Bowie-Sevier House

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In the early 1800s, Washington Bowie (a merchant, real estate speculator, church vestryman, officer of the militia bank--and one of Georgetown's wealthiest men in the first decades of the 19th century) built for himself and his large family a monumental federal style house in the heights of Georgetown. The home offered majestic views south toward the port and large open rooms for entertaining.

Built c. 1810 and attached to a smaller earlier dwelling, the house's external facade is decorated with a blending of adamesque and classical revival details. From the early 1800s until 1953, the home served only four families: The Bowies, the Nicholls, the Hollingsworths, and the Seviers. Upon the death of Mrs. Ella Sevier (the last family's matriarch), the house passed to the Episcopal church ministry for use as a retirement home for Episcopal women and as a memorial to her husband John's great Grandfather, General John Sevier.

DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
Within Georgetown Historic District