Halcyon House Could Host Non-profit

The owners of Halcyon House, Drs. Sachiko Kuno and Ryuji Ueno, are seeking a zoning exception to use the historic property at 3410 Prospect St. NW for a non-profit.
The Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commission will take up the matter at Monday's meeting and the zoning commission will consider the application in September. 

The historic home was originally built in 1787 for the first Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert, the namesake of Stoddert Elementary School in Glover Park. The manse sold for $11 million in March 2012 to Drs. Sachiko Kuno and Ryuji Ueno, the owners of the Evermay Estate.

The couple converted Evermay into a residential and institutional building where their non-profit, the S&R Foundation, has a small office and where they hold concerts.

The Georgetown Current reports that the owners hope to house the International Institute of Global Reliance at Halcyon House. The non-profit focuses on prevention and response of natural disasters. 

As reported in the Current: 

"The zoning application does state that the Halcyon House is 'an ideal venue for corporations sharing the foundation’s goals to host corporate events, meetings and retreats.' But the number of attendees will be restricted, and — as with all events — 'attendees would arrive and depart outside peak traffic hours, and under conditions that do not impact surrounding residents,' the application says."
Read the full Georgetown Current story here. 

Prior to securing approval for Evermay to host small events, the owners went through extensive negotiations with the nearby community to determine how many and what size of events could be held during what hours and at what frequency. They plan to do the same with Halcyon House.

You can learn more about the project by attending the Georgetown ANC meeting Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Georgetown Visitation.