Misplaced Pages

#324675

51-577: Until late 1902 when the room was refinished as a public entertainment space during renovations directed by Charles Follen McKim , this room, along with most of the ground floor of the residence, was used for household work and general storage. McKim rebuilt the room with details from the late Georgian period , including robust cove moldings . After becoming first lady in 1889, china painting enthusiast Mrs. Benjamin ( Caroline Lavinia Scott ) Harrison (1832–1892) began to gather and restore china from previous administrations, which she eventually arranged within

102-586: A Sheraton pedestal dining table. The Engelhards also donated a Federalist hunt board crafted in the American South. A side table, attributed to cabinetmaker John Shaw (cabinetmaker) of Annapolis , Maryland ; a mahogany sideboard manufactured in New England and originally owned by Daniel Webster ; a setee with caned seat; and a hunt table in the Hepplewhite style also adorned

153-416: A curving garland of flowers down and across the seat. The pedestal table was removed, and a custom 1902 dining room table, designed by architect Stanford White installed. The room was decorated with paintings by Childe Hassam , Edmund C. Tarbell , and Guy C. Wiggins . The pale green silk wall covering was removed during the presidency of George W. Bush , replaced by a soft yellow silk damask selected by

204-552: A diagonal grid-like background pattern designed to be both visually stimulating as well as better able to obscure stains and damage. Clusters of flowers and acorns , in the Colonial Revival style , were woven into the field of the carpet, which was woven by Scott Group Custom Carpets in Grand Rapids, Michigan . The Sheraton chairs were restored to the room, and reupholstered in a bright yellow patterned brocade with

255-592: A gallery during the 1902 McKim, Mead, and White renovation of the White House. This relocation of the china collection represented a burgeoning recognition and appreciation for the historic artifacts associated with the American presidency; damaged china had been sold or given away as late as the McKinley administration. In 1917, First Lady Edith Bolling Wilson acknowledged the need for more space for displaying

306-669: Is located in the northwest corner of the Second Floor. When this part of the Executive Residence was completed in 1809, a bedroom suite occupied the space. What is now the private stairs and Cosmetology Room were the eastern chamber and closet of the suite, A bedroom and toilet occupied what is now the President's Dining Room, and a lady's dressing room was in the space currently occupied by the Family Kitchen,

357-518: Is not known to have slept in it. Mrs. Lincoln also purchased a Wilton carpet to cover the floor, and purple-tinted French velvet wallpaper with crimson stripes and repetitive golden images of a moss rose tree in bloom. In this configuration, the bedroom was used by young Willie Lincoln , who died of fever in this room in 1862. On April 16, 1865, Dr. Janvier Woodward and Dr. Edward Curtis autopsied , and Dr. Charles D. Brown embalmed , Abraham Lincoln in this room. First Lady Eliza Johnson used

408-813: The American Academy in Rome and the Architectural League. He was an honorary member and former president of the American Institute of Architects , and honorary member of the Society of Mural Painters. He became a National Academician in 1907. He belonged to the university, Lambs , and Racquet and Tennis Clubs of New York, and to the St. Botolph and Somerset Clubs of Boston. McKim received numerous awards during his lifetime, including

459-701: The Family Dining Room on the State Floor and looks out upon the North Lawn . The Dining Room is adjacent to the Family Kitchen, a small kitchen designed for use by the First Family, and served by a dumbwaiter connected to the main kitchen on the ground floor. Beginning in the 19th century the space was occupied by a bedroom suite known as the Prince of Wales Room, named for an 1860 stay by

510-674: The Pierpont Morgan Library (1903), New York Penn Station (1904–10), and The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio (1919). He designed the Howard Mansion (1896) at Hyde Park, New York . McKim, with the aid of Richard Morris Hunt , was instrumental in the formation of the American School of Architecture in Rome in 1894, which has become the American Academy in Rome , and designed

