As cities began to expand after the Civil War, the crowded quarters boded ill for health, and the suburbs began to lure city dwellers with promises of fresh air and the pleasures of country living. One commuter of 1883 wrote:”

I live in a good neighborhood, close to a country station, ten miles from the city, where each house has its garden…The families are not rich, but intelligent and of good taste. They like to make their salaries go as far as possible, to have something for concerts and journeys… Each one raises potatoes enough for the year, summer berries and green corn for the season…Everybody says a garden is a great help.

This was a complete opposite of what was occurring in Britain, where a “rural exodus” of would-be farm laborers and domestic servants abandoned the countryside for industrial and office positions in the major cities. Though there was a push for “fresh air” and a sentimental view of the vibrant landscapes of suburban and rural Americans, only the wealthy could afford to leave the city to enjoy both bucolic attributes. Wanting to follow the advice of the leading physicians of the day, and consume conspicuously, America’s wealthy elite began to build country houses.

The American country house, as an unique, individual entity, developed in their fullest form after 1885. Yes, there were the large farms along the Hudson, which were built by the early Dutch settlers, and the plantation houses of the antebellum South, but the prototypical “country house” was created as a social center, a product of wealth and leisure, and a place where the privileged classes could “escape” the hustle and bustle of city life. Once the Vanderbilt family threw down the gauntlet with such estates as Idle Hour in Long Island, The Breakers and Marble House in Newport, and Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina, America’s wealthiest citizens began a frenzy of building which resulted in a score of celebrated country houses and estates in all corners of the U.S.

But these socialites wanted not simply a country house, but an “all-around country place,” complete with a variety of other structures such as lodges, stables, garages, gazebos, terraces and other garden architecture, glass houses, sports buildings, workers’ cottages, model farm and churches. And many were situated on large plots of land where they could hunt, ride, play polo, croquet and other outdoor sports. In a way, these Americans wished to mimic the much-vaunted “English country house,” and those grandiose characteristics served to distinguish these houses built around the turn of the century from any other dwelling designed and built in America up to then. However, according to Clive Aslet in 1990′s The American Country House, the British model upon which Americans based their estates upon had moved away from its original focus by the 1890s: “its meaning had both narrowed and spread…because the country house no longer occupied the position of real power it had held in previous generations; the motive forces were now prestige, tradition, gardening, and sport…[T]he people who built new houses tended to prefer the illusion to the substance of country life [and] to many people it was important to be near a major city.”

Though being part of a landed class did not secure political influence or ensure that the owner would have some role in running the country, nor was the American country house a place where political stratagems were hatched, the construction of an estate in the country was considered vital to anyone claiming to a part of the smartest, wealthiest social sets. When a Vanderbilt, or an Astor, or a Drexel wanted a country house, they turned to the top architects of this time: H. H. Richardson (-1886), Frank Furness, Richard Morris Hunt and the celebrated firms of McKim, Mead and White (the “White” being Stanford White) Warren and Wetmore, and Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. The popular architectural styles of the day were:

• Stick Style, which derived from the Carpenter Gothic style, and embodied the idea that architecture should be truthful
• Queen Anne, which was generally a eclectic mash of an asymmetrical silhouette shaped by turrets, towers, gables, and bays
• Shingle Style, which grew from the Queen Anne style, but was less ornate and more horizontal than the typical Queen Anne house



• Richardsonian Romanesque, named after architect H.H. Richardson, who interpreted Romanesque architecture into a distinctly different style, and created one which abandoned the vertical silhouettes and smooth stone facings of earlier times.
• Beaux Arts, which was named for the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and refers to the aesthetic principles practiced by the American architects who trained there.
• Classical Revival, which was less theatrical than the Beaux Arts and based primarily on the Greek architectural orders.

These aforementioned architects designed, and popular architectural styles appeared in, not only country estates, but clubs both urban and suburban, museums, libraries, railroad stations, churches, monuments, bridges, city halls and other government buildings, banks, hospitals, schools and universities. Richardson’s most celebrated work is Trinity Church in Copley Square, Boston, but the William Watts Sherman House in Newport, RI and the Crowninshield House, also in Boston, which is also the earliest, still surviving, example of his private residence work, are equally famous. The designs of Furness were mainly found in Philadelphia and outlying areas, and over the course of his 45-year career, he designed more than 600 buildings, one of which what is now the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia. Hunt was and is considered the preeminent individual architect of the Gilded Age. He designed not one, but five Newport cottages, and was responsible for Alva Vanderbilt’s glorious Marble House. Ironically, he also designed the cottage of her second husband, O.H.P. Belmont.

