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...
The Octagon
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 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...
-
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...
-
Collection Italy in the White House
Long before the emergence of the United States and Italy as nations, close connections between our two peoples influenced political...
-
Collection The Historic Stephen Decatur House
In 1816 the naval war hero, Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr., and his wife, Susan, moved to the nascent capital city of...
-
Collection The Presidents
Biographies & Portraits
-
Collection The Hospitality of Diplomacy
The White House has hosted many important heads of state over the years. Typically, the President and First Lady join...
-
Bio John Quincy Adams
Son of a president, John Quincy Adams in many respects paralleled the career as well as the temperament and viewpoints...
-
Bio Martha Jefferson
At age 22, Martha Wayles Skelton was already a widow, an heiress, and a mother whose firstborn son would die in...
-
Bio Abigail Adams
Inheriting New England's strongest traditions, Abigail Smith was born on November 11, 1744 at Weymouth, Massachusetts. On her mother's side she was...
-
Bio James Monroe
James Monroe was perhaps the most qualified citizen ever to serve as president of the United States. Born in 1758 in...
