Decatur House
748 Jackson Place NW, Washington, DC
A Rented Home for Foreign Ministers
After Stephen Decatur’s death in 1820, Susan Decatur rented their new house near the White House. French minister Jean-Guillaume Hyde de Neuville and his wife were living there by January 1822 and remained until early 1823. On January 9, 1822, builder Thomas Herbert acknowledged payment for the back buildings and identified the house’s occupant as the French minister. Susan financed the service wing for the household and members of the French legation staff. [1] [2] [4]
Russian minister Baron de Tuyll succeeded the French tenants, and British minister Charles Richard Vaughan later rented the house. Under later American occupants, the service wing housed enslaved people, including Charlotte Dupuy, who sued Henry Clay for her freedom. [3] [2]
Diplomatic Use
- Ministerial residence and legation staff accommodation: Restored Kingdom of France
Documented 1822-01-09 [2] [4] - Ministerial residence: Russian Empire [3] [2]
- British minister’s residence: United Kingdom
Start recorded 1834 [1]
Changes to the Property
Sources
- Baron and Baroness Hyde de Neuville and Decatur House
Opening history and paragraph beginning The Baron and Baroness returned to Washington
- The Slave Quarters at Decatur House
Paragraphs describing January 9, 1822 receipt, Russian successor, and British tenancy before 1836 sale
- Decatur House: A Home of the Rich and Powerful
Visiting the site; Reading 3, A House for the Rich and Powerful
- Thomas Herbert’s receipt for the Decatur House back buildings, 9 January 1822
Reproduced receipt: date at top, payment for the back buildings, present French minister occupancy in the final lines, and Thomas Herbert’s signature
Notes
- Published histories disagree over some tenants’ arrival and departure years. The January 9, 1822 receipt establishes French occupancy and records payment for the service wing; it does not establish the wing’s construction commencement or exact completion date.
Related Reading
Cite This Article
Decatur House. Chanceries Diplopedia. Record version dc594e21c7528f169dcb.