The DC Traveler

In the heart of Georgetown, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of retail shops, offices and restaurants, is The Old Stone House. It’s the oldest building on its original site in Washington DC.

The Old Stone House is an excellent example of pre-Revolutionary Vernacular architecture. Built in 1765 before the District was even planned as the nation’s capital; it reflects an early-American middle-class home and cabinetmaker’s workshop.

Before being purchased by the Federal government in 1953, it housed among other things, a paint store, a clock store, a haberdashery, a tavern (perhaps) and even a used car sales office.

Now furnished with period furniture, the home echoes a slice of 18th century colonial life.

Persistent rumors that George Washington used the building as his office when he was determining the site of the new Federal City and that Major Pierre Charles L’Enfant used it as the Engineering Office when designing the city’s layout have never been proven. Yet perhaps… Washington may in fact have slept here!

Now managed by the National Park Service, it is open for free tours Wednesday through Sunday, Noon - 5:00 p.m. The bookstore is open daily from Noon - 5:00 p.m. And the English-style garden is open for self-tours every day during daylight hours. Simply enter through the M Street gate.

The Old Stone House
3051 M Street, NW, Washington, DC (1½ blocks east of Wisconsin Ave., between 30th and 31st Streets, NW)

Nearest Metro station: Foggy Bottom - Blue/Orange Line (about 0.8 miles) and Dupont Circle - Red Line (about 1.1 miles)

From the National Mall area or downtown, take the DC Circulator - Georgetown-Union Station route to M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, NW.

Photo Credits: Photo 1: flickr, Photo 2: flickr

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