Camp Abraham

Long before there was a Marine One or an Air Force One to spirit the president away for a weekend round of golf or brush clearing, Abraham Lincoln found brief respite from the demands of the office at his little place in the country. It was, essentially, Camp David before there was a Camp David.

Beginning Monday, visitors will be able to see Lincoln’s Washington sanctuary, but not as something kept out of reach behind velvet ropes.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has spent $14 million to restore the 34-room Gothic Revival cottage -- on the grounds of the Old Soldiers’ Home just west of North Capitol Street -- to look almost as it did when Lincoln last saw it on April 13, 1865, the day before he was fatally shot.

The National Trust commissioned furniture reproductions, collected and cataloged artifacts and removed about 22 layers of paint from the interior walls (in one room, revealing traces of a huge bookshelf). Historically appropriate trees and shrubs have been planted, and 1860s-style carriage ways installed.

Nearby, the former Soldiers’ Home administration building has become a visitor center, containing period stereopticons and high-definition video screens. They present the story of the 16th president’s sanctuary and, in particular, his drafting of the Emancipation Proclamation. (He once predicted, “If my name ever goes into history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.”)

Lincoln bought the cottage in 1862 after the death of his 11-year-old son, Willie, to fever. The grief-stricken first family needed an escape, and it became a continuing comfort for Lincoln. For one thing, the cottage was as much as 10 degrees cooler than the low-lying White House, because it was situated on one of the highest points in the city. Lincoln spent about a quarter of his presidency there.

He commuted daily to the White House, only 30 minutes by horse, at first unescorted, but later accompanied by Army bodyguards.

In a recent rehearsal before the cottage’s opening, historical interpreter Shira Gladstone took me into the house through the back veranda, where Lincoln and his son Tad would play checkers. From there, the president had a distant view of the Capitol and the not-yet-completed Washington Monument.

REFINED BUT NOT STUFFY

Its rooms are dignified but not posh. (The paucity of furnishings makes room for tour groups.) The furnishings are tasteful but hardly ornate. The sofa I was encouraged to sit on during Gladstone’s presentation was comfortable but not cushy. (Some of Lincoln’s personal items -- a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and the pen used to sign it, for example -- are displayed in the visitors center.)

There are no costumed re-enactors, although Jill Sanderson, curator of education, often dons a Lincolnesque stovepipe hat as she leads groups through. Instead, I heard the recorded voices of actors portraying Lincoln and his guests.

Gladstone’s presentation included opportunities for audience interaction, as she asked “What do you think happened next?” questions, then played audio of the often surprising answers. For example, it was disturbing to hear Lincoln get testy with a grieving widower. I felt better when I heard his subsequent apology.

Upstairs, in what were the family’s sleeping rooms , I learned more about the Emancipation Proclamation and how Lincoln’s nuanced views on the issue often were shaped by his political pragmatism.

The demands of office often caught up with Lincoln at the cottage. Sometimes, he could hear the war itself -- Gen. Jubal Early’s abortive Confederate raid on the capital in July 1864 came within a mile of the cottage. He could see the coffins of war dead transported up the road to the adjacent national cemetery.

Taking advantage of access unthinkable today, Cabinet officials, military officers and ordinary people dropped by, day or night. Many were rewarded with personal interviews with the president, who scandalized some by appearing disheveled and wearing a pair of oversize carpet slippers.

But this openness also had its benefits: Lincoln could easily hear the views of ordinary folk. He could wander over to the soldiers’ camp for a “cup of Army coffee and a plate of beans,” as one sergeant said, with lower-ranking soldiers. He could talk with the wounded and get a view on battlefield life not available from his generals.

After Lincoln’s time, the cottage went unused as a presidential retreat. The city has since overtaken the fields, and a residential neighborhood is across the road. But on the grounds of the Soldiers’ Home, there remains a sense of the countryside and some of the casualness that Lincoln appreciated.

travel@latimes.com

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AT LINCOLN’S RETREAT

President Lincoln’s Cottage and the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center are on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington. Enter the grounds by the Eagle Gate at Upshur Street N.W. and Rock Creek Church Road. Open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 3 p.m. Sundays, November through March; open until 4 p.m. April through October. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. For tours of the cottage, call (800) 514-3849 or go to www.lincolncottage.org. Admission is $12; children ages 6 to 12, $5; telephone orders include a service charge. The tour takes about an hour.