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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	OCTAGON HOUSE District of Columbia
1741 New York Avenue NW., Washington. Travel Itinerary The Octagon Museum

Ownership and Administration. American Institute of Architects.

Significance. Built between 1798 and 1800 by Col. John Tayloe, a rich Virginia planter, this house is a superb example of an 18th-century Georgian townhouse. President and Mrs. Madison temporarily resided in it in 1814-15, while the White House was being rebuilt and renovated following its burning by the British during the War of 1812. While living there, Madison signed the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war, in the room that he used as a study.

Colonel Tayloe had planned to build a townhouse in Philadelphia, but his close friend, President George Washington, persuaded him to build it in the new Capital City. In 1797 Tayloe purchased a lot and obtained the services of Dr. William Thornton, architect of the Capitol. Built between 1798 and 1800, the house was considered to be one of the finest in the Nation, and in it Colonel Tayloe entertained many distinguished guests, including Madison, Jefferson, Monroe, Adams, Jackson, Decatur, Webster, Clay, Lafayette, and Calhoun. In 1814, after the British set fire to the abandoned White House, as well as the Capitol and other public buildings, Colonel Tayloe and other Washington residents offered their homes to President and Mrs. Madison during the rebuilding of the White House. They first chose Octagon House and lived there for nearly 1 year, in 1814-15. Madison, who used the tower room above the entrance as a study, on February 17, 1815, signed there the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. The Madisons resided in a suite on the east side of the second floor, consisting of a large room and two small dressing rooms. In 1815 they moved to "Seven Buildings," on Pennsylvania Avenue, where they lived out the President's term of office.

After Mrs. Tayloe's death, in 1855, the Tayloe family no longer lived in the house and it soon fell into disrepair. In 1865 the St. Rose's Technical Institute, a Catholic school for girls, occupied the house, and from 1866 to 1879 the Government rented it for the use of the Hydrographic Office. Until about 1885, when the Tayloe heirs entrusted it to a caretaker, it was used as an office and as a studio dwelling. As early as 1889 the American Institute of Architects expressed interest in acquiring the building for its national headquarters, and in 1897 agreed to rent it for 5-year periods. The institute rehabilitated the dilapidated house, took formal possession in 1899, and 3 years later purchased it.

Octagon House, District of Columbia. After the British burned the White House, during the War of 1812, President and Mrs. Madison lived for a time in this 18th-century Georgian townhouse. In the room he used as a study, Madison signed the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war.

Present Appearance. Octagon House is a three-story red brick building, trimmed with Aquia sandstone, and has been well preserved. It is open to the public. Stone steps lead to a circular entrance area that opens into a foyer. The institute uses the two downstairs rooms leading from the foyer as reception rooms for social functions. From the foyer a spiral staircase curves upward to the Madison Room, or Treaty Room, which has been restored, and includes, among other things, the table on which Madison signed the Treaty of Ghent. Other second-floor rooms, including the ones used by the Madisons for living quarters, are now exhibition galleries. In 1940 the institute erected an administration building along the eastern line of the Octagon plot, in 1950 restored the garden, and in 1953 converted the stable into a library.

NHL Designation: 12/19/60