On September 14, 1918, far from Washington, D.C., a young man was killed in the sky above France during World War I. His name was Thomas Henderson Farnsworth. A US Army pilot and First Lieutenant with the 96th Aero Squadron, Thomas Farnsworth was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery. Thomas is buried in Arlington Cemetery, Virginia across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. and not far from the home on Capitol Hill where he was born and raised. He was but 23 years old when he died.

For the last 115  years the corner of East Capitol Street NE and 12th Street NE in Washington DC has been occupied by a magnificent three story Victorian era brownstone, the very house where Thomas Henderson Farnsworth was born. Built in 1892, 1126 East Capitol Street faces Lincoln Park and the first statue ever erected to honor Abraham Lincoln. The visionary architect who built it – who also changed the face of the neighborhood and the Capitol – and the three families who have called it home since then, are a testament to America’s story, past and present. If the walls of the house on Capitol Hill could speak, they would tell of lives lived and lost, sacrifice for country, success and failure, businesses built in peace and wartime, joys, sadness and rich family sagas spanning more than a century. All echo within. The three families who have been careful stewards of the house through the years themselves encompassing a tapestry of American history. Among them: three Civil War Generals, a visionary architect, a man present at Lincoln’s deathbed, two Congressman, a tragic World War I flying ace, a World War II hero, and an inspiring 21^st-century Mexican American entrepreneur.

In short, 1126 E. Capitol Street NE stands as an important witness to what shaped, and is still shaping, America. The Fowler, the Farnsworth, and the Molina families – diverse yet quintessentially American — will always be a part of this house. This website is their story. It is dedicated to their memory and to the families of the future who will call this house their home.