The Andrew Dickson White House, commonly referred to as the "A.D. White House," is a Second Empire house on the campus of Cornell University, designed by William Henry Miller and Charles Babcock. It currently houses the Cornell University Society for the Humanities.
The house was commissioned in 1871 by Andrew Dickson White, its namesake, and co-founder and first president of the university. The house is richly decorated with stone carvings according to White's tastes, intended to remind students of men's accomplishments and inspire them to higher purpose and an appreciation of beauty. White left the house to the university for the perpetual use of later presidents. Presidents still use the study on the southeast side of the building as a private office/retreat.
In 1953, the house was renovated for use as the University Art Museum, and its carriage house converted into what is now the Big Red Barn, a graduate student lounge. It served in this role until 1973, and was considered for demolition. Henry Guerlac, Director of the university's Society for the Humanities, led the cause to prevent its destruction and have it placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The house library is now called the Guerlac Room in his honor.
Famous quotes containing the words white house, white and/or house:
“On the whole, yes, I would rather be the Chief Justice of the United States, and a quieter life than that which becomes at the White House is more in keeping with the temperament, but when taken into consideration that I go into history as President, and my children and my children’s children are the better placed on account of that fact, I am inclined to think that to be President well compensates one for all the trials and criticisms he has to bear and undergo.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Verily, the Indian has but a feeble hold on his bow now; but the curiosity of the white man is insatiable, and from the first he has been eager to witness this forest accomplishment. That elastic piece of wood with its feathered dart, so sure to be unstrung by contact with civilization, will serve for the type, the coat-of-arms of the savage. Alas for the Hunter Race! the white man has driven off their game, and substituted a cent in its place.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There is nothing truly beautiful but that which can never be of any use whatsoever; everything useful is ugly, for it is the expression of some need, and man’s needs are ignoble and disgusting like his own poor and infirm nature. The most useful place in a house is the water-closet.”
—Théophile Gautier (1811–1872)