The Mansion on O Street: A Wonderland in the Heart of DuPont Circle

My time at the Mansion was a fascinating, albeit fairly confusing experience. I had no idea what to expect when I walked in the doors, and what I found was a veritable Wonderland of memorabilia, knick knacks, and art pieces of incredible beauty and worth. The hardest part, (aside from being on my feet all day) was finding my way around the place. The labyrinth created by the interconnected rooms, passageways, and secret doors provides enough to disorientation to keep a person wandering for hours. Not to mention the near infinite amount of unique objects that line the walls, which together with the house itself, should keep a person distracted until the next millennium. It was nice to know that as lost as I was, there were 3 other interns and a large group of children who were equally confused.  I took my time to explore the museum, learning all of the various rooms, hallways, and secret doors.  I also spent a lot of time familiarizing myself with the myriad of historic and valuable guitars that have found their way to the Mansion over the last 30 years.

The Mansion itself is actually an unassuming series of 5 townhouses just off of DuPont Circle.  The original structure, so the story goes, was built in the early 1890s by Edward Clark, the architect of the U.S. Capital, for use by him and his two brothers, Champ Clark and "the artist."  The building consisted of three townhouses that shared a common ground floor, with separate living spaces on the upper floors.  According to the narrative resented by the Mansion (which should be noted does not present acceptable sources for this information) the Mansion was then inhabited by J. Edgar Hoover's G-men in the 1930s, who then proceeded to trash the place.  On Valentine's Day, 1980, the Mansion's current owner, H., purchased the original building and began the process of converting it into its unique Hotel-Museum hybrid.  She bought the townhouse next door and built another, bringing the total count to five.  In addition, she installed over 70 secret doors that connect rooms, hallways, staircases, cabinets, and other wonders.

H. has also tried to make the Mansion into a haven for artists and creatives, who, through the Mansion's Artist-in-Residency program, can stay for free while they work on their art.  Many have come through on their visits to the nation's capital, but the pride of the program would have to be the decade-long stay of civil rights leader Rosa Parks, who's room of choice now bears her name.