The Winter View from the Washington Channel
The Law House
The Law HouseTiber Island includes the Thomas Law House, an historical landmark on the National Register. Built in 1784, this handsome Federalist mansion at the corner of our grounds at Sixth and N Streets, has been the home and social center for some of America’s leading figures.

In 1796, its mistress was Eliza Parke Curtis, the spirited eldest granddaughter of the First Lady, Martha Washington. As a young bride, Eliza was taken there to live by her husband, Thomas Law, Esquire, aristocrat and brother to Lord Ellenborough, the Lord Chief Justice of England.

Eliza Curtis
Thomas Law The mansion subsequently became famous as the ‘Honeymoon House’ and was the scene of many brilliant parties to which guests came by coach or boat from Alexandria and Georgetown.
In 1816 the house was purchased by Richard Bland Lee, a former member of the Continental Congress from Virginia and President James Madison’s appointee to the commission charged with the restoration of the Capital buildings burned by the British in the War of 1812. Lee’s wife was an intimate lifelong friend of Dolley Madison and a recognized grande dame of Washington society.
The Holiday Party at the Law HouseThus, the Thomas Law House was the illustrious host to countless social gatherings of the great and the famous during the first thirty years of the young American Republic and continues in that tradition. It is the location of our annual Holiday Party which is held each December and is also available for rent for catered affairs, meetings, and weddings.