The Secret Door Museum

A Night At The Museum

Looking for a unique and unforgettable place to stay in Washington, DC? O Museum in The Mansion offers a one-of-a-kind overnight experience, blending history, art, and interactive exhibits in the heart of the city.

Whether you're a history enthusiast, art lover, or simply looking for a memorable getaway, O Museum in The Mansion offers something for everyone. Explore our immersive exhibits, discover hidden rooms, and enjoy a relaxing stay in a space filled with charm and character. Located in the DC neighborhood of Dupont Circle, O Museum provides easy access to local attractions, museums, monuments, historic national parks and Michelin-star restaurants.

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Find your way through secret doors and covert passages to a world never experienced when you visit Washington, DC. You'll be walking in the footsteps of presidents and freedom fighters, historians, and fiction writers — when you spend a night at the museum. Great for vacations, staycations, date night, birthdays, anniversaries, or a fun overnight stay.

• Exclusive self-guided tour (all night long if you like!)
• Beautiful and unique with private baths, bedrooms, and family rooms
• Private outdoor gardens
• Complimentary WiFi inside & outside
• Historic Site on The African American Heritage Trail
• Top 5 historic venues to explore in the world ~ smithsonian magazine
• "The Coolest Place in D.C." - Booking.com
• Top Seven Hotels in D.C. ~ Forbes Magazine

Give Back When You Stay

Our uniquely themed rooms serve as lodging for guests visiting the nation's capital. BUT, their higher purpose is realized through our Artists & Heroes-in-Residence programs. We use these rooms to house soldiers, service people, first responders, creatives, and all those who are giving of themselves to serve others for free. Our unique spaces and quiet alcoves provide a supportive, encouraging environment, free from outside pressures - so that they may simply sleep, rest, heal, and/or create. 

When you stay you are supporting these important programs.

Every year for the past 40 years we have provided (on average) over 850 free room nights a year to support our Artists & Heroes-in-Residence programs. Bookings.com named us the "Coolest place in D.C." for a reason.

Exploration and Discovery — Every Step Tells A Story

We weave storytelling, the arts, music, sports, science, and history into each program to guide our individual journey's toward understanding.

The only museum of its kind, the O Museum in The Mansion is dedicated to exploring the creative process. We inspire creativity, diversity and imagination through the fusion of the arts, music, science and sports. We empower people to dare to be different — and achieve things beyond what they know.

When you visit this unique attraction on your next Washington DC trip, you'll find your way through immersive themed exhibits, art galleries, secret doors (we have over 80 of them!), and covert passages to a world never experienced. You'll be walking in the footsteps of presidents and freedom fighters, historians and authors, artists and musicians, athletes, scholars and many more.

Named "The coolest place in DC" by Booking.com we are a fun museum with unique collections that promote and embrace life, from every culture, resulting in a wide-ranging collection of paintings, photographs, sculpture, books, artifacts, music, sports, science, and architecture from all over the globe. From the art, to the music, to the surroundings, no visit is ever the same.

Here you will find original artwork by Mersad Berber, Frederick Hart, Gerald Johnson, Jimi Hendrix and others; artist's letters; sports, movie, and music from rare Beatles memorabilia, to Janis Joplin's guitars and Bob Dylan's guitar when he was inducted into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, Miss USA's crown, Prince's Purple Rain Jacket, the flag that flew over Merrill Lynch during 9-11, and an original letter written by John Lennon. Our galleries are not limited to one genre so you'll also find written manuscripts, rare photos, art; pop art, modern art, etchings, photography, pop-culture, and signed guitars (we have more than 60).

O Street Museum offers an immersive, tactile experience making it one of DC's most unique attractions. Guests will search for hidden doors, leaf through manuscripts, touch sculpture, hear rare studio cuts, and tour through an array of diverse achitectual styles, secret doors, and our legendary themed exhibits — like the Log Cabin, the John Lennon Suite, the Safari room, and Mrs. Rosa Parks' room (we were her home-away-from-home for nearly 10 years).

Secrets & Spies

From it's rich history, to it's secret doors and hidden alcoves, mystery and intrigue are part of O Street's DNA. In the 1930's the home was converted into three separate rooming houses for FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's G-men. To combat the rise of organized crime, outlaws, and gangsters J. Edgar Hoover formed the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These new agents became known by the name G-men (short for "Government Man"). Their operations were covert and the agents were so little known that they were often confused with Secret Service or Prohibition Bureau agents.

Mrs. Rosa Parks, The Mother of The Civil Rights Movement & The O

Mrs. Parks’ story, legacy, and connection to African American history in Washington, D.C. is little known — and yet, critical to the work she did. From 1994 to 2004 The Mansion on O and the O Street Museum was the place Mrs. Rosa Parks called her home-away-from-home.

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On December 1, 1955, with one simple act, Mrs. Parks changed the world. She helped spark the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama bus. That simple act of courage made her one of the most important women in American history. A woman of few words, her action forever – and positively – impacted the lives of people all over the globe.

While Mrs. Rosa Parks was with us she met with dignitaries, heads-of-state, and leaders, including President Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Benjamin Hooks, and Dorothy Height here. Close friends of Mrs. Parks stayed with her while she was living with us, including Cicely Tyson, Mamie Till, Miles Davis, Angela Bassett, Artis Lane and her closest friend Mrs. Elaine Steele, Executive Director of The Rosa and Raymond Parks Pathways to Freedom, in Detroit, Michigan.

Mrs. Parks passed away on the 24th of October 2005 in her Detroit apartment. Her body laid in state at the Capitol Rotunda, the first woman to have ever been given this honour. She became the first African American woman to be honored with a life-size statue in the Capitol.

O Museum In The Mansion is a historic site on The African American Heritage Trail which identifies sites that are important in local and national history and culture. It recognizes the people and places that have shaped Washington, DC. A plaque commemorating Mrs. Parks was recently installed and can be seen when you visit.