In the early 20th century, William Howard Taft decorated the hall with exotic plants and art he had brought with him from his tenure as Governor-General of the Philippines. Later, Woodrow Wilson watched motion pictures here as the present White House theater was still a cloakroom.
Furnishings include an American manufactured painted wood Neoclassical suite including a settee, six armchairs and four side chairs that once belonged to President James Monroe. The suite was reupholstered in a wool and silk velvet faux tiger print during the administration of George W. Bush and moved to the Center Hall from the Yellow Oval Room. Also in the room is a Louis XVI mahogany cylinder desk acquired for the Red Room during the administration of President John F. Kennedy. A pair of bronze French Empire caryatid torchères from Château de Malmaison were originally acquired for the Blue Room by Kennedy decorator Stéphane Boudin.
Further reading
Abbott, James A. A Frenchman in Camelot: The Decoration of the Kennedy White House by Stéphane Boudin. Boscobel Restoration Inc.: 1995. ISBN0-9646659-0-5.
Abbott James A., and Elaine M. Rice. Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration. Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1998. ISBN0-442-02532-7.
The Blue Room is one of three state parlors on the first floor in the White House, the residence of the president of the United States. It is distinct for its oval shape. The room is used for receptions and receiving lines and is occasionally set for small dinners. President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom in the room on June 2, 1886, the only wedding of a President and First Lady in the White House. The room is traditionally decorated in shades of blue. With the Yellow Oval Room above it and the Diplomatic Reception Room below it, the Blue Room is one of three oval rooms in James Hoban's original design for the White House.
The Red Room is one of three state parlors on the State Floor in the White House, the Washington D.C. home of the president of the United States. The room has served as a parlor and music room, and recent presidents have held small dinner parties in it. It has been traditionally decorated in shades of red. The room is approximately 28 by 22.5 feet. It has six doors, which open into the Cross Hall, Blue Room, South Portico, and State Dining Room.
The Green Room is one of three state parlors on the first floor of the White House, the home of the president of the United States. It is used for small receptions and teas. During a state dinner, guests are served cocktails in the three state parlors before the president, first lady, and a visiting head of state descend the Grand Staircase for dinner. The room is traditionally decorated in shades of green. The room is approximately 28 by 22.5 feet. It has six doors, which open into the Cross Hall, East Room, South Portico, and Blue Room.
The White House Library is on the Ground Floor of the White House, the official home of the president of the United States. The room is approximately 27 by 23 feet and is in the northeast of the ground floor. The Library is used for teas and meetings hosted by the president and first lady. During the 1950s reconstruction of the White House, old building lumber from the house was salvaged and re-made into wall paneling for this room. Several basement rooms in the White House are paneled with salvaged building materials from the pre-reconstructed White House.
The Vermeil Room is located on the ground floor of the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room houses a collection of silver-gilt or vermeil tableware, a 1956 bequest to the White House by Margaret Thompson Biddle. Portraits of American First Ladies hang in the room.
The Diplomatic Reception Room is one of three oval rooms in the Executive Residence of the White House, the official home of the president of the United States. It is located on the ground floor and is used as an entrance from the South Lawn, and a reception room for foreign ambassadors to present their credentials, a ceremony formerly conducted in the Blue Room. The room is the point of entry to the White House for a visiting head of state following the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn. The room has four doors, which lead to the Map Room, the Center Hall, the China Room, and a vestibule that leads to the South Lawn.
The Cross Hall is a broad hallway on the first floor in the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. It runs east to west connecting the State Dining Room with the East Room. The room is used for receiving lines following a State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn, or a procession of the President and a visiting head of state and their spouses.
The Yellow Oval Room is an oval room located on the south side of the second floor in the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. First used as a drawing room in the John Adams administration, it has been used as a library, office, and family parlor. Today the Yellow Oval Room is used for small receptions and for greeting heads of state immediately before a State Dinner.
The Lincoln Bedroom is a bedroom which is part of a guest suite located in the southeast corner of the second floor of the White House in Washington, D.C. The Lincoln Sitting Room makes up the other part of the suite. The room is named for President Abraham Lincoln, who used the room as an office.
Stéphane Boudin was a French interior designer and a president of Maison Jansen, the influential Paris-based interior decorating firm.
Maison Jansen was a Paris-based interior decoration office founded in 1880 by Dutch-born Jean-Henri Jansen. Jansen is considered the first truly global design firm, serving clients in Europe, Latin America, North America and the Middle East. This House was located at 23, rue de l'Annonciation, Paris, and closed in 1989.
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 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.
The Treaty Room is located on the second floor of the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room is a part of the first family's private apartments and is used as a study by the president.
The Family Dining Room is a dining room located on the State Floor of the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room is used for smaller, more private meals than those served in the State Dining Room. Used in the 1800s as a space for the First Family to have their meals, the Family Dining Room was used less for family meals and more for working lunches and small dinners in the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Executive Residence is the central building of the White House complex located between the East Wing and West Wing. It is the most recognizable part of the complex, being the actual "house" part of the White House. This central building, first constructed from 1792 to 1800, is home to the president of the United States and the first family. The Executive Residence primarily occupies four floors: the Ground Floor, the State Floor, the Second Floor, and the Third Floor. A two-story sub-basement with mezzanine, created during the 1948–1952 Truman reconstruction, is used for HVAC and mechanical systems, storage, and service areas.
The Entrance Hall is the primary and formal entrance to the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room is rectilinear in shape and measures approximately 31 by 44 feet. Located on the State Floor, the room is entered from outdoors through the North Portico, which faces the North Lawn and Pennsylvania Avenue. The south side of the room opens to the Cross Hall through a screen of paired Roman Doric columns. The east wall opens to the Grand Staircase.
Franco Scalamandré was a co-founder of Scalamandré Inc., a US manufacturer of traditional textiles, decorative textile trims, wall covering, and carpeting.
The East Sitting Hall is located on the second floor of the White House, home of the president of the United States. First used as a reception room for guests of the president, it is now a family parlor with access to the east rooms on the second floor.
The Queens' Sitting Room is a small sitting room located in the northeast corner of the second floor of the White House. It was used as part of the president's offices until 1902 when the West Wing was built. The room became a sitting room for guests in the Queens' Bedroom in 1902. As a part of the Kennedy White House restoration the room was redecorated by Stéphane Boudin of the firm Maison Jansen. The walls are covered with a heavy cotton Toile de Jouy fabric. Black lacquered furniture of the early and mid-19th century provides contrast with the white painted wainscot and trim of the room.
The West Sitting Hall is located on the second floor of the White House, home of the president of the United States. The room is entered from the second floor Center Hall on the east side of the room. The room features a large lunette window on the west wall looks out upon the West Colonnade, the West Wing, and the Old Executive Office Building. The room is used by first families as a less formal living room than the Yellow Oval Room.
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