Prospect House (Lingan-Templeman House)
Built in the late 18th century, Prospect House is a prominent residence in the Georgetown Historic District.
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Prospect House is a freestanding late-Georgian townhouse that was substantially Victonianized in the 19th century and has now been meticulously restored. This late-18th-century mansion, one of the most historically and architecturally important houses in Georgetown, has been continuously occupied by locally and nationally prominent families. General James McCubbin Lingan, the Revolutionary War hero and one of the 19 original proprietors who signed the agreement for the establishment of the District of Columbia, purchased the property on which Prospect House now stands in November 1788 for 250 pounds, and he built Prospect House at some point between then and 1793.
In the years since, the figures who have stayed at Prospect House have included the Marquis de Lafayette, first U.S. Secretary of Defense James Forrestal, and North Carolina Representative Richard Thurmond Chatham. The residence also briefly served as a guest house while Blair House, the president's usual guest house, was under renovation.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: March 16, 1972
Within Georgetown Historic District
