Evening Star Newspaper, September 27, 1931, Page 74

. X THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, ». ¥, SEPTEMBER 2, TO3.° Houses Once Owned by Washington What Became of Old Structures on North Capitol Street?—First President’s Resi- dence in Philadelphia During Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 and 1794, Building Beside Mount Vernon. " BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. ¥ some one were to inquire what became of the George Washington houses which stood from 1799 to Fcbruary, 1915, on the west side of North Capitol strect between B and C streets, probably the oniy reply he would receive would be that they were removed to make way for the Capitol Plaza improvements, just as the Old Brick Capitol was removed in order to erect on its site the United States Supreme Court Building. But with the George Washington houses, few people have any idea that as a matter of fact these two old bulldings substantially exist today. Not as they originally stood, ch no; for they were entirely taken down to the ground. But what happened was this: A certain gentleman named Hugh J. Phillips, sr., feeling that the material of these houses should be preserved, for the sentiment attached to George Wash- ington, if for no other reason, purchased the ‘houses and had the material carried to the southwest corner of New Jerscy avenue and C street southeast, just across the street from where the Varnum Hotel stood and where the House Office annex is being erected—and there built with the historic bricks the frames, the doors, the trimming and even the marble man- tels—sent to Gen. Washington by Gen. Lafayette —two of the three stories of the hotel now occupying that corner, Mr. Phillips, a native of the Eastern Shore ‘of Maryland, but a resident of this city for ‘some years, at the time the Government ordered 'the Washington houses removed was keeping ‘the Wycomico Hotel on the opposite side of North Capitol street, to where the two residences ordered built by the first President then stood. His hotel being also in the line of improvement, was also ordered taken down, and it was then that the idea occurred to him to buy the ma- terial contained in these buildings and build with it what is now the George Washington Inn. Recently Mr. Phillips showed the writer through his hostelry and pointed out partic- ularly the beautiful white marble mantlepieces sent to this country as a gift to Washington by Gen. Lafayette, to be put into the former’s North Capitol street houses! They are of ex- quisitely fine workmanship, and the design is modest and pleasing. Toward the top, in one, and at either end, there is a bunch of grapes within a double circle, and at the top center, forming an arch, portions of early French armor are artistically arranged together. The other mantel is substantially the same, except that the carving within the circles represents oak leaves and apples, and the center piece, in addition to the armorial treatment, majches the design within the circles. is much early American furniture in this hotel, placed there no doubt to match its history, but the most attractive thing the writer saw was a piece of gray earthenware, with blue scroll design—quite familiar 50 and more years ago—which Mr. Phillips said was Martha Washington’s wine crock. It is, indeed, a peculiar contraption, of cyl- indrical form, about two feet high. Across the top it is about 10 inches in diameter, and tapers to about 7 at the bottom. In ad- dition to the knobbed lid, there is a disk that seftles in the making of the wine as the con- tents of the crock go down. This disk is perforated with innumerable little holes and is notched to permit it to slide uniformly over a groove, baked in the side of the crock. The lid is also perforated, and altogether it is cer- tainly a peculiar and skillful piece of earthen- ware. Mount Vernon itself is not forgotten in this collection, and here we find a metallic repro- duction of the old mansion house, said to have been made by a soldier of the Revolution who under Gen. Washington. It séerfied to be unmarked, and the name of the maker, for at is things pertaining to George Wash- and showed the writer a massive piece of. timber in his back yard that measured 16 feet long and 12 by 14 inches on the sides, he obtained when the Hotel Varnum, just about 10 o'clock the Alexandria company of riflemen, with the Washington Artillery com- pany, paraded in front of the President-elect’s lodgings. Unfortunately, this inauguration— the first of a President to occur in Washing- ton—is generally confused with Jefferson’s sec- ond inauguration, when hn is said to have ridden up the Avenue, unaccompanied, hitched his horse to the Capitol fence, taken the oath of office, and without any further ceremony ridden back to the White House; which is sub- stantially correct, except that he was attended upon this occasion by his secretary and his groom. 2 ‘The piece of timber from the Varnum ran through the bar room and supported the ball room immediately above, and if it could offer up its recollections as we axe privileged to do, could, no doubt, entertain you with some very exclusive and entertaining stories of high life in early Washington—when. grandma danced the minuet. MUCH has been written of George Washing~ ton’s houses on North Captiol street, erected by the first President, as a tangible ecvidence, no doubt, of "his eimfidence and in- terest in the Federal city. The architect was The George Washington houses as converted into the Kenmore Hotel. his friend, William Thornton, whose design for the Capitol was accepted by him, and whose judgment he trusted with much of the details having to do with the construction of the houses. Indeed, on January 20, 1800, after Washington’s death, Mrs. Thornton records in her diary that her husband had paid for Gen, ‘Washington’s houses. Lot 16 in square 634, upon which these build- ings stood, was bought by Washington on Sep- tember 21, 1798; at any rate, we find him con- templating doing so on September 12, of that year, when he wrote to Alexander White, saying: “Dear Sir: “Your letter of the 8th inst. with the plan of the squares in the vicinity of the Capitol came to me on the 10th and for the trouble you have been at in designating such