The Astonishing History of Dumbarton House

Delve into the captivating history of a magnificent Federal-style mansion in the heart of the Nation's capital - The Dumbarton House. Journey with us as we unearth the stories of its notable occupants, from high-ranking government officials to the illustrious First Lady, Mrs. Madison. Marvel at its stunning architectural features, all the while exploring how this landmark narrowly escaped the path of a major road expansion! Share in our passion for preservation as we detail the thrilling process of lifting and relocating this precious piece of American history. If you love historic houses as much as we do, make sure to subscribe and leave a comment telling us about your favorite room!
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Location: Washington DC
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Check out the Dumbarton House: dumbartonhouse.org/
Photo of Washington Post Nov 2nd 1997
Public Domain Photos from: Library of Congress, Detroit Public Library, HABS, DC Public Library, Dumbarton Archives
CC BY-SA 3.0(creativecommons.org/licenses/... from: Wikipedia User: AgnosticPreachersKid
CC BY-SA 4.0(creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Photos from: Wikipedia User: APK
Assets from: Envato Elements
Music form Epidemic Sound

[@ThisHouse]

Hey Everyone! You might notice my voice sounds a bit different in this video... I'm currently getting over a head cold so hopefully my voice will be back to normal in the next video. Thanks for watching!

[@alanblanes2876]

Fascinating episode, Ken.

[@brandyjean7015]

Hope you are back to good health soon.

[@califdad4]

I've had the same bug, but you sounded fine

[@derricklangford4725]

Get well, Ken ❤

[@jenpink4298]

I hope that you feel better soon!

[@rayn8740]

The music room or the grand hallway were my winning rooms.

[@SMtWalkerS]

How wonderful that they saved it!

[@margiethessin8975]

The best thing about this house is the garden. It’s amazing.

[@virginiagrundman4012]

I love Dumbarton oaks, the pre-colombian museum and of course the magnificent gardens. Georgetown at its finest.

[@johnmiller8975]

Not to mention their Byzantine collections

[@chesterthawkins7510]

so glad that this beautiful home was saved. Love the hallway and landing with the grandfather clock!

[@christopherkraft1327]

What an elegant home!!! I'm so glad that it was saved!!! 👍👍🙂

[@reneemb4319]

Magnificent

[@marygrummer9189]

Great story and photos

[@debbied7035]

I would have liked to see the kitchen. I really enjoy kitchens in historic buildings.

[@StamperWendy]

I love the first picture of the stair hall....

[@TR-ne7tt]

The gardens there are stunning.

[@KarenRose70]

It's fun to watch a horse move. My aunt had my grandparents house moved to another town. It made the news.

[@antonfarquar8799]

beautiful home superbly maintained - totally elegant !!!!

[@agme8045]

You should make a video about the houses in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Around the beginning of the 20th century it became a thing for the rich families, which at the time were among the wealthiest in the world, to build “little” french palaces in Buenos Aires. There were many of them, and just like in new York, most were demolished to make space for offices and residential buildings. A truly horrible thing. The buildings used to be majestic, monumental pieces of art and part of our history. Some have survived tho, most became museums, embassies or luxury hotels. The Four Seasons for example bought one of them, and you can currently book a suite inside of it. The USA Embassy also owns one of these palaces, but they’ve owned it since 1929, thankfully. Its called “Palacio Bosch” The French Embassy also owns a magnificent palace (Palacio Ortiz Basualdo). The Brazilians own the Palacio Pereda, the Holy Sea also owns one (Palacio Fernandez Anchorena) The British have the Palacio Madero Unzue Hyatt acquired the Palacio Duhau, and it currently works as a Park Hyatt luxury hotel. There’s a ‘Military Circle’ that bought the Palacio Paz and it’s open to the public. The Italian Circle bought the residencia Leloir The National Government bought the Palacio Errazuriz in the 30s and turned it into the National Museum of Decorative Art. Its also open to the public and completely free to visit. The Goverment also bought the Palacio Anchorena (currently known as Palacio San Martin) to house the Chancellery. The Palacio Casey, the Palacio Dias Velez, Palacio Haedo (all host a part of the government today) Theres a house called “Residencia Maguire” that interestingly enough is currently privately owned and used as a residence by one of the descendants of these aristocratic families. It’s all very mysterious and they refuse to sell the property.

[@kevinhanson6106]

@agme8045 WOW! Thank you for the amazing information and history lesson.

[@edgarsnake2857]

I'm appalled at the number of historic mansions that just get demolished. It's nice to see one get saved. I guess the upkeep is astronomical.

