By Michelle Goldchain
In Georgetown, at 3324 Dent Place NW, there was once a home owned by Yarrow Mamout, a local celebrity who became famous in 1819 after Charles Wilson Peale, who painted presidential portraits, painted his portrait.
Mamout, whose portrait currently hangs in the Peabody Room of the Georgetown Public Library, was a former Muslim slave who was taken from Africa in 1752 who eventually gained his freedom and became a homeowner in the neighborhood. According to WAMU, he had a reputation for having an “industrious, moral, and honest nature.”
In July 2015, the site where Mamout’s home once stood made headlines as an archaeological dig searched for his remains. Those who searched only found items that included a metal cuff link engraved with a tiny crown, pottery shards, amber glass medicine bottle, and animal bones.
Two years earlier, there was a 19th-century house that occupied the lot, but it was razed after being vacant for several years. In 2011, a tree also crashed into the dilapidated house during Hurricane Irene, crushing its second floor, as reported by the Georgetowner.
Now, a brand new, multi-million dollar townhome can be found on the land, built by JC Developers with interiors designed by Spaced Out’s Taylor Deering and exteriors from landscape architect Goffin Gardens. With five bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms, this red brick abode looks fairly average from the front, blending into the community well, but on the inside it’s all modern.