Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1951-12-07
THE WHITE HOUSE
$3.50, OOOSpent on Renovation
OfHistoric Executive Mansion

quently called the prettiest in the
brant blue.
The red room is a lighter red,
not as dark and brown as before.
The draperies are red silk damask
of 18th century design, and the
same material is used to cover the
walls. The only different note in the
room is white damask used on a
set of Hepplewhite chairs and a
Chippendale wing chair.
The walls and draperies of the
green room are the same shade of
striking emerald green silk damask.
Much of the furniture in this room
had been in use in the Blair House.
The green room had been redeco-
rated and restored only a few
months before the house was va
Gated.
THE EAST ROOM, the largest in
the White House, where Abigail
Adams, wife of the first occupant
hung her washing, is used only for
state receptions. A white and lemon
| gold silk damask has been woven
from an old document character
istic of many used in the 18th CEN
fury. This material is used for the
draperies, replacing the old cram
berry red silk ones. Here, too, hang
the portraits of George and Martha
Washington saved when the British
burned the original building in 1872
The grand stairway to the second
floor is entered from the main hall,
rather than the secondary cross
hall as before the restoration. The
marble floor, columns, pilasters,
and wainscot of the main floor hall
are new. A set of walnut framed
Louis XIV benches have been in
stalled. The hall is somewhat sparse
ly furnished, in keeping with its
essentially plain architectural ma
ture.
The second floor is brighter and
more informal. The Monroe room
is furnished with its restored and
refinished original pieces. The dra-
peries here are of an 18th century
print of fruits and flowers in rose
and blue. This room is very simply
furnished with a desk, bookcase,
sofas and lounge chairs suited to
its historical background.
Having undergone varied his
tory and having been relegated to
different rooms in the White House,
the massive Victorian bed in which
Abe Lincoln slept is once again the
main feature of the Lincoln room
on the second floor. Other pieces
! of furniture belonging to Lincoln
are also used in the room, once
Lincoln's study and where he
signed the Emancipation Proclama-
ton.
While the treatment of the sec
ond floor for the most part ex-
presses spirit of informality, the
| third floor is even more informal.
| The third floor bedrooms are small
er and economy and simplicity have
| been sought in the process of their
| renovation. There are II full bath
rooms and 16 half baths in the
house.
The original kitchen, on the
ground floor of the White House,
with its vaulted ceilings and stone
| fireplaces has been replaced by a
new and modern kitchen. The old
kitchen will be used as conference
and broadcasting room. Here will
be sofas and lounge chairs of more
| modern vintage but completely re-
stored, together with an old pine
table and large hutch built from
old rafters of the house at the
time the building was reconstruct
ed in 1857.
The main interior change is a
Strengthening of color throughout,
and in contrast to this, the execu-
tive mansion will be a "whiter'
White House.