This house is now the home of Robert A. Taft, Senator from Ohio.
Chapter XVI
Evermay, the Heights, and Oak Hill
EVERMAY, on Montgomery (28th) Street, is one of the show-places of Georgetown. Its fascinating garden is shown every spring for the benefit of Georgetown Children's House by its owner, the Honorable F. Lamot Belin, at one time Ambassador to Poland. He removed the cream-colored paint from the old house, revealing the lovely old-rose brick, and built the wall and the lodge at the gate when he bought the place in 1924. Evermay used to extend all the way down to Stoddert (Q) Street. The original boundary is the little old stone in the corner of the property of Mrs. Thomas Bradley on Q and 28th Streets.
Evermay was built by Samuel Davidson with proceeds from the sale of property to the United States government. This included land for the northern part of the "President's Square," (the David Burns-Davidson property line passing directly through the White House) and adjacent Federal property including Lafayette Park. He willed his estate to Lewis Grant, a nephew in Scotland, upon condition of his assuming the Davidson surname.
Samuel Davidson is buried in the portion of Oak Hill Cemetery which was formerly part of the estate. Mr. Davidson must have been rather a strange person; certainly he was determined not to be bothered by people, for this is the advertisement he published:
Evermay proclaims,
Take care, enter not here,
For punishment is ever near.
Whereas, the height called Evermay, adjoining this town, is now completely enclosed with a good stone wall in part and a good post and rail fence thereto, this is to forewarn at their peril, all persons, of whatever age, color, or standing in society, from trespassing on the premises, in any manner, by day or by night; particularly all thieving knaves and idle vagabonds; all rambling parties; all assignation parties; all amorous bucks with their dorfies, and all sporting bucks with their dogs and guns.