561-728: The President's Dining Room on the Second Floor. The Carters favored using pieces of the Lincolns' "solferino" (purple-rimmed) china for special occasions. Although famous for their red and gold service, the Reagans also enjoyed using the Lincoln china. The Clintons did not take delivery of their state service until near the end of President Clinton's second term. They used the Reagan and Truman services extensively for state dinners but favored

SECTION 10

#1732772773325

612-651: The Sheraton style in Baltimore in 1785, were donated to the White House in 1961 by Mrs. Charles W. Engelhard, Jr. The chairs were initially reupholstered in an off-white damask approximating mother-of-pearl , designed by Parish and woven by Bergamo Fabrics . The fabric stained too easily, and in early 1963 Mrs. Kennedy asked Boudin to recommend a new upholster. Boudin selected white leather, tooled to look like silk damask and manufactured by Maison Jansen (the design firm for which Boudin worked). The chairs surrounded

663-556: The Hayes china, depicting American flora and fauna, for small family dinners, especially holidays. The rug is an Indo-Isfahan carpet from the early twentieth century. A cut glass Regency style chandelier hangs in the China Room. A pair of late eighteenth-century tureens on the mantel are glazed in red and green slip and are the source for the green and red striped silk taffeta draperies. Two high-backed lolling chairs, made early in

714-533: The Lincoln Bedroom into the President's Dining Room. Kennedy felt the Family Dining Room on the State Floor was too cavernous and impersonal in which to raise a young family, and decided that a smaller, more intimate dining room should be created on the Second Floor. A small kitchen took over the space which was once a dressing room, with a pantry and storage space occupying the southern half of

765-524: The Lincoln Bedroom. This large, four-poster bed had been purchased by Mary Todd Lincoln in 1861 and placed in the Prince of Wales Room. Although there is no evidence Abraham Lincoln ever slept in it, it subsequently became known as the Lincoln Bed. It had moved to several other rooms (and even placed in storage) in the intervening years, but now was restored to its original setting. The Lincoln Bedroom

816-658: The Medaille d'Or at the 1900 Paris Exposition and a gold medal from Edward VII of the United Kingdom . The royal gold medal from Edward VII was awarded for the restoration of the White House . In 1902 Congress appropriated $ 475,445 for this purpose to be spent at the discretion of President Theodore Roosevelt . He received honorary doctorates from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University , and

867-520: The Sheraton chairs, which had suffered extensive wear and tear after nearly a quarter century of use. The reproductions were upholstered in blue horsehair (a historically accurate fabric for the Federal period), with a gold diamond and rosette pattern dyed into it. The Zuber wallpaper in the room was also treated, conserved, and stabilized. The room was again redecorated in 1997 by Kaki Hockersmith,

918-487: The assistance of White House Curator Clement Conger and preservation architect Edward Vason Jones . The Truman-era bracketed molding was removed and replaced with a Federal period cove molding. The walls were painted a uniform off-white. The existing red accent color, determined by the red gown in Howard Chandler Christy 's 1924 portrait of First Lady Grace Coolidge (with her white collie Rob Roy ),

969-479: The bedroom and dressing room as a bedroom suite (but did not occupy the eastern chamber). From March 1829 to the summer of 1830, all three rooms were occupied by Jack and Emily Donelson and their four children. President William Henry Harrison used the larger bedroom as his personal bedroom during his 32-day presidency in 1841. Robert Tyler (son of President John Tyler), his wife, and daughter used all three rooms from April 1841 to March 1845. From 1845 to 1849,

1020-411: The bedroom, dressing room, and eastern chamber were used by Augusta Tabb Walker and her two small children. The bedroom suite became known as the Prince of Wales Room after Albert Edward , Prince of Wales stayed in the room in 1860. Although a full bath was added to the eastern chamber, there was no connecting door between it and the bedroom. To accommodate the bathroom, the stairs were moved from

