The Owners

The Owners. . , For much of its existence, the house at 1801 F Street has had connections to prominent women and to the U.S. Supreme Court. Sarah Ringgold Thomas loaned her father, U.S. Marshal Tench Ringgold, money to build the house in 1825. During 1832-33, Chief Justice John Marshall and several associate justices boarded in Ringgold's house. Sally Sprigg Carroll, wife of Supreme Court Clerk William T. Carroll, acquired the house in 1835, and during her ownership, the house became a center of Washington society. Mary Ellen Fuller, wife of Supreme Court Chief Justice Melville Fuller, purchased the house in 1896. Pittsburgh heiress Alice Copley Thaw acquired the house in 1911 and renovated the interior, but she rarely stayed here. The final private owners, Virginia Murray Bacon and Congressman Robert Low Bacon, returned the house to prominence in Washington society. One of the last grande dames Washington's elite social circle, Virginia Bacon died in 1980. Since 1985 the house A has been owned by the DACOR Bacon House Foundation., DACOR Story and Mission , DACOR was created in 1952, when U.S. Foreign Service Officers who had retired from the Department of State joined together to advocate for post-retirement opportunities for diplomats comparable to those of members of the Armed Services. Today, DACOR welcomes active-duty and retired personnel from a variety of international relations careers. Its mission is to bring foreign affairs professionals together in support of diplomacy, the Foreign Service and public understanding of diplomacy and to preserve the historic DACOR Bacon House.