lots as you think would answer my purpose I feel much obliged. > “From what you have said and from the recollection I have of the ground, I give a de- cided preference to lot number 16 in square 634, but the price I fear (upward of $1,200) will sink too deep into the fund which must be appropriated to the buildings; and there- fore if the following queries respecting lot No. View of the marble manitels presented to George Washington for his North Cap- itol street houses by Gen, Lafayette, now installed in the George Washington Inn. 2, in square %731, are satisfactorily answered I must content myself with that as it is not with a view to accumulate property in the city—but merely to contribute a mite to the accommodation of Congress, that I .purchase at all. HTB! facts I wish to ascertain are, first: Is the high part of No. 2, in square 731 upon a level with the ground on which the road runs from the Capitol, to the upper ferry over the Eastern Branch? Second, is there any higher ground between it and the Eastern Branch to obstruct the view thereof? And third, is there much fall between the east and west cormer of the front on Pennsylvania avenue. Answers to these questions will enable me {0 choose without further delay. As I never require much time to execute any meas- ure after I have resolved upon it, if an under- taker could be engaged in the city or is vicinity to dig the cellar and lay the founda- tion, and the comrs. would do me the favor to enter into a contract, therefor, to the basement story, I could wish it to be set about and executed this Fall and the earler the better. Any agreement they shall enter into on my behalf shall be most religiously com- plied with. If an advance of money to carry on the work is required it may be engaged. And as two houses joined and carried on to- gether will look better and come cheaper than building them separately or at different times, I have determined to commence two, and if I can procure the means, complete both in the course of next Summer. I am not skilled in architécture and perhaps know 'as little of planning—but as the houses I mean to build will be plain and (if placed on lot No. 16 in square 634) will be adopted to the front of the lot leaving alljes or entries to the back build- ings I inclose a sketch to convey my ideas of the size of the houses, rooms and manner of building them, to enable you to enter into the contract. “Tmzh:ketch exhibits a view of the ground floor, 2d, and 3d if the walls should be run up three flush stories, will be the same, and the cellars may have a partition in them at the chimnies. My plan when it comes to be examined may be radically wrong—if so, I prsuade myself that Doctor Thornton (wko understanding these matters well) will have the goodness to suggest alterations. “I shall make no apology for soliciting this favor of the Comrs. To promote buildings i; desirable, and is an object under present circumstances of the first importance to the city. If then they can comply with it con- veniently, I persuade myself they will do so, but if they cannot it would be unreasonable in me to ask it, and I waive the request ac- cordingly. With my great esteem and regard, I am, &c.” Indeed, the date of purchase is- more defi- nitely settled in his diary for September 21, 1798, when he records: “Examined in company with the Comrs. some of the lots in the vicinity of the Capitol & fixed upon No. 16 in 634 to build on. Dined & lodged at Mr. Laws.” Tlmfintlot‘purchuedhadn!ronwgco( 54 feet and an average depth of 100 feet, which was obtained direct from the Com- missioners. Subsequently he bought of Daniel Carroll of Duddington parts of lots 5 and 6, extending his property lines by the north of lot 16 to New Jersey avenue. Just when these houses were begun is doubt- ful, for as late as March 31, 1799, we find Washington writing to his secretary, Tobias , as follows: “If perchance you should happen to see Mr. Blagden before you leave the city, be so good as to get from him a statement of the prepa- rations for my buildings therein. I do not find by inquiry of Mr. Lewis that there is much show of this on the ground! I advised strongly that the foundation stone and lime should be laid in last Autumn, when the roads were good; had this been done the work might have commenced (without the hazard of dis- appointment) with the opening of Spring. Now bad roads and multiplied excuses may be a plea for the backwardness of his work.” George Blagden and John Lenthal, both employed in the construction of the Capitol, were the builders of the two North Capitol street houses, and the letter of ‘Washington of March 3b seems to have stirred them up a little, for in early June they were calling for & part payment of $1,000, which shows that construction work at that time was progressing, The George Blagden here referred to ~ame from England and settled in this city in 1793. His son Thomas,’ who built Blagden row om Indiane avenue, was born here in October, 1803, and died here February 2, 1870, and his de- scendants still reside in this city. John Lenthall was also a native of England, having been born in 1762 at Chesterfield, County of Derby. He also came here in 1793, and married Jane King, born in Yorkshire, England, October 11, 1780. In 1803, when B. H. Latrobe took charge of the construction of the Capitol, Mr. Lenthall was selected to be the “clerk of work and principal surveyor.” His death, which took place September 19, 1808, was causcd by the falling of one of the arches in the Supreme Court room in the Capitol. As every one knows, or should know, George Washington died at Mount Vernon De- cember 14, 1799, before these buildings were completed. However, on August 14 of that year we find him writing to John Pran-is, who [t would appear was considering renting the houses for hotel or boarding house purposes, and so far as known he may have be:n the first tenant after they were completed, though a statement that makes this seem doubtful is the one that says that when Congress met here in 1800 these houses were rented for boarding house purposes by a Mr. Frost, who continued to do so for some years afterward. Undoubtedly, if the Frosts were not the first tenants of these houses, they were tenants at an early date, and what particularly lends color