Evening star., 1926-06-10
COOLIDGE FLOODED
WITH HOUSE OFFERS
Need for Temporary Quar-.
ters During Repair Work
Brings Great Response.

President Coolidge's problems which
are growing more numerous and com
plex almost daily are to be added 10
when the time comes. some time with
In the next year. to select temporary
quarters to serve his household dur.
ing the long period the White House
will be undergoing alterations and re
pairs.
The task Of establishing a tempo
rary White House in Washington, or
in any other place, for that matter
say that already Mr.. Coolidge is be
ginning to realize what he faces.
The Presidents mail and telephon.
today brought numerous suggestion,
and offers. many from real estate
operators. The President was sur
prised to learn that there are so many
vacant houses in the Capital. While
making known the receipt of these
suggestions and offers. the White
House did not discuss the location
of any of the houses offered.
Work to Be Delayed.
What causes the President already
TO view this problem with concern
is the fact that public announcement
of the fact that the White House is
to undergo some long-delayed i'm
provements. which may necessitate
the establishment Of temporary quar-
tiers while the work is under prog
ress. was only made yesterday. If the
communication he has received
within the last II hours signify the
public interest in this matter. what
can be expected along this line when
he and Mrs. Coolidge actually start
house hunting.
Although the President is going to
have this problem hanging over him
from now on. ii is not thought that
he will be forced to vacate the Execu-
tive Mansion within the next l.
months. 1t is not the intention of
those engineer officers of the. Army
who will have personal supervision
over this work to begin making the
improvements before next Summer.
They will begin Immediately upon the
Presidents departure on his vacation
next year and will have accomplished
much before the presidential family
returns to Washington. 1t is expect
ed that the work will require seven
months. Therefore. it is thought
likely that the President will be called
for only a f1ve-month period.
One Of the engineers while discuss
ing the contemplated operation today
expressed the belief that it may not
he necessary to make the presidential
family seek quarters elsewhere. He is
optimistic enough TO be of the opinion
that the heaviest and most important
part of the repair work can be dis
posed of while the family is away for
the Summer. and that If they can
put up with some noises and disorder
necessary to such work, there Is no
reason why they cannot live in the
White House throughout the remain
der of the job. This will be for the
President and Mrs. Coolidge to de-
termine when the time comes.
Roosevelt Forced to Move.
If it is found necessary to live else
where until the work is completed
and all is quiet and orderly within the
old mansion this will be the first time
in more than quarter of a century
that a President has been called upon
to establish temporary White
House. except during the period Of a
vacation. 1t also will be the second
time any President, during the ex-
istence of the White House, has found
it necessary to vacate temporarily
The White House was burned by
the British in 1914, and President
Madison and his household were com.
PEELED to flee. During the period Of
this excitement and during the re-
building of the White House the
Madisons lived first at Nineteenth
street and Pennsylvania avenue and
later in the Octagon House, Eighteenth
street and New York avenue, which
handsome residence
is still standing.
President Roosevelt was the next
President to set-up a temporary
White House here. It was in 1902,
while the executive ONCE and the
wings to the White House were being
built and extensive repairs were being
made to the interior of the House
itself. During this period the Roose-
welt family lived in the four-story
brick and stone residence at % Jack
son Place, directly opposite Lafayette
Park and less than q block away from
the White House itself.
The possibility of having to seek
temporary quarters during the repair
ing Of the White House was one Of
the principal stumbling blocks that
made it difficult to obtain President
.(Continued on Fl Re .. Column 81