President Trumans $54m White House renovation

[Hilander]

President Truman commissioned the complete rebuilding of the White House after nearly falling through the floor while having bath as hundreds of dignitaries attended a ball below him.
Members of Daughters of The American Revolutionaries partying in their finery would have been showered with water and plaster had Truman crashed through - wearing nothing but his reading glasses.
Truman’s energetic bathing caused the largest chandelier in the Blue Room, which was bigger than a fridge and weighed 1,200lbs, to shake violently and nearly come down as well.


Fascinating pictures of when the White House was reconstructed entirely from the inside out after Harry Truman nearly fell through the ceiling of the Blue Room | Mail Online

I honestly never realized how bad of shape the White House was allowed to get. Mrs Truman said she was depressed when she saw it. When one of their daughters was playing the piano they felt the floor move and one of the legs of the piano broke through the floor. Sounds like it was a death trap and I would of been afraid to live there.

 

[idisrsly]

That's an interesting story and shocking to learn thr upkeep of that residence was so poor before this. But I am stuck on the thought of just how energetic his bathing routine had to be to make a 1,200 lbs chandelier fall down? Now there's a story!

 

[Hilander]

I thought it was horrible they would let it get in this bad of condition. I got to thinking about it though and we just came out of WWII, the depression before that and even WWI. I guess the upkeep of the White House got put on the back burner for more pressing problems.