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 Visitors driving along old Rt. 66, now known simply as North Frontage Road in Darien, Illinois, are often startled to see the beauty and majesty of “The White House” set back from the road. Of course, the original White House is located on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. And the one is Darien is a 1/10th scale model of the original. But both have a number of Irish connections.
The White House in Washington was designed and built by Irish-born James Hoban who used Leinster House in Dublin, now the home of the Irish Parliament (Dail), as his original model. The Darien White House was modeled after its DC counterpart by U.S. Representative Martin Barnaby Madden of the First Illinois District. It is believed that the family originally emigrated from Ireland. The year was 1903 when this strikingly beautiful White House was built on the site of the childhood home of Mrs. Madden (Josephine Smart) whose family was among the original European settlers in the area. It is said to have been a 25th wedding anniversary gift.
The Castle Eden
The home was originally called “Castle Eden” named after a favorite childhood place of Martin Madden when his family lived in England. It was originally their summer home as a respite from the hectic times when the U.S. Congress was in session. The area of Darien, once known as Cass Village, was the domain of the Keepataw Indians. The village was an out-of-the-way place with some connections with Lemont some 10 miles to the south. However, when the original Route 66 was built in 1926, to link Chicago and Los Angeles, the area became a gas station and restaurant stop on the highway dubbed “The Mother Road.” The Smart Family, led by Mr. and Mrs. Elisha Smart, settled in Cass Village in 1838.
Their history became entwined with Martin Barnaby Madden who eventually married Josephine Smart, their youngest daughter. His birthplace is thought to have been in Ireland, although the 1988 “Bibliographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-1989” lists Madden’s birthplace as Wolviston, England, on March 21, 1855.
An Energetic Immigrant
As a young adult, Madden found work for 50 cents a day in the nearby stone quarries of Lemont, and there rose from water-boy to president. But his life was greatly influenced by an accident on the Illinois and Michigan Canal when he was 18 years old. With his good friend John Petermann, young Madden was driving mules which were towing a boat on the canal. A rope from the mules to the boat was coiled around young Madden’s leg when the animals suddenly strained forward. The rope tightened, Madden’s leg bone was crushed, and at that time amputation was the only medical procedure available.
Investment in Education
According to local historians, Madden then became the first person in Illinois to receive compensation for this type of physical loss, and he wisely invested the $500 to further his meager education.
The investment paid great dividends when Martin Madden eventually became a highly successful lawyer in Chicago, and then was elected to the City Council there. His success as a speaker and attorney led to an invitation from the Republican Party to run for the U.S. Congress from the First Illinois District which stretched from Cass Village to the Chicago Lakeshore. After an initial failure, he was elected to the 59th Congress and served almost 12 terms from March 4, 1903 until his death of a heart attack in Congress’ House of Representatives on April 27, 1928.
The Panama Canal
From the 68th to the 70th sessions of Congress, Representative Madden served as chairman of the Committee on Appropriations there. According to local lore, Madden was a member of the Isthmus Committee (or group) who were interested in the building of the Panama Canal; in fact, the East Room of the then newly-built White House in Darien is still called the “Panama Room.” It was there that Representative Madden had gathered
members of the U.S. Congress who supported the idea of a waterway to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Although historically unprov-en, the story persists that President Theodore Roosevelt visited the group and welcomed their support. The following year saw the start of the construction of the Panama Canal.
Representative Madden remained in Congress until 1928 and was known as a conscientious and progressive lawmaker. The Honorable Madden and the family enjoyed living in the White House where many social and political events were held. Mrs. Madden followed her husband in death in 1934, and both are buried beside each other in the tiny Cass Cemetery about a quarter-mile down old Rt. 66.
The Carmelites Arrive
Several owners lived in the White House until 1959 when the Carmelites arrived on May 25th of that year. Father Alexis McCarthy, O.Carm., the first prior (superior), and Father Howard Rafferty, O.Carm., the director of the Lay Carmelites, arrived in Darien. The White House and adjoining buildings had been vacant for seven years and needed a great deal of repair.
This was readily supplied by volunteers and others so that today the White House is surrounded by the National Shrine of Saint Therese, the Carmelite Spiritual Center, Carefree Village, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. It is also the headquarters of the Carmelite Order in the U.S. and Canada.
Bailey Road was originally known as Madden Road and provides the western boundary to the White House property now known as Aylesford. The grounds also contain many unusual trees that were gifts to Representative Madden while he was in office. A circle of golden maple trees decorates the road around the White House to this day. Other trees such as mountain ash and chestnut, flower in Springtime, and many evergreen bushes and trees help to keep the land beautiful in all four seasons of the year.
Tree experts from the Morton Arboretum in nearby Lisle, Illinois, visited the White House property and informed the group that they had the oldest trees in DuPage County; in fact, several oaks are over 300 years of age, and one dubbed the “Singing Oak” is approaching 400 years.
In its Centennial Year, the White House stands as a tribute to an energetic and successful immigrant, Martin Barnaby Madden.
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