Evening star., 1926-12-10
PRESIDENT STILL
SEEKS QUARTERS
Authorizes Denial of May
flower Choice During Re-
pairs to White House.

President Coolidge has not declded
where he and Mrs. Coolidge Will 1--we
in Washington while the upper floors
of the White House are undergoing
rebuilding, and while they have re-
ce;ved anv number of offers, including
large handsome private homes and
cu;tes in several Of the downtown
hotels so far they have made no
In making this known at the White
House TODAY, the President authorized
denial of a published account tnat
the Mayfower Hotel had been de-
termined upon. 1t was explained ina
This hotel is among others that nave
been suggested to the PRESIDENT ou'
none has been chosen.
Mrs. Coolidge has maze nuille' ,9o., Hu,
.o,,.e. hunting expeditions. Every day
nr ca during the past few weeks, she
hoe nersonaIly looked at some one
of the nrivate residences offered as
temporary White House
Prefer Private House.
r. is understood that both she ana
+ha President would prefer to occupy
o nrivate house. rather than a notel'
;f The location and other details IN
o;dent to the housing OF a freSloel'
are satisfactory. ,,oo+ ra.
while discussing this subJect re-
GENTLY. the President mdlcateu i.e ne
wants a place sufficiently iarse ~
make it possible to entertain on d
large scale and one, not 'ou Aai
removed from the eXecu'iVe olI. -
Ha intimated that he is hoping TO
be able to walk to ana from 'ie
Prominent among some or the
10 rper nriyate residences said 10 nave
haen offered to the Coolidges are tne
homes of Larz Anderson and MIS-
Tbomas =. Walsh, on MASSACHUSETTS,
ayon,a near Twenty-first street, tne
hor,o oe Edward B. Mclean, at FIJI
teenth and I streets, and the nome
80 Mrs John B. Henderson, on SIX
teenth street, which she mas "lso S
offarad az a permanent home for the
Vice President.
The President is known to nave
osked Mai. u. S. Grant, Sd, ofhcer
IN charge of public buildings ana
grounds. to assist him in this mousse
hunting task. Maj. Grant Is mem
her of the Engineer Corps OF the
Arn,v and the President has lndl-
cated that he wants the latters eX-
merit opinion regarding the physlcal
asnects of the places being conSlu-
cred. a+ y.
taken as a determination on tne
Presidents part to select priVate
home, rather than quarters In a
hotel. Mai. Grants scientific ana
nractical knowledge as an engineer
is to he utilized even In the case
the President decides to go to
hotel.
Still Time to Consider.
There is some little time yet for the
President and Mrs. Coolidge to con
slider this important matter. Inc
work on the White House. which Will
cause it's temporary abandonment
will not be started until after the ISL
Of March. But President Coolidge
gave the impression that he wants to
reach a decision as soon as possible.
Bids for the reconditioning or the
White House will be received by Maj.
Grant. who will supervise the work,
on December %. Preliminary to this
II prospective bidders were today
shown over that section of the White
House that is to be reconditioned.
They were accompanied by Maj. Jo-
seph Mehaffey, assistant to Maj.
Grant, who personally described the
contemplated work.
When President and Mrs. Coolidge
abandon the White House they will
be the third presidential family to
seek temporary quarters in WasfaAs
ton. the first being the MAdiso9s.