Grounds
The decoration and construction plans of the house were dictated by Mamie Eisenhower. At one point, Dwight Eisenhower told the contractor "For God's sakes, just give her what she wants and send me the bill". His main concern was personally mixing the paint to recolor the barn, which had a red coat he thought was hideous, so he painted it a light gray green. Mamie, meanwhile, was delighted in being able to use everything they always had in storage, and decorated more for sentimentality than for aesthetics.
Bulls were raised at the farm. Eisenhower would often poke the rump of a bull with his shotgun to show what quality of steak the bull would eventually produce, much to the fear of the Secret Service agents that were protecting him. Once, while barbecuing (something he loved to do on the farm), he made the mistake of announcing which cow he was cooking, as it was the favorite cow of his granddaughter Susan Eisenhower, and it brought her to tears.
A row of fifty Norway Spruce trees lines the main driveway leading to the farm. These trees represent the fifty U.S. states, and were given to Eisenhower as birthday presents from each of the state Republican Party chairmen in 1955. The furthest one from the house was the tree representing Texas, and it was seen as a mark of Eisenhower's recovery that he was able to make it that far after his heart attack.
The Eisenhowers (especially Dwight in the beginning) spent most of their time in a glass-covered porch overlooking Seminary Ridge. Reading and playing cards with friends were popular pastimes on the porch, it was said that he would set for hours reflecting on his life and legacy.
In his book The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, Bill Bryson said of the site that it was the most fun he could remember having in a Republican household, and described the decor of the house as "1960s Republican". Bryson did express dismay in discovering that the last book such an important man ever read was Zane Grey's West of the Pecos.
Read more about this topic: Eisenhower National Historic Site
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