Roosevelt at first envisioned it as where he would live after his presidency, and bought the hillside parcel in 1937, after his re-election. By that point in his life, he needed to use a wheelchair for much of the time due to his paralytic illness and could only walk short distances with great difficulty and assistance, a fact he and others concealed from the public. He designed the cottage to accommodate the wheelchair, with one flat floor and everything he could want or need located within easy reach of someone in a sitting position. Top Cottage is the only presidential residence, other than Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and Poplar Forest, designed by a president. It is also the first significant accessible building designed by a disabled person.