Presiding Ladies of the White House / containing biographical appreciations together with a short history of the Executive mansion and a treatise on its etiquette and customs - Lila G. A. Woolfall

STATE DINING ROOM

The Private Dining Room has been remodelled in a style essentially colonial, with an attractive color scheme of ivory white and red. The ceiling is domed and the window hangings are of red velvet. The furniture in this apartment harmonizes with the general plan of decoration, it also being distinctly colonial in design.

The Library.—The room, which is oval in shape, is situated on the second story of the Executive Mansion and was once used as the President’s office, but is now converted into a private sitting room. It was during President Fillmore’s administration that the Library was first organized, an appropriation being made for that purpose. The low book-cases line the walls which contain over seven thousand volumes, principally literature of an historical and classical character, and chiefly of Mrs. Fillmore’s own selection. She greatly deplored the lack of books in the White House and urged the need of a more extensive Library. However, it did not progress, as it should have done, and is not catalogued.

THE LIBRARY

The Executive Office.—From the time of President Lincoln’s administration the business of the White House began to encroach seriously upon the living quarters. The discomfort and inconvenience resulting from this combination of public and private life under one roof—and that a roof of very limited dimensions—had long been realized. Plans to relieve the situation were occasionally brought forward, but nothing was accomplished until 1902, when the reconstruction of the entire establishment took place. It was then that the one-storied and basement building was erected at the end of the West Terrace for the accommodation of the Executive Offices. The architects have placed the structure most effectively in its relation to its surroundings. It contains a Reception Room, the President’s suite of rooms, the offices of the President’s Secretary and Assistant Secretary, telegraph and telephone rooms and several other offices. The building is comparatively small and will probably give place to a larger one in the course of time.