The John Jackson mansion at the entrance of Benton Place in Lafayette Square is one of the larger mansions on the square, and was built in the late 1870s. Conflicting sources show dates from 1872 and 1885, although the house is not present on the 1875 Compton and Dry map, but it has the same design as the neighboring houses of George Bain and Montgomery Blair, which also fronted on Park Avenue. The architect of the house is unclear as well, as some think it was designed by George Barnett, who designed the Blair mansion in 1878, while others attribute the design to another prominent architect in Lafayette Square, John Maurice. John Jackson was a grain merchant and a river mine owner who used his fortunes to construct this mansion in the Second Empire style, and he lived in it until his death in 1889, when he hanged himself after running into financial problems. In 1923, an architect referred to as A. Ittner lived in the mansion, while operating two brickyards nearby. Despite much of the neighborhood falling into disrepair, it appears that this mansion survived mostly intact with the interior being well preserved as well as the exterior. Today the mansion is listed as a Park Avenue address, although it was originally a Benton Place address, and it remains, along with almost every other house that was present in 1875.
1940s photo of the mansion by William G. Swekosky