Old Stone House
The Old Stone House, located at 3051 M Street in Georgetown, was built in 1765, making it the oldest standing building in Washington, DC. The exterior of the house is constructed of locally quarried blue granite. The house was built by Christopher Layman, a cabinetmaker by trade, as both a residence and a shop. Layman died shortly after constructing the house. It was sold to Cassandra Chew who added a wing to the rear of the house in 1767. The street (then called Bridge Street) was a main thoroughfare for road traffic from the Western frontier and paralleled the canal into Georgetown.
The house has been used throughout its history as a residence or residence/shop, until it was purchased in 1953 by the U.S. Government. Although there have been attempts to prove that the Old Stone House was either George Washington's Engineering Headquarters and/or Suters Tavern, neither theory has been substantiated. The house is a good surviving example of pre-Revolutionary American vernacular architecture.
The Old Stone House, administered by the National Park Service and located at 3051 M St., NW, is open Wednesday through Sunday, 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm. It is closed New Years Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Metro stop: Foggy Bottom.
Information and photos courtesy of the National Register for Historic Places Washington, DC Travel Itinerary, a subsidiary of the National Park Service.
