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| 1617 Connecticut Avenue, NW, today the Anne Taylor Loft |
Many residents and tourists alike
that stroll up and down Connecticut Avenue north of Dupont Circle pay little
attention to the architecture above the first floor retail space. However, if one pays close attention to the
architecture preserved on the upper floors, it is revealed that the majority of
the buildings lining the commercial corridor today were built as large
residential mansions. One example of
this transformation exists at 1611-17 Connecticut Avenue, the home to the Anne
Taylor Loft store, which was built as a private mansion by a wealthy widow from
California.
Its house history includes a story
of lavish living, an early death, and a lawsuit brought against the estate by a
seven year old heir that thought she had been slighted in Colton’s last Will
and Testament.
Ellen Mason White Colton obtained a
building permit for the house on October 16, 1895, which was designed by local architect
Carl B. Keferstein and built at a cost of $40,000, at a time when the typical
Washington townhouse was built for $2,500 or less. She was the widow of David Douty Colton
(1831-1878), who had amassed a fortune from the gold mines of California and
Western railroads. He was described as standing
over 6 feet tall with a muscular physique and a head of fiery red hair that
went well with his bold and expressive temperament.
David Colton had been born in Maine
on July 17, 1831, and migrated with his family to Illinois, where he married
Ellen Mason White during his freshman year at Knox Manual Labor College. In the spring of 1850, the Colton’s and a
friend named Hiram G. Ferris dropped out of college and joined the gold rush to
California, where they eventually settled into Shasta City and Colton was
elected as their sheriff at the young age of 20. They had two children; Helen in 1854, and
Carrie in 1856, who would die shortly after she was married.  |
| David Colton |
David Colton purchased a local
paper, and would often be referred to as General D. D. Colton, a title he
acquired when he was commissioned a Brigadier General in the Siskiyou Co.
branch of the California State Militia. Like many in the West, he was involved
in three near duels; the first stemming from rivalry between local Democrats
and Whigs, and a second with his opponent for a failed state Senate run in
1857. He obtained a law degree, and
opened a practice in law and mine stock trading in San Francisco that became
fabulously successful. He was President and major owner of the Amador gold
mine, which yielded half-million dollars annually and his San Francisco
properties brought in rents totaling $3,000 monthly.
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| Colton's San Francisco Mansion |
In 1872 Colton built a stately
mansion on San Francisco's Nob Hill. Located on the NW corner of California and
Taylor Streets it was built on a half city block at a cost of $75,000. The interior was decorated with works of art
and antique furniture acquired during their two year travels and contained a
large library stocked with works of English literature. David Colton rose to his greatest prominence
in 1874 when he became associated with the directors and principal stockholders
of the Central Pacific R.R. that built the western most section of the nation’s
first transcontinental railroad.
At age 47, Colton died rather unexpectantly
from injuries that he received from falling off a horse. His estate and business affairs were left to
his widow, Ellen Colton. A lawsuit for
fraud was filed, a civil suit would follow and then many countersuits; it would
take 12 years for these legal battles to end, and she had spent over $100,000
in legal fees only to see $4 million of the estate lost trying to clear her
deceased husband's name.
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| Verboeckhoven's "The Sheep" |
Following the death of her husband
and being excluded from much of San Francisco society, Ellen Colton sold the
mansion and relocated to Washington, DC, where she built 1617 Connecticut
Avenue in 1895. She filled the house
with art and antiques that would eventually be appraised at nearly $64,000,
including “The Sheep” painting by Verboeckhoven valued at $10,000 alone, and a
library with 1,000 rare books.
Ellen Colton died in February of
1905, leaving an estate valued at over $1 million dollars, all but $1,000 of
which was left to her surviving daughter, Caroline Martin Dahlgren, and her two
children. Her granddaughter from her
deceased daughter Helen, Miss Helen Margaret Beatrice Sacher (below) was just six
years old at the time, and like any child, should have been thrilled with
inheriting $1,000 at such a young age.
She, however, accused her older cousins of coercing their senile
grandmother while she was away living in Paris into leaving the entire estate
to that side of the family. She also accused them of stealing silverware and
other valuables from the home while Mrs. Colton was still alive, forging her
signature on the Will, and stealing $350,000 worth of transferable bonds. Sacher was the daughter of a wealthy Parisian
banker named Seigfried Sacher. 
A lawsuit was initiated by Helen the following
year that was covered thoroughly in the social columns that dragged on for
years, until 1908, when Helen turned nine years old. The case headed to trial, but a settlement
was struck due to the social hype that surrounded the jury trial, and young
Helen received $250,000 from the estate.
The house went up for public auction in December of 1908, but failed to
sell when the winning bid came at $85,000, under estimates.
The mansion was eventually sold in
December of 1909 to the Chinese government as the residence for a new Chinese
Minister to the United States, Chang Yin Tang (right).
Newspaper reports that he arrived with 50 attaches, secretaries,
servants, and students along with two large moving vans of household
furniture.
Copyright Paul K. Williams
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