The sun., 1897-05-23
THE CREAM WHITE HOUSE,
VIOE-PRESIDENT HOBdRT's BEdUTE-
FUL HOME ON LAFA YETTE SQUARE.
Ono or the Most Historic structures on That
Famous Piot Around which stand Houses
Every One OF which II Associated with the
NTnu,nrier or S.rcnt wen nnd Great needn.


Every One OF which IL Associated with the
Memories OF Great Wen ana Great Deeda.
WARRINGTON, May 22.-The picturesque and
beautiful house on Lafayette square, formerly
the homo Of Senator Don Cameron and now the
residence of Vlcc-Prosident Hobart, is one OF tho
most historic structures in locality almost
every inch OF which is associated with somo
great name or identified with some important
incident In American history. Around this
square actual and possible Presidents have
lived, Cabinet members have made their
homes fascinating women have held sway
in fashionable salons and men conspicuous
in army, navy, diplomatic, political. literary.
and social life have dwelt. Such n cluster
OF grent men and famous women has naturally
given to this parallelogram a distinction such
MS few other plots OF ground OF equal dimension
have attained. and the old washngtonian never
tires in his "reminiscences OF what he is pleased
to call the good old days" Of tho square. just
as the casual visitor, spurrod by tho guidcbook.
examines intently each separate house and
building In his effort to realize something of tho
glory which the guidebook assigns to tho neigh
borhood md its houses.
On one side of this plot stand the spacious
grounds of tho White House, n site selected by
Washington himself In 1890 for the Executive
Mansion of tho new republic. To the inclosure
name OF his distinguished friend Lafayette.
Years before, when Washington was the com
mander of the Continental forces, the park
which now bears n name in honor Of the illus
trous Frenchman was part OF a farm. destined
later to become burial ground for the members
Of the family who owned 1t. Soon after Gen.
Washington had chosen the site for the Execu
tive Mansion. 1t ia officially known, every one
of tho bodies that had been buried there
was removed, and tho place was ultimately
converted into the beautiful park or garden
that Is now one OF tho most delightful breath
ing spots OF the capital More than two decades
later the red coats Of the British soldiers flashed
amid tho green foliage Of the park as the enc
my tramped over the field on Its way to burn
tho White House. Since that time, men and
events of war and peace, scenes OF festival and
sorrow have centred about the square where
the sturdy figure of jackson and the graceful
ef1gy Of Lafayette stand rs ornaments Of art
and reminders of historic men and times.
1t is a bit OF up.to-date pleasantly that has
given to the house now occupied by the Vice
President tho nickname of the Cream White
House." 1t stands almost within n stones
throw Of tho Presidents home. and because the
President and vice-President OF the United
States dwell so ncor each other the curious arc
already talking about state of affairs which
has no parallel perhaps. in our history, for 1t is
almost truism that the first and second officers
of the Government usually have been separated
from one another by the widest intervals both
in social as we'll as political life, so tina. the
Vice-President has usually lived beyond the
sight of the White House. Us IL driven away by
some mysterious and traditional impulse.
The Cream White House" has an interesting
history OF its own. It was built in Il s2s. and is
almost ready, therefore, to celebrate it's three
score and ten." Its builder and first owner was
Ogle Tayloe, a distinguished man of his time,
and to this day it is familarly referred to the
Ogle Tayloe house. Col. Tayloc. the father OF
Ogle Tayloe, was one OF the millionaires of $500,
and to be possessed Of million in those davs
was to be as conspicuous in contemporary life n
Cornelius Vanderbilt or William Waldorf Astor
of our day. Col. Tayloe owned thousands of
acres and hundreds of slaves in Washington,
and it was he who built the great octagonal
house in another part Of the city which. during
part OF Madison's Administration, after the
White House was burned. served as the Presi-
Dental residence.
Ogle Tayloe the son, was the friend and init
mate of most of the great men of the country
for over forty years. and around his hospitable
table gathered such men rs Webster. Clay,
jackson. and Adams. At Harvard young TayIoe
roomed with John A. Dix, and there. too. he was
friend OF Prescott. the historian. Although SO
Ith thc puuiiN vi MS uuy .
he held no public office. except when he served
the country AS secretary to Mr.. Rush the Amer
Harrison M called Just before he was taken with
the illness that ended fatally. At one time
II was % the home I,,1 Of admiral mira paulding M SON n
Andre, and during part Of the civil war
it became the headquarters Of Gen. Mcclellan.
the house in which Lily Price Hamersley,
Duchess Of Marlborough and now Lady William
RsT It Was by co William
OF New YORK; MhS paid $4,000 for it, me
Cameron, Its present owner, from whom Mr.. Ho-
minutes walk Of tho Hobart house aro some
ton. Next door, whore tho Lafayette
Square Opera House now stands, stood the
the hDs'e rcsdeDGe iDe Of Pfo james, G. i Blaine. Few
houses in the city have the distinction which
eminent men gave to me Bnr Baine en- mansiqn ~
walls lived such prominent men us tho Commo
dore himself. John G. Calhoun; when he was
country as Secretary Of State; Secretary seward
house was built was owned by Clay, who. with
the Kentucky instinct for horse trade, swapped
It with Commodore Rogers for blooded colt.
home of the celebrated Washington Club, whore
the important and fashionable men OF the cap
rooms of this house that Barton Key was car
ried after he had been shot by his club.
mate, DHn1hl III tle HlTecl HedrlN
of the house. On the opposite side of the square
was the house occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Sckles.
In this clubhouse II was that the attempt was
made by Payne to assassinate Secretary Seward
ON the night that President Lincoln was shot.
Finally it became the home Of james q. Blaine.
and for many years he and tho Psnnsylvania
Senator lived side by side. After Mr.. Blaine 3
death the property, in spite of the vigorous pro.
tests of Senat or Cameron, who fought the project
bitterly to the end, was purchased by a syndi-
cate which erected the theatre that Is now
standing on the site Of the historic house.
Within hnlf n dozen hOugpS Of the Hobart
home on one corner of the square Is the cele-
| brated Dolly Madison house, now the abiding
place OF the Cosmos Club, one OF the most prom
inent and largest scientific clubs in the world.
| 1t was built in 1901 by James Madison, then
Jefferson's Secretary of state. After his death
! 1t was tho home of his widow, tho popular and
| fascinating woman who charmed and ltertancd
the Washington of her day. When Mrs. Madi.
| son died the house passed into the hands of
| Commodore Wilkes who captured Mason
and Sidel and was the commander OF the
| Wilkes exploring expedition. Wilkes and Sill
dell lived AT one time within n stones throw of
! each other. The old house Is still a charming
! and digniied place. and bronze tablet over the
/ door bears testimony that once President and