In 1816, Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr. and his wife Susan moved to the nascent capital city of Washington, D.C. With the prize money he received from his naval feats, Decatur purchased the entire city block on the northwest corner of today’s Lafayette Square. The Decaturs commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe, one of America’s first professional architects, to design and build a house “fit for entertaining.” In 1819, the house was completed—making it the first private residence in the President’s Neighborhood. Since then, the Decatur House and its history have been intertwined with that of the Executive Mansion. Notable White House figures such as Secretary of State Henry Clay, Secretary of State and future President Martin Van Buren, and Vice President George M. Dallas all lived at the Decatur House. Behind the house sits an urban slave quarters, one of the few remaining examples left in Washington, D.C. In 1956, Decatur House was given to the National Trust for Historic Preservation by Marie Beale. The White House Historical Association manages the Decatur House property on behalf of the National Trust, and The David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History is located within the house itself.