The Alibi Club

Sandwiched into a largely commercial area of downtown Washington, D.C., this blue-shuttered row house along I Street Northeast has been home to a very curious club of prominent citizens for over 135 years.

The club was formed in 1884 by seven former members of the Metropolitan Club, though it would be another two years before they established the three-story Italianate dwelling as their home base.

The club’s name derives from the custom among members of providing an alibi in the event an inquiry is made regarding the whereabouts of one of its members. In fact, there is reportedly a sign inside near a telephone with an unlisted number that reads “Telephone Tips: ‘Just Left,’ 25 cents; ‘On His Way,’ 50 cents; ‘Not Here,’ $1; ‘Who?’ $5.”

With active membership limited to 50, the only way one may join is by a unanimous vote for admission following the death of a member.

Notable members of this secretive group have included at least four CiA directors, four Supreme Court justices, three former secretaries of state, and former President George Bush. 

A rare tour in the early 1990s revealed that the house is chock full of fancy odds and ends collected by its members over the years, as well as gifts from friends of the club’s members - the head of a sheep, the skull of a tiger, a spittoon that had remained in Sandra Day O’Connor’s office following Potter Stewart’s tenure.

The house features a grill room and card room among its many chambers, and there is said to be a massive table flanked by 30 Windsor chairs.

So clandestine are the comings and goings of its members that the house was actually believed to be abandoned for a significant portion of 2018. However, more recent sightings confirm that the club is still quite active.