IN October, I wrote a piece on the most famous residence in the world, the White House, which is located on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.
In that article, I was not able to discuss the various rooms within what is the official office and residence of all the sitting Presidents of the United States of America. Those rooms are indeed worthy of a story of their own; so, here goes…
As soon as you enter the gate of the White House, you will notice the beautiful landscapes, which are maintained in the classical tradition according to standards established by the landscape architecture firm of Olmsted Brothers in 1935. Among the many historic trees is the Magnolia Tree planted by Andrew Jackson. On the East side is the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden and on the West side is the Rose Garden, which are used for formal ceremonies and bill signings.
As you walk along the corridors and hallways of the historic house, you will find portraits of the presidents and their first ladies, which were painted by artists commissioned by the White House Staff such as Gilbert Stuart (George Washington), John Trumbull (John Adams), George Peter Alexander Healy (Abraham Lincoln), and Aaron Shikler (John F. Kennedy), to name a few.
The first room in the visitor’s area is the Library, which contains volumes of books on history, biography, fiction and sciences written by American authors. The furniture is American of the Federal period. The chandelier once belonged to the family of James Fenimore Cooper.
Next is the Vermeil Room, which contains an extensive collection of gilded silver used for a variety of functions. Portraits of recent first ladies are displayed here. The room was once used as a billiard room.
The China Room was set aside in 1917 by Edith Wilson for displaying pieces of China and glass used by the Presidents. The portrait of Grace Coolidge on the south wall was painted in 1924 by Howard Chandler Christy.
The Diplomatic Reception Room, which is one of the three oval rooms in the residence, is furnished as a Federal period parlor. The room is used as the entrance for new ambassadors coming to the White House to present their credentials to the President. It was from this room that President Franklin D. Roosevelt broadcast his fireside chats.
The East Room is the largest room in the White House. It is used for receptions, ceremonies, press conferences and other events. It has also been the scene of several weddings including those of Nellie Grant, Alice Roosevelt and Lynda Bird Johnson. From the elaborately decorated ceiling hang to glass chandeliers that date from 1902, the concert grand piano by Steinway Company in 1938, are found here.
The Green Room, which once served as Thomas Jefferson’s dining room, is now furnished as a parlor and is used for receptions. Most of the furniture was made in New York by Duncan Phyfe about 1810. The walls are covered with watered green silk with draperies of striped silk damask. The Italian white marble mantel was purchased in 1818 for the State Dining Room and moved here in 1902. The coffee urn, owned by John Adams, is flanked by French candlesticks used by James Madison.
The Blue Room is often used by the President to receive guests. It is furnished to represent the period of James Monroe, who purchased pieces for the room after the fire of 1814. Seven of the French chairs and one sofa of the set bought by Monroe are on the room. Portraits of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and John Tyler are found here. The Hannibal clock on the white marble mantel was acquired in 1817. The color blue was first used during the Martin Van Buren administration. The White House Christmas Tree is placed in this room.
The Red Room is used for small receptions. It has been a favorite of the first ladies. John Adams used this a breakfast room. Rutherford B. Hayes took her oath of office in 1877. The room is decorated as an American Empire parlor of 1810 to 1830. An 18th-century French musical clock presented in 1952 by President Vincent Aurioul of France is on the mantel.
The State Dining Room can seat 130 guests at dinners and luncheons. The painted English oak paneling dates from the renovation in 1902. Carved into the fireplace mantel is a quotation from a letter by John Adams. “I pray Heaven to bestow the Best of Blessings on THIS HOUSE and All that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under this Roof.”
The Second and Third floors are used exclusively by the Presidential family and their guests. Located here are the Lincoln Bedroom, the former President’s office (used as the Cabinet Room, 1865-1902), and the Queen’s Bedroom, named for its royal visitors.
In my previous story, I posed the question “Why is the Oval Office oval?” Well, here’s the answer according to the White House Historical Association:
In 1791, George Washington ordered that the straight rear walls of the principal two rooms be rebuilt into a semi-circular form, or bows. In these bowed walls may be found the inspiration for the oval shape of the Blue Room. This distinctive shape apparently had been preferred by Washington to create a suitable space for a formal reception known as a “levee.”
The levee, a tradition borrowed from the English court, was a formal occasion to allow men of prominence to meet the president. Replete with formal dress, silver buckles, and powdered hair, the event was a stiff public ceremony almost military in its starkness. Invited guests entered the room and walked over to the president standing before the fireplace and bowed as a presidential aide made a low announcement of their names. The visitor then stepped back to his place. After fifteen minutes the doors were closed and the group would have assembled in a circle. The president would then walk around the circle, addressing each man by his name from memory with some pleasantry or studied remark of congratulation, which might have a political connotation. He bowed, but never shook hands. When he had rounded the circle, the president returned to his place before the mantel and stood until, at a signal from an aide, the guests went to him, one by one, bowed without saying anything, and left the room.
Although the Oval Office was born in the expansion of the “West Wing” in 1909, the room’s distinctive shape was inspired by the Blue Room and its form may be traced to a formal social greeting that was meant by President Washington as a symbolic means of dramatizing the office of the Presidency. After he became president, Thomas Jefferson ended the practice of holding levees and replaced this formal ritualized greeting with a simple handshake.