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January 20, 1948
Dear Mr. Brown:
I can't tell you how very much I appreciated your good letter
of January seventeenth,
I knew about the difficulty Andrew Jackson had with the
Pennsylvania Avenue front of The White House and they had
almost exactly the same trouble when they put the new columns
on the south porch, The old columns were very narrow and
did not in anyway go with The White House as a whole.
For the last few years they have had awnings on the south porch
which covered up the windows and put the beautiful columns out
of proportion. The awnings were also exceedingly dirty and were
impossible to keep clean. Every year we had to buy a new set
of awnings at Seven Hundred and Eighty Dollars and all together
it took about Two Thousand Dollars a year to keep them up.
In my walks in the morning when I'd approach The White House
from the south the dirty awnings obstructed the view of those
beautiful columas on the south porch and I tried to think out a
remedy for the situation. I called in the Fine Arts Commission
and they informed me that if an outstanding architect made a
suggestion for the remedy they would approve it. I talked to
Mr. Delano, who had been a member of the Fine Arts Commission,
and he immediately fell in with the suggestion which I made for a
portico, as all these old southern mansions have in cases of this
sort, so arranged that the awnings would be out of sight when not
in use. When the job is finished everybody will like it.
The Chairman of the Fine Arts Commission told me that the
Commission would be glad to go along with the architect's
decision. When Mr. Delano approved my suggestion, the Chairman
of the Commission then wrote me Commission had never
thought he would.
that TRONAH the of
RECORDS SERVICE"
to
CONTING
to
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"ocrText": "January 20, 1948\nDear Mr. Brown:\nI can't tell you how very much I appreciated your good letter\nof January seventeenth,\nI knew about the difficulty Andrew Jackson had with the\nPennsylvania Avenue front of The White House and they had\nalmost exactly the same trouble when they put the new columns\non the south porch, The old columns were very narrow and\ndid not in anyway go with The White House as a whole.\nFor the last few years they have had awnings on the south porch\nwhich covered up the windows and put the beautiful columns out\nof proportion. The awnings were also exceedingly dirty and were\nimpossible to keep clean. Every year we had to buy a new set\nof awnings at Seven Hundred and Eighty Dollars and all together\nit took about Two Thousand Dollars a year to keep them up.\nIn my walks in the morning when I'd approach The White House\nfrom the south the dirty awnings obstructed the view of those\nbeautiful columas on the south porch and I tried to think out a\nremedy for the situation. I called in the Fine Arts Commission\nand they informed me that if an outstanding architect made a\nsuggestion for the remedy they would approve it. I talked to\nMr. Delano, who had been a member of the Fine Arts Commission,\nand he immediately fell in with the suggestion which I made for a\nportico, as all these old southern mansions have in cases of this\nsort, so arranged that the awnings would be out of sight when not\nin use. When the job is finished everybody will like it.\nThe Chairman of the Fine Arts Commission told me that the\nCommission would be glad to go along with the architect's\ndecision. When Mr. Delano approved my suggestion, the Chairman\nof the Commission then wrote me Commission had never\nthought he would.\nthat TRONAH the of\nRECORDS SERVICE\"\nto\nCONTING\nto"
}