Two grand houses were under construction in the young Federal City in 1816: one the President’s House, reconstructed after it was burned by the British in 1814, and the other Tudor Place, an elegant mansion rising on the heights above Georgetown. The connection between these two houses is more than temporal, as they were connected through lineage and politics for generations. The builders of Tudor Place were Thomas Peter and Martha Parke Custis Peter, Martha Washington’s granddaughter. The reconstruction of the White House was finished around the time the Peters were completing their own grand home. The White House and Tudor Place each represent the spirit and aspirations of the early republic. Little more than two miles apart, each survives as an architectural landmark for our nation.