President's Dining Room

The President's Dining Room is located on the second floor of the White House near the northwest corner. It was created in 1961 during the administration of John F. Kennedy to provide a dining room in the First Family's residence. The room had previously been used as a bedroom and sitting room. It is located directly above the Family Dining Room on the State Floor and looks out upon the North Lawn. The President's Dining Room is adjacent to a small kitchen, and serviceable by a dumbwaiter connecting it to the main kitchen on the ground floor.

When first created the room was decorated with painted walls and Louis XVI furniture belonging to the Kennedys. Henry Du Pont and Sister Parish recommended the room be furnished in American Federal style antiques. Beginning with the Kennedys, a collection of antiques have been acquired for the room including a Sheraton pedestal table that was made in Massachusetts between 1810 and 1815, a set of shield-back side chairs made c. 1890, and a carved wood mantel made in Philadelphia c. 1815. The room is used for small dinners and luncheons, and because of the limited size of these events some of the older White House china existing in small numbers can be used. Portions of the older state china services are displayed in the china cabinet in the President's Dining Room and in the China Room. Elaborate curtains, of two shades of blue and based on Federal-era models, were designed by Stephane Boudin, under the direction of Jacqueline Kennedy.

The south wall of the room is apsial where the primary door, entering from the Center Hall, is located. The apsial wall in the President's Dining Room, and a near identical one across the hall in the president's bedroom were built during the Truman reconstruction. Though not original to James Hoban's original plan, they take inspiration from studies Thomas Jefferson had made by Benjamin Henry Latrobe for altering several rooms in the White House. When the room was created as the President's Dining Room in 1961 the walls were covered in an early nineteenth century woodblock-printed scenic wallpaper, manufactured in France by Zuber et Cie, depicting views of North America. It is similar to the wallpaper installed in the Diplomatic Reception Room but instead of early citizens, European tourists, and Native Americans, it depicts imagined battles of the American Revolution.

During the Ford administration, First Lady Betty Ford had the wallpaper removed and the walls painted a soft yellow. Rosalyn Carter had the scenic wallpaper reinstalled. In 1996, during the Clinton administration, the room was redecorated. The woodblock wallpaper was carefully covered with fabric covered wooden baffles and the walls were then hung with a pale green Italian watered silk moiré fabric. During the second term of George W. Bush, the walls were recovered in an off white color of silk lampas selected by interior decorator Ken Blasingame.

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.
* 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.
* "The White House: An Historic Guide." White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 2001. ISBN 0-912308-79-6.