This collage shows different angles of one of Washington DC’s lesser-known architectural wonders. The Heurich House, aka the “Brewmaster’s Castle,” is located in DC’s trendy Dupont Circle neighborhood. Built between 1892-1894 for the German immigrant Christian Heurich and his wife Mathilde, the Heurich House is a terrific example of Richardsonian Romanesque, one of my favorite architectural styles.
Christian Heurich’s life was marked by extremes of fortune. Orphaned by age 14, he lost his first two wives from typical 19th-century maladies: pneumonia and miscarriage. His first brewing business partner in the US also died early on. On the other hand Heurich was crazy successful in the German brewery he established, which became the second major employer (after the Federal Government) of Washington DC. His third marriage also lasted over four decades, and he died aged 102.
And then, there was his mansion.
Boy howdy did Heurich go big on this one. Check out the puffy bricks, the ratios of the multiple arches, the recessed interior of the main entrance, and the round tower with the conical cap. All of these are hallmarks of the “Richard Richardsonian Romanesque” style that was super popular in the last decades of the 19th century. Richardson was one of America’s most signature architects (like Louis Sullivan — the skyscraper “form follows function” guy, and Frank Lloyd “Fallingwater and good architect/bad engineer person). He inserted elements of Medieval Romanesque with his own spin into his buildings, and his style was copied by many other architects. You can spot a Richardsonian Romanesque building easily, and if your town has buildings from this era, I bet you have a Richardsonian example.
The Heurich House was built by John Granville Meyers, and it was probably his finest DC edifice. Meyers had come from Pennsylvania and had no academic training. However, he was, like Heurich, a German immigrant, and delivered his Richardsonian mansion as a sort of cumulation of a 30-year career.
The Heurich House became a museum open to the public in 2003. Make sure you check ahead for openings and tour times.
Sources: https://heurichhouse.org/. Wikipedia Richard Richardson. Society for Architectural Historians Archipedia, Historical Society of Washington, “Christian Heurich House” by Pamela Scott and Antoinette J. Lee https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/DC-01-DU36
