Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House on Lafayette Square
The Benjamin Ogle Tayloe house, located on the east side of Lafayette Square at 21 Madison Place, was built in 1828 by Benjamin Ogle Tayloe.
Benjamin Ogle Tayloe was born in Annapolis and was the son of Colonel John Tayloe III (builder of the nearby Octagon House, and a grandson of Governor Benjamin Ogle of Maryland. In 1824, Benjamin married Julia Maria Dickinson from Troy, New York. Together, they had six children: John, Edward Thornton, Estelle, Anna, Eugenie Phoebe, and Julia.
With the death of Col. Tayloe in 1828, the Octagon house passed on to Benjamin's mother who remained there until 1855. Benjamin, preferring his country estate life over city living, would have lost his foothold in Washington society. But, at his wife Julia’s urging, who claimed to be more comfortable in the city, Tayloe appeased her and built the house on Madison Place.
