George Washington Parke Custis of Arlington House and Thomson Mason of Hollin Hall were both sheep raisers and there was much rivalry between the two families in this field, including Mason entries which took prizes at Custis exhibitions and shows.[75] This offers, in addition to the day-to-day opportunities presented to Mason through his political and social standing, one more means whereby T.F. Mason might have learned of Hadfield, observed his work, met him, and contracted for design assistance in the construction of his country house. In addition, Mason was a lawyer, who later became a justice of the peace and a judge. For several years before and after 1820, Hadfield was involved with the design and construction of the City Hall, which was to house the Courts of the District. Mason would have been aware of this and would probably have known Hadfield. Certainly the design evidence of Huntley indicates the work of an architect. The structure is much too architectonic to have evolved and in many respects much too advanced for its day to have been designed by a local carpenter-builder. Perhaps at some future time we shall discover information which indicates precisely whose trained hand put all the pieces together in this highly satisfactory manner. Until that time, the evidence strongly points to George Hadfield. Chapter 4 Notes [Footnote 58: Paul F. Norton, "Decatur House: Design and Designer," =Historic Preservation=, Volume 19, Numbers 3-4 (July-December 1967), pp. 9-24.] [Footnote 59: Fiske Kimball, =Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies and of the Early Republic=, (New York: Dover, 1966 Reprint), p. 27.] [Footnote 60: Rowland, =George Mason=, Volume II, p. 369.] [Footnote 61: H. M. Pierce Gallagher, =Robert Mills= (New York: Columbia University Press, 1935), p. 170.] [Footnote 62: Deering Davis, Stephen P. Dorsey, Ralph Cole Hall, =Georgetown Houses of the Federal Period=. (New York: Bonanza Books, 1944), pp. 21-23.] [Footnote 63: Lonnelle Aikman, =We the People= (Washington: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, 1965), p. 33.] [Footnote 64: H.M. Gallagher, =Robert Mills=, p. 169.] [Footnote 65: George S. Hunsberger, "The Architectural Career of George Hadfield," =Records of the Columbia Historical Society=, Volume 51-52 (1955), pp. 46-65.] [Footnote 66: =Ibid.=] [Footnote 67: =Ibid.= p. 51. See also: Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, =Dictionary of American Biography= (New York: Charles Scribner, 1932 (1931)), Vol. IV, p. 76.] [Footnote 68: Letter, George Hadfield to Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson papers. Volume 222, op. 39775, Library of Congress.] [Footnote 69: =Daily National Intelligencer=, February 13, 1826.] [Footnote 70: Karl Schuon, =Home of the Commandants= (Washington: Leatherneck Association, 1966), pp. 61-64.]