State Dining Room

The State Dining Room is the larger of two dining rooms on the State Floor of the White House, the home of the president of the United States. It is used for receptions, luncheons, and larger formal dinners called State Dinners for visiting heads of state. The room seats 14 guests. The room measures approximately 48 feet by 36 feet. It has six doors leading to a butler's pantry, the Family Dining Room, Cross Hall, and Red Room, and the West Terrace. During the Andrew Jackson administration the room came to be formally called the "State Dining Room."

History and furnishings

Earliest White House floor plans by architect James Hoban label the southwest corner room on the first floor as a dining room, but it was used as an office, library and cabinet room before finally being used as a dining room. Following the 1814 fire and the 1817 reconstruction of the house President James Monroe ordered gilt service (purchased from France in 1817) and ornamental bronze-doré pieces. A plateau centerpiece, with seven mirrored sections, measures over 14 feet long when fully extended. Standing bacchantes holding wreaths for tiny bowls or candles border the plateau. Three fruit baskets, supported by female figures, are often used to hold flowers. The two Italian marble mantels presently in the Green Room and Red Room were also bought by Madison, and were originally installed in this room.

The original State Dining Room, located in the southern area of the present room, was almost fifty percent smaller than the present room. Removal of a grand stairway on the west end of the house in the 1902 renovation by the architecture firm of McKim, Mead, and White allowed for the enlargement of the room, and reorientation with the length of the room running north-south. The style of the room was modeled after that of neoclassical English houses of the late eighteenth. Below a ceiling and a cornice of white plaster, a dark natural oak paneling with Corinthian pilasters and a delicately carved frieze was installed. Charles Follen McKim designed a large serving table and two large console tables, each with eagle supports. They were produced by A.H. Davenport, a Boston furniture company. The serving table was placed against the north wall, and the two console tables on the east wall. A silver-plate chandelier and complementing wall sconces were added. The two rococo-revival candelabra date from the Hayes administration. Queen Anne style chairs placed around the central table were a part of the 1902 McKim renovations.

The present appearance of the State Dining Room is the result of a renovation and refurbishing completed in 1998 by the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, the White House Office of the Curator, and funded by the White House Endowment Trust.

Truman reconstruction

Systematic failure of the internal wood beam structure required reconstruction during the administration of Harry S. Truman. The building was dismantled and an internal steel superstructure was constructed within the sandstone walls. While providing critically needed repairs, much of the original interior materials were damaged or not reinstalled. The State Dining Room, more than any room had the majority of its wall and ceiling materials reinstalled. Damage to the wood, and a desire to make the room feel less English and more American led to the painting of the oak paneling. The McKim mantel was moved to Truman's presidential library and replaced with a simple neo-Georgian style mantel of dark green marble. A set of reproductions Chippendale style side chairs replaced the McKim's Queen Anne-style chairs at the dining table.

Kennedy restoration

Jacqueline Kennedy worked with American antiques expert Henry Francis du Pont and French interior designer Stéphane Boudin on the restoration of the State Dining Room. Du Pont and Boudin both recommended that changes should emphasize the earlier work of McKim. Most of the changes made to the room are still visible today. The silver plate chandelier and wall sconces were gilded, and the sconces formerly mounted on the pilasters were reinstalled in the side panels, bringing more focus to the pilasters. The Truman era's green-painted walls were repainted ivory white. The original McKim fireplace at the Truman presidential library was copied and replaced the simple dark green mantel. McKim's mahogany consoles were painted ivory white and the eagle supports and bowknots gilded; the new color scheme for those pieces were intended to make the pieces blend into the paneling. A new carpet, a copy of one Boudin designed for Leeds Castle was woven and installed. At large dinners the formal horseshoe configured table was replaced with a series of smaller round tables, a tradition that continues today. The portrait of Abraham Lincoln by George P.A. Healy was restored, reversing conspicuous damage. The Chippendale reproduction sidechairs were removed and replaced by the Queen Anne-style chairs by McKim, Mead and White. The gold-damask draperies installed during the Truman administration were retained.

Later administrations

In 1967, Lady Bird Johnson oversaw the installation of new draperies, based on a design created by Stephane Boudin shortly before President Kennedy's assassination, as well as reupholstery of the 1902 chairs. First Lady Pat Nixon worked with White House curator Clement Conger to refresh the room in 1971, replacing the carpet of Jacqueline Kennedy with one of Indian manufacture. First Lady Nancy Reagan hung new gold silk draperies designed by interior designer Ted Graber and glazed the walls in a soft yellow color.

In 1999, during the administration of Bill Clinton, the interior designer Kaki Hockersmith advised Hillary Rodham Clinton on redecorating the room. The room's walls were repainted in a light stone color. The cold white ceiling was repainted in a more complex white to appear as unpainted plaster as installed in McKim's 1902 design. The serving table and console tables were restored to their original mahogany finish. The Queen Anne-style chairs were reupholstered in a soft gold colored silk damask. New draperies in a multi-colored Colonial Revival style floral print were made, and a rug with a related floral medallion pattern was woven and installed. The chandelier and wall sconces were also refinished, their matte finish replaced by a brilliant metallic gold.

References and further reading

* Abbott, James A. "A Frenchman in Camelot: The Decoration of the Kennedy White House by Stéphane Boudin." Boscobel Restoration Inc.: 1995. ISBN 0-9646659-0-5.
* Abbott James A., and Elaine M. Rice. "Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration." Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1998. ISBN 0-442-02532-7.
* Clinton, Hillary Rodham. "An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History." Simon & Schuster: 2000. ISBN 0-684-85799-5.
* McKellar, Kenneth, Douglas W. Orr, Edward Martin, et al. "Report of the Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion." Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion, Government Printing Office: 1952.
* Monkman, Betty C. "The White House: The Historic Furnishing & First Families." Abbeville Press: 2000. ISBN 0-7892-0624-2.
* Seale, William. "The President's House." White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. ISBN 0-912308-28-1.
* Seale, William, "The White House: The History of an American Idea." White House Historical Association: 1992, 2001. ISBN 0-912308-85-0.
* Wolff, Perry. "A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy." Doubleday & Company: 1962.
* "The White House: An Historic Guide." White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 2001. ISBN 0-912308-79-6.

External links

* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/whtour/dining.html White House Web site]
* [http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/floor1/state-dining-room.htm White House Museum's State Dining Room page] , with many historical pictures