#1 observatory circle windows#
“Literally, that next day the Secret Service was busy putting in reinforced concrete on the driveway for the armored limousine to park there, all of his normal windows were replaced with bulletproof windows, and once again, the Secret Service moved in and took over his entire garage,” Denyer said. Hubert Humphrey resided in Chevy Chase, Maryland, during his vice presidency, and Gerald Ford remained in his Alexandria, Virginia, home after being sworn in as Richard Nixon’s vice president. Similarly, Vice President Spiro Agnew lived in Woodley Park’s Wardman Tower. Vice President Harry Truman lived in a small apartment at 4701 Connecticut Ave.
Helen Frankenthaler has been our honored guest, as have Nancy Lorenz, whose painting hangs in the entrance hall, and Elaine Kurtz, who took a painting I admired off the wall of her New York loft so that we could hang it in the dining room. We've had several dinners to celebrate the art in the residence. But when it arrived, it fit, and we love it. I was delighted when they agreed to lend it and immediately started worrying that it would, despite all our careful measurements, be too large for the wall over the sofa. One work stood out: Lush Spring, an eight-by-nine-foot painting owned by the Phoenix Art Museum. When I told her I wanted to hang one of her paintings in the house, she sent a stack of exhibition catalogues. My first phone call was to Helen Frankenthaler, whom I know through mutual friends. One of the great pleasures of living in the vice president's house is being able to borrow art to display in it. The drapery fabric guided the rest of our choices, all of which are either variations on a lovely celadon or colors compatible with it. One guest, examining the striped silk taffeta draperies in the living room and the dining room, observed that if she had to play Scarlett O'Hara, these were the drapes she would want to make a dress from. The fabrics Frank gathered for us to choose from were wonderful. The William Morris-style wallpaper in the library is something I would never have thought of, but when Frank brought over a large sample, it was an obvious choice. Using privately donated funds, we started wallpapering, carpeting and re-covering. I am particularly fond of the silvery color Frank chose for the sunroom floor. The navy officer supervising these projects thoughtfully consulted with Frank and me about materials and finishes. For safety reasons, the navy also replaced the fireboxes in the residence's seven fireplaces, and that made new fire surrounds necessary.
The old floors had been refinished so many times that nails were sticking up. The naval personnel in charge of the residence asked my husband and me to delay moving into the house for six weeks after the inaugural so that new wood floors could be put in on the first and second floors.
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