DACOR Bacon House Tours

The DACOR Bacon House is an elegant 200 year-old brick mansion, built in the iconic Federal style and located two blocks from the White House. The House is an historic national treasure that serves as a living testament to America's political, cultural, and diplomatic heritage. It is also a museum for the public that honors the nation's diplomatic history and shares art and artifacts from around the world. Steeped in significance since the early days of the Republic, it has served as the host to our nations leaders as they discussed and debated the critical issues facing the United States. Today, it is a center for international dialogue and understanding and opens its doors daily to the foreign affairs community in support of their important diplomatic work.

While much of the land around the DACOR Bacon House was sold to the federal government for construction of the White House grounds and the National Mall, the parcel that includes the House remained in private hands. U.S. Marshal Tench Ringgold was the first owner to build on the site. In 1824-25, he constructed an almost square, two-and-one-half story structure on a full, above-ground English-style basement. Since then, the House has been significantly enlarged and thoroughly renovated several times. Yet, for all the changes, the house still retains much of its original scale, design, craftsmanship, and appeal. Today, the House is a stately red-brick Federal mansion that extends to four-stories and twenty-four rooms and includes the original carriage house, a half-acre garden and bricked rear courtyard.

Inside, the mansion's spacious ceremonial and entertainment rooms are graced with fireplaces, 1840s candlelight chandeliers, and a bounty of antique American, European and Asian furnishings and decorative arts. The House maintains a number of collections including: the Virginia Murray Bacon Collection (ancestor portraits and European decorative arts); the Robert Low Bacon Collection (Americana); the Willard Straight Collection (Chinese art); the Kyoko Schmidt Collection (Japanese art), and the Members Collection (diplomatic memorabilia and cultural artifacts from the world over).

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