<P> When Chester Arthur took office in 1881, he ordered renovations to the White House to take place as soon as the recently widowed Lucretia Garfield moved out . Arthur inspected the work almost nightly and made several suggestions . Louis Comfort Tiffany was asked to send selected designers to assist . Over twenty wagonloads of furniture and household items were removed from the building and sold at a public auction . All that was saved were bust portraits of John Adams and Martin Van Buren . A proposal was made to build a new residence south of the White House, but it failed to gain support . </P> <P> In the fall of 1882 work was done on the main corridor, including tinting the walls pale olive and adding squares of gold leaf, and decorating the ceiling in gold and silver, and colorful traceries woven to spell "USA". The Red Room was painted a dull Pomeranian red, and its ceiling was decorated with gold, silver, and copper stars and stripes of red, white, and blue . A fifty - foot jeweled Tiffany glass screen, supported by imitation marble columns, replaced the glass doors that separated the main corridor from the north vestibule . </P> <P> In 1891, First Lady Caroline Harrison proposed major extensions to the White House, including a National Wing on the east for a historical art gallery, and a wing on the west for official functions . A plan was devised by Colonel Theodore A. Bingham, which reflected the Harrison proposal . These plans were ultimately rejected . </P> <P> However, in 1902 Theodore Roosevelt hired McKim, Mead & White to carry out expansions and renovations in a neoclassical style suited to the building's architecture, removing the Tiffany screen and all Victorian additions . Charles McKim himself designed and managed the project, which gave more living space to the President's large family by removing a staircase in the West Hall and moving executive office staff from the second floor of the residence into the new West Wing . </P>

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