Collection America Under Fire
The young national capital at Washington, D.C. became the epicenter of The War of 1812 with Great Britain during the...
The Octagon
How Long? 1 minute
On September 8, 1814, the Madisons moved into the Octagon, second in size only to the burned President's House, and the only private home in Washington with the requisite elegance and scale for grand entertaining.
Designed by William Thornton, the Octagon was built in 1800-01 as a winter townhouse for Colonel John Tayloe III, a wealthy Virginia planter and horse breeder. An agreement was made for a rental fee of $800 for six months and Madison set up his office in the circular study on the second floor.
The Madisons held their first Wednesday evening levee at the Octagon on September 21. Resentment toward the president gradually waned and crowded receptions at the Octagon began to resemble the famed White House "squeezes." On March 5, 1815, Dolley Madison wrote to Hannah Gallatin: "Still our house is crowded with company. [I]n truth ever since the peace my brain has been turn'd with noise & bustle. Such over flowing rooms I never saw before—I sigh for repose."
The Octagon (on the right behind a row of tall trees) and the surrounding neighborhood as it appeared in a painting by S. Lewis about 1813.
You Might Also Like
-
-
Collection "The President's Own"
On July 11, 1798, President John Adams approved legislation that officially brought "The President's Own" United States Marine Band into being, making...
-
Collection Eleanor Roosevelt's "My Day"
The White House Historical Association and the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project present this collaboration in an effort to open a...
-
Collection The White House Social Secretary
For more than one hundred years, White House Social Secretaries have displayed a profound knowledge of protocol and society in...
-
Collection Dining in the Executive Mansion
A dinner at the White House has always had significance beyond the merely gastronomical. The elegance of the State Dining...
-
Monuments to the American Revolution in Lafayette Park
In 1853, Clark Mills’ statue of President Andrew Jackson on horseback is in the center of Lafayette Park. The park’s four...
-
Music and Musical Performances in the White House Timeline
1790sBefore the White House was completed in 1800, President George Washington and his wife Martha lived first in New York City,...
-
The Presidential Sweet Tooth
As the holidays approach, thoughts inevitably turn to sugar plums, gingerbread, and all of the other delectable treats that season...
-
Commodore Stephen Decatur: An Early American Naval War Hero
In President Theodore Roosevelt’s description of the capture of the HMS Macedonian by the USS United States in his 1882 bo...
-
Presidents' Day at the White House
Just how does the president celebrate Presidents’ Day? Throughout the more than 200-year history of the White House, presidents themselves ha...
-
Sicilian Salvador Catalano
Few people today know the story of a Sicilian-born sailor named Salvadore Catalano who became an early American naval hero....
-
Hoover Easter Egg Rolls
The annual White House Easter egg roll was a well-established tradition when President Herbert Hoover took office, and the Hoovers...
