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Simonson
411 East 50
New York City

Oct. 10 -- 1938

My dear Mr. Roosevelt,

The ways of architects are a mystery to me, -- I am surprised that you let yours do you out of fireplaces in your bedrooms! There is nothing more delightful -- more restful to jangled nerves and I'm sure yours are jangled lots of times.

Beside that you forgot a closet in the large bedroom and he didn't see fit to give it to you! Undoubtedly the two rooms in the south wing of your cottage are intended for 2 bedrooms -- not a dressing room and bedroom -- in which case I'm sure you would have used the hall space in the dressing room and not bothered with making both rooms independently using the bath. Keep your fireplaces, by all means. -- -?- make them lovely wood paneled ones flush with the wall with wood closets tucked in and use the rest of the space to the outside wall as the closet, which should give you over 4 ft. of hanging rods space. The small amount of room taken off each room for this cannot possibly be worth giving up a grand closet and jolly fireplaces. Make him do it.

We should do something about making architects have trained women to O.K. their plans for houses and community building. -- But there are so many things to straighten up!

Cordially yours,
Carolyn Hancock Simonson

Come to think of it you have got Katherine Bauer on housing and Alice Barron who is grand in Dept. of Ed. -- go ahead

October 12, 1938.

My dear Mrs. Simonson:-

The President asks me to thank you for your letter. It was not the architect's fault that the fireplaces were left out in the bedrooms. This was done deliberately by the President to save money and because he does not expect to spend the winter in this house. Furthermore, the omission of the closet in the bedroom was not the fault of the architect. The President prefers wardrobes to built-in closets.

Very sincerely yours,

M.A. LeHand
PRIVATE SECRETARY

Mrs. Carolyn Hancock Simonson,
411 East 50th Street,
New York, N. Y.