The Washington times., 1934-11-24
FORTUNE SPENT
ON PAINTINGS,
FURNITURE
Appointments of 18th Street
Mansion Hark Back
Half a Century

Of Henderson Castle, where Amer
lean Presidents and foreign po-
tentates have broken bread, an
auctioneer'S hammer is going to
pound out the closing chapter Of
one Of Washington's most famous
stories.
It is a story that started in
the Civil War days and continued
unbroken to the present time-a
story of love and bitterness, vast
wealth and greed. social acclaim
and ridicule, broken hearts and
death. And woven into the tale
are Presidents and diplomats and
the noted figures Of other fields
from President Lincoln down.
Henderson Castle knew them all.
Gloomy and Silent
Vacant for more than three
years the death of Mrs. John
Brooks Henderson, it's last chat
elaine, the castle today is torlorn.
its big rooms dust-covered and
piled high with furniture, BOOKS
expensive art objects, costly hang
ings and bric-a-brac picked up IN
the four corners of the world.
The garden that once saw some
of the most brilliant of Washing
ton social functions overrun with
weeds and dead grass. The famous
Su,inonoine nool. once the faVorite
summer spot of diplomats and
debutantes, is drained dry and lit
tered with dead leaves and the ell
waited orchestra platform at one
end has fallen into decay.
An ironic monument TO tne
tempestuous little woman whose
dream was to make Sixteenth
street the swankieSt thorough.
fare of any capital in the world
-"the Avenue of Presidents" she
wanted to call it-and spent mil
lions in her attempt.
Castle for Sale
All the glamour is gone and to-
day a handful of workmen were
preparing for the auction that
will take place in January. Even
the castle itself is up for sale IN
an effort to liquidate an estate
once valued at $30,000,000, now
shrunken to fraction of that. A
number of real estate firms have
"for sale" about the place, but the
castle will not be auctioned. Its
disposal will be a separate opera
tion.
The furniture is massive stuff,
popular in another day, tremen-
dous chairs with carved arms and
backs, richly upholstered; smaller
yet heavy straight-back chairs
done in gilt; huge mahogany
beds with mattresses twice as
thick as those OF today. A turn
about the house takes one back
. half century.
So it is with the art that cost
q fortune. Principally of the
French school, the pieces run
heavily to pastoral scenes and
huge paintings of lions and other
beasts, although there are not a
few portraits, including one OF
Mrs. Henderson and her husband,
the late Senator Henderson.
Fortune in Paintings
A fortune is represented in
the paintings alone which cover
the walls of the Gold Room. the
Grand Ball Room and the State
dining room. Many were the
work of men whose names still
live.
There is the painting of
lonely island in the sea, done by
Richards, the famous marine
painter. Nearby in the State
dining room is the great blue
lion by Gerome. A sunset by
InnesS looks down upon the
scene. In the ball room is
valuable Oriental scene, work of
the famous Constant.
Throughout there is a profusion
Of paintings by Lucian Powell,
Washington's own renowned ar
tist. a protege of Mrs. Henderson.
These run to Venetian scenes,
Grand Canyon glimpses and the
landscapes for which Powell be-
came noted.
Mrs. Henderson'S own works of
art hide the walls of the gold room.
A three-quarter view of a woman
has been declared exceptionally
good. Likewise her painting of
Chinese woman in costume. The
latter is said to have been posed
by the wife of Lee Hung Chang,
one-time famous Ambassador of
China to the United States.
A Social Center
1t was in the sos that the ia.
nous Senator Henderson built
the imposing castle at Sixteenth
st. and Florida Ave. N. w., for
his young wife. At once it be-
came the center of Washington'S
social life. From then on until
the latter years of her life Mrs.
henderson ruled Capital society
WIN an iron hand and capriciouS
MIND. Her activities made Page
one news until she died in Maine
in 1881.
Mrs. Henderson, then Mary N.
Foote, first saw Washington when
as a girl of 20 she came to Wash.
1ngton about the time of the Civil
war to visit her uncle. Senator
Foote, of Vermont.
She met the powerful and IA