Christian Heurich House Museum

Christian Heurich House Museum Review

This opulent Romanesque Revival mansion, once known as the Brewmaster's Castle, was the home of Christian Heurich, a German orphan who made his fortune in the beer business. Heurich's brewery was in Foggy Bottom, where the Kennedy Center stands today. Most of the furnishings in the house were owned and used by the Heurichs. The Victorian interior is an eclectic gathering of plaster detailing, carved wooden doors, and painted ceilings. The downstairs breakfast room, in which Heurich, his wife, and their three children ate most of their meals, is decorated like a Ratskeller and adorned with German sayings such as "A good drink makes old people young."

Heurich must have taken proverbs seriously. He drank beer daily, had three wives (in succession), and lived to be 102. (In 1986 Heurich's grandson Gary started brewing the family beer again, now renamed Foggy Bottom Lager. Though the beer is currently from Utica, New York, Gary vows to someday build another brewery near Washington.) The current owners, descendants of Christian Heurich, offer guided tours and rent the house for special events.