While the court cases were proceeding, Kendall's financial situation deteriorated. His two newspapers lost large sums of money, and the value of the land he owned in Kentucky was greatly depressed. He purchased a farm in northeast Washington for $9,000 in 1841 to generate income for himself, and named it Kendall Green. But it was not enough. In 1838, Kendall had rented a 10-room mansion named Jackson Hill located at what is now the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. He was forced to give up Jackson Hill in October 1841 and move his family into an unfinished, home at Kendall Green.