[@raechellconn8857]

I loved the library and music rooms. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

[@seanmccambridge8950]

Thanks!

[@ThisHouse]

Thank you so much for the super thanks! Cheers! -Ken

[@jonclassical2024]

Good one Ken, I lived in DC area for 30 years and somehow missed touring this house!!! (PS..you sound fine and normal to me Dude!)

[@nawsydna]

I like that you show floor plans.

[@jenpink4298]

This is beautiful!

[@janedee6488]

Beautiful

[@fd9987]

A favorite room would be the music room with harp, as I’m a professional harpist.

[@wildfireintexas]

I can’t pick a favorite room. It is a lovely house. Would love to see photos of the bedrooms. But boy is the kitchen small.

[@SMtWalkerS]

I wonder if they had a separate free standing building for the cooking fireplaces and such as many old houses did. Separate, because these buildings often burned down.

[@califdad4]

I had a customer who had shopped for a large very early 1900s home and found quite some with small kitchens, because the owners didn't do the cooking. I agree with the other reply , this house probably had a separate kitchen out back

[@wildfireintexas]

@@SMtWalkerS Right, that makes sense.

[@lisareed5669]

Most of the kitchen would be outside.

[@califdad4]

@@lisareed5669 yes I know, some old houses have small kitchens because the owner didn't cook, the help did

[@amyjones8114]

I wish Ken would narrate my life.

[@lindafurr2404]

I always laugh when you ask what is your favorite room and you show maybe 3 in a 20 room mansion😹😹😹😹

[@The_Smith]

those front gates are my favourite, I found and saved some images of them to my ideas file. Hope you get over the head cold swiftly.

[@andrewbrendan1579]

Beautiful place and I like the glimpse of the sunken garden. -- Looks like there's been a significant amount of changes to the roof/attic area. I'm guessing some additions and expansions were made but then removed to restore the mansion to its original appearance.

[@melindadouglas1673]

I’ve been there. The home is beautiful and the formal gardens perfection! I didn’t know that it had been moved to it’s current location though. Thanks for the information.

[@sjwilloughby-greene8214]

❤❤❤

[@jillatherton4660]

👍

[@kissingcandy1]

nice! I prefer this house to the the gilded age homes.

[@cassandraralph5906]

I understood everything you said. I thoroughly enjoyed this video. I thought this house was very much a classic example of near perfect preservation of eighteenth century style house interiors and gardens. The entrance hall was my favorite part of the house, with the dining room a close second. If the walls could speak, the tales they would tell! 😮

[@CarlDillynson]

I love it so much, I wanna cry.

[@totallydomestic433]

What a beautiful house! Glad they saved it, but the view of a busy street is ashamed. It should be on a nice puece of land.

[@Shahrdad]

Those aren't towers, since they don't pierce the roof-line. They're bays.

[@stevemartin6934]

thank god it was saved !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so many were not that lucky ,,, shameful

[@myperspective5091]

👍🏆👍

[@huntlife]

I wondered- in my description it said 'dumba...', then continued on flip. Yep, hope you're feeing better.

[@derricklangford4725]

Shout out to the Black Men who moved the house in 1915 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

[@clairemontmesacarwash8784]

I missed where they said black men moved the house.

[@EcceHomo1088]

@@clairemontmesacarwash8784 …they didnt… pack mules did…

[@derricklangford4725]

@@clairemontmesacarwash8784 I guess you overlooked the illustrations from the Washington Post. Clearly those were Black Men.

[@EcceHomo1088]

@@derricklangford4725 …they disassembled the house… pack mules moved it… wow… amazing… you really are clueless… this isn’t the Pyramids bud…

[@davidbrims5825]

Why did you bring race into it ? Shout out to the White architect who designed the building. So there !

[@FairBeautyEssentials]

Your videos are way too short, why??

[@janisdover6677]

Shout out to the colored people that got very great pay for that

[@Mark723]

Shout out to blatant bigotry and hateful racism - if you think great pay was received for any hard work involved, you are as ignorant as you are rude. Why are you watching a channel which revolves around so much history when you don't wish to acknowledge its aspects?

[@oltedders]

You card! I'm in stiches. 🤣🤣🤣

[@bholmes5490]

can you document that they got 'great pay'. Or was that a pun? How do we know they moved the house also?

[@derricklangford4725]

​@@bholmes5490from the sketches from the Washington Post.

[@davidbrims5825]

Shout out to the White architect.

[@madjanetramerez2383]

i recommend the former woodrow wilson hall of monmouth university

[@ShirleeKnott]

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