The area we now call Cleveland Park was once part of a massive 800 acre estate owned by Colonel Ninian Beall. After Beall’s death in 1717, his property was divided among his 12 children and a tract of it was bought by a man whose name is lost to history. This man built a small stone cottage on the property around 1740 and the estate was known as Pretty Prospects. In 1793, the property was acquired by General Uriah Forrest, who had been the mayor of Georgetown and was at that time serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. Forrest had a large wood-framed house built onto the front of the stone cottage and renamed the property Rosedale. Rosedale was the Forrest family’s country estate which they built while living in the Forrest-Marbury House in Georgetown (read about that house HERE).
General Forrest was a prominent citizen of early Washington D.C. and Rosedale played host to many important people including President John Adams. Forrest himself would die in the front parlor of the house in 1805. In 1855 Forrest’s granddaughter, Alice Green, married Ángel María José Ignacio Francisco Xavier de Iturbide y Huarte, the son of the first Emperor of an independent Mexico. The wedding took place in the front parlor at Rosedale, and the couple would live in the house off and on for several years.
Rosedale remained in the Forrest family until 1917 when it was rented by the Coonley family. Avery and Queene Coonley did much to preserve and update the old home, installing hot water heat and electricity and repairing and replacing wood which had been destroyed by termites. Upon Mr. Coonley’s death, his widow bought Rosedale outright and when she died in 1958, she passed the property on to her daughter and son in law.
The following year, Rosedale was sold to the National Cathedral to house teachers of the National Cathedral School. Concrete dormitories were placed on either side of the house for students at the school. In 1978, the property was purchased by Youth For Understanding (YFU), an international student exchange organization. In 2000, YFU was asked by a neighbor, Gregory Craig, to host the family of Elián González while he awaited his return to Cuba. Craig was González’s father’s lawyer and thought it would be a safe space for the family to live during this time. From May 25th to June 28th of that year, the González family lived at Rosedale before boarding a plane at Dulles Airport for their flight back to Havana. In 2002 the property was purchased by neighborhood residents who returned Rosedale to its 18th Century appearance.
Today the farmhouse itself is once again a residence, but the grounds serve as a neighborhood park and gathering space.
Rosedale is located at 3471-3501 Newark St NW, Washington, DC 20016 and is open to the public during daylight hours.
D.C.’s Oldest Homes was intended to be a single post with an overview of the history of some of the beautiful buildings from the city’s first decade and before. The more I looked at the history of each property, though, the further down the rabbit hole I went. I hope you enjoy this series of brief posts looking at each property individually. To find out more about the history of Rosedale, please visit the Rosedale Conservancy website HERE. All photos are available for sale and licensing.