Christian Heurich House Museum

The tour guide was excellent. I can’t believe this tour is free (suggested donations).

Def a worthwhile gem to visit if u r looking for a historic home to visit. Beautiful architecture & design tricks woven into this home. Docent is informative & gives u a sense of what the period was like as well as the int history of the home.

We finally managed to catch a tour here over the summer. It’s definitely worth the visit. The tour guide was knowledgable and very patient with visitor questions.
4 stars — it’s not as opulent as the society of the Cincinnati around the corner, but it does give some insight on what it must have been like living in the old place so many decades ago. The history is fascinating to me.

Beautiful house. We went for museum day 2014, and they were doing extended hours and self-​guided tours. One perk of the self-​guided option is that you could explore unsupervised and take pics to your heart’s content. However, I imagine we missed some of the interesting stories that a guided tour could offer. Given that it took us less than 30 minutes to walk the entire grounds and take it all in, we probably could use some tales to pad the time. Still, lots of beauty to see and revel in as you imagine living your life in a palace like this. They said the top two floors of the house are closed to the public, and that’s a shame, but still, you get three stories to explore.
The conservatory is especially gorgeous, with huge windows, tons of natural light, and a nice fountain at the head of the room. Our favorite room, though, was the bierstube in the basement. Not only does it feature a large collection of great German steins and nice carved wooden chairs, but the walls are adorned with German sayings that at first glance seem like they might be traditional quotes. Instead, take a look at the translation guide near the door. The gems include «he who has never been drunk is not a good man,» and «never let yourself be pained by thirst, there is many a keg left in the cellar.» Some true words of wisdom right there, folks.
The walls advertised beer-​related events held at the house throughout the year, and our brief tour makes me wanting to come back for some of that fun. Definitely worth the visit.

Live across from this house and they consistently have events that are loud and — to my thinking — inconsiderate of surrounding residents. They often suggest that their events are quiet but there is loud music (including outdoor movie showings) that go on through the evenings for months.
This isn’t a comment on the house, which I think is beautiful and a great historic place. But, I wish they would show consideration for the many apartments nearby.

Hidden gem. Amazing this exists in the hustle and bustle of Dupont; I never noticed it before. Generally very well preserved amazing historic building. Intricate wood carved furniture with a German castle feel. Nice «man cave» in the basement too. Interesting experience, and the tour guides were very friendly. Recommend for something off the beaten path after you’ve done all the museums on the mall.

Took the tour yesterday. I love historic houses, so this was right up my alley. Very well preserved with original furniture, even though it isn’t my style. The workmanship was obviously very high quality.
The one thing that I objected to was the no photography rule. There were so many things I would’ve liked to have had pictures of. The only place you could take photos was in the foyer at the end of the tour. I got a good pic of the inside of the fireplace.
Interesting tidbit for those interested in history. I’m almost done with the book «Devil in the White City» about the Chicago Columbus Exposition in 1893. It was headed by an architect named Burnham. The newel post at the bottom of the stairs is a replica of the newel post in Burnham & Root’s most notable building in Chicago, the Rookery. The original has since been redesigned by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The connection here is that after the Chicago Exposition, Burnham was in great demand. He was brought into DC, along with Olmstead, to beautify DC. Olmstead was the man who designed Central Park and also did the Vanderbuilt estate, among others. Just strange seeing the connections.

4.5 stars.
Super interesting tours with nice tour guides who know an awful lot about Christian Heurich, his house and, just in general, the great city of DC. They were nice enough to let me go in at 1pm even though I had scheduled a 2pm tour. It was just me and two guides so I got to ask as many questions as I wanted and the whole thing felt way more personal. The 5 dollar cost is more than acceptable and I felt this was 100% worthwhile way to spend 1 hour out of the day. I am glad I checked it out on my last day in DC after a three year stint in the area. I am sure every single person reading this has walked by it not knowing what it was, so I recommend you reserve a tour and go in some time!
There are a lot of subtleties within the house, so pay special attention and overall, just enjoy the beautiful old house. The house is a little on the dark side but there is a reason for that and it will be explained

Cyndy’s Bottom Line: Interesting story of the Heurich family.
How many times have you passed the mansion and wondered what it is or who lived there. Excellent docent very knowledgeable telling the story of Christian Heurich.

