The Evolving Rooms And Their Decor: An Introduction
"People we've entertained have been so excited to see what could, within reason, be called a historically correct room. And if you have an invitation to a Lincoln party on the wall, that just makes people's eyes bug out."
- Hillary Rodham Clinton (House Beautiful, March 1994)
It has been customary for presidents to redecorate the private headquarters of the White House if they so choose, but some preservationists argue that the house has been through too many decorative changes for its own good. For most of its history, the White House has been viewed not as a museum but as a mansion that could be decorated in the style of the day. Its primary function was as a home, not a monument. For example, after President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881, his predecessor Chester Arthur hired Louis Comfort Tiffany of New York to redecorate the building in a "less garish" fashion. Arthur said he refused to live in the White House until the ostentatious decor from the two previous administrations was removed.
This attitude was encouraged by a long tradition of selling the trappings of previous administrations to make room for new furnishings. During Chester Arthur's (1881-85) Presidency, about 24 wagon loads were sold at an auction of 5000 people. Warren G. Harding (1920-24) was said to have lost a barrel of White House china in a poker game. After the Truman renovation, sections of wall bricks, beams and other salvageable details were cut into small pieces and sold as "souvenir kits" that earned just $10,000.
Now that items have been recovered, there is a storage space in the Maryland suburbs where some historical decor not displayed is kept. Hillary Rodham Clinton retrieved a bronze sculpture of Calvin Coolidge's dog Tiny Tim and a gilt bronze mantel clock from storage.
Congress still appropriates $50,000 to redecorate. Although the Clintons returned the money. They then spent $396,429.46 on redecorating the White House with donations from the White House Historical Association. In the old populist American tradition of looking askance at too much opulence in the White House, Mrs. Clinton was criticized for inviting fashion designer Ralph Lauren to decorate for Christmas.
Even in the age of historical preservation, room has been made for personal tastes. Reagan's quarters had somewhat of a California style, while Bill Clinton redid the Oval Office in brighter colors than Bush preferred. He told House Beautiful magazine that he asked for the bedroom wallpaper to be changed. The Bush leftover, dotted with birds, reminded him of a Hitchcock movie.
