Evening star., 1934-10-14


by disuse, dust and destruction, can
devour it. Finished in 1920 when
Monroe was still President, for 80
years it was the seat of continuous
hospitality. Gen. Van Ness and his
beautiful wife entertained like royalty,
and the whole of fashionable Wash
ington delighted to do them honor.
Clay, Webster, Hayes, Madison and
Monroe had been guests of Marcia
Burns in her old farm house home, so
they doubtless visited her also in her
new mansion. Until 1882, when she
died, she was at the top of the social
ladder of Washington; after she had
gone her husband kept up his social
feasts, giving dinner every year to
all Congress up to the time of his
death in the days of President Polk.
After the death of Gen. Van Ness
the mansion WIS bought by Tom
Green. wealthy Virginian, who loved
wine better than he did gold. For
many years he held it, drinking the
old wines which were slowed away in
the great wine cellar. During the
war he was arrested for conspiracy,
but was found innocent. A few years
ago he gave up the estate and it fell
into the hands of ex-Gov. Swan of
Maryland, who still owns it. 1t now
comprises the six acres of land inside
its walls, and its owner holds it to
be worth 100000.
Since the days Of Mr.. Green ruin
has been rapid. The house is now
used as low kind of a beer garden,
If it is not, indeed, something worse.
A colored family has it in charge, and
what used to be Tom Green's Office
is the bar room. The whole place is
rented to picnic parties, and the par
lorS where Andrew Jackson, John
Quincy Adams and Dolly Madison
chatted with Marcia Burns are now
used for colored dances. Today while
I noted the faded splendors, a bold
faced colored girl was being swung
by her duSky lover high into the air in
the trees that hang over the cottage
of David Burns. The old house itself
was locked, but a glance in at the
windows showed its rafters falling
and its great fireplace crumbling to
dust.
The grand old trees of maple, wal
nut, holly, OF aspen and yew, were
casting their shades today on two long
picnic tables spread with dainties,
watched by 20 pairs of sloe-b black eyes,
while dark faces laughed, showing
their white teeth in anticipation of the
meal to come. Near them beside a
winding avenue of beautiful lockwood
band was playing, and on the stone
wall surrounding the whole I noticed
that ivy is fast creeping up.
The place is still beautiful, and
when the Potomac fats are redeemed
1t may again resume its former splen-
dor. There is no more beautiful loca-
ton in Washington for a magnificent
residence, and the day may come
when its oranges may ripen, its honey
SuckleS flavor and its roses bloom for
Presidents and statesmen as they did
in the days of the past.
Other Old Mansions.
One by one the old, historic man
SlonS of Washington are passing away.
Today, as write this, a paper lies
before me containing advertisements
for the sale of Kalorama, once the
residence of Col. Washington, but bet
ter known as the home of Joel Barlow,
the father of American poetry. 1t is
situated on hill not far from the
western end of the P Street Bridge
over Rock Creek and I reached it the
other day by means of the Georgetown
branch of the horse railway.
Kalorama was a beautiful residence
in the days of Joel Barlow. A large
porter's lodge, now overgrown with
green vines. Standss beside the gate
which forms the entrance to it, and
from which a long, winding avenue
of noble trees leads up to the man
sion. AS went along this avenue
today I saw a score of COWS paStur-
ing in field across the way, and be-
low them chickens were cackling.
The grass, poorly kept, was covered
with the falling leaves of Autumn,
but the old house itself, built with
thick walls, stood as we'll as it did
in the days when Joel Barlow first
moved into it.
At one time during the war, when
Kalorama was used as a hospital, a
fire broke out and burned the inte-
rior. But the walls were not affected,
they stand today as solidly as some
of the ruins of old Rome. The house
has since been repaired and with its
semi French roof it looks almost
modern. 1t has about 25 rooms and
is entered under great porte
cochere supported by eight iron pill
lars. The mansion is beautifully To-
Gated so as to give a view of the
whole of Washington and ravine in
front of it has its sides filled with a
grove of noble oaks, while all about it
are forest trees of various kinds.
What the estate is worth I have no
idea, but it must be pretty far up
into the hundreds of thousands.
The Octagon House.
The Ocagon House in which Madi-
son signed the treaty of Ghent lies
within a stones throw of the White
House and block or two above the
old Van Ness Mansion. 1t faces the
Potomac, its many windows giving
beautiful views of the river and the
Virginia hills An immense struc-
its front of an oval shape which
faces Rawlin'S statue, rises from the
ground to the roof like a great bay
window. or a mammoth column or
tower cut in half and fastened to
the front of the house. The house
comprises two stories, an attic and a
basement. In its walls above the
second story are set queer old balco-
nies with iron railings. A big wall
surrounds the back yard and a great
mahogany tree rises at the rear of
the house, throwing its branches
over the roof. The front door has a
wooden portico, the marble steps of
which are battered and broken. Its
doors are curved to correspond with
the oval nature of the front, and
adorned with big brass knobs, tar
nished with age The keyhole which
opens the door is nearly 2 inches
long.
Enter this door and you will find
yourself in a circular room, in the
little alcoves of which are the queer
est old stoves imaginable and the
Ao1r - &c af largo h1Ookc 0f