Tudor Place | |
.jpg) South façade. | |
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| Location | 1644 31st Street, NWWashington, D.C. |
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| Coordinates | 38°54′38.91″N77°3′48.02″W / 38.9108083°N 77.0633389°W /38.9108083; -77.0633389 |
| Area | 5.5 acres |
| Built | 1815 |
| Architect | Dr. William Thornton |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000871 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[1] |
| Designated NHL | December 19, 1960[2] |
| Designated DCIHS | November 8, 1964 |
Tudor Place is aFederal-stylemansion inWashington, D.C. that was originally the home of Thomas Peter and his wife,[3]Martha Parke Custis Peter, a granddaughter ofMartha Washington. The property, comprising one city block on the crest ofGeorgetown Heights, had an excellent view of thePotomac River.
The original tract of land occupied by Tudor Place was part of the "Rock of Dumbarton" (originally, "Dunbarton") tract in George Beall's second addition to Georgetown, an area also known as Georgetown Heights. In 1794, Beall's grandson, Thomas Beall, sold a portion of his land to Francis Lowndes, a merchant and importer from Bladensburg, Maryland. Lowndes owned the property for eleven years during which he constructed the two wings of the present historic house. Lowndes intended to complete the house but never did, instead selling the property to Martha and Thomas Peter. Martha and Thomas Peter contracted withDr. William Thornton, who also designed theUnited States Capitol as well asThe Octagon House, to design Tudor Place. From the two wings in existence, Thornton then provided the central structure and the joining elements to the wings - called hyphens, combined them with buff-coloredstucco over brick. The "temple" porch and supporting columns provide a most striking addition to the front.
The garden and the collections are as rich and interesting as the home itself. A focal point is the collection of numerous objects that belonged to George and Martha Washington, making Tudor Place the largest public depository of objects belonging to the first Presidential family outside of Mount Vernon.The decorations included fourchair-cushions embroidered by Martha Washington in 1801 "executed upon coarse canvas in a design of shells, done in brown and yellow wools, the highlights being flecked in gold-colored silk" as well asa decorative cover for a bed whose trimmings also were embroidered by Martha Washington.[4]
As a historic site that bears the scars of slavery, Tudor Place seeks to look this injustice in the eye. From Martha Washington's will, Martha Parke Custis Peter inherited 90 enslaved people. Enslaved workers and domestic servants worked and lived on site.
On September 28, 1811, Martha Peter's mother,Eleanor Calvert, age 56, a prominent member of theCalvert family of Maryland, Martha Washington's daughter-in-law, and George Washington's stepdaughter-in-law, died at Tudor Place.[5] Martha Peter noted in a February 15, 1812 letter to a friend, Eliza Susan Quincy (1798–1884), how important it was to Martha that she was able to spend the last fortnight of her mother's life with her mother at Tudor Place to render attentions that could not be paid elsewhere.[6]
In March 1813, after resigning his seat in theUnited States Congress, U.S. educator andpolitical figureJosiah Quincy III and his wife, Eliza Susan Quincy, visited the Peters at Tudor Place.[7] While there, Mrs. Peter gave Josiah General Washington's silvergorget with the ribbon attached to it.[7] Washington's gorget, prominently featured inCharles Willson Peale's 1772 portrait of Colonel George Washington, was a metal collar designed to protect the throat of the wearer and Mrs. Peter had received the gorget at the division of her grandfather's estate.[7] Quincy gave the gorget to theWashington Benevolent Society of Boston in Mrs. Peter's name on April 13, 1813.[7][8][9]
On December 18, 1815, and on January 12, 1816, formerUnited States Secretary of StateTimothy Pickering visited the Peters at Tudor Place.[10]
Thomas and Martha Peter raised eight children in Tudor Place, and hosted theMarquis de Lafayette during his 1824 tour of the United States. When the third child and eldest son, John Parke Custis Peter, came of age, his father conveyed a farm aroundSeneca, Maryland. John P.C. Peter built a small replica of Tudor Place from 1828 to 1830 called Montevideo. The farm also included the redstoneSeneca Quarry, whose stone Peter would bid on and win theSmithsonian Institution Building project in 1847.[11]
Following the death of Martha Peter in 1854, daughter Britannia Peter Kennon became the next owner of the home. She was the widow of CommodoreBeverley Kennon I (1793–1844).[12] following their marriage ceremony in the house.[13]
In about 1869,Robert E. Lee, the former commanding general of theConfederate army in the 1861–1865American Civil War, paid his last visit to theDistrict of Columbia at Tudor Place before his death on October 12, 1870.[14] By 1874, Tudor Place was occupied by Thos. Beverley Kennon (1830–1890),[14] a grandson of Thomas Peter, a former U.S. Civil War captain with theConfederate Secret Service, and a post U.S. Civil War soldier under theKhedive of Egypt.[15][unreliable source] In 1890, the year that Beverley Kennon died and at a time when Brittania W. Kennon was the oldest living descendant of Mrs. Washington,The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine published an extensive article that detailed the collection of Martha Washington's relics that were maintained inside Tudor Place.[4]
It was declared aNational Historic Landmark in 1960.[2][16] Tudor Place is located at 1644 31st Street, N.W. and is open to the public.
Died. At Tudor Place, thereat of Thomas Peter, esq- near George-Town, Mrs. Eleanor Stuart, consort of David Stuart, esq.-of Osian Hall, in the county of Fairfax—in the 56th year of her age
At a quarterly meeting of the Washington Benevolent Society of Massachusetts, on Tuesday evening, April 13, 1813, the Hon. Mr. Quincy delivered to the President the Gorget of Washington, being a part of his uniform, when, as a colonel in the service of the State of Virginia, he served under General Braddock, in the war of 1756 ; having the arms of that State engraven thereon
MS-9. Captain Beverley Kennon II (1830-1890) Papers -- 0.3 linear foot. These papers span 1845-96, and contain fragmentary correspondence, legal and financial records, and printed material. They relate to Kennon's service during the Civil War with the Confederate Secret Service and later with the Khedive of Egypt. Captain Beverley Kennon II was the son of Commodore Beverley Kennon by his first marriage to Elizabeth Dandridge Claiborne.
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