810 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVENUE NW
Year Built
1890
Click photo below to see full sized image.
D. Vogt, 2022
Documents
History
This group of houses, 800 to 810 New Hampshire Ave., were all built in 1890 by Frank N. Carver, designed by Chas. E. Burden, and owned by Chas. Early and J.P. Jones. (The same team responsible for the 25th St. story book and turreted houses.) They were built "on speculation" - that is for a builder, who would then sell them to the public. The brick facades use brick and iron cornices, mansard and flat roofs, and slate and tin to create a variety of picturesque buildings.
The entry door is recessed with a transom window. No. 810 reflects the massing of No. 802. It has what the Historic District nomination describes as "a romantic castle motif. Its painted-blue flat façade is broken at the second story by an oriel window, with a crenellated cornice. Note the cross motif created in recessed brick." The three-bay first floor has two windows and a door with pointed arches, similar to 802 New Hampshire Ave. The cornice is simple, with no detail.
Resident/Owner
Benjamin D. and Dorothy K. Burch, developers, bought the house in 1952 and renovated it.
1953 John and Elaine Gill
1953 Lilla Cummings
1953-1983 Madeleine McCandless - Descended from a notable southern family (her great-grandfather was Charles Pinckney, ambassador to France), she contributed a recipe for pralines to the January 1959 issue of the Foggy Bottom News. She was born in Georgia and worked as a nurse. She served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War I (1917-1919) and as a result is now buried in Arlington Cemetery. She lived with her parents until they passed away, and she adopted two children from England in 1930. Prior to moving to Foggy Bottom, she lived in Georgetown, and other houses in NW. Self-employed, she designed house and garden projects. She also was a painter. Her best-known project was the renovation of the Alva Belmont House (now the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument), as the new home of the National Women's Party in 1929.
1983-1985 Veronica Pinckney McCandless (daughter of Madeleine)
1985-1989 Robert Cox
1989-1997 Leroy L. Schwartz and Allen D. Wykle
1997-2003 Thomas W. Bower
2003-present Daniel Oliver and Julie Zhang
Recollections
Source Material
FBA History Project, Foggy Bottom Historic District Walking Tour, "Architectural Variety on New Hampshire Avenue." https://theclio.com/tour/2098/14
EHT Traceries, historic area building survey, Nov. 1983
Foggy Bottom News
A sidewalk view with boxed brick raised bed and flagstone/brick front patio area. The iron gate has a circular design. (D. Vogt, May 2022)
Madeleine McCandless Praline recipe (Foggy Bottom News, Jan. 1959)