Before it was the US President's office, what purpose did the area known as the “Oval Office” serve?

One of the world's most recognizable rooms, the Oval Office of the President of the United States, had much humbler origins than its current status would suggest.

Throughout history, Presidents worked in different rooms around the White House until William Taft oversaw a remodeling of the West Wing in 1909 that included an oval-shaped office for himself.

However, Taft's oval office was situated in the middle of the White House, and lacked natural light. Nevertheless, the Taft Oval Office served Presidents William Howard Taft through Franklin Roosevelt. Although he used the office, Roosevelt detested the location, due to the lack of windows and privacy. So, after the “Taft Oval Office” suffered a major fire in 1929, it was demolished in 1933.

In 1934 Roosevelt created a new Oval Office in the southeast corner of the West Wing. The location was chosen because it offered convenient access to staff and living areas, as well as the Rose Garden. The oval-shaped room features a fireplace at the north end (rarely seen in photos), as well as three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, which provide lots of natural sunlight.

The available sunlight also happened to be the reason that particular area of the White House had previously been the prime spot for hanging wet laundry to dry.