The President’s House by George Munger, 1814-15
VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
On 1st November 1800, John Adams, the second President of the United States, took up residence in the still unfinished White House. Although his salary was $25,000 a year, all state entertainments and the like were the president’s financial responsibility, as were the servants and administrative staff. Many early presidents left office out of pocket. His wife Abigail wrote:
“The house is upon a grand and superb scale, requiring about 30 servants to attend and keep the apartments in proper order and perform the ordinary business of the house and stables; an establishment very well proportioned to the president’s salary. The lighting from the kitchen to parlors and chambers, is a tax indeed; and the fires we are obliged to keep to secure us from daily agues is another very cheering comfort. To assist us in this great castle, and render less attendance necessary, bells are wholly wanting, not one single one being hung through the whole house. This is so great an inconvenience that I know not what to do… The house is made habitable, but there is not a single apartment finished, and all withinside, except the plastering, has been done since our servant Briesler came…”