The stamp of McKim, Mead and White can be found throughout New York City, almost all of which have survived today. Ex. the Washington Arch in Washington Square Park, the Morgan Library, and Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus. It is Warren and Wetmore who are responsible for Grand Central Station, the New York Yacht Club and CBS Studio Building, which at the time was built for the Vanderbilt family for use as a guest house. The firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge grew out of Richardson’s architectural practice, when, after the latter’s untimely death, Mssrs Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge completed all of Richardson’s commissions. Based in Boston, this firm designed the South Station, the Ames Building, and a new campus for the Harvard Medical School in 1906.

Now that this wealthy American possessed a country house, it was time to fling open the doors for a week-end party. As with all new things suddenly deemed fashionable, etiquette sprang up to guide those uncertain hostesses thrust into a new world. According to The Etiquette of New York To-day, “the success of a house-party depends on inviting people who know each other well, or who, when introduced, will find each other’s acquaintance agreeable.” When a hostess sent out invitations, she was advised to definitely state the period of the visit, which is where the word “week-end” was formed, though the British disdained this Americanism for “Saturday to Monday.”

Guests would arrive by rail, and since so much of the Four Hundred’s wealth was built upon railroads, many estates were right on the railroad lines (or was it vice versa?). In some houses, the cards bearing the names of guests were found in their rooms, and they were expected to tie their keys to their trunks or suit cases on the cards to aid their maids and valets in keeping track of their belongings. The party was largely informal, with hostesses offering guests the option of rising for breakfast or having it in their rooms, and allowing them the opportunity to take part in any activity they chose or did not choose. This was all quite similar to what occurred in Britain, with one exception–week-end in the country did not include the casual adultery and bedroom swapping common within the Marlborough House Set–a fact that shocked many an American who moved within European social circles.

Though English-style country estates were built after the 1920s, the period between 1885 and about 1920 is considered the golden age of the American country house. Because few if any of the houses built were intended as dynastic seats, to be handed down from generation to generation as did the Europeans, and the advent of income tax ate away at the fortunes of the Four Hundred’s outrageous fortunes, many of these famed Gilded Age manors fell into disrepair and neglect. Many still stand, whether preserved as museums (such as the Newport mansions), or as businesses and schools, though many more were demolished or destroyed by disasters (such as Clarence McKay’s Harbor Hill).

Further Reading:
The American Country House by Clive Aslet
Newport Villas: The Revival Styles 1885-1935 by Michael C. Kathrens
Gilded Mansions: Grand Architecture and High Society by Wayne Craven
Harbor Hill: Portrait of a House by Richard Wilson
The Etiquette of New York To-day by Ellin T. Craven Learned
American Country Houses of To-day by Samuel Howe
American country homes and their gardens by John Cordis Baker
One Hundred Country Houses: Modern American Examples by Aymar Embury
Society in the country house by T. H. S. Escott,
Vintage Designs (interiors of many Gilded Age mansions and houses)

January 1 marked the 208th anniversary of the formal opening of the White House, at Washington, as the official home of the President of the United States. Having taken possession of the newly-built “President’s House” in November of 1800, President John Adams threw an official “housewarming” party for this now most historic and most important dwelling in America. The cornerstone of the President’s House was laid October 13, 1792, and the work was carried on as rapidly as the meager appropriations of Congress could allow. In every decade, and with the incoming of each new President, more and more money was appropriated to run the White House until in 1909, the budget for the White House expenses amounted to an average of $1000 a week (apprx $23,000 in 2008 money).

The source of continual expense was due to mansion being constructed of Virginia freestone, which was exceedingly porous, which needed a thick coat of white lead every ten years to keep the dampness from penetrating to the interior. Because of the cramped space and need for constant maintenance, many historians, and certainly former tenants of the White House, stated that it was not until President Roosevelt remodeled the building that it was made entirely sanitary and healthful.

When he came to office in 1902, President Roosevelt rebuilt the White House practically from scratch, architects considering it “necessary to reconstruct the interior of the White House from basement to attic, in order to secure comfort, safety, and necessary sanitary conditions.” The restoration conformed to the original design, though two wings were added, one being used as the Temporary Executive Offices, and the other for use on social occasions. These changes and improvements were made at a cost of over $600,000 ($12,000,000 in 2008 dollars).

