Life in the Headquarters Building
After Elder Whitney introduced Ellen White to the publishing house workers, they stepped into the hydraulic lift and ascended to the third floor, where she was temporarily made at home in the Whitneys’ apartment. The entire third floor of the building was devoted to family apartments, as was part of the second floor.EGWE 51.5
The fact that all the workers lived, as well as worked, in the same big publishing building no doubt contributed to some of the internal troubles experienced at headquarters, and certainly must have aggravated the problem faced by the management in seeking to maintain proper decorum between young ladies and young men in the establishment.EGWE 51.6
It is not known exactly in which apartment Ellen White and the W. C. White family finally settled, but it was on the third floor and doubtless on the front (south side) of the building. From their windows they could look out on a large government park or parade ground where school children played and soldiers drilled.EGWE 52.1
The building itself, built of stone, was 46 feet by 76 feet. In the subbasement were the furnace and two gas engines to produce power for the presses above. The next level, the basement or ground floor, was only partially below ground level, allowing light to enter through the windows. Here was located the pressroom and bindery, storage room for paper, stereotype foundry, and one room divided into small cellars for the individual families that lived in the building. The right, or east, half of the first floor was occupied by the meeting hall that would seat 300; the other half contained the business office and the folding and mailing rooms.EGWE 52.2
The second floor housed the composing room, and areas for the editors, translators, and proofreaders. The front and a portion of the east side of this floor was reserved for family apartments.EGWE 52.3
As mentioned, the third floor was entirely reserved for apartments. Above this was the attic room that was lighted by the center “observatory” and was used for storage.EGWE 52.4
On Friday night Ellen White addressed about fifty in the meeting hall on the first floor. Her address was interpreted into both French and German. Of this she commented: “This way of speaking was rather embarrassing at first; but this soon wore away, and to me it has proved far less taxing than I anticipated.”—Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 183.EGWE 52.5