The White House: An Illustrated Architectural History by Patrick Phillips-Schrock, McFarland & Co., 2013.

1809, during Madison's tenure: "As magnificent as the setting of the new Oval Room may have been, it was far from perfect. The dimly lit room smelled of the burning oil from the encircling lamps. Residue from the lamps dripped on the furniture and carpet. The chairs themselves proved lovely but not very sturdy, their saber-like legs snapping under the weight of gentlemen who committed the faux pas of leaning back on the rear legs. Three chairs were reported broken in the first year." (p. 100)

Luscious detail like this makes me glad I read this book. I bet that most people don't know that Andrew Jackson had a softer side. Ol' Hickory apparently had a green thumb as well as a well-used set of duelling pistols. He "beautified the grounds and created an orangery or hothouse from the shell of the old Treasury Fireproof..." (p. 46).

This is a challenging read because it involves the thoughtful appreciation of what looks like hundreds of block, elevation or floor plans. Yet, there's a good reason for them. The plans are the purest form of architectural language. Although these could have been supplemented with more detail about the nitty-gritty: which materials were used and how builders did their work...that would have resulted in a different book. The virtue here (and it comes with some problems which I will address later) is that the book is an archaeological study of the building known as the President's House, the Executive Mansion, and, finally, the White House.

"The White House" is politically and symbolically potent, but here the building is the star of the show. Today it stands complete and implacable, and has never looked plainer. Most of the interesting stylistic changes over the last 50 years or so have taken place inside due to technological advancements as well as a fortress-like strengthening which occurred after 2001. These forces have kept the public eye somewhat at bay. But beneath this stately exterior lies a story of tumultuous change.

Reading this book is like walking into a forest that grows more interesting and complicated the further we travel. Tassels and taffeta crowd the path, and at times the Whitehousiana threatens to take over completely, leaving only a bewildering pile of details. This was never truer than in the late 19th century: "As the 19th century progressed, the Executive Mansion gradually accumulated all the fashions and foibles of the era" (p. 49), including over-stuffed furniture.

Fortunately the author is a sure-footed guide to a plethora of styles, many nationalistic in origin and many changing their names, if not their stripes, over time. I learned here the origin and correct use of decorative terms I knew, or thought I knew. It's helpful to know, for example, that around 1900, neo-classical ornament and detail was often termed "colonial." Beaux Arts, in which highly polished styles are mixed and matched, might be criticized these days as style run amuck, but the author explains that this hybrid style was often justified in grand homes because it avoided monotony. The author excels at untangling the nature of high-powered building programs that grow'd, not like Topsy, but more like Humpty Dumpty. White House rooms were conceived, hatched, dropped, smashed, and put back together different ways for different reasons in different eras.

The main text is concise — no easy task when describing a 222-year-old superstar of a building. The pace of change in furnishing was breakneck in the aggregate, but the author selects salient themes for each era (eleven in all) and presents them in well-argued essays. The essays, for my taste, could have been expanded by incorporating fresh material from the twelve appendices. As it stands, quite a bit of the back matter is repetitive.

Graphics are well matched to the text and are not mind-numbingly cross-referenced from text to image, as in so many other books. This author presents the visual information near the textural information and trusts the reader will find their way. I found it best to read each chapter essay through before returning to read the captioned photos and drawings. The chapter graphics are supplemented with an excellent color section. What makes this book special are the painstaking graphical renderings of obscure architectural and decorative detail, the fruit of original research into presidential archives.

The book shows the house's connection to grand European roots, but shows just as clearly the American reference for plain rather than pomp. Pomp there was, especially during the Pierce administration (1853-1857), a phase the author dislikes. But then, pomp was everywhere in the 1850s. Pomp could be carried too far, as we learn in abundant detail when the interiors were "Congerized" during the Nixon years. It might be thought hyperbole to suggest that Clement Conger's tenure as curator (1970-1990) was a reign of terror, but I suspect that the author would agree. He goes as far as attributing a "major crime in decorating history" to Conger and his designer agents Edward Vason Jones and David Byer III for their revision of the Kennedy-era Treaty Room. Fortunately for the criminal justice system, which is already overloaded, decorative laws are not yet on the books.

It's fascinating to learn about the vanished parts of the White House: the conservatory complex, overgrown to jungle-like proportions to the west, swept away by McKim in 1902; Jefferson's icehouse; Taft's timber-framed sleeping porch atop the South Colonnade. We need not bring them back, but it's good to know that they had a life.