The first tenants of the White House, President and Mrs John Adams immediately required $15,000 ($180,000) to provide furniture, and the first appropriation for repairs was of the same amount but seven years later! Thomas Jefferson had his office outside the White House on the site occupied by the resent Executive offices, and in 1818, Congress appropriated $8,137 ($11,000) for enlarging the offices west of the Presidents House. The South portico was finished subsequent to 1823, at a cost of $19,000 ($325,000); the East Room was finished and furnished for $25,000 ($480,000) in 1826; and three years later, the North Portico was added, in accordance with the original plan, at an expense of $24,769.25. The White House was first lit by gas in 1848, and a system of heating and ventilating was installed in 1853. Four years later the stables and conservatory east of the White House were removed to make room for the extension of the Treasury Building.

How the White House received its name is a source of debate. One source states that Washington so named it in honor of the name born by the home of Martha Washington, while others have it that Martha never lived in a building named the White House, but the name belonged to the home where she and George became engaged. A third source states the house was originally called “The Palace,” but a strong “anti-monarchical sentiment” frowned on this and Congress formally declared it “The Executive Mansion,” and by that name and “The President’s House,” it was known until it was burned by the British in 1814. Then, when its blackened freestone walls were repainted white to hide the traces of the fire, it was rechristened “The White House”.

Though President Washington died before the White House was completed, he left his stamp indelibly upon it. He named the place where the capitol of the United States was to be “District of Columbia” and then a competition was opened to all architects to design the Executive Mansion. The winner was James Hoban, who received $500 ($6000) at first prize, for a design he based on the newly-built mansion of the Duke of Leinster in Dublin, Ireland (Hoban’s native city). When the Adams’ took residence in the mansion, they were less than impressed. The driver, who transported them and their effects from Baltimore, had lost his way, and when they finally arrived in Washington, it was night and the servants could hardly find lights to make the rooms distinguishable. Mrs Adams found them “exceedingly barn-like” in their unfinished and unfurnished state, and they were uncomfortable and cold. By New Year’s of 1801, the downstairs rooms were still unfurnished and unfinished, and Mrs Adams used the East Room in which to dry the household linen and the State parlors were so in name only.

When the mansion was rebuilt in 1814, Hoban was hired for $1600 ($16,000) a year, and Congress voted the sum of $500,000 ($5M) for rebuilding and repairing the public buildings burnt in the fire, with the larger part of the money spent on the Executive Mansion. The first President to live in the rebuilt mansion was James Monroe, who opened his official residence in January 1, 1818. Between then and 1902, the White House was remodeled and repainted and refurnished according to the current Presidents’ tastes and that of his wife’s. When President Roosevelt appropriated some $600,000 ($12M) from Congress, the legendary architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White were placed in charge of the work, with directions to complete the work in four months. They did this ably, and the first official function in the restored White House occurred on December 18, and at the New Year’s reception, Jan 1, 1903, when the new White House was reopened to the public.

In their report, McKim, Mead and White gave the following facts:

“The entire lower floor was used for house service. The principal rooms at the southeast corner were occupied by the laundry; the central rooms on either side of the main corridor were used for heating and mechanical plants; the kitchens occupied the northwest corner; and much of the remainder of this floor was occupied by storerooms and servants’ bedrooms.

Of the floors of the first story, those under the main hall, the private dining room, and pantry, were found to be in good condition. The floor of the State dining-room, while not showing settlement, was so insufficiently supported as to cause the dishes on the sideboards to rattle when the waiters were serving, and the plastering below was badly cracked from excessive vibration. In many places where the plaster was removed, evidence of the fire of 1814 were visible. Also cut into the stonework were found many names, evidently of workmen employed on the construction.

There was scarcely a room in the house in which the plaster was in good condition. In a number of instances as many as five layers of paper were found, and when the paper was removed, the plaster came also. The second floor showed such a degree of settlement as to make an entirely new floor necessary.

The attic, occupied by servants, was reached only by the elevator. The roof drainage had been carried through the roof, and thence on top of the attic floor to central points, descending to the ground through the house itself. The electric wiring was not only old, defective and obsolete, but actually dangerous, as in many places beams and studding were found charred for a considerable distance about the wires where the insulation had completely worn off.

