The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-12
New White House Restoration on the Line Of Original Plans

now all banished or buried, and the
spaces restored to more appropriate
uses.
But the uses of the wings are by no
means yet exhausted. The platforms
Of the terraces more than double the
available area Of the first floor; avail
liable, that is to say, by the aid of
awnings and marques, available even
in weather not fine. Here, at any rate,
is most inviting and ample prone
made in the cool and the dusk, along
a terrace to be protected at the edges
by massive balustrades, of which the
pedestals will be punctuated with pot
ted plants. The conservatory which
has done so much and so various mis-
chief to the White house is banished
to the extremity of the west terrace
1t adjoins, or almost, the temporary:
executive office, simple structure Of
one story, but the greenhouses are
still accessible under cover from the
mansion.
An Italian Garden.
The exterior effect it is proposed to
enhance by a formal or Italian gar
den, forming the immense frame of the
mansion, and mediating between it
and the naturaHstic "English" garden
beyond, through which it is to be ex-
pected that vistas will be arranged
preserving better than it is now pre-
served, the reciprocity of sight be-
tween the most interesting views from
and of the mansion.
In the interior, also, the architect
has regarded his task as essentially
one of restoration, and has undertaken.
to bring it to the condition which the
original designer aimed at, or would
have aimed at if he could have fore
seen the demands that would come to
be made upon it. One of the noticeable
alterations is the removal of the glass
screen by which, in President Arthur's
time, it was sought to "modernize"
and to "artisticize" tie old house. An
other, of a practical urgency, has been
the enlargement of the state dining
room, by an addition of some thirty
feet to it's length, so that it will seat
a hundred guests, and that 1t will no
longer be necessary, as it was found to
be for the purposes of the Rocham-
beau banquet, to resort, for that num-
Der of Covers" to the great east
room which the good Abigail Adams,
the first mistress of the White house,
could find no better use for than to
hang her weeks washing therein.
Redecorated Rooms.
The blue room will still be the blue
room, though hung henceforth in blue
b
room, though now in Genoese velvet;
the east room will be paneled in white
woodwork, the hail and the outer hall
paved with plain monochromatic stone.
And the detail everywhere will be Of
the period of the house, though exam
pies from both sides of the ocean have
been invoked. The purpose always is
that of restoration. In this work Mr..
McKim must have been greatly as
sisted by Mr.. Glenn Brown, the super
intendent of the alterations, and the
author of the official history of the
capitol, whose knowledge of Southern
Colonial work is great, and his minute
knowledge of the public architecture of
Washington, I suppose, quite I'M
equaled.
There is an express remuneration of
the "palatial magniicence" which
seems to be the purpose Of the decora-
ton now going On at the capitol, which
is viewed much askance by many who
ought to know. True, it is only mat
ter of paint, and what is painted in
can always be painted out. But it is
not desirable th;4s anY work should go
on upon the capitol except under, the
raj name, and none such is cited here
AT any rate. one is thankful to have
the notion of gorgeousness banished
from the White house and the detail
kept down to the modest Colonial
standard in design and in scale. Even
the weakness of the style was amiable
and gentlemanMke: