The Octagon House
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The Octagon House
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| Location | 1799 New York Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C. |
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| Coordinates | 38°53′46.68″N 77°2′29.40″W / 38.8963000°N 77.0415000°WCoordinates: 38°53′46.68″N 77°2′29.40″W / 38.8963000°N 77.0415000°W |
| Built | 1799 |
| Architect | William Thornton |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000863 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | December 19, 1960 |
The Octagon House, also known as the Colonel John Tayloe III House, is located at 1799 New York Avenue, Northwest in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Designed by William Thornton, the first architect of the United States Capitol, the Octagon was built between 1799 and 1801 in Washington, D.C. Colonel John Tayloe III, for whom the house was built, owned Mount Airy Plantation the centerpiece of 60,000 acres department of interdependent plantation farms, located approximately one hundred miles south of Washington, D.C., in Richmond County, Virginia. Tayloe was reputed to be the richest Virginian planter of his time, and built the house in Washington at the suggestion of George Washington on land purchased from Benjamin Stoddert, first Secretary of the Navy.
John Tayloe III was born at Mount Airy in 1771, educated in England, served in the Virginia state legislature, and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1800. John Tayloe III married Ann Ogle in 1792 at her family’s home Belair Mansion. Ann was only a year younger than her husband.
The Octagon was originally constructed to be a winter residence for the Tayloe family, but they lived in the house year-round from 1818-1855. The Octagon property originally included a number of outbuildings, including a smokehouse, laundry, stables, carriage house, slave quarters, and an ice house (the only surviving outbuilding). The Tayloes were involved in shipbuilding, horse breeding and racing, and owned several iron foundries—they were fairly diversified for a plantation family. The Tayloes owned hundreds of slaves, and had between 12 and 18 who worked at the Octagon.
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