Floor Plan of the FDR Suite With Conjectural Furniture Locations

Below are two views of the FDR Suite Floor plan, with a conjectural layout based on information gathered from the correspondence of FDR and Lathrop Brown. Furniture items indicated with an asterisk are known to have been in the suite; other pieces are conjectural. . The bedrooms as shown below are set with double beds to accommodate modern guests; the originals would have been singles, mostly likely with a traveling trunk at the foot of each. The furniture arrangement within the individual rooms is, at best, a best guess, based on generic dimensions of period furniture, and available space. (The piano for instance, only fits on one wall, given the door, radiator, and window placements in the sitting room.) The only element with sure positioning is the small table – number 4 below – which FDR notes to Sara that he had placed "between the windows."

 

 

 

Key:

1 Bookcase

2 Fireplace*

3 Desk/Chair*

4 Table*

5 Desk/Chair*

6 Radiator*

7 Piano*

8 Morris Chairs and Daybed*

9 Bedroom 1

10 Bathroom

11 Bedroom 2

12 Box Storage

13 Entrance Hall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3-D View

 

(Architecturally inclined viewers will immediately note that the furniture as shown above is modern in outline; unfortunately today's graphic programs don't come equipped with 3-D libraries of Victorian pieces, so the shapes seen above are only approximate stand-ins for their 19th century counterparts.)