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The Octagon

Located on 18th Street and New York Avenue, designed by Dr. William Thornton and built in 1799 and 1801, for prominent Virginian Colonel John Tayloe III. The Federal period residence served as the executive mansion for President Madison in 1814 after the White House had been burned by the British during the War of 1812. The second-floor galleries show exhibitions about architecture and design.

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