1071-517: The collection through the suggestions of both Mrs. Baker and White House Chief-Usher Irwin Hood "Ike"Hoover (1871–1933). Baker had continued to research the history of the mansion—particularly that of its celebrated tableware—and argued that the house's history would slip away without official intervention. In response, Mrs. Wilson surveyed the Ground Floor with Hoover, designating a large room toward

SECTION 20

#1732772773325

1122-480: The dining room's Zuber wallpaper removed. (The wallpaper was installed with a linen backing, which allowed it to be detached from the wall and rolled up without incurring much damage. ) Ford then had the walls painted yellow. In 1977, First Lady Rosalynn Carter had the Zuber wallpaper reinstalled. In 1984, First Lady Nancy Reagan more extensively refurbished the President's Dining Room. Reproductions were made of

1173-509: The executive mansion, his design for the President's Dining Room was rejected in favor of Sister Parish's recommendations. The look of the President's Dining Room was defined by its wallpaper. The wallpaper was a 1960 reproduction of paper printed by Zuber et Cie in France some time in the early to mid 1800s. It was discovered in a London antique shop by Kennedy friend and socialite Brooke Astor . Known as "Scenes of Revolutionary America",

1224-740: The firm became primarily known for their open-plan informal summer houses. McKim became best known as an exponent of Beaux-Arts architecture in styles of the American Renaissance , exemplified by the Boston Public Library (1888–95), and several works in New York City , including the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University (1893), the University Club of New York clubhouse (1899),

1275-464: The floor was covered with a similarly hued "Snowflake"-pattern carpet manufactured by Stark Carpet Corporation. At the single window, gray velvet draperies, trimmed in red and white silk fringe, were installed. An early-19th-century classical marble mantel with female supports replaced the Truman Georgian surround. The room was substantially redecorated in 1970 by First Lady Pat Nixon , with

1326-463: The honorary degree of A.M. from Harvard in 1890, and from Bowdoin in 1894. He was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1877, and received the AIA Gold Medal , posthumously, in 1909. President%27s Dining Room The President's Dining Room is a dining room located in the northwest corner of the second floor of the White House . It is located directly above

1377-454: The house. Architect William Adams Delano detailed the room with bracket molding of mid-Georgian style. (Unfortunately, the architect did not replicate the depth of the removed Wilson-era cabinets, preventing the inclusion of an important standing punchbowl from the Pierce administration—restored by Mrs. Harrison—in the reconstructed interior; the piece was subsequently displayed in the window of

1428-405: The kitchen storage space, and the pantry. This space was little changed by 1825. Since the private stairs from the Ground Floor were now complete, the closet in the eastern chamber was removed and a landing for the stairs inserted in the middle of the room. This effectively created an open storage area in the southern third of the chamber. First Lady Louisa Adams and her niece, Mary Hellen, used

1479-687: The main campus buildings with his firm McKim, Mead, and White. McKim first married Annie Bigelow in 1874, and after divorcing Bigelow, married Julia Amory Appleton in 1885. McKim died at age 62 in St. James, New York on September 14, 1909. McKim was a member of the Congressional commission for the improvement of the Washington, D.C. , park system, the New York Art Commission, the Accademia di San Luca ( Rome , 1899),

1530-455: The mansion's private Family Dining Room. Harrison's successor, Mrs. Theodore ( Edith Kermit Carow ) Roosevelt (1861–1948), celebrated the then newly initiated efforts of journalist Abby Gunn Baker (1860–1923) to research the growing collection, allowing her to both expand and arrange the collection in Arts and Crafts Movement cabinets in the semi-public ground floor corridor—a space newly defined as

1581-588: The mantel is inscribed with Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry 's famous message, issued after the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813: "We have met the enemy, and they are ours". The room was lit with an Empire style chandelier, manufactured in the 1700s by Waterford Crystal and purchased in London by banker and art collector Chester Dale . It was given to the White House in 1948. The room was furnished with Federal style antiques. Twelve dining room chairs, crafted in

