Dolley Madison House

The Dolley Madison House, located at the southeast corner of Madison Place and H Street, is a three-story building finished in buff-colored stucco. Built between eighteen eighteen and eighteen twenty, it was the first residence constructed on the east side of what became Lafayette Square. Richard Cutts, a former congressman and the brother-in-law of Dolley Madison, originally built the house for his own family. When Cutts faced severe financial ruin in eighteen twenty-eight, former President James Madison purchased the property to prevent the family from being evicted, eventually passing it to his wife, Dolley.