Also known as the Tome Inn or just the Inn, Van Buren House served as the social center of campus. In addition to housing younger boarding students, there was a dining hall, campus store, post office and student lounge, where dances were held three times a year. This building also served as lodging for parents visiting their sons at Tome. One of the more notable guests was then Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was a guest speaker at the school and whose familiarity with the campus, may have been a factor, years later when he gave the nod to purchase the school as President . This purchase was the first step toward establishing a Naval Training Center during WWII. The three story granite building was covered in cedar shingles to give it a beachfront appearance and measured an impressive 44,000 square feet.