Cutts-Madison House
| Cutts–Madison House | |
|---|---|
The west side of the Cutts–Madison House
|
|
| General information | |
| Architectural style | American colonial |
| Town or city | Washington, D.C. |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 38°54′01″N 77°02′04″W / 38.9003895°N 77.0344212°WCoordinates: 38°54′01″N 77°02′04″W / 38.9003895°N 77.0344212°W |
| Construction started | 1818 |
| Completed | 1819 |
| Cost | approximately $5,750 (in 1828) |
| Client | |
|
Cutts–Madison House
|
|
| Part of | Lafayette Square Historic District (Washington, D.C.) (#70000833) |
| Added to NRHP | August 29, 1970 |
| Technical details | |
| Size | originally 3,900 (approximately); 13,319 (2009) |
The Cutts–Madison House (also known as the Dolley Madison House) is an American colonial-style historic home located at 1520 H Street NW in Washington, D.C.The house is best known for being the residence of former First Lady Dolley Madison, who lived there from November 1837 until her death in July 1849.
The Cutts–Madison House is part of the Lafayette Square Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.
On March 31, 1793, the U.S. Commissioners in charge of selling federally-owned lots in the District of Columbia agreed to sell square 221 to Samuel Davidson. Davidson died in 1810, and his son and two daughters inherited the property.Richard Cutts purchased lots 12, 13, 14, and 15 of square 221 from the Davidson heirs on October 3, 1818.
The house was constructed in 1818–1819 by Richard Cutts, who built the house for himself and his wife, Anna Payne Cutts (Dolley Payne Madison's sister). The house had two stories, a gabled roof, dormer windows, and chimneys at the north and south ends of the house. The exterior was originally grey stucco. The front of the house faced Lafayette Square. The lot on which the house sat was a large one, with extensive space on all sides. Dirt roads bordered the house on the west and north sides, and a large garden with flowers and fruit trees occupied the east and south sides of the house. The garden extended south as far as the Tayloe House on the south end of the block. The home was considered one of the more "pretentious" domiciles in the city at the time.
The city gravelled the street in front of the house in 1823.
Cutts secured a mortgage to build the house, and on August 22, 1828, the bank holding the mortgage sold it to ex-President James Madison for $5,750. When James Madison died in 1836, Dolley Madison held the mortgage. Her husband's death had left Dolley Madison in a financially difficult position, so to reduce her expenses she took up residency in the house in November 1837. Presidents James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor all visited her in the home, as did John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster. Dolley Madison's financial difficulties continued, however. She also owned Montpelier, her husband's country estate and farm in the Piedmont of Virginia. But Montpelier's finances were in poor condition, and Dolley moved out of the Cutts–Madison House in 1839 to live once more at Montpelier and see if she could save the estate. She rented out the Cutts–Madison house, but was unable to stabilize Montpelier. She moved back to the Cutts–Madison House in 1843, and sold Montpelier in 1844.
...
Wikipedia