting, burglar alarms, and "fireproofing." The interior decoration and furnishings were made by numerous German-American craftspeople. The house remained in the Heurich family until 1956, when it was bequeathed to DC’s Historical Society. In 2003, a family-created non-profit purchased the house and turned it into a museum.

For more information, visit www.heurichhouse.org or call 202-429-1894.