Oak Lawn

Oak Lawn was a four-story Second Empire mansion surrounded by extensive wooded grounds where Connecticut Avenue and Florida Avenue intersected. The property featured mature trees and served as a private residential estate with significant land area.

The property was originally called Widow's Mite and belonged to the Holmead and Nourse families before Thomas P. Morgan expanded it in 1873. This expansion marked a significant transformation of the estate under new ownership.

The estate housed the Treaty Oak, a tree said to be roughly 400 years old with ties to reported early negotiations between settlers and the Nacotchtank Native Americans. This tree served as a symbol of the contact between newcomers and the land's original inhabitants.

The land is no longer accessible to visitors as it has been completely built over with modern structures including the Washington Hilton and office buildings. History enthusiasts can learn about the former estate through local museums and historical records.

Renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed an ambitious proposal called Crystal Heights for this location in 1940 that would have completely reimagined the estate. This visionary scheme never came to fruition and remained an unrealized vision.

GPS coordinates: 38.91627,-77.04470

Latest update: December 12, 2025 17:40