Visitors to the Eisenhower home are struck by its relative modesty. Decorated by Mamie with assistance from interior designer, Elisabeth Draper, the house is an eclectic arrangement of middle class 1950s appliances and bric-a-brac, expensive state gifts, modest furnishings dating from the early years of their marriage, and Doud family heirlooms.
Items found throughout the house relect both Ike and Mamie’s down-to-earth nature and public stature. A pack of the First Lady’s unfiltered Philip Morris cigarettes remain in a cigarette box on a porch end table near the ‘50s camel saddle footstool. In the living room, a 1955 Norelco hi-fi is backed against the wall behind a mother-of-pearl inlayed coffee table, a gift from the First Lady of South Korea. Mamie’s make-up is still strewn across the table in the dressing room, her cereal boxes and Hawaiian Punch still stored in the kitchen cabinets. Flashlights in the guest rooms (in case the power went out) and fly swatters on the sun porch (distributed by Mamie whenever friends or family gathered) reflect the Eisenhowers’ down-on-the-farm hospitality. |
