Bourbon & Bluegrass at Lincoln’s Summer Cottage

(By Elizabeth Tuico) Lincoln’s Summer Cottage is one of my favorite local venues. No one throws a party for preservation like the staff at this historic home tucked away in Petworth, a popular Washington, D.C. neighborhood. This year I volunteered at the annual Bourbon & Bluegrass weekend.

Why does Lincoln’s Summer Cottage need to fundraise?

Even though the house is a National Monument and a National Historic Landmark, President Lincoln’s Summer Cottage is not part of the National Park Service system. The museum remains an independent 501(c)(3) public charity not-for-profit operated through a cooperative agreement with the Armed Forces Retirement Home and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Lincoln’s Summer Cottage held a Grand Opening Ceremony on February 18, 2008, and opened to the public the next day. To get the project off the ground, private citizens, corporations, and federal sources donated over $15 million. The museum continues to fundraise to secure funds for programming, ongoing preservation, and new educational programs.

Bourbon & Bluegrass: A party to support preservation.

The staff at Lincoln’s Summer Cottage organizes a bourbon and bluegrass fundraising event each spring. The two-day festival features seasoned bluegrass musicians and Kentucky bourbon. Bands play on the porch where Lincoln played checkers with his sons and friends during the Civil War.

The Saturday May 18th lineup featured Letitia VanSant, Hubby Jenkins, and Adeem the Artist. The Sunday artists included Jake Blount and David Wax Museum. The bluegrass festival concluded with a performance by Senora May.

Despite a steady rain, hundreds of people spent their Saturday afternoon listening to music and enjoying sips of bourbon. I volunteered to be a bartender on the first day of the festival, and we were busy at the three stations. Schneider’s of Capitol Hill donated three different bourbons and choose to pair each one with three different mixes – strawberry, pineapple, and lime rickey. Visitors brought lawn chairs and sat underneath a large tent which provided the best view of the stage. In addition, a large tent housed the bourbon tastings. Food trucks lined the area behind the large tent. The soggy weather did not dampen the spirit of the event.

Campus history

Summers in Washington are notoriously hot and humid. Throughout the Civil War years, contaminated water near the White House remained a constant threat. (Lincoln’s son Willie died in February 1862 from drinking polluted water and contracting typhoid fever.) President Abraham Lincoln and his family enjoyed the summers of 1862, 1863, and 1864 living in this 10,000-square-foot Gothic Revival cottage, three miles north of the dust and mosquitos adjacent to the White House. The cottage sits on a hill and cool breezes pass through during the hot months. Even when he was staying at the 34-room property, President Lincoln worked at the White House every day, commuting either on horseback or in a carriage, escorted by a security detail. 

The rural home was constructed in 1842 as the summer house of George Washington Riggs, a local banker. In 1851, Riggs sold the property to the federal government, and Congress passed legislation to establish the Soldiers’ Home for retired or disabled soldiers on 272 acres, which created the oldest veteran retirement home in the United States.

Abraham Lincoln visited the summer cottage for the last time on April 13, 1865. The Lincolns planned to spend the upcoming summer season at the property. However, the assassination of the president took place the next day.

Presidents Hayes and Arthur spent portions of their presidencies living at the cottage. Thereafter for almost 120 years, the building served as offices and a retirement dormitory. In 2000, President Bill Clinton declared the cottage and its surrounding landscape the President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home National Monument. 

My first visit to the property occurred in the late 1990’s when I worked for an architecture firm and attended a redevelopment meeting. Back then, the campus was known as the Old Soldiers and Airmen Home. Lincoln’s Summer Cottage was closed, and the General Services Administration wanted to repurpose eighty acres of prime real estate to help pay for the upkeep of the sprawling campus which in addition to housing facilities also includes a golf course.

Over the past twenty-five years, this project languished. A small charter school operates near the main gate, but that is the only change from my first visit. (Creative Minds International Public Charter School signed a 10-year lease in 2015.) In 2008, an architectural team developed a master plan which was subsequently amended in 2018 and 2022. The retirement home zone is 192 acres and includes retirement housing, the golf course, and President Lincoln’s Cottage. Madison Marquette and Urban Atlantic were named the master developers in 2020. At eighty acres, the mixed-use development zone is on the southeast portion of the campus near North Capitol Street, N.W. and will feature adaptive reuse of historic buildings – if building ever starts. Only time will tell if this long-planned project ever comes to fruition.

Plan your visit

Lincoln’s Summer Cottage is worth a visit, and driving to the campus is the easiest option. Ignore your GPS, which takes you to a locked gate on North Capitol Street, N.W. Instead, follow the road signage from North Capitol Street N.W. to Rock Creek Church Road N.W. (You will see a national cemetery across the street from the Rock Creek Church gate.) President Lincoln’s Cottage is located at the intersection of Upshur Street and Rock Creek Church Road in northwest Washington, D.C., on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home. Nestled in the Petworth neighborhood, the museum is about one mile from the Georgia Avenue Petworth Metro station. The H8 bus stops in front of the security gates to the property.

In addition to the cottage, the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center provides additional exhibits, a cooling room, and bathroom facilities. You can also purchase drinks and snacks, but no meals. Ample parking is available for free onsite.

Lincoln’s Summer Cottage: 140 Rock Creek Church Road, N.W. | Washington, D.C. 20011

Open Sunday-Saturday: 9:30 am – 4:30 pm

202-829-0436

Tours are every hour and cost $15.00. Sign up ahead of time since the tours often sell out.

Note: Visitors must show a valid federal government ID to the security guard to obtain entry to the grounds.

Elizabeth Tuico owns Rebel Road Creative, a marketing and copywriting consultancy. She has lived in Washington, D.C. for thirty years and enjoys discovering fun activities close to home.