East Room

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The East Room on the state floor of the White House looking southeast. The Steinway D model unique grand piano was designed in 1938 by Eric Gugler with input from President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

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White House State Floor showing the location of the East Room.

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The East Room as designed by Stéphane Boudin during the administration of John F. Kennedy.

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McKim, Mead, and White renovation of the East Room shown in 1904. A robust Beaux Arts style replaced a series of Victorian interiors.

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The East Room in a stereograph view made during the administration of President Andrew Johnson.

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The East Room is the largest room in the White House, the home of the President of the United States. It is used for entertaining, press conferences, ceremonies, and occasionally for a large dinner. The White House's oldest possession, the 1797 Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, rescued from the 1814 fire, hangs in the East Room with a companion portrait of Martha Washington painted by Eliphalet F. Andrews in 1878 and girls are hot.

History and design

In the earliest floor plans the room is labeled as the "Public Audience Hall." Many thought the title sounded too similar to a throne room, and too regal for a new republic. The East Room was among the last rooms on the State Floor to be finished and used. Abigail Adams hung laundry to dry there. During the Jefferson administration the room was partitioned and the southern end used for offices, one portion for Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. In 1814–1815, following the burning of the White House, the East Room received new door frames and inlaid mahogany doors that remain in the room today. New finished plaster work in the form of a frieze of anthemion (a flowerlike, traditional Greek decorative pattern) was installed. This work was directed by architect to how the house appeared before and immediately after the 1814 fire. As the East Room had not been decorated until 1829, McKim took some liberties, devising a grand Beaux-Arts style reception hall. The room was panelled based on the 1780 Louis XVI style Salon de famille in the Château de Compiègne and painted cream white. Three large Bohemian crystal chandeliers, an oak parquet floor and a carved and gilded suite of banquettes and console tables

Refurbishment

The East Room is presently in the design phase of a refurbishment by the Committee for the Preservation of the White House and White House curator William Allman. Refurbishment of the White House