In short, it was necessary to reconstruct the interior of the White House from basement to attic, in order to secure comfort, safety and necessary sanitary conditions. “

When they completed their renovation, the conservatory on the west side was replaced with an esplanade leading to the new Executive Office, and the public entrance was now through a colonnade on the east. This led to the basement corridor, on which walls were hung with portraits of the mistresses of the White House. Broad stairways led to the main corridor, from which access is had to the East Room, and the Blue, Green and Red rooms, which took their name from the color of the decorations and furnishings.

	The East Room, or State parlor, was used for receptions, and was 40ft wide and 82 ft in length, with a ceiling 22ft high from which dripped three massive crystal chandeliers. The walls were paneled throughout with wood, save for a base of red Numidian marble, the panels being enclosed between pilasters supporting a finely modeled cornice. The decorations of walls and ceiling were white and gold, with moldings and tablet ornamentation in relief, and window draperies of old gold.
	The Blue Room, oval in shape, is the President’s reception room. The walls were covered with rich blue corded silk, and the window hangings were blue with golden stars in the upper folds. On the mantle stood the clock of gold presented by Napoleon I to Lafayette, and by him to Washington.
	The Green Room, had on the wall green velvet with white enamel wainscoting. In front of the white marble mantel was a screen of old Gobelin tapestry which was presented to Mrs Grant by the Emperor of Austria. A lacquer cabinet was presented to America by Japan in 1858 in honor of the first American ships to enter Japanese ports.
	The Red Room walls and window draperies were of red velvet, and a cabinet of mahogany and gold contained seven exquisitely dressed Japanese dolls presented to Mrs Roosevelt by the Japanese Minister.
	At the opposite end of the corridor, at the west end of the building, the State Dining Room was paneled in dark English oak, and decorated with the heads of American big game. The white marble mantle was surmounted by an old Flemish tapestry, and the mahogany table seated 100 guests.
	The President’s Room and the Cabinet Room were in the Executive Office, west of the White House.

Upstairs, the old Cabinet Room, which was accessed through the stone stairway near the main entrance of the East Room, was used by President Roosevelt as his workroom. Completing the renovation, all offices on this same floor were transformed into bedrooms for the family, creating a White House which finally served its purpose: a private residence for the President and his family, and a State residence for formal events.

Resources used: Inside History of the White House by Gilson Willets; The Standard Guide of Washingon, 1905 edition; American Estates and Gardens by Barr Ferree. Current money calculations provided by The Inflation Calculator.

For more information:
TR Renovation – White House Museum
The Changing White House – PBS

As “First Family,” the President, his wife and children, and any other dependents, had their needs and cares were catered to by a bevy of secretaries, secret service agents, and most important of all, domestic servants!

According to Helen Taft, “the management of the White House is a larger task than many women are ever called upon to perform.” During the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, the White House staff consisted of more than forty men and women, including the clerical force in the executive office, Mrs. Roosevelt’s social secretary and three maids, the steward, two butlers, the President’s family cook, the house cook and assistant, one pantry man, four cleaners, the gardener and his assistants, laundresses, firemen, watchmen, janitors, plumbers and electricians. All of these positions were paid for by the Government, with the exception of the family cook and the white maids–as most of the domestic staff (for most D.C. and Southern households) at this time were black. White House standbys included the Paymaster, the Doorkeepers, the Assistant Secretary, and the Telegrapher and “Chief Intelligence Officer.”

The most important position was the White House Steward. A virtual autocrat of the official table and cuisine at the President’s house, almost every question governing the State dinners was within their control. Receiving an annual salary of $1800, the steward supervised and accounted for every detail of the household; no piece of broken glass or china could be destroyed except upon the order of the Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds. Even the First Lady had little say in the culinary department of household affairs–though Mrs Taft promptly hired a housekeeper in lieu of a steward from the beginning of her husband’s presidency most likely in response to this lack of control.

For protection, the First Family was guarded by the Secret Service, and in addition, the White House itself had its guards in the form of policemen from the regular Washington Police Force. The actual number of Secret Service guards in attendance upon the President was never made public, but it was certain that at all receptions, a number of such guards were on duty within the house, while several more were stationed outside. The President never stepped outside the White House, never traveled even the shortest distance, without being followed by one or more Secret Service officers.

