The Octagon Museum — Attraction in Washington

The Octagon House, also known as the Colonel John Tayloe III House, is located at 1799 New York Avenue, Northwest in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Colonel John Tayloe III, for whom the house was built, was born at Mount Airy – which he later inherited – the colonial estate built by his father, John Tayloe II on the north bank of the Rappahannock River across from Tappahannock, Virginia. By this time it was the centerpiece of a roughly 60,000 acre department of interdependent plantation farms-known as the Mount Airy department, located approximately one hundred miles south of Washington, D.C., in Richmond County, Virginia. He was educated in at Eton College and Cambridge University in England, served in the Virginia state legislature, and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1800.

John Tayloe III married Ann Ogle, daughter of Benjamin Ogle and granddaughter to Samuel Ogle of Ogle Hall Annapolis, Maryland, in 1792 at her family's country home Belair Mansion. Ann was only a year younger than her husband. Tayloe was reputed to be the richest Virginian planter of his time, and built the house in Washington at the suggestion of George Washington on land purchased from Gustavus W. Scott or Benjamin Stoddert, first Secretary of the Navy.[3] The Octagon was originally constructed to be a winter residence for the Tayloe family, but they lived in the house year-round from 1818–1855. The Octagon property originally included a number of outbuildings, including a smokehouse, laundry, stables, carriage house, slave quarters, and an ice house (the only surviving outbuilding). The Tayloes were involved in shipbuilding, horse breeding and racing, and owned several iron foundries—they were fairly diversified for a plantation family. The Tayloes owned hundreds of slaves, and had between 12 and 18 who worked at...

This museum allows a self-guided tour with very detailed, laminated information sheets available to guests in each room. I particularly liked how much design information was explained that highlights the architectural features and finishes information on the home. Fascinating how the architect designed the home to allow for airflow, service stairway to allow the house functions to happen out-of-sight from guests, the best position on the lot to allow natural light to enter important rooms . The museum also highlights the significance of the home, its owners and its guests over the years. Highly recommend stopping in for a step...

Staff is super awesome. Make sure you ring the bell in the front door to get in. This place has an interesting story, and if you really want to appreciate it, I would Google it first. You will find that there have been accounts of paranormal activity since the 1800s. Nothing paranormal happened to me unless you count the fast that my autistic son started saying "no fun" and refused to go into some rooms other than that nothing. It gives of a sad vibe, and you can feel some stuff that was not good happened there. I did not know details of the history before going in, and I wish I did, I would have made...