Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Old Stone House Garden Undergoing Renovations

The Daughters of the American Revolution hosted a garden party at the Old Stone House on Nov. 9 to educate the community about renovations underway at the historic building’s garden. 

The house at 3051 M St. NW, which was renovated last year, is the oldest structure on its original foundation in Washington, D.C., according to the National Park Service, which maintains the house. The recent renovations focus on the garden attached to the house and include painting the garden’s fence and rose trellises and installing educational signs and a new bench, among other updates. The fence was painted Oct. 12, and dogwood trees will be planted in the garden Dec. 9, according to Stephanie Green, regent of the DAR’s Constitution Chapter. Renovations should be fully completed by May 2020, Green wrote in an email to The Hoya.

U.S. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE | The Old Stone House, originally built in 1765, is the oldest structure on its original foundation in Washington, D.C.

Built in 1765 by a colonial cabinetmaker, the house has served as a retail store for various products and was opened to the public in 1960. The NPS cultivated the English garden that stretches behind the structure from M Street. 

The planning for the renovation project began this summer. The president of Friends of Rose Park, David Dunning, reached out to DAR to create a partnership with the group on the renovations, according to Green. DAR, a nationwide group for female descendants of those active in achieving American independence, focuses on historic preservation in its work, according to its website. 

DAR decided to contribute to the Old Stone House garden renovation because of the group’s commitment to maintaining historical sites, according to Green. 

“Mr. Dunning made me aware of the garden’s needs this summer. As a leader of an organization dedicated to conservation and historic preservation, I thought it would be a perfect project for our chapter,” Green wrote.

Dunning is working to create a preservation organization for the property called Patrons of the Old Stone House, according to Green. 

The house has partly survived this long because of a robust canon of legends. Some residents believed that the Old Stone House was the site of Fountain Inn, also known as Suter’s Tavern, where President George Washington and urban planner Pierre L’Enfant met to plan D.C.’s layout in 1791. However, historians now believe Suter’s Tavern was really located at the corner of 31st and K streets.

Suter’s Tavern was run by John Suter, whose son was a clockmaker named John Suter. The younger John Suter lived in the Old Stone House and used it as his clockmaking shop. The connection led to confusion about the true site of Suter’s Tavern.

The Old Stone House’s garden is an unexpected use of space that the community should further utilize, according to Georgetown Business Improvement District spokesperson Lauren Boston.

“Despite being on a bustling stretch of M Street, the gardens are tucked away behind the Old Stone House and have always offered a little urban oasis,” Lauren Boston wrote in an email to The Hoya. “It’s important that Georgetown maintains these unexpected pockets of green space, in addition to larger areas like Georgetown Waterfront Park, and it’s great that the garden — and those who frequent it — will benefit from these improvements.”

NPS completed renovations to the house itself last year. The house closed in November 2017 for repairs to the building’s exterior stonework and foundation as well as its plumbing, electrical, HVAC and fire suppression systems.

Renovations will benefit visitors now and in the future, according to Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E Commissioner Matias Burdman (COL ’21).

“The Old Stone House serves as an everyday reminder of our neighborhood’s historic roots and of the fact that we live in one of the nation’s first National Historic Landmarks,” Burdman wrote in an email to The Hoya. “As for the garden improvements, they will improve the visitor experience while staying true to the National Park Service’s mission of historic preservation.”

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