Octagon House - the temporary Executive Mansion after 1814

The Octagon House at 1799 New York Avenue NW served as the temporary Executive Mansion for President James Madison and First Lady Dolley Madison after British troops burned the White House in 1814. The Federal-style house, completed in 1801, hosted presidential functions and government business while the President’s House was being rebuilt. The Octagon is now a museum that preserves its historic rooms and interprets its role in the immediate post-1814 federal city. Its use as a temporary presidential residence is a documented and distinctive episode in Washington’s early history.