THE WHITE HOUSE
The most definite description of the White House as it existed during its earlier days is to be found in American Scenery, published in London in 1840 and edited by Nathaniel Parker Willis, who writes as follows:
The residence of the Chief Magistrate of the United States resembles the country seat of an English nobleman in its architecture and size; but it is to be regretted that the parallel ceases when we come to the grounds. By itself it is a commodious and creditable building, serving its purpose without too much state for a republican country, yet likely, as long as the country exists without primogeniture and rank, to be sufficiently superior to all other dwelling houses to mark it as the residence of the Nation’s chief.
VIEW SHOWING TERRACE ON SOUTH SIDE OF THE WHITE HOUSE, 1827
The President’s House stands near the center of an area of some 20 acres, occupying a very advantageous elevation, open to the view of the Potomac and about 44 feet above high water, and possessing from its balcony one of the loveliest prospects in our country—the junction of the two branches of the Potomac which border the District and the swelling and varied shores beyond of the States of Maryland and Virginia. The building is 170 feet front and 86 deep and is built of white freestone, with Ionic pilasters, comprehending two lofty stories, with a stone balustrade. The north front is ornamented with a portico sustained by four Ionic columns, with three columns of projection, the outer intercolumniation affording a shelter for carriages to drive under. The garden front on the river is varied by what is called a rusticated basement story, in the Ionic style, and by a semicircular projecting colonnade of six columns, with two spacious and airy flights of steps leading to a balustrade on the level of the principal story.
The interior of the President’s House is well disposed and possesses one superb reception room and two oval drawing-rooms (one in each story) of very beautiful proportions. The other rooms are not remarkable, and there is an inequality in the furniture of the whole house (owing to the unwillingness and piecemeal manner with which Congress votes any moneys for its decoration) which destroys its effect as a comfortable dwelling. The oval rooms are carpeted with Gobelin tapestry, worked with the national emblems, and are altogether in a more consistent style than the other parts of the house. It is to be hoped that Congress will not always consider the furniture of the President’s House as the scapegoat of all sumptuary and aristocratic sins, and that we shall soon be able to introduce strangers not only to a comfortable and well-appointed, but to a properly served and nicely kept, Presidential Mansion.
The White House as it is at present is described on [page 261].