Next door to the White House, at the corner of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, is the Old Executive Office Building, a massive granite structure built between 1871 and 1888 that is considered the finest surviving example of Second Empire architecture in the United States. At the time, it was the largest office building in Washington, with more than 550 rooms and almost two miles of corridors. The architect was Alfred B. Mullet, and the interior designer Richard von Ezdorf.

Cast iron details throughout the building were designed to serve as decoration as well as fireproofing. The mansard roof and the pavilions that mark the corners and flank the main door are characteristic of the style, which can also be seen in the Renwick Gallery across the street. First built to house the Departments of State, War, and Navy during the era of expanded government that followed the Civil War, the building now accommodates important agencies of the Executive Office of the President, included the Office of the Vice President, the Office of Management and Budget, and the National Security Council.

Scheduled for demolition in the late 1950s, the building was saved during the Kennedy administration. In the 1980s a full-scale renovation was begun, and today the building's magnificent interior spaces- among them the Indian Treaty Room, the White House Library and Research Center, and the original Office of the Secretary of the Navy- have been restored to their former glory.

The Maiman Advantage gives you the opportunity to reproduce classic doors for restoration or renovation purposes and still meet modern code requirements. For example, the door at the left was installed in the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., in about 1888.
The door on the right is a 60-minute fire-rated classic stile and rail wood door from The Maiman Company that was installed in the building in 1997 as a replacement. If we can do this, just think what we can do for your restoration project.