China Room - Misplaced Pages Continue

1632-416: The middle to the southern part of the room, and the storage space eliminated. Mary Todd Lincoln 's refurbishment of the White House in 1861 led to historic changes in the room. Mrs. Lincoln purchased two armchairs, a rosewood center table, a chest of drawers , four side balloon-back side chairs , a sofa, and—most importantly—a 6-foot (1.8 m) wide, 8-foot (2.4 m) long rosewood bed frame for

1683-453: The new wall covering, Hockersmith chose a pale green silk (manufactured by Scalamandré, Inc. ) with a moiré pattern , onto which was printed medallions in two different tones of green. Portions of the frieze around the top of the room were painted with a pale yellow glaze to bring out its detail. A new carpet, in colors complementary to the green wall covering, was also ordered and installed. The carpet, designed by Hockersmith, featured

1734-526: The nineteenth century and upholstered in ivory and moss green, are arranged in front of the portrait of Mrs. Coolidge. An English neoclassical mantel is located on the east wall, and Ferdinand Richardt 's View on the Mississippi Fifty-Seven Miles Below St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis , completed in 1858, hangs above the mantel. Charles Follen McKim Charles Follen McKim (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909)

1785-423: The personal interior designer for President Bill and Hillary Clinton . Hockersmith felt the room was gloomy due to the color of the wallpaper and the lack of light, but the historic wallpaper could not be removed without incurring further damage. Instead, thin wooden lathes were nailed to the walls, and a new wall covering attached to them. This completely obscured the 1961 wallpaper without having to remove it. For

1836-406: The room. The headboard was pierced and richly carved with images of birds, grapes, and vines. The footboard featured similar, though more simply-carved, images. Attached to the headboard was a gilt canopy carved in the shape of a crown , with a shield in the front. Purple satin trimmed in gold lace hung from the canopy. This bed became known as the "Lincoln bed", even though President Lincoln

1887-474: The room. Their design was a copy of an early 1800s design found in a book. These were topped by window treatments of green silk with gold bullion fringe . A Hereke rug from Turkey, in a similar color style, covered the floor. A mantel made of plaster mixed with other materials, installed over the fireplace in the east wall in 1952, was retained. Designed about 1815 by Robert Welford in Philadelphia ,

1938-493: The room. Additional Federalist dining chairs were donated in 1962. Serving items in the President's Dining Room during the Kennedy administration included a silver dinner service purchased by President Andrew Jackson in 1833, a tureen purchased by President James Monroe , a French silver dessert service, two French-made wine coolers , and a vegetable serving dish purchased by President Jackson. First Lady Betty Ford had

1989-534: The room.) The Truman-era paneling was left unpainted until the Kennedy administration, when, in 1963, French interior designer Stéphane Boudin (1888–1967) of the Paris-based firm Maison Jansen , had it glazed in three shades of gray, with white detailing; corner brackets included in the display cabinet doors were removed at this time. The interiors of the display cabinets were lined with red cotton velvet, and

2040-921: The small eastern chamber as her bedroom, while the First Family used the larger bedroom (later to be the President's Dining Room) as a living room. The large room was later used as a bedroom by Nellie Grant (daughter of President Ulysses S. Grant); Fanny Hayes (daughter of President Rutherford B. Hayes); Mary "Mollie" Garfield (daughter of President James Garfield); Ellen "Nell" Arthur (daughter of President Chester Arthur); President Grover Cleveland and First Lady Frances Cleveland ; James Robert and Mary Harrison McKee and their two small children; President William McKinley and his wife, Ida ; Alice Roosevelt (daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt); Ethel Roosevelt (daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt); First Lady Helen Taft; Eleanor Wilson (daughter of President Woodrow Wilson); and Calvin Coolidge, Jr.; The room

