What the Seward Mansion Main Hall May Have Looked Like

[Linda Anderson]

I found a photo of the main hall in Dumbarton House in Georgetown in a wonderful blog called "Big Old Houses" by John Foreman. The Georgetown Dames bought it in 1928 and, "in the name of architectural purity, and with the guidance of Fiske Kimball of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, stripped away a century of accumulated architectural charm. Quoins, balustrades, 12 over 12 windows, french doors, and any and everything not correct to the 18th century were chucked, and a period correct, rather stern, and newly renamed Dumbarton House was born."

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1911520

The photo of the main or lower hall looks a great deal to me like what the lower hall in the Seward Mansion/Old Clubhouse would have looked like at the time of Lewis Powell's attack on William Seward. The Seward Mansion had a wide central hallway with large rooms opening on either side and a doorway in the back of the hall leading to the back yard. The staircase went up half a flight with a window at the landing and then turned to go up to the second floor. It appears that the stairway is on the right side of the upper hall in photos taken in Seward's time so Betty kindly reversed the image for me.

A Sept 22, 1889 Boston Herald article titled, "House of the Blaines," describes "Two slender columns on either side [that] support an arch which divides the front from the back part of the hall." The columns and arch may have been added by the Blaines when they renovated the house or, like the Dumbarton House, they may have been original to the house.

Chief Justice Cartter described running out of his house so quickly when he heard the news of Seward being attacked that he left without his hat. Before he drove to the Petersen House where Lincoln lay dying, Cartter grabbed a hat off the rack in Seward's lower hall. (Feb. 9, 1889 Evening Star.)

Now if Lewis Powell hadn't been in such a rush to get away, he might have grabbed a hat as well and saved himself the trouble of making a hat out of his shirt sleeve.

[L Verge]

Linda,

I saw this photo before Betty reversed it for you, and the lay-out is identical to Poplar Hill on His Lordship's Kindness, a magnificent mansion not far from Surratt House. Poplar Hill dates to the 1780s, I believe. It is one of the few homes with a surviving family chapel in one wing. I doubt that Dumbarton, Poplar Hill, and The Old Club House had the same architect, but they could be triplets - at least on the first floor - and all within about 20 miles of each other.

[Linda Anderson]

Linda,

I saw this photo before Betty reversed it for you, and the lay-out is identical to Poplar Hill on His Lordship's Kindness, a magnificent mansion not far from Surratt House. Poplar Hill dates to the 1780s, I believe. It is one of the few homes with a surviving family chapel in one wing. I doubt that Dumbarton, Poplar Hill, and The Old Club House had the same architect, but they could be triplets - at least on the first floor - and all within about 20 miles of each other.

Thanks, Laurie. Here's a link to Poplar Hill's front hall from the 1930s. They do look similar.

http://www.poplarhillonhlk.com/RachelCam...574pr.html

[L Verge]

Linda,

I saw this photo before Betty reversed it for you, and the lay-out is identical to Poplar Hill on His Lordship's Kindness, a magnificent mansion not far from Surratt House. Poplar Hill dates to the 1780s, I believe. It is one of the few homes with a surviving family chapel in one wing. I doubt that Dumbarton, Poplar Hill, and The Old Club House had the same architect, but they could be triplets - at least on the first floor - and all within about 20 miles of each other.

Thanks, Laurie. Here's a link to Poplar Hill's front hall from the 1930s. They do look similar.

http://www.poplarhillonhlk.com/RachelCam...574pr.html

It's a shame that the photo of the main hallway is taken half-way down the hall at the foot of the stairs. There's about another 20 feet between the stairs and the front door.

This grand old home was open for tours until about five years ago when the stock market tanked. It was run by a family foundation that had put their eggs in the Wall Street basket.

---

Linda,

I saw this photo before Betty reversed it for you, and the lay-out is identical to Poplar Hill on His Lordship's Kindness, a magnificent mansion not far from Surratt House. Poplar Hill dates to the 1780s, I believe. It is one of the few homes with a surviving family chapel in one wing. I doubt that Dumbarton, Poplar Hill, and The Old Club House had the same architect, but they could be triplets - at least on the first floor - and all within about 20 miles of each other.

Thanks, Laurie. Here's a link to Poplar Hill's front hall from the 1930s. They do look similar.

http://www.poplarhillonhlk.com/RachelCam...574pr.html

It's a shame that the photo of the main hallway is taken half-way down the hall at the foot of the stairs. There's about another 20 feet between the stairs and the front door.

This grand old home was open for tours until about five years ago when the stock market tanked. It was run by a family foundation that had put their eggs in the Wall Street basket.

I should have added that Poplar Hill on HLK was part of the large estate on which Mary Jenkins Surratt was born. That part is now Joint Base Andrews. Mary's father was overseer to the Calvert family who owned the property at that time.

[Linda Anderson]

This grand old home was open for tours until about five years ago when the stock market tanked. It was run by a family foundation that had put their eggs in the Wall Street basket.

Their website says that Spring Tours for 2014 are coming soon.

http://www.poplarhillonhlk.com/

[L Verge]

I will check into this. I certainly hope so because this is a beautiful old home that deserves to be showcased. I encourage everyone here to read through that website. There are many names in it connected with the history of the Washington, D.C. area. One family that had ties was that of Thomas Brooke, whose initials on a stone marking property boundaries formed the basis for the village of T.B. That village should be familiar to those who study the assassination story.

[Linda Anderson]

The history is fascinating. Imagine owning a beautiful home like Poplar Hill on His Lordship's Kindness and not living in it.

"1946
Mrs. Dunham and her husband, Thomas, sell "His Lordship's Kindness" with a total of slightly more than 230 acres to Ambassador David K.E. Bruce a world renown diplomat. Bruce held diplomatic posts in Italy, France, Germany, and Great Britain. He was also Under Secretary of State at the time of the Vietnam peace talks and was U.S. liaison during the negotiations to resume diplomatic relations with China. The house was used primarily as a setting for Mrs. Bruce's fine collection of antiques, but was seldom occupied by the couple."

[RJNorton]

There is a story about Powell's attack in the Desert News here. Is the pictured knife the authentic one?

[L Verge]

Not unless it's on loan from the Huntington Library in California. The provenance on the one that they have is about as good as you get. Wes and Betty should chime in right about now.

[wsanto]

Beautiful home but bad feng shui.

[Linda Anderson]

wsanto, if you are referring to the Seward Mansion having bad feng shui, you are sure right about that! That house had gained such an evil reputation that it was finally torn down in 1895 after its owner James G. Blaine died in 1893 in the same bedroom where Seward was attacked by Powell.

That's a shame. What a historic building it was.