The Stephen Decatur House: A History

James Tertius de Kay and Michael Fazio; Osborne Phinisy Mackie; Katherine Malone-France

ISBN 10: 1931917701 / ISBN 13: 9781931917704

Published by The White House Historical Association, 2018

About this Item

Oversized hardcover with DJ. Bound with black cloth over boards, gold lettering on front and spine. Pictorial DJ is clean and glossy with minimal wear. Binding is tight and secure. Pages are clean, crisp, and bright. Images printed in B&W and full-color. The White House Historical Association. No date on title page. Copyright page dated 2004 and 2018. 446 pages. A very good copy. This is an oversized book, so extra shipping will be necessary for priority or international shipping. We ship everyday from a real neighborhood bookstore. This description is written by an actual person, who is holding the book in front of them to make sure it?s properly described. Please contact us with questions or if you would like to see photographs.

Seller Inventory # F-13094

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Stephen Decatur House: A History
• Publisher: The White House Historical Association
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1931917701
• ISBN 13: 9781931917704
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 80 ounces

About this title

Synopsis

A celebrity for his heroics in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812, Commodore Stephen Decatur built his home in 1818 within sight of the President’s House with prize money awarded to him by Congress for his military victories. He commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe, America’s first professional architect, to create a home “fit for fine entertaining” and the resulting three-story square townhouse constructed with red brick in the Federal fashion is known as Decatur House today. Stephen Decatur's time in the fine house was cut short in 1820 when he was mortally wounded in a famous duel in nearby Bladensburg. After his death, his widow Susan Decatur rented the house to such prominent figures as Henry Clay, Martin Van Buren, and Edward Livingston, and ultimately sold it to John Gadsby. In 1872, General Edward Beale purchased the house and created a fashionable Victorian home. In 1956, Marie Beale, the last owner, bequeathed the house to the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and in 2011 the White House Historical Association became a co-steward of the historic site. This volume chronicles the history of the house and its occupants in four parts—a biography of Stephen Decatur and his naval accomplishments by James Tertius de Kay; an architectural history by Michael Fazio; a study of the fine and decorative arts collection by Osborne Mackie; and an essay on the evolution of the house from private home to historic site by Katherine Malone-France. An essay by Jessie Kratz, Historian at the National Archives and Records administration introduces a collection of documents that tell the story of enslaved persons who lived and worked in the house during the time after Decatur's death and before Beale's purchase.