DC Alley Gem: The Stable
Treasure from the gilded age
I live in northwest Washington, D.C., in Kalorama, which is adjacent to the 1,800 acre Rock Creek Park and DuPont Circle and is a great place to start a long walk.
If I’m feeling less ambitious, I’ll walk the alleys to notice details you can’t see from the street.
A couple of days ago I walked down 21st street, crossed Massachusetts ave., in Embassy Row, and stopped to look again at the large Walsh-McLean mansion which sits on the corner.
Built in 1903, by struck-it-rich-in-the-Gold Rush millionaire Thomas McLean, it’s a 60-room mansion which is currently the Embassy of Indonesia.
Like others on that stretch of Mass ave., it’s a gilded age mansion built by the wealthy so they could be part of the Washington social and diplomatic scene, which occurred each winter in a whirlwind of receptions, dinners and balls.
I turned down the alley opposite the home and walked about fifty feet before noticing an imposing building, sitting right in the middle of an alley square that I had walked through before.
I was seeing it for the first time but wondering how that could be; it’s not a building you would easily miss.
I walked around it for a while, enjoying the details, when I noticed an old plaque on the door.
So this was the stable for the Walsh-McLean mansion about 1/2 block to the east where their carriages and horses were kept.
Since the Walsh family came to Washington to be part of the diplomatic social scene, it’s a sure bet their carriage was befitting their wealthy status.
It wasn’t just the vehicle that mattered, it was also the equipage including horses and the appearance of the driver and footmen which made the overall statement of genteel refinement.
This was an era when people kept up with one another through personal visits, so arrivals and departures were noticed and mentioned.
If there was an event at the White House, the entire driveway and for blocks beyond would be full of coaches and their restless horses in harness waiting for their special passengers.
A white house dinner could be three hours, a reception less.
A carriage or coach ride to “take the air” would often include a ramble through the Mall area which was not as it is now, it was winding paths with trees and shrubs, perfect for a break from the nearby city streets.
The stable has been little altered on the exterior and the stable doors and second-story hay hook remain.
It’s Flemish/English design as opposed to the mansion which is neo-Baroque.
The application for the National Historic Trust states, “A major focus of the facade is the hipped tiled roof with wide eaves supported by heavy curved wooden brackets, and pierced by the three parapeted, shaped gables.”
During World War II, it was converted to a Women’s Club and today it is a shop specializing in gold leaf.
It suddenly occurred to me how I could have missed such a beautiful structure, I had always walked the alley from west to east, meaning I walked along the side of it only briefly before it disappeared from view over my right shoulder.
Long live alley walks and finding hidden gems.
