front a
pediment springs from the cornice over a slightly projecting central
section of the facade, while a three-sided bay breaks the rear wall and
enlarges the building. The stoop and doorway are of simple dignity, the
double doors having the appearance of being four separate, very narrow
four-panel doors, and the graceful fanlight above being in accord with
the round-headed windows of the lower story. These windows are set
effectively in brick arches with marble sills, keystones and imposts. On
the upper story the windows are twenty-four-paned and square-headed
with gauged brick arches and marble keystones. Under the central front
window over the entrance there is a handsome wrought-iron fire balcony.
The best exterior feature of the building is the beautifully hand-tooled
cornice with its coved member having a series of recessed arches and the
well-known Grecian band or double denticulated molding beneath. At the
second-floor level a white marble belt accords well with the general
scheme.

No less interesting than the outward appearance of the entrance is its
inward aspect, with its deeply paneled embrasures and soffit, its quaint
strap hinges and rim lock. The arrangement of the double staircases with
a halfway landing in this lofty, airy stair hall compels admiration for
effective simplicity. The stair ends are unadorned, but the spaces under
the lower run of both flights are nicely paneled up. The balusters are
of good, though familiar pattern, and the lines of the dark ramped rail
gracefully drawn.

Interest centers in the Senate chamber with its barrel ceiling and
panel-fronted galleries along both sides supported by slender round
columns. Here momentous business was transacted during the early years
of the American nation, and many relics of those troublous times are
here preserved. In the bay at the rear end the President's dais has
been restored from remains found beneath an old platform. It is of
graceful design with free-flowing curves and an elliptical swell front
where the balustrade has a solid three-panel insert. The turned
balusters are of slender grace, while the paneled pilasters or newels at
the ends and corners are adorned with straight hanging garlands in
applied work. There is also a festooned border in applied work above the
opening into the bay that is carried about the room above the galleries.
The central decoration of the ceiling and the eagle over the President's
dais furnish excellent e