Tudor Place: Washington DC Travel Guide (4.5★)

A temple portico above Georgetown

The house sits back from the street, and you have to walk up to it. At 1644 31st St NW, between Q and R Streets, a gate opens onto a sloping lawn. At the top is a stuccoed neoclassical house with a round, domed portico bulging from its south front, like a small temple set into the facade.

William Thornton designed it. He also drew the first design for the US Capitol, and you can see the shared taste in the columns and proportions. The house was finished in 1816 for Martha Custis Peter, Martha Washington’s granddaughter, and her husband Thomas Peter.

Six generations, one set of rooms

The Peter family’s descendants lived here until 1983, which is why the interiors feel lived in rather than staged. The collection runs from the 1700s to the 2000s, and nothing is arranged as a single-period showpiece. Federal-era furniture shares the rooms with later family belongings, so each room shows how a family’s things pile up over time.

The Washington connection is the headline. Through Martha Custis Peter, the house holds pieces that came down from Mount Vernon. It is one of the larger collections of Washington family objects outside Mount Vernon itself. Guides also cover the Civil War years, when Union officers were boarded in the house, and the family’s ties to Robert E. Lee.

Things to look for inside:

• The domed portico room, seen from the inside
• Washington-family objects inherited from Mount Vernon
• Twentieth-century family possessions left in place alongside the antiques

The gardens after the tour

The house sits on roughly five and a half acres, a rare amount of green for central Georgetown. Paths run through boxwood, a bowling green lawn and flower beds laid out over generations of the family. Most visitors spend about an hour on the house tour, then another 30 to 45 minutes outdoors.

The south lawn gives the best view of the portico, and it is where most people take their photographs. Spring and autumn are the strongest seasons for planting. In winter the bones of the garden are easier to read.

Getting a tour slot

There is no wandering the house on your own; you see it on a guided tour that leaves on the hour. That shapes your whole visit. Book ahead online, especially for weekends, and check the official Tudor Place site for current ticket prices and tour times.

• Days: Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm; Sunday noon to 4pm; closed Monday.
• Crowds: Saturdays and Sundays are busiest right through the 10am to 4pm window. A weekday tour gives you smaller groups and more time for questions.
• Timing: Tours run hourly, so the last start comes well before the 4pm close. Arrive by early afternoon so the garden isn’t rushed.
• Sundays: Doors open at noon rather than 10am, so there are fewer slots to choose from.

Some etiquette: rooms are close quarters, so leave big bags behind and keep hands off the furniture. The guides expect questions. Ask about particular objects, because the family papers mean there is often a story attached.

Reaching 31st Street

Georgetown has no Metro station, so walking is part of the visit. From Dupont Circle (Red Line), head west along Q Street. You cross Rock Creek on the Dumbarton Bridge, the one with the bronze bison, and reach 31st Street in about 20 to 25 minutes. Foggy Bottom-GWU (Blue, Orange and Silver Lines) is a similar walk, going north-west through Georgetown’s brick rowhouse streets.

Street parking in residential Georgetown is scarce and time-limited. A ride-share to the 31st Street gate is simpler if you are short on time.

Pairing it with upper Georgetown

Tudor Place sits in the quieter, hilly part of Georgetown, well away from the shopfronts of M Street. It is a place that rewards a slow half day. Other stops within a few blocks:

• Dumbarton Oaks, at R and 31st Streets, with its terraced gardens and museum of Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art
• Oak Hill Cemetery, on R Street, a Victorian hillside cemetery with a Renwick-designed chapel
• Dumbarton House, on Q Street, another Federal-era house museum
• Montrose Park, next to Dumbarton Oaks, for a bench and some shade after your tour

Put Tudor Place first on a weekday morning, then walk up to R Street. You can cover three centuries of Washington history without going more than ten minutes from the gate.