I found the penultimate chapter, which is devoted to observations and suggestions, confusing. Surely the author has, after such a magnificent display of scholarship, earned a right to express his opinion. And yet there are problems. It is the author's firm opinion that "the White House should reflect its own history not the composite decorative arts of American history..." He then immediately states that "the public should be grateful for many of the acquisitions in the 20th century, because the actual pieces that existed in the historic White House rooms were often inferior in quality to what is there presently." Do not these opposing views create an unsolvable thesis?

The last chapter is about the eighteen redecorations of the Blue Room. This chapter is a tour de force requiring 53 footnotes, far and away the most of any previous chapter. Coincidentally, there were roughly 53 items in the legendary furniture suite for Monroe's Blue Room crafted by the gifted but headstrong cabinet maker Bellangé. It's likely that the author was capable of giving every room this treatment. Yet it's hard to argue with his claim that the Blue Room is where personalities, international attention, display, symbolism, and national pride all come together. Charles Alexandre, French immigrant, upholster and paperhanger who worked at the White House for many administrations, has an interesting story. Trained in France, he later Americanized his name to Charles Alexander and advertised his services with a graphic of an American flag. He billed the house in March, 1837 for work done in the "Salon Bleu" — which it has remained ever since. It was probably Senator's Ogle's complaints, widely circulated, about the expensive decoration of the "Elliptical Blue Saloon" that fixed the "Blue" in the public mind.

Among the high points of the book: the heroic efforts of little-known architect Mullet who added a porch and balcony for the East front with great sensitivity (p. 51); this work had influence far beyond its short life; the Owen-Harrison plans of 1890 (p. 53) for a proposed "enlargement" of the house (the main block would have been dwarfed); the descriptions of well-hidden sitting rooms, balancing doors, jib doors, alcoves and baths in the private quarters (p. 72); the far-sighted efforts of Truman in insisting on his Balcony (p. 74); and most of all, the heroic efforts of Jacqueline Kennedy for her ressourcement in 1961, which established the importance of a historical understanding for decorating the house interiors. It's ironic that her chosen method of perpetuating a return to the sources, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, has been accused here of preserving instead the putative mistakes of the following Nixon administration, characterized as "...the abyss of bad taste and poor historical context..." and "...stuffy, over the top excess..." (p. 90).

Among the low points described are the failure of sound decorative vision during the Truman reconstruction (p. 72); the tawdry sale of an 1817 wood corner block on eBay (p. 76); and the burning of the White House on the night of August 24, 1814, still shocking after 200 years. ( )

This book really demonstrated how little I know about the White House's history. Patrick Phillips-Schrock has done a fabulous job of detailing every detail about the rooms and the changes made over the years. I would highly recommend this to anyone that is interested in the history of the White House. ( )

An intricate look at the construction, renovation, and decoration of the White House from 1792 to the present. I would give the book 4 stars for the illustrations; there's some very nice color plates showing the rooms and decorations and there's a plethora of architectural drawings of various phases, changes, and room detail. And I got bogged down in detail reading this book and was a little put off by the author inserting his opinion regarding the interior design of the past 40 years. For those reasons, it's a two star rating. What I found most interesting was that a contest was held for the original design of the White House; Thomas Jefferson entered two drawings and lost. I also liked some of the appendices, especially the one showing which Hollywood movies correctly portrayed the White House. ( )

I had no idea how much I didn't know about the White House until delving into "The White House: An Illustrated Architectural History" by Patrick Phillips-Schrock. After skimming much of the information on my first (and second) times through the book, I'll be spending more time on the details about who made what changes and when they happened. The floor plans showing furniture placement were of less interest to me than historical photos of how specific rooms looked at various times. The only thing that put me off just a little was how catty some of the narrative seemed to be. I certainly don't have anything against Phillips-Schrock having decorating preferences, but I thought a reference book should be more unbiased and circumspect than some of what I read here. This is a book where you'll probably find something new (to you) every time you look at it. Highly recommended. ( )

The White House: An Illustrated Architectural History is exactly what the title purports to be - a detailed examination of the architecture of the executive mansion through the years.

The books actually starts with the first buildings occupied by the first American presidents - most of which are lost to time. I actually enjoyed this part of the book the most. While I was aware that the government was not situated in Washington D.C. originally I had next to no knowledge about where the first president's lived.

The majority of the book focuses on The White House itself and the changes that were made over time. While I had heard of things like the White House pool and the bowling alley before, earlier additions such as an impressive greenhouse were new to me.

The book is well illustrated with architectural drawings and, later, photographs.

Overall, the book is well done and nicely illustrated. If there is a complaint it is that the subject is so tightly focused. This book will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about the structure (or more accurately, structures) occupied by our presidents but focusing on the history of the building takes much of the drama out of the story. A fine book but one that will serve as more of a reference tool. ( )