From a second hallway a handsome stairway winds upward to the third story. To the right of the entrance was the parlor, with its fine mantel, designed by Condé, of London, with graceful figures in bas-relief, executed in a fine cement. Its estimated cost was sixteen hundred dollars.
Mantel in Octagon House. Photographed by Samuel M. Brosius.
During the burning of the city the French minister had moved into the house to save it from destruction, and had raised from its roof the white flag of the Bourbons; in this case a hastily-gathered sheet answered the purpose!
It was here that the glad tidings of peace were received, and here, in the circular room upstairs, the treaty of Ghent was signed. And when the soldiers came gladly marching home they stopped here to give volleys of cheers for Dolly, the most popular person in all the United States.
Detail of Madison China From The White House
FOOTNOTES:
[47] Adele Cutts, their granddaughter, married, first, Stephen A. Douglas; second, General George R. Williams.
[48] The box-wood border along the walk was planted by Martha Washington.