If you are a beer fan, especially German beer, then you should hear the story. The house and artifacts are great but with so many things to see in DC I would not but this at the top of the list as you can see great houses everywhere. But… if you have time and $ 5 then go! It is worth the money.

The mansion itself is quite beautiful, and almost haunting. The only thing is that there is very limited space to walk around. I understand that they are trying to keep gusts out of the rooms due to the antiquity of the furniture and art work, but you can only see and «feel» so much from the doorway! Since this has been dubbed the «brewmaster’s mansion» i was hoping more would be dedicated to the brew history. Instead it just seem like a home that is preserved. There isn’t much more that can be sad. I was told that Heurich’s granddaughter and daughter are still alive and during special Museum openings the granddaughter comes and provides stories of Mr. Heurich himself, which would’ve definitely been amazing, however my experience there left a lot more to be desired.

I used to work next door to this mansion and never knew what it was. Well, it’s a well preserved historic home that does tours 2 days a week and hosts private events. It’s really gorgous inside — well worth the $ 5 tour, and off the beaten path for tourism.

This Museum definitely falls under the category of «how the hell did I not know about this place sooner?» Lovely little garden (open for the public during lunch time) authentic Victorian (everything in the museum is what the Heurich family used) and they have a nice space for events.
The tours are limited, so definitely check their website.

I recently went back to the Heurich House for the third time, and the tour keeps getting better and better.
Also known as the «Brewmaster’s Castle,» the Heurich House museum is probably the most underrated house tour in DC. That’s because you get several experiences in one:
1: Christian Heurich, the German-​American brewer who built this mansion as his personal residence at the turn of the century, owned and operated the largest brewery in the District. So you get a pretty comprehensive history of the brewery and Christian Heurich’s personal rise to prominence, which is interesting in itself.
2: When he built the home, he was pretty well flush with cash. The inside feels downright regal, and the attention to detail in every corner is amazing. Every time I’ve gone back, I’ve noticed at least 10 new features that had previously gone unnoticed. Overview from their website: «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.»
3: Many of the furnishings and technologies (yes, technologies. central vacuum, working elevator, fireproofing etc…) were inspired or purchased at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. If you’re a World’s Fair junkie like me, this aspect of the house is pretty cool.
4: The tours I’ve been on are all small and intimate. The tour-​guide is incredibly passionate about the house and very accommodating of any question, no matter how detailed (and always has the answer as well…) This is definitely off the «beaten-​path» for tourist destinations in DC, so you’re going to get a more personal experience.
Requested donation at the door is $ 5; Tours run Thursdays and Fridays at 11:30 and 1, and Saturdays at 11:30, 1 and 2:30.
Highlights include the German tavern-​room in the basement, the incredible dining room where every piece of wood and adornment was hand-​carved or crafted on-​site, and the wonderful garden in the back that’s open to the public during the week.
Can’t recommend this place enough!

Super cool tour! Walk-​in tours several times a day, six days a week. Really super interesting and friendly staff. PS. NOT AN OLD BREWERY.

How appropriate that this castle is only a few blocks away from the Brickskeller. It was built by Christian Heurich, the world’s oldest brewer (he died at age 102).
This victorian mansion was constructed in the late 1800’s and still contains the most of the original furniture and décor in its 31 rooms. When I worked nearby, I often had lunch here on the furniture in the garden park which is pretty secluded. .
Presidents drank Heurich’s beer and his brewery was one of the few to survive Prohibition. Why not knock off work early and check this place out, then raise a glass of beer to Mr. Heurich? Make it Foggy Bottom, which his grandson is currently brewing.