Racing to Save a Victorian Gem
Backers of D.C.'s 'Brewmaster's Castle,' Now a Museum, Must Raise Thousands
By Sue Anne Pressley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 3, 2006; B01
At Christian Heurich's mansion, near Dupont Circle, it looks as if the German-born brewer just stepped away – back in 1894. Little has changed inside, from the plush patterned carpets to the pale painted ceilings. But now the "Brewmaster's Castle," the site of many a wedding and other happy event, is facing a serious threat from the modern world.
Unless supporters of the Victorian-era museum raise $250,000 by Feb. 15, the property, at 1307 New Hampshire Ave. NW, will face foreclosure and might be sold, according to Friends of the Castle, a group trying to save the facility.
The sale of the mansion – supporters fear it could become a restaurant, a law office or even an embassy – would mean the loss of one of the last intact examples of late Victorian decor in the country and a showcase for a piece of D.C. history often overshadowed by the federal story.
"This is the last grand splash of high Victoriana," said docent Mary Anne Hoffman as she led a visitor through the 31-room house, filled with the original furnishings – gold mirrors, carved woodwork, bathrooms with gilded tubs. "It's a time capsule."
Christian Heurich, orphaned as a boy, made his way to Washington in 1872, where he started a brewing company, one of the few industries in the District beyond the government. Heurich, as he prospered, had an understandable phobia – his first two beer breweries burned to the ground – so he decided to fireproof his new family home and outfit it with the latest technology. The house has 15 fireplaces, with elaborate mantelpieces reaching to the ceiling, in which no fire has ever been lighted.
Built from 1892 to 1894 of reinforced steel and poured concrete, the mansion was considered a "smart house," with central heating, indoor plumbing, a burglar alarm and speaker tubes for summoning far-flung servants. The lot, the home and its furnishings cost $71,840, said Gary Heurich, Christian Heurich's grandson and a member of Friends of the Castle.
By strict order, the decor remained frozen in time. The brewer, who outlived his first two wives, would not allow his third wife to change the furnishings purchased by his second wife, who was in charge when the home was built. "The toilet-paper holders are still there," said Kathryn Smith, a Washington historian, who called the site "of enormous value" in telling "a story of immigration in Washington, a story of small industry and also a story of a family."
Christian Heurich died in 1945 at the age of 102.
For almost 50 years, the mansion was home to what is now the Historical Society of Washington. In 2003, the castle was about to be sold and turned into a restaurant, Gary Heurich said, when the nonprofit Heurich House Foundation was formed and borrowed $5.5 million to buy the property.
Although the museum, which attracts about 8,400 visitors a year, is now self-supporting, interest payments have increased by $150,000 a year, he said. That has broken the budget and forced the Feb. 15 deadline for a debt payment of $250,000. Because the mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places, the exterior cannot be altered, Heurich said, but the contents are unprotected.
As one of its pleas, Friends of the Castle has sent e-mails to about 2,000 area residents detailing "the crisis at the Brewmaster's Castle" and asking recipients to pass the word "to five or more people" who "share your concern." The effort has raised more than $17,000, Heurich said. Auctions and other fundraisers are in the works.
"The real loss," he said, "would be if it is no longer open to the public."
For residents such as Sarah McKechnie, there is no need to explain the value and beauty of the Brewmaster's Castle. McKechnie, a clinical exercise specialist, was married there last year to Mark Sakaley, a Justice Department analyst, in a ceremony filled with candlelight and poetry readings.
"It was fabulous," she said. "It really is a romantic oasis in the heart of D.C."