2091-477: The smaller eastern chamber, the bathroom was removed, the stairs were widened, and the stairs moved into the middle of the space (which allowed an enclosed storage space to be created south of the stairs). The passage from the eastern chamber to the bedroom was closed as well. The 1952 reconstruction turned the bedroom into a mirror image of the president's bedroom across the Center Hall. The bedroom's south wall

China Room - Misplaced Pages Continue

2142-476: The southeast, next to the oval Diplomatic Reception Room, as the new "Presidential Collections Room." She also approved its outfitting with built-in cabinetry for the china display. Above each of the three bays of built-in wall cabinets was raised lettering identifying the holdings as CHINA USED BY THE PRESIDENTS . During the Truman renovation, 1948–1952, the room's walls were paneled in salvaged pine timbers from

2193-644: The space. (The storage closet created in the now-convex room to the east was accessed from the new pantry.) The bedroom became the new Family Dining Room. At first, the walls of the President's Dining Room were merely painted off-white, and the room furnished with Louis XVI chairs and a table belonging to the Kennedys. During the presidential transition , Kennedy was advised on White House decor by her veteran interior decorator and good friend Dorothy "Sister" Kinnicutt Parish . Although Kennedy chose French interior designer Stéphane Boudin to decorate most of

2244-472: The then-Prince of Wales, Albert Edward . From 1929 to 1948, this suite was known as the Lincoln Bedroom , with furnishings acquired by First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln (the current Lincoln Bedroom is now down the hall, in what was Lincoln's office suite). The bedroom suite was structurally changed in 1961 to create a dining room and kitchen in the First Family's residence. The President's Dining Room

2295-608: The wallpaper depicts various events in the American Revolutionary War . The wallpaper is based on an 1834 wallpaper printed by Zuber, "Scenic America", which depicted various American landscapes and which Kennedy had hung in the Diplomatic Reception Room . ("Scenic America", in turn was derived from engravings made by Engelmann in the 1820s.) To match the colors of the wallpaper, window draperies of blue and green silk damask were hung in

2346-469: Was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White , he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the partnership McKim, Mead & White . McKim was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania . His parents were James Miller McKim , a Presbyterian minister, and Sarah Speakman McKim. They were active abolitionists and he

2397-424: Was made convex, which created a walled-off dead space in the room's southeast corner. The southwest corner now became storage space accessible from the dressing room. After the reconstruction, Margaret Truman continued to use it as her bedroom. In 1953, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower turned it from a bedroom into a sitting room for her mother, Elivera "Minnie" Doud. In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy transformed

2448-452: Was named after Charles Follen , another abolitionist and a Unitarian minister. After attending Harvard University, he studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris before joining the office of Henry Hobson Richardson in 1870. McKim formed his own firm in partnership with William Rutherford Mead , joined in 1877 by fellow Richardson protégé Stanford White . For ten years,

2499-449: Was retained. The vitrine shelves remained lined with red velvet. The collection is arranged chronologically, beginning to the right of the fireplace on the east wall. While not every administration created a service, at least minimal amounts of all china services created for the White House are now in the collection. Sizable amounts of some services going back to the early nineteenth century exist and are sometimes used for small dinners in

2550-466: Was used as a guest bedroom until the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, when it was occupied by Lorena Hickok (journalist and aide to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt). After Roosevelt's death in 1945, it became the bedroom of Margaret Truman , daughter of President Harry S. Truman. Major architectural changes were made to the Lincoln Bedroom when the White House was gutted and renovated in 1952. In

2601-528: Was used as a surgery in 1907 when newly-married Alice Roosevelt (now Alice Roosevelt Longworth ) was stricken by appendicitis . Rather than go to a hospital, her appendectomy was performed in the Prince of Wales Room. After the death of Calvin Coolidge, Jr. in July 1924, the bedroom suite was unoccupied for some years. In 1929, the Coolidges moved the "Lincoln Bed" into the bedroom suite and formally renamed it

SECTION 50

#1732772773325
#324675