The Alibi Club’s (apparently former) clubhouse at 1806 I Street NW. (Photo by Natalie Delgadillo)

The Alibi Club’s (apparently former) clubhouse at 1806 I Street NW. (Photo by Natalie Delgadillo)

If you want to understand the essence of the Alibi Club, one of D.C.’s longest-running private social institutions, listen to the words of longtime member McNamara Gribbon. The Covington and Burling attorney described the fiercely loved clutter inside the traditional, exclusive gentlemen’s club to the Washington Post in 1992: “It’s all those things our wives wouldn’t let us keep at home.”

This, in reference to things like: a cuneiform tablet praising the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda, a cannonball said to have been fired by a British gun in the Revolutionary War, the spittoon from Sandra Day O’Connor’s Supreme Court office (she was not, it should be noted, invited to join the club when she became a Justice).

That early 1990’s Post article appears to be the most exhaustive look at the secretive organization on the internet. For a long time, there wasn’t even a telephone on the property, and if there is one now, it’s unlisted. No officer names or contact information can be found anywhere. This air of mystery is in keeping with the club’s ethos; its name is a nod to the practice of providing excuses as to the whereabouts of its members, when nosy family members (or anyone else) might inquire.

But now, there’s an indication that the club is no longer just difficult to get in touch with; it might actually be gone. A sign on the door, dated 5/22/18, from the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs classifies the clubhouse building as “vacant property.” DCRA confirmed to DCist that the property, at 1806 I St. NW, was indeed marked vacant. A spokesperson in vacant buildings enforcement at DCRA told DCist that inspectors have a checklist to determine the occupancy of a building, which includes things like taking photos, knocking on the door, speaking with neighbors, checking utility usage, and looking for accumulated mail.

(Photo by Natalie Delgadillo)

If the club is indeed dead, that’s not exactly surprising: private social clubs have been struggling for a while now to stay afloat.

The Alibi Club, though, has been particularly entrenched in Washington history. In 1994, the clubhouse was designated a national historic place by the National Park Service.

This nondescript building, which for some reason looks exactly like the kind of place that might house a secret boy’s club, has been the home of the organization since 1886. The institution was founded back in 1884 by seven of what the city calls “distinguished Washingtonians,” and has since counted President George H. W. Bush and Nobel Peace Prize Winner George Marshall among its members. Membership is (was?) capped at 50 people, according to the Post. A new person only gets to join when an old one dies, and then by a unanimous vote of all the members. While technically not restricted by race or gender, then-president James Symington said in 1992 that the club didn’t have any women or black people among its members.

(Photo by Natalie Delgadillo)

Some more fascinating tidbits from the group’s registration forms to the National Register of Historic Places: it has a ‘Japanese Scroll Room,’ which is a 12′-wide by 16’6″-long space occupied by a display of Japanese scrolls in wood cases. Early visitors to the Club included King leopold of Belgium, the Duke of Abruzi, and Prince Henry of Prussia. A sign sits above the dining room door which directs entrants to “leave rank and precedence behind,” which seems nonsensical for a club built on the principle of exclusivity. As far as the building itself, it’s a middle-class rowhouse that has barely changed at all from the time it was built an estimated 125 years ago.

The Alibi Club remains listed as the owner of the building in city property records. Some digging on Twitter reveals the below photo from 2016, which appears to be taken inside the mysterious clubhouse (note that sword hanging above the door? And the golden bald eagle perched inside a bowl???).

So, when exactly did the building go dark? Dear Alibi Club members, if you’re reading this (and we kind of assume you’re not): where have you gone?

Update 6/18/18:

The plot thickens. After this story published, several of you reached out to let us know you’ve witnessed Alibi Club members entering and exiting this building in recent weeks.

Twitter user @13Stoploss, who says he works a few blocks away, offers up this picture from February, which he says is not the most recent time he’s seen a shuffling line of men entering the clubhouse.

And then, just last week: a door ajar (in the fashion of a secret and exclusive society, it leads directly to another door).

It appears the city may have been mistaken in its vacancy classification.

DCRA told DCist that, after originally classifying the building as vacant, they’ve spoken to members of the Alibi Club who have notified the agency that they in fact still reside at 1806 I Street NW. The DCRA spokesperson says they’re in the process of verifying, through utility bills and other documents, the occupancy of the building.

Whatever the case, it appears other members of the public are taking as much interest in this mystery as we are. Keep the reports coming.

Filed Under: Alibi Club,