A family’s hidden history is revealed after sale of their grand Georgetown estate

The Evermay estate in the Georgetown neighbourhood of Washington, D.C., was built in 1801 for Samuel Davidson.  Samuel Davidson provided the land for the construction of the White House.  The house was purchased by Ferdinand Lammot “Mot” Belin, the future US Ambassador to Poland in the 1930s and has been in the Belin family since.  In May, the house was sold by Mot Belin’s grandson, Harry Belin and now Harry is discovering the story of his family that he never knew.  In an article in The Washington Post, Ian Shapria reports on what Harry found out.

The weather for Peter Belin’s flight home from Europe was largely serene. It was early in May 1937, and as touchdown in New Jersey approached, the recent Yale graduate snapped photos of the airport’s three-story hangar, the ground crew, and the stark, oval shadow of his mode of transportation, the Hindenburg zeppelin.

 

Moments later, after the crew flung down the landing ropes, an explosion rocked the Hindenburg’s rear. Peter grabbed his things — his datebook, his camera — and leapt from the doomed craft. He survived the 30-foot plunge.

 

Soon, he returned to his family home in Georgetown, a magnificent estate known as Evermay, perched on a rise with a view of the Washington Monument and Rock Creek Park. Peter didn’t talk much about the Hindenburg, because that was the Belin way: Don’t draw attention to yourself; don’t be showy.

Read the rest of the story at A family’s hidden history is revealed after sale of their grand Georgetown estate – The Washington Post.