East Room (White House)

LEast Room (Room Is) is the largest part of the White House, the residence of the president of the the United States. It is used for the entertainment, the press conferences, the ceremonies, and occasionally for important diners. The oldest possession of the White House, a portrait of George Washington paints in 1797 by Gilbert Stuart and saved fire of 1814, is in this part with a portrait of Martha Washington paints in 1878 by Eliphalet F. Andrews.

History and furnishing

In the foregrounds of the stage, the part is indicated like “room of public sitting”. Many thought that this name sounded too much like a throne room, and thus too royal for a republic. The East Room was one of the last parts of the 1st stage to be finished and used. Abigail Adams put its linen at it to be dried. Under the administration of Thomas Jefferson, the room was separate into two, the southern part being used for offices, the other for the Corps off Discovery of Lewis and Clark. In 1814 and 1815, after the fire of the White House, the part accepted new executives of door and new doors mahogany tree which are there still nowadays. New mouldings in form of Palmette S were installed there. This work was directed by the architect Benjamin Latrobe on the councils of James Hoban, the architect of the White House. A little later James Monroe made there install twenty-four chairs furnished with mahogany tree and four sofas manufactured by the cabinetmaker of Georgetown William King. They were placed in the Dining room State and the East Room . However, the part was not yet completely furnished nor not equipped with suitable lights. It is not before 1829, during the mandate of Andrew Jackson, that the part was really finished and used for receptions. Jackson made installed three large glosses with oil, of the mirrors to reflect the light and the flowered carpets. A whole of tables made in Philadelphia was added to the chairs and the sofas of Monroe. During the remainder of the XIXe century, the part was decorated in various very decorated styles.

During the mandate of Abraham Lincoln, the East Room was famous to have started the anger of the president to the sight of the cost of its refitting, to have lodged the troops of the Union, and sadly to have accommodated the body of Lincoln after its assassination. Ulysses Grant made there install three large glosses of gas glass. The press qualified the style of steamboat gothic . Chester A. Arthur made repaint the part by Lewis Comfort Tiffany and made install a metal tapestry with the ceiling in a style called Esthetic Movement . The part was also filled with palm trees out of pot, until making it resemble a greenhouse.

Finally, during the restoration directed by Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1902) and carried out by the cabinet of architects McKim, Mead, and White, the part was modified to resemble much more so that it is currently. Charles McKim made considerable historical research to determine with what the White House resembled at the origin, and right after the fire of 1814. The East Room not having been arranged before 1829, McKim took some freedoms and made of it a room of reception of style Art schools. It took as a starting point the “Living room of family” of Louis XVI in 1780 with the Château of Compiegne, and made paint the part cream-coloured color. Three large Bohemian crystal glosses, a parquet floor in oak and a whole of benches and moulded and gilded consoles furnished the part. In 1938, under the order of the president Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eric Gugler designed a large concert grand built by the firm Steinway & Sons. The piano is decorated with a gilded plank illustrating the American dance, alternating the Valse with European with the dances country, African and Amerindian. The piano rests on three large gilded eagles of style Modern art.

During the rebuilding of the White House by Harry Truman of 1949 to 1952, the panels, the ceilings and the pieces of furniture of the East Room were dismounted, inventoried and stored. However, the panels of wood and the ceilings original suffered damage, so that they last being replaced. New panels were manufactured but they were simpler and less decorated. Simpler mouldings and medallions were also installed with the ceiling. The general impression was similar but the architectural effect was less. The size of the glosses was reduced, and they were equipped with interior bulbs to bring a softer lighting. Mantelpieces out of red marble were installed.

During the restoration by John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the interior designer Stephan Boudin advised to make paint the chimneys in false white marble to give more unit at piece-rates. He also conceived new draperies for the part, which were not installed before the presidency of Lyndon Johnson. The Kennedy made install small a estrade removable, Johnson made install larger estrade with Corinthian pillars adapted to the architecture of the part. That made it possible to represent plays after the official dinners. Under the presidency of Bill Clinton, the false white marble was withdrawn to reveal the red marble, and of the carpets of Aubusson style were manufactured and set up to protect the parquet floors.

Refitting

The East Room is currently in full phase of design of a refitting by the Committee for the Preservation off the White House and the curator of the White House William Allman. The refittings of the historical parts of the White House take place regularly. The ideas of the presidential family, as well as references to the historical documents and sometimes of additional research guide the decisions of the committee and the curator.

References and works on the subject

James A. Abbott, has Frenchman in Street pedlar: The Decoration off the Kennedy White House by Stephan Boudin. Boscobel Restoration Inc., 1995.
James A. Abbott and Elaine Mr. Rice, Designing Street pedlar: The Kennedy White Restoration House. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1998.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Year Invitation to the White House: At Home with History. Simon & Schuster, 2000.
Wendell Garrett, Our Changing White House. Northeastern University Near, 1995.
Betty C. Monkman, The White House: The Historic Furnishing & First Families. Abbeville Near, 2000.
William Seale, The President' S House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society, 1986.
William Seale, The White House: The History off year American Idea. White House Historical Association, 1992,2001.
J.B. West and Mary Lynn Kotz, Upstairs At the White House: My Life with the First Ladies. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1973.
Perry Wolf, has Turn off the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy. Doubleday & Company, 1962.
The White House: An Historic Guides. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society, 2001.

External bonds

White House Museum: East Room with a historical plan and photographs
the Living room of family to the Castle of Compiegne
Facebook Group for White House Enthusiasts

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