Scheele-Brown Farmhouse

During the 19th century, farms, including butchering operations, were common within Washington, D.C. As the town grew into an urban center and the population boom led to subdivision of land, farming operations began to migrate to larger rural areas in neighboring states.

One of the longest surviving farms within the city limits was built by Augustus and Mary Scheele in 1865 on a lot they had bought at auction. The house was a two story, three gable building that initially stood adjacent to an extent house on the property that has been home to the Garrity family, who had previously owned the property. That house was torn down some time after 1875, possibly in the late 1880s.

The farm included an orchard, vegetable garden, and potato field, which they used to supplement the income brought in by their butchering business. Like most meat farms in the area northwest of Georgetown, they acquired their livestock from Drover’s Rest, a massive market located near the intersection of New Cut Road and Conduit Road (now Reservoir Road and MacArthur Boulevard), which brought in product from Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland.

The Scheeles owned the farm until 1881 when they sold it to Joshua D. Brown. His son, Walter, had learned the butchering trade from him and he and his family thrived as they grew their business and expanded their empire, purchasing 22 acres of Captain Clarendon R. Jones’ land. Business boomed into the early 20th century, but an affair by Walter and the ultimate dissolution of his marriage to his wife Edith led to the sale of their home to Jessie Fremont Greer McGee sometime around 1918.

By 1932, the agricultural elements in the area northwest of Georgetown had all but disappeared, replaced by leafy suburban neighborhoods dotted with high end homes and in some cases, full-sized estates.

In 1961, the Scheele-Brown Farmhouse was sold by the McGee family to James and Sylvia Shugrue. Sylvia lived there until her death in 2012 at the age of 99. The house still bore evidence of her life long passion for gardening.

Nine months after her passing, the house was sold by her estate to developer Atties O Street Limited Liability Corporation. As of 2015, plans have been proposed to move the house by current owners Chantal Attias and Andreas Kotzur, but to date the house remains on its original lot.