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Tudor Place
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TUDOR PLACE | Open Tuesday – Sunday. Currently on view TANGLED ROOTS. Click TICKETS for reservation times.

Historic House

In 1805 Martha and Thomas Peter purchased Tudor Place. The Peters then asked their friend, the self-taught architect Dr. William Thornton (1759-1828), to design a home for the property.

A typical Federal-period home, the floor plan reflects a pronounced public-private divide.  For example, Peter family guests would enter the house through the double doors of the north entry into the vestibule. Within the vestibule, double doors to the left open to the main staircase and bedrooms above, while matching doors to the right lead to the service wing of the house. Few guests would ever have seen these utilitarian and private spaces.

In the early American republic, the founding generation consciously chose to associate the nation with the ancient democracies of Greece and the republican values of Rome. Using Roman architectural vocabulary, the Federal style applied to the balanced and symmetrical version of Georgian architecture that had been practiced in the American colonies’ new motifs of neoclassical architecture, which was epitomized in Britain by Robert Adam, who published his designs in 1792.

Today the rooms appear as they did during the period of the last owners, Armistead Peter 3rd and his wife, Caroline, who displayed new furnishings alongside the inherited objects of six generations who lived here from 1805-1983.

Architecture & Design of Tudor Place

In his plans for Tudor Place, Thornton expressed Palladio’s forms in a distinctly Federal, American style, melding French-influenced romantic classicism with traditional English forms.

The house’s five-part structure, with a two-story center block and and low hyphens connecting to higher, two-story wings on both the east and west side, followed a form immensely popular in the Chesapeake region during the Federal period (c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815).  The most architecturally significant feature is the domed, marble-floored Temple Portico. Thornton’s circular structure extends into the house itself, with curved, wall-to-floor ceiling windows serving as a transition between interior spaces and the exterior sprawling South Lawn. The exterior of the brick house was clad in stucco, scored to resemble blocks of finished stone, a common Federal period technique.

Interior Features & Rooms

Peter family guests would enter the house through the double doors of the north entry and encounter soaring 15-foot-tall ceilings in the vestibule. Passing through the vestibule into the saloon, guests could gaze through Thornton’s floor-to-ceiling windows at a vista that included the port of Georgetown. On either side of the saloon sit the parlor and drawing room.

Vestibule. Photo: Bruce White

Vestibule. Photo: Bruce White

Temple Portico (interior view).

Drawing Room. Photo: Bruce White

Saloon

Parlor. Photo: Bruce White

Dining Room. Photo: Bruce White

Office. Photo: Bruce White

Butler’s Pantry.

Virtual Tour

Take a peek at the interior of the historic house and some of the intriguing items in the collection.

Schedule a visit and discover some of the stories behind the items featured on this tour as well as other objects on display.

In Their Words

Led by the voices of Britannia W. Kennon, the second owner of Tudor Place, and her great-grandson, Armistead Peter 3rd, take a leisurely stroll through this National Historic Landmark.

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WHAT'S NEW

In The News

Press Release: Tudor Place Celebrates Champion of Preservation at Annual Spring Garden Party

April 15, 2025/by Comms2018
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https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png 0 0 Comms2018 https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Comms20182025-04-15 09:33:362025-04-15 09:33:36Press Release: Tudor Place Celebrates Champion of Preservation at Annual Spring Garden Party

From The Blog

Unique DMV Architecture: Then and Now

April 4, 2025/by Janet Wall
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https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png 0 0 Janet Wall https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Janet Wall2025-04-04 15:44:042025-04-08 15:47:56Unique DMV Architecture: Then and Now

Education at Home

Barbara Pope Was a Civil Rights Activist Who Refused to Give Up Her Seat on a Segregated Train

February 3, 2025/by Comms2018
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https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png 0 0 Comms2018 https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Comms20182025-02-03 13:37:482025-04-08 09:58:45Barbara Pope Was a Civil Rights Activist Who Refused to Give Up Her Seat on a Segregated Train

Tangled Roots: Families of Tudor Place (June 3 – June 8)

March 10, 2025
June 3, 2025
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https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Tangled-Roots-web-1.jpg 2000 1889 Comms2018 https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Comms20182025-03-10 17:45:222025-03-10 17:45:22Tangled Roots: Families of Tudor Place (June 3 – June 8)
Heaven Can Wait theater billboard

Picnic Theater Presents: Heaven Can Wait

January 19, 2025
June 4, 2025
Read more
https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Picnic-Theater-b.jpg 1620 1960 Janet Wall https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Janet Wall2025-01-19 13:37:072025-05-20 15:50:17Picnic Theater Presents: Heaven Can Wait
Heaven Can Wait theater billboard

Picnic Theater Presents: Heaven Can Wait

March 7, 2025
June 6, 2025
Read more
https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Picnic-Theater-b.jpg 1620 1960 Janet Wall https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Janet Wall2025-03-07 17:16:092025-05-28 16:29:26Picnic Theater Presents: Heaven Can Wait

Weekend Weeders

January 15, 2025
June 7, 2025
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https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Weekend-Weeders-e1737571083126.jpg 825 1100 Comms2018 https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Comms20182025-01-15 10:49:132025-01-27 11:00:22Weekend Weeders
Follow a manual added link

SLAVERY AT TUDOR PLACE

As an historic site that bears the scars of slavery, Tudor Place seeks to look this injustice in the eye.  Click here to learn more.

  • About

    • Mission
    • Staff & Leadership
    • Jobs, Internships & Volunteering
    • For Neighbors
    • Annual Reports
    • Preservation
  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Parking & Directions
    • FAQ & Accessibility
    • Photography & Filming
    • Shop
    • Virtual Tour
  • Museum & Collection

    • History
    • Collection
    • Slavery at Tudor Place
    • Domestic Servants
    • Archive
    • Learn
  • Garden

    • History
    • Explore
    • What’s Blooming
  • Calendar

  • Education

    • Field
    • Scouts
    • Teacher Resources
  • Join & Give

    • Donate
    • Membership
    • Garden Party

Advance registration encouraged; suggested donation. Click for info.

1644 31st Street, NW | Washington, DC 20007
202-965-0400 | info@tudorplace.org

  • About

    • Mission
    • Staff & Leadership
    • Jobs, Internships & Volunteering
    • For Neighbors
    • Annual Reports
    • Preservation
  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Parking & Directions
    • FAQ & Accessibility
    • Photography & Filming
    • Shop
    • Virtual Tour
  • Museum & Collection

    • History
    • Collection
    • Slavery at Tudor Place
    • Domestic Servants
    • Archive
    • Learn
  • Garden

    • History
    • Explore
    • What’s Blooming
  • Calendar

  • Education

    • Field
    • Scouts
    • Teacher Resources
  • Join & Give

    • Donate
    • Membership
    • Garden Party

Advance registration encouraged; suggested donation. Click for info.

1644 31st Street, NW | Washington, DC 20007
202-965-0400 | info@tudorplace.org

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