West Sitting Hall

The West Sitting Hall is located on the second floor of the White House, home of the President of the United States. Before 1869, the room was little more than a staircase landing. The presidents and first ladies would descend to the Cross Hall below on state occasions. The staircase was removed during the Truman reconstruction and the defunct landing became a private sitting area. It is now a family parlor with access to the west rooms on the second floor.

The room is entered from the second floor Center Hall on the east side of the room. A large fanlight window on the west side of the room faces the Rose Garden, the West Colonnade, the West Wing, and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Eleanor Roosevelt, who screened the area off from the Central Hall, particularly enjoyed it. In the subsequent Truman reconstruction, architects enclosed the hall with solid partitions and created a living room. At that time, the kitchen elevator was extended to this floor, and the door opened into this room; the Kennedy restoration rerouted it into the little hall when the room to the north was converted into the Family Kitchen.

ee also

* East Sitting Hall

References and further reading

*Abbott James A., and Elaine M. Rice. "Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration." Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1998. ISBN 0-442-02532-7.

External links

* [http://www.whitehousehistory.org/02/subs/02_b08.html White House Historical Association: Residence second floor]
* [http://whitehousemuseum.org/floor2/west-sitting-hall.htm White House Museum: West Sitting Hall]