Page:The Ladies of the White House.djvu/735

Rh to be the Executive Mansion as long as the country remains under its present form of government. Congress has heretofore made an appropriation after the election of each new President for repairing and refurnishing the mansion. After the close of the late civil war, it was in a sad condition, having been subjected to hard usage. It was renovated, and the first floor beautifully papered and refurnished under the auspices of Mrs. Patterson, the daughter of President Johnson.

The green-house was partly burned in the winter of 1868, but is now greatly enlarged, and adds much to the beauty of the fine old mansion.

From the library-window on the second floor the view of the Potomac is very extended and magnificent. On a clear day, the distant points of Fort Washington may be dimly defined, and the old city of Georgetown distinctly seen.

The White House was so called in honor of the Virginia home of Mrs. Washington, in which her wedding occurred. Washington had pleasant memories of that residence, and suggested the building of a white house for the Presidents. It cost originally three hundred thousand dollars, and was smaller at the time it was burned by the British than now. Its rebuilding, re furnishings from time to time, and the additions and alterations, have cost a trifle over one million seven hundred thousand dollars.