Dolley Madison was 41 years old when she became First Lady in 1809…

But…

For eight years prior to 1809, she served frequently as de facto FLOTUS for President Thomas Jefferson, a widower. Even prior to the Jefferson Administration, Dolley Payne Todd, a young widow, served as hostess in her mother’s boarding house in Philadelphia – a place that housed then-Secretary of State Jefferson, plus a senator and several congressmen.

Once she married then-Congressman James Madison, she opened their Philadelphia residence for entertaining, and quickly became the most prominent hostess in government. And the most glamorous. Shedding the plain Quaker gowns and bonnets of her first twenty-five years, she dazzled the town with her style and good taste.

Dolley knew all the movers and shakers along with their wives and distaff members of Washington society. Margaret Bayard Smith credited her with “all the elegance and polish of fashion” plus “the friendliness of her native character.” She was enormously popular. Everybody loved her.

The White House: 1809

As wife of Jefferson’s Secretary of State, Dolley Madison had opened their Washington home for elegant receptions, teas and dinners several times a week. Now, commandeering Wednesday evenings for her open-to-everyone soirées, the White House (called the Executive Mansion, then) became the center of social Washington.

Alas for the Mansion itself, it needed work – and help. Thomas Jefferson, arguably one of our most domestically inclined Presidents, understood that the Executive Mansion was only temporary, and poured most of his decorating attention into his beloved Monticello in central Virginia.

That was about to change.

Conducting The Tour

Mrs. Madison was a savvy woman politically. She had made close friendships with diplomats from Great Britain and France and Spain, and knew that if the still-new USA expected to meet their continental peers as equals, they had to present the proper image. The White House (in its own way) was/is required to be on a par with European palaces and castles.

Dolly invited small groups of congressmen to luncheon, making sure that members of the Appropriations Committee were at each luncheon. Then she gave them a tour of the mansion, pointing out areas in need of repair and tactfully suggested, how some problems might be easily remedied by a coat of paint, or some new carpeting. Or draperies.

Dolley’s popularity was such that her “tactful suggestions” were followed, and $12,000 (about $305,000 today) was appropriated for needed repairs. An additional $14,000 (around $335,000 today) was assigned for household needs. Congress also purchased a piano ($458) for the White House, and a dinner service of blue Lowestoft china for state dinners.

Supervising the Fixer-Upper

Benjamin H. Latrobe (1764-1820) was the foremost American architect of his time. Born in Great Britain, and educated in various places throughout Europe, he had displayed distinct artistic talent for engineering and surveying. And architecture. And decor. They are all related.

When he emigrated to the US, one of his first acquaintances was Bushrod Washington, nephew to then-ex-President George Washington. An invitation to Mount Vernon to meet the ex-President led to several commissions and opportunities for the talented Latrobe, particularly in design-construction of public buildings. His membership in Philadelphia’s prestigious American Philosophical Society led to an abiding friendship with Thomas Jefferson, and more opportunities in Washington DC – including supervising the building of the United States Capitol.

When the Madisons entered the White House, Latrobe was the Surveyor of Public Buildings in Washington, and a great many changes were underway. Even before Mr. Jefferson packed off to Monticello, the Madisons (who knew Latrobe well) consulted him to discuss some essential White House needs. He began shopping immediately for fabrics, mirrors (essential for good lighting) and accoutrements.

The Three Rooms

Any visitor to the White House is immediately impressed and charmed by three downstairs ceremonial rooms. The big East Room (where Abigail Adams hung laundry) was still unfinished, but according to Mrs. Madison, entertainment was still essential for the Presidential image – and for politics. It was those three adjoining rooms, with doors that could open into each, that were designated to accommodate some 200 or more guests.

What had been Jefferson’s office, was turned into the State Dining Room (and still is). It was not a huge room then, but it has been enlarged over time. (This is where the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington was originally hung.)

The Oval saloon in the middle, became the President’s Reception room. The other room, previously a small dining room for Mr. Jefferson intimate guests, was turned into Mrs. Madison’s parlor.

The First Lady wasted no time. She opened the “people’s house” to the people as soon as possible. Since the Madisons understood the budget limitations on the monies Congress had appropriated, they insisted that Latrobe shop with a thrifty eye.

Latrobe also shopped with an “American” eye. While his education and taste was trained to European finery, and while the Madisons were partial to the French furnishings of the Ancien Regime, their architect-decorator convinced them to buy American, and designed chairs and sofas in a neoclassical Grecian style which he believed symbolized the American republic. They were made in Philadelphia.

Six Years Later

Whatever lovely items the Madisons may have purchased for the house; whatever fine cornices and moldings; whatever carpeting and lush draperies… it all went up in smoke in 1814, when the British Army burned the city itself. Any vestiges from the fire were further drenched by a hurricane that serendipitously saved the structure from total ruin. Except for the rescued Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, to the everlasting legend of Mrs. Madison.

It took more than two years for the White House to be habitable again – with white paint to cover the fire scars. More than twenty years passed before the Widow Dolley returned as a beloved guest in the House where she had welcomed and delighted thousands of visitors.

Sources:

Gould, Lewis L. – American First Ladies: Their Lives and Their Legacy – Routledge Press, 1996

Moore, Virginia – The Madisons: A Biography, 1979, McGraw Hill

Seale, William – The President’s House Vol. 1 – The White House Historical Association, 1986

https://www.aoc.gov/about-us/history/architects-of-the-capitol/benjamin-henry-latrobe

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/white-house-decorative-arts-in-the-1810s