In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt engaged the architectural firm of McKim, Meade & White to renovate and expand the White House. Their intention was three-fold: To modernize the White House, to establish a decorating motif that would never have to be altered, and to recreate the White House's early American interiors. Although this last guideline was followed in most rooms, it was not in the East Room. McKim, Meade & White drew their inspiration for the East Room from British and French manor house interiors of the 1790s. Nonetheless, the Colonial Revival style was more of an idealized than historically accurate aesthetic, and McKim, Mead & White's interiors reflected a tendency toward light-filled spaces and away from patterns and "busy" or cluttered spaces.