How Two Tiny "Houses" Ended Up on the National Mall

If you've ever found yourself walking or driving past the intersection of 15th or 17th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, you may have noticed what look like tiny houses erected along the sidewalk — and wondered if someone once lived in the middle of the Mall.

Officially known as the Bulfinch Gatehouses, the "houses" are actually one-room sandstone structures with classical elements including Tuscan order porches. The 12-foot-high buildings originally flanked a pedestrian entrance on the west side of the U.S. Capitol.

A portrait of Charles Bulfinch by George Mathews; Architectural layout for the gatehouses.

Charles Bulfinch, the man responsible for designing the grand Capitol Dome, also drew up the plans for these diminutive twin gatehouses. He served as the third Architect of the Capitol and is widely considered the first American-born architect. In the 1820s, he created the gatehouses to shelter guards keeping watch over the former west side entrance. The gate keepers stationed there shooed away a host of unwanted visitors, particularly neighboring farm animals: cattle, sheep and goats were known to wander into the U.S. Capitol Grounds to munch on the garden plantings.

When the U.S. Capitol underwent renovations in 1874 —  as Frederick Law Olmsted began to redesign elements of the grounds —  the gatehouses were moved to the posts they maintain today. Over the past 150 years, the gatehouses seem to have served in a variety of capacities. One 1954 newspaper article describes them as having been used by the National Park Service to lodge U.S. Park Police and to store tools. They may have also been turned into first-aid stations during downtown parades.

The gatehouses were constructed using a poor grade of Acadia sandstone, so extensive discoloration and wear on each can be seen clearly. Documentation shows the gatehouses were renovated in 1889 and 1938, but neither effort covered nor removed the carvings made on one side of the 15th Street gatehouse. The inscriptions there denote record flood levels from significant storm systems in the late 19th century.

A plaque from the outside of one gatehouse; Carvings commemorating flood levels. They read "Dirksen High Water Mark: Feb. 12, 1881"; "High Water Mark: Nov. 26, 1877."

While they're no longer guarding the U.S. Capitol, the buildings remain a testament to Bulfinch's signature style and are part of the historic fabric of Capitol Hill.

No matter their post, the gatehouses stand sentinel, ready to witness whatever's to come.