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A “grand Beaux-Arts” house has sat at 2920 R Street in Georgetown for centuries. Mark Ein has been in possession of it for the last 22 years—and never lived there. The New York Times has the saga of the storied home, which was built by Georgetown’s second mayor in 1784, was home to the founder of the CIA’s precursor 150 years later, and hosted the elite of Washington, DC, over the years under Katharine Graham’s ownership. She became a famed editor of the Washington Post following her husband’s 1963 suicide. Upon her 2001 death, her estate sold it to Ein for $8 million. It would be more than a decade before he tried—and failed—to move in.

Ein wed Sally Stiebel at the house in 2013, and they planned to move in and raise a family there following some renovations—the home had last been updated in 1960. As Elizabeth Williamson details at length, they were stymied by some neighbors and the Old Georgetown Board, which must approve changes to the neighborhood’s historic homes and rejected four versions of plans the Eins presented in 2014. Their original plan involved adding living space and garages in the front. One neighbor said it would ruin the “dappled afternoon light” they experience and damage some trees. The Eins’ tweaks put the garages underground and reduced the size of the addition; an arborist confirmed the trees would be fine. The board still said no. They tried again, fruitlessly, in 2021. (Read the fascinating full story, which ends with quite the kicker, here.)

For years, social media users have claimed the U.S. Capitol contains a tomb that was originally built for George Washington, the first U.S. president, but was never used and remains empty. 

The claim has appeared frequently on Reddit, where numerous posts about the tomb have popped up on subreddits including r/todayilearned and r/Presidents since at least 2016. It has also shown up multiple times on X, including in a post made on Aug. 8, 2024, which read: 

just learned the us capitol building has a crypt built for george washington but he didn’t want to be interred there so it’s empty. my next question: who is the funniest person would could bury there?

(X user @questionableway)

While the Aug. 8, 2024, X post had a humorous tone, the underlying premise of it was true: A tomb intended for Washington was indeed built in the U.S. Capitol, and Washington’s remains were never buried there.

As the official website for the Architect of the Capitol explains, the space intended to serve as Washington’s tomb is located directly underneath a vaulted first-floor space known as the Crypt because of its “resemblance to similar areas in churches.” The resemblance is a result of the 40 columns that stand in the space, which serve to support the Capitol’s second-floor Rotunda.

Construction on the Capitol began in 1793, but no funerary purpose was planned for the building until after Washington died on Dec. 14, 1799. A little over a week later, on Dec. 23, 1799, Congress resolved “That a marble monument be erected by the United States in the Capitol, at the city of Washington; and that the family of General Washington be requested to permit his body to be deposited under it.”

Washington’s will, a transcript of which is available online as part of the National Archives’ Founders Online project, clearly expressed the former president’s personal desire to be buried in a brick vault at his estate in Mount Vernon, Virginia. However, Congress succeeded in securing the permission of Washington’s widow, Martha Washington, to transfer the remains to the Capitol.

The original structure of the Capitol was completed in the 1820s, and Congress began planning to transfer Washington’s remains to the building. The transfer was scheduled to take place in 1832, during celebrations for the centennial of Washington’s birth. 

However, Congress’ plans were dashed by John Augustine Washington II, a relative of George and Martha Washington and the owner of Mount Vernon at the time, who refused to have Washington’s body disinterred from the brick tomb vault he had recently constructed in accordance with the instructions left in Washington’s 1799 will. Washington’s remains ended up staying at Mount Vernon, and the Capitol tomb remained empty. 

Because a tomb intended for George Washington was built inside the U.S. Capitol and because Washington was never interred in it, we rate this claim as “True.”

Sources