During dinners and other receptions hosted by the President, secret service men and police officers dotted the White House. When entering the White House, every person was closely scrutinized, particularly since Congressmen were in the habit of giving cards of admission to anyone who asked for the favor. The most important rule was to keep one’s hands in plain sight. It was the most rigid rule of the White House, and if a person happened to rest a hand in their pocket, or under their coat-tails, a low whisper immediately told them to take it out. Also in attendance upon the President, at all receptions and on all State occasions, were military and naval aids. Their duties were purely social, yet prestigious.

Despite the tumult of incoming and outgoing Presidents of different political persuasions, the cogs that kept the White House running always ran smoothly. Many White House staffers ended up working in there for many, many years, and cherished their time spent in the President’s House.

For more information:
Workers in the White House

Without fail, after the sunshine and bustle of summer months spent in exclusive summer resorts dotting the New England coast, New York Society repaired to their country homes in Connecticut or more likely, the Berkshires, in autumn. Following this social calendar also, was the future chronicler of this tight-knit, wealthy circle, Edith Wharton. It is here Wharton built what she considered her “first real home.”

The Mount was to be a writer’s retreat and also a place for entertaining distinguished guests like Henry James, the Vanderbilts or her neighbors at Ventfort Hall, the George Morgans. Inspired by the 17th century seat of Lord Brownlow, Belton House, and classical Italian and French architecture, she used the principles detailed in her first book, The Decoration of Houses (1897), when she designed the house. Accordingly, she stressed that “good architectural expression included order, scale, and harmony.” On a plot of 113 acres, the house overlooked Laurel Lake, with spectacular views to the Berkshire Hills and beyond, its striking white stucco exterior set off by black shutters and rose from a foundation of coarse field stone. Three stories at its entry elevation, this main house is augmented by Georgian Revival gatehouse and stable, and a greenhouse, while the garden side was of two stories, with an opening onto the large, raised stone terrace overlooking the grounds.

A visitor to the house would enter from a courtyard, then ascend a flight of steps to the main floor where the principle spaces–library, drawing room, dining room and sitting room–would open onto a terrace which offered that spectacular view of the lake and the hills. From this terrace, a Palladian staircase led to a “lime walk” of linden trees, which connected the two formal gardens on the estate.

The gardens were Wharton’s own labor of love, expressing the ideas of her 1904 release, Italian Villas and Their Gardens, envisioning her gardens as an elegant series of outdoor rooms. Designed and constructed between 1901 and 1907, they are the only surviving landscape elements she designed in the United States. After the “lime walk,” one was a walled Italian garden with walkways and a lion’s head fountain, given minimal plantings, so that it had “a charm independent of the seasons.”

Contrasting this was the flower garden filled to the brim with petunias, phlox, snapdragons, stocks, penstemons and hollyhocks, and featured a dolphin fountain and a latticework niche. To complete the landscaping was a rock garden, for which Wharton searched out native varieties of sweet ferns. To form a gradual transition from the formal plantings to the landscape beyond, clipped hedges and trees followed Wharton’s principle that “each step away from architecture was a nearer approach to nature.”

It was here Edith Wharton wrote several of her novels, including The House of Mirth, the first of many chronicles of the true nature of old New York, and entertained the cream of American literary society, including her close friend, the novelist Henry James. But this haven failed to completely soothe Wharton’s restless spirit; acerbated by Teddy Wharton’s alcoholism and general dissipation, she sought refuge in Europe and by 1910, the Wharton’s had separated. After selling The Mount in 1911, they finally divorced in 1913 and Wharton remained primarily in Europe, where she continued to write, publishing such masterpieces as her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Age of Innocence and her final, incomplete manuscript, The Buccaneers, before passing away in 1937.

In the meantime, The Mount was passed from owner to owner, first a private residence, then a girls’ dormitory for the Foxhollow School, and the site of the theatre company Shakespeare & Company. It was finally purchased by Edith Wharton Restoration, which has restored much of the property to its original condition. Currently open from May to October for visitors and tours, The Mount unfortunately faces foreclosure after 106 years of existence. Despite this hovering dark cloud, the estate nonetheless retains the elegant, precise charm of Wharton’s imagination.

Further Reading:
The Mount: Edith Wharton’s Estate and Gardens
The Mount: Edith Wharton and the American Resistance
The Victory Garden: The Mount; Edith Wharton’s House & Gardens