They say money can’t buy happiness, but it sure does help. Hi everyone, Ken here
today we are heading off to Washington DC’s Dupont Circle to explore the Leiter Mansion.
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In 1834, Levi Leiter was born to a working class family in Leitersburg, Maryland,
a small town with only a handful of families which his grandfather had founded. His whole life,
he had wanted to escape the backwoods settlement and see the world. When he was a young teenager,
he moved to the then thriving city of Springfield, Ohio to work in a dry goods store,
but it still did not provide him with the big city living he had always dreamed about.
When he was 19, he made the life changing decision to apply for a bookkeeper position at Cooley,
Wadsworth and Company in Chicago. This company was the largest dry goods company in the Midwest
and he was able to learn the interworking’s of a business empire. While working for the company,
he got in close with his co-workers Marshall Field and Potter Palmer. Eventually, the trio created
their own retail chain which they named Field, Palmer, Leiter and Company which would later go
on to be renamed Marshall Fields, the largest department store chain in the United States.
Levi proposed to Mary Carver, a school teacher from New York, and the two quickly tied the knot.
Mary wanted to climb the social ladder with her husband, but no matter how much money Levi made,
Chicago’s social elite snubbed the couple for being new money. When tragedy struck Chicago,
the couple thought they would have the chance to finally gain the respect of their social peers.
In 1871, the Great Chicago fire ravaged the city causing thousands of residents to become
displaced. Levi volunteered to distribute funds to rebuild Chicago through the Chicago Relief and
Aid Society, which he personally donated the modern equivalent of millions of dollars to.
Even after helping so many people, Chicago’s social elite still refused to recognize him
and his wife, never extending even a single invitation to a ball.
Feeling completely unappreciated, Levi and Mary gave up on Chicago.
In 1881, Levi sold his share of the company to Marshall Fields for 6 million dollars, the modern
equivalent of nearly 178 million dollars, then the couple moved to Washington DC where they began
investing heavily in real estate. While they felt out the area, deciding if DC would become their
permanent new home, they rented the most expensive house they could find, The James G Blaine Mansion.
The towering, all brick, second empire style mansion cost a whopping 11,500 dollars in rent,
the modern equivalent of 340,000 dollars. The Leiters were public
with this figure as they announced their arrival in Washington DC’s Dupont Circle.
The residents of DC were much more receptive to the Leiters,
extending invitations to them to attend balls and dinners, with DC’s social elites curious to
know who could afford such extravagance. This made Levi and Mary happy as they could now
participate for the first time in the life they always dreamed about together. Needless to say,
they decided to make Dupont Circle their permanent home, and set out build their own house. In 1891,
they purchased a premium lot in Dupont Circle and began construction of their 55 room mansion.
The larger than life grey stone palace was set at an unimaginable scale rising
62 feet from the base of the port cochere’s columns to the tip of the portico’s gable,
leaving a generous 18 foot ceiling height per level on the 3 main floors.
While there are only a handful of surviving historic photos,
we can catch a glimpse of the mansion’s imposing grandeur.
The interior contained a grand hall which was 28 feet wide and flanked by marble columns.
The walls were decorated with murals and intricate plaster work to create niches,
and through the marble archway we can see the only photo of the Drawing Room
welcoming guests with live music pouring out from the mezzanine.
The Library was furnished with oversized and over stuffed furniture with a domed alcove offering an
intimate seating area in front of a solid marble fireplace with laurel accents in its relief work.
The dining room was finished out with antique furniture between wainscoted walls with
damasque wallpaper rising towards a gilded frieze below a maze-like coffered ceiling.
Every room was created to impress guests as Mary hosted elaborate parties.
To secure her place as the leader of DC’s high society, she would compete directly with other
balls, scheduling her events on the same night as others. If a guest would decline her invitation
and attend another ball, they would be uninvited from any future events at the Leiter Mansion.
The couple reigned as the head of DC’s high society until Levi’s unexpected passing in 1904.
Mary continued to host large events, including marrying her daughters into the British royal
and noble families with their weddings taking place at the house. When her son Joseph wed,
Mary gifted him the house as a wedding present, which he lived in for nearly 20 years.
But when Joseph passed away in 1932, the house passed to his widow, Juliette who continued living
in the house while she was in mourning. Then, she leased the house to the Soviet government to
be used as offices. At this point, the house was fully intact with much of its original furnishings
still in place, so when she willed it to her son she expected it to be used again as the family
mansion where her grandchildren would be raised. But her son was quick to sell it after her death
in 1942. It was purchased by developers who had plans to demolish the house. They
opened it up to the public for anyone who would want to salvage materials, which attracted over
10,000 who stripped the mansion down to its bones. Even after the house was demolished,
hundreds more came to search for any leftover valuables in the rubble. Eventually, the site
was cleared and the hotel which would later become The Dupont Circle Hotel was built in its place.
Even though the mansion is no longer standing, we still have these 4 interior
photos to remember what life was like for the most elite in DC’s gilded age.
What did you think about this mansion? Let me know down below in the comments section.
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