As a New York State Assemblyman, Theodore Roosevelt had the privilege of sitting in the Capitol building's largest room – the Assembly Chamber. Designed in a Moorish Gothic style by Leopold Eidlitz, the Assembly Chamber was the first of the building's "grand spaces" to be opened and occupied in 1879. The chamber's massive volume was marked by a groined vaulted sandstone ceiling ornamented with bands painted in tones of greenish-blue, red and black, and highlighted with gold. Supporting the spectacular arches were four pillars of polished granite.

As the building settled, problems with the ceiling structure were remedied by replacing the original ceiling at a height four feet below the ceilings beautiful murals. The north and south wall hold large windows of both clear and stained glass. The furniture, specially designed for the room, is made of solid mahogany and red leather. Today's chamber, while quite impressive, only slightly resembles the magnificent wonder of Theodore Roosevelt's day.

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