Ashburton House facts for kids
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Ashburton House
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U.S. National Historic Landmark District
Contributing Property |
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 Location in Central Washington, D.C.
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1525 H St., NW., Washington, D.C. |
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| Built | 1836 |
| Architect | Matthew St. Clair Clarke |
| Part of | Lafayette Square Historic District (ID70000833) |
| NRHP reference No. | 73002071 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | November 7, 1973 |
| Designated NHL | November 7, 1973 |
| Designated NHLDCP | August 29, 1970 |
Ashburton House, also known as St. John's Church Parish House, is a historic building in Washington, D.C.. It is located at 1525 H Street NW, right next to Lafayette Square. This house was built in 1836. It is famous because important talks happened here in 1842. These talks led to the Webster–Ashburton Treaty. This treaty helped solve many border arguments between the U.S. and the British areas that are now Canada. It also ended a conflict called the Aroostook War. Ashburton House was named a National Historic Landmark in 1973. Today, it is used as the parish house for St. John's Episcopal Church.
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Ashburton House: A Historic Home
Ashburton House stands on the north side of H Street. It faces Lafayette Square to the south. The house is just east of St. John's Episcopal Church. A small connecting part now links the two buildings.
What Does Ashburton House Look Like?
The house is a 3+1⁄2-story building made of brick. It has a special type of roof called a mansard roof. This roof has wide edges supported by fancy brackets. There are also dormer windows sticking out of the roof. These windows have pointed gables above them.
The front of the house has five sections. The two outer sections on each side stick out a little. The windows on the first floor and the main entrance have decorative frames. Second-floor windows have flat, bracketed tops. Third-floor windows have simpler designs. The middle windows on the second and third floors are three-part windows. They are designed in a style called Palladian.
A Home for Important People
The land for Ashburton House was bought in 1834. Mathew St. Clair Clark, who worked for the United States House of Representatives, started building the house in 1836. Soon after, it was sold to Joseph Gales. He was a newspaper publisher and a former Mayor of Washington, D.C..
In 1842, Lord Alexander Ashburton lived in the house. United States Secretary of State Daniel Webster rented it for him. While Lord Ashburton lived there, he and Daniel Webster talked in its parlor. They negotiated the Webster–Ashburton Treaty. This treaty solved most of the border disagreements between the U.S. and British Canada. These borders stretched as far west as the Great Lakes.
After Lord Ashburton, the famous writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton lived in the house. Both Ashburton and Bulwer-Lytton made changes to Clark's original design. The house got its French Second Empire look in the 1850s. This design was created by Thomas U. Walter. The house was changed again in the 1870s.
Ashburton House Today
St. John's Church bought the building in 1953. They changed its inside to use it as a parish hall. A big renovation of the house was finished in 2018. This project cost $5.5 million.
In June 2020, the Ashburton House had a small fire in its basement. The fire was quickly put out and was contained to one room.
