The Washington herald., 1914-02-07
STORE INVADES
JACKSON PLACE
Office Structure Will Face on
Aristocratic La Fayette
Square.
KOHLMANN Is THE BUYER
Building. Formerly Owned by Thomas
Blagden. to Be Remodeled to Suit
Business Purposes.
KOHLMANN Is THE BUYER

Announcement has been made of an ex-
change whereby Frank B. Kohlmann be-
comes the owner of the residence at %
jackson place northwest, on the west
side of Lafayette Square. between H
street and Pennsylvania avenue, which
was acquired several months ago by
Thomas Blagden. The property was
traded at a valuation of $4,000 and in
return unimproved land in the section
known as Argyle was given. The trans
action was negotiated by Herbert A Gill
& Son, who represented both parties.
1t is stated Mr.. Kohlmann plans to have
the residence remodeled so as to make
il suitable for business purposes The
lower floor probably will be arranged
as a show room, il is said, and the upper
floors will be devoted TO Office rooms.
This will mean that business will get
foothold or what at one time was one
of the most aristocratic residential streets
in all of Washington. In former years
Lafayette Square often was referred to
as Cabinet Square" by reason of the
fact that So many Cabinet members made
thsi- homes in residences facing it.
II no section of Washington are there
.e be found three streets of greater his
tcrac interest than Madison place, ii
street and jackson place, which border
west. respectively. OF these three streets
The greatest changes have taken place on
aadison street since the days when the
r.siiences of men famous in history
faced it. Several of these historic old
structures gave way to more modern
ar-s when the Belasco Theater and the
add tion to the Cosmos Club were built.
Only one residence is missing from the
= street frontage. That is the residence
hn Nhnr Elm rrh ir
sfol1 at the corner of Vermont avenue
zri in later years formed a part of the
hr1lgton Hotel The remainder of that
Il between Madison and jackson
rs looks almost the same as it did
may years ago.
Appearance Not Altered.
I1ere have been practically no changes
o.. Jackson place. Several Of the famous
licences located on that street have
t,-r- rsmodeled and moderniZed consider
sig during recent years, but their eN-
,Fasr appearance remains about the
sarne The most historic house on that
street is the old Decatur mansion at the
conner of II street. now the home of
Tiuxton Beale. 1t was built by the ia
r-uffs Commodore Stephen Decatur with
money received by him from a grateful
c,HE srnment after his gallant capture of
British vessels in the war of 1sl2- In
TINS house eight years afterward he
Or. thed his last. dying miserably by the
hal of Commodore Barron, whom,
ilrr, ugh a false sense of honor, he met
t The old dueIing ground at Bladens-
burr. Barron dragged out paralyzed
g~.s -ence, while Decatur's widow sought |
-. ge in convent. |
After this tragedy the house passed into |
many hands. Judah p. Benjamin, with
his beautiful French wife, lived and en-
tertained magnificently there in the days
Immediately preceding the civil war;
while old Gadsby, of Alexandria fame, !
installed his family within its capacious
walls. far from the din and strife of his
famous hotel. Henry Clay. Martin Van
Buren, Edward Livingston, Jackson's Sec
rotary of State; Vice President George
NJ Dallas and other famous men made
their home there at various times. Van
Buren,, while Vice President. is said to
have had a window cut in the south wall
in order that he might see the signals
displayed by President Jackson from the
White House.
sheltered Famous Men
All of the other eleven houses on the
street have been occupied by famous
men as their homes, having sheltered,
among others, the families of Secretary
Levi woodbury.. of Van Buren's Cabinet;
Secretary John c. Spencer, of Tyler's
Cabinet, and Vice President Colfax. The
residence at the corner of Jackson place
and Pennsylvania avenue formerly was
the home of the late DR.. Peter Parker,
one of the. first missionaries TO China.
In later years it became the headQuar-
tiers of the Bureau of American Repub-
lies. which occupied it until the palatial
Pan-American Building was ready for oc-
cupancy. This property and the resi-
dence adjoining. formerly owned by the
late DIR. Lloyd Magruder, were acquired
several months ago by the Carnegie En-
1owment for International Peace. 1t is
understood that some day a magnificent