In the late 19th century, Michael I. Weller (1846-1915) was a well-known businessman and civic activist. Weller emigrated from England as a young man, married Rita Repetti of a Capitol Hill family and became a prosperous businessman as part of the Weller and Repetti real estate venture and advocate for his adopted community. Many Weller and Repetti houses were built on the Hill, but the handsome Weller family home at 408 Pennsylvania Ave. SE may be the most significant. Unfortunately, Weller died before he could accomplish his most cherished goal: voting rights for Washington citizens.

We spent an hour looking for this house our first day out, but that number simply didn’t exist on the street they had listed and was in fact, a big park. Frustrated, I emailed the Capitol Hill Restoration Society that afternoon, and much to my surprise they wrote me back late that evening and said they had provided the wrong address, both on their website and in a magazine promoting the walking tour. They gave me the correct address and were both apologetic and grateful that I had brought the mistake to their attention. I sure hope people on foot didn’t try to find it, especially in that heat!

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For more information on these historic sites, go to the restoration society’s web page for the walking tour at http://chrs.org/historic-sites-tour-2020/

Best to view in "Original" because other versions resized by Pbase are decidedly unsharp.

Water lily and visitor, posted earlier: