Who designed the white house3/8/2024 Fillmore loved gardening and also purchased a group of Rococo Revival cast iron garden settees.įranklin Pierce arrived at the house in 1853, and received $25,000 for the furniture fund, a larger than normal sum. Washington cabinetmaker William Cripps made mahogany bookcases, rosewood desks and other pieces for the new space. When he died in July 1850, Millard and Abigail Fillmore moved into the house and successfully gained a special appropriation to establish a library in the second-floor oval room. Congress provided the standard $14,000 for furnishings and Taylor purchased dressing bureaus, mahogany washstands, wardrobes, and beds for the family. Polk also purchased a Rococo French dinner and dessert service decorated with the shield from the Great Seal of the United States.ĭuring his short term as president, Zachary Taylor refurbished the second-floor family quarters, the area where Margaret Taylor, his ill wife, spent most of her time. Corcoran turned to fashionable New York merchants for goods for the President’s House, such as forty-two purple velvet covered chairs bought for the State Dining Room, which remained there until 1882. Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, as his agent for the furniture fund. Polk received a $14,000 appropriation for repairs, maintenance, and furnishings at the start of his term in 1845. Tyler did not receive money for furnishings from Congress, and it was rumored that the president’s second wife Julia Gardener used family funds to refurbish the house after their marriage in 1844. John Tyler moved in with seven children and his invalid wife Letitia, who died in the White House in 1842. However, Harrison died of pneumonia only a month after taking office. Congress did approve $6,000 for new furniture. Successor William Henry Harrison found the family quarters of the President's House lacking practical furnishings. The clamor over Martin Van Buren's perceived abuse of the furniture fund continued after he left office in 1841. Criticism of Van Buren’s aristocratic lifestyle would contribute significantly to his loss in the 1840 election. It would be called the Blue Room from that point forward. Notably, he replaced the crimson wall coverings and fabrics of the Oval Room with silver wallpaper and light blue satin. His White House took on a regal tone, and a guest referred to Van Buren as the “prince of Democracy”. Andrew Jackson left the presidency in 1837 having spent $45,000 for new furnishings, an enormous sum at that time.ĭespite a severe economic depression triggered by a bank crisis in 1837, President Martin Van Buren purchased fine glassware, gilt-bordered tableware, marble tables, and large chandeliers. During his second term, Jackson sold off old furniture to buy an elegant silver service. Additional funds were acquired to finish and furnish the East Room with blue upholstered furniture and mahogany tables made in Philadelphia. A $14,000 appropriation was used to repair and refurbish the interior and replace the broken china and glassware. Their exuberant descent on the house left a wake of broken china and soiled seat cushions. Other items were bought at auctions and private sales.Īndrew Jackson’s 1829 inaugural reception drew throngs of supporters to the President’s House. As a result, Adams commissioned local cabinetmakers, among them Michael Bouvier, the great- great-grandfather of future First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, to create quality pieces for the President's House. As a consequence of the criticism of Monroe’s foreign purchases, Congress enacted legislation requiring that furniture bought for the President's House be manufactured domestically. However, in the wake of Monroe’s extravagance, he needed to be conservative with the spending of public funds. John Quincy Adams took office in 1825 and found many of the house’s ordinary furnishings to be in poor condition. Few Americans had seen such grand objects, and visitors to the White House remarked on the splendor and elegance of vases, clocks, tables, gold centerpieces, and candelabrum. He employed local craftsmen for some items, but imported most of the furniture from France. To refurnish the large house, President James Monroe exceeded funds appropriated by Congress and had even sold the government some of his own pieces to fill the rooms. Reconstruction and refurbishing of the burned President's House continued into the 1820s.
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