Restored spaces in the Treasury Building include the suite of offices used by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase during the Civil War. Chase was Lincoln's first Treasury Secretary, serving from 1861 to 1864.
Chase had a private office and an adjoining reception room. His diary entries tell us Abraham Lincoln came to the office regularly, where they conferred about the nation's financial matters.
With information discovered by paint analysis, the decorative painting on the ceiling and walls has been faithfully replicated.
There are no surviving invoices or historic images available of the rooms as they looked during the 1860s, but the furnishings, carpet and window treatments are "period-appropriate" for the era.
The sofas and the bookcase in the reception room are part of the historic Treasury furniture collection. A number of objects were acquired for the restoration, including the side chairs originally owned by Jay Cooke, a financier and frequent visitor to these rooms during the Civil War.
The most challenging aspect of the restoration was the ceiling in Chase's private office. Sadly, the murals and decorative painting had been painted over. Ninety years of paint have been meticulously stripped away to reveal the original decoration from the 1860s. The two allegorical murals - "Treasury" and "Justice" are the focal points of this ceiling.
The overmantel mirror is the Treasury collection's most elaborate. It features an eagle and other symbols appropriate for an important 19th century government office.