Halcyon House owners Benjamin Stoddert and John Dryfuss were seen passing each other in the living room. Nevermind that the men occupied the Federal style mansion 200 years apart!
In the decades since Stoddert built his home, the Georgetown neighborhood and business community have grown, but as in the early 1800s, Georgetown’s Halcyon House continues to be a center of social life…and commercial connections.
Wednesday, the Georgetown Business Association held a monthly networking reception at the historic home, complete with period personalities (Benjamin Stoddert and Abigail Adams are seen here with Betsey Johnson’s Jenny Zinn).
Members and guests of the association sauntered through the spacious mansion, complete with three living rooms, a chapel and crypt, to meet, greet, and exchange ghost stories with the Halcyon House’s uninitiated. Rumored sightings of Ben Stoddert cat-napping and sobbing sounds from a sealed door believed to lead to the underground railroad were among tales told.
Current owner/occupant and famed sculptor John Dryfuss (middle photo with Allen Lewis) denied seeing or hearing any ghostly antics during his time at Halcyon, yet his eyes widened as a costumed Stoddert fell in step beside him before vanishing to talk history with guests in the hallway.
