Built in 1886/87 by the well-known developer, Brainard Warner. 2012 R Street NW has a granite façade and is part of the celebrated row of houses from 2006 to 2028 on R Street NW. (Cost of the house Was $7,000., a substantial investment at the time).

Charles Curtis resided at 2012 R Street in 1901 when he was a representative from Kansas, in the U.S. Congress. He then became head of the Senate and ultimately in 1929 was elected Vice President, under Herbert Hoover. He was the first biracial Vice President. (His mother was French and Native American.)

Many years later in 1984, the parlor floor of 2012 R Street became the Marsha Mateyka Gallery which over the next 40 years would mount more than 200 exhibitions of contemporary art by American and European artists. It was acknowledged as a major art gallery in the city. The Gallery started the popular First Friday Dupont Art Walk.