Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 October 1901 — THE WHITE HOUSE TOO SMALL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE WHITE HOUSE TOO SMALL

The family of President Roosevelt Is the largest that has ever occupied the White House at Washington. As the house has only five bedrooms the Roosevelts with their six children and several servants are said to be suffering great inconvenience. How these people are going to be accommodated in a house which only contains five bedrooms, a sitting room, a dining room and a parlor, is one of the mysteries which confront Colonel Theodore Bingham, U. S. A. He, by the way, also acts as master of ceremonies at the President’s public receptions. The Whito House was the first.public building erected In Washington, and its first cost was paid by the states of Maryland and Virginia. President Washington selected the si'e. A prize of SSOO for the design was' awarded to a young Irish architect named James Hoban, who modeled his design after the castle of the duke of Leinster, near Dublin. The corner stone was laid on Oct IS, 1792, and although the mansion was not completed, President John Adams and his family took possession In 1800. In 1814 during the British invasion the White House was almost gutted by fire and was only saved front total destruction by a thunder storm. The work of restoration was not completed until 1818. The building is 170 feet long by 86 feet wide, and the private grounds contain 20 acres. It consists of a rustic basement, two stories and an attic. Having the peculiar characteristics of a public office, which is at the same time the home of a private fami'y, the wear and tear upon Its household belongings are almost incredible, and each year has brought some material change in the decorations. The government has spent nearly $2,500,000 in repairs on the building. At the present time the first of the state apartments is the east room—tte nation's parlor—which is decorated in white and gold. Fu’l length portraits of President and Mrs. Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln occupy the panels along the east side, and eight large mirrors, with three chandeliers of cut glass, add greatly to the magnificence of the room. From the ea3t room a wide corridor leads into the state parlors. The first of these, called the green room, is used as a music room, and is furnished tastefully- in pale green plush. Next the green room is the blue room, an ellip ical room in the center of the suite. The blue room is the official audience room, where the President receives foreign ministers on their presentation of credentials, and other distinguished guests; and on such occasions, at public reception and often at less formal gatherings, the presidential party stands in line at the upper end of the room. West of the blue room is the red room, Which, being the family drawing room, seems more home-like than the other parlors, with its flowering plants, ■haded lamps and bric-a-brac. Though red is the dominant color, it is used only In .subdued tones. Beyond a screen partition is the family stairway; on the right is the private dining room, handsomely furnished in carved mahogany, and at the end of the corridor is the entrance to the conservatories. On the left Is the state dining room, lately remodeled, where the decorations are in yellow* and harmonize with the lavishly-gild-ed table ornaments. The eastern portion of the upper floor is devoted to the executive of■ees. The end of the central corridor

forms the lobby, to the left of which are the telegraph room and a larger apartment where the rou.ine work is carried on. The small room in the southeast corner is used by the President's private secretary, while the large room adjoining is the office of the President. Adjoining the President's office is the room where cabinet meeting? are held, handsomely frescoed and furnished, and containing a number of private portraits. The private apartments, which are shut off from the official wing by a screen door at the light cf the public stairway, are reached by a long corridor. The first one is the library, a beautiful oval room, which serves as the family sitting room, and, with its books and pictures, is the cheeriest and most home-hke of all the apartments. Next is the President’s room, which still retains its old-fashioned grandeur of canopied bed and crimson satin hangings. The bedrooms on the north are usually set apart for guests, although the northwest room was occupied by President and Mrs. Cleveland during their first residence. It has long been seen that the present White House is entirely inadequate to the social, domestic and business necessities which are enjoined on the President, and it is not improbable that some changes will be effected during President Roosevelt’s administration.