Rear of Decatur House and Slave Quarters

This photograph of the back of Decatur House and its slave quarters was taken by Bruce White for the White House Historical Association on September 2, 2015. Completed in 1818, Decatur House was the third building on Lafayette Square and its first private residence. Decatur House was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the architect of the Capitol and several other famous buildings, for Commodore Stephen Decatur and his wife, Susan. Tragically, in 1820 Stephen Decatur was mortally wounded during a duel and his widow Susan rented out the house to foreign ministers and several secretaries of state. The house was eventually sold and passed through several hands, including the Gadsby family, the U.S. Subsistence Bureau, and the Beale family. Marie Ogle Beale, a society maven and the last owner left the house to National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1961. In 2010, the White House Historical Association and National Trust entered into co-stewardship arrangement and the house now serves as the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History. Decatur House's Slave Quarters were built in the early 1820's and the structure is one the few remaining slave quarters in an urban setting in the United States. The White House Historical Association and David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History offer tours and educational programming to tell the story of the enslaved domestics who lived there.