The Heurich House Museum’s mission is to explore the American Dream ethos through the stories surrounding Christian Heurich and his historic Washington, DC brewery, and to create a just path to success for today’s local small-scale manufacturers.
The Heurich mansion was built in 1892-4 for German-American immigrant Christian Heurich (1842-1945), whose brewery was the largest in DC and a household name. It is the city's best-preserved example of Richardsonian Romanesque residential architecture and one of the most landmarked interiors in DC. The mansion incorporated many technological advancements, including metal speaking tubes, electric lighting, burglar alarms, and "fireproofing." The interior decoration and furnishings were made by numerous German-American craftspeople. The house remained in the family until 1956, when it was bequeathed to the local Historical Society. In 2003, a family-created non-profit purchased the house and turned it into a museum.
Today, the Heurich House Museum works to reinvent the traditional historic house museum model by bridging Heurich’s world with modern DC. The museum actively conserves the building, grounds, and significant original collections, and intentionally uses its resources to enrich the entire community. The museum’s interdisciplinary approach connects visitors with DC’s unique past and illustrates how applicable the themes in Heurich’s life are to contemporary life in DC. To advance the latter goal, the museum carries forward the Heurich family’s cultural and entrepreneurial pursuits by supporting local small businesses, artisans, and craft beer makers through innovative programming that cannot be found anywhere else in the community, and is strengthening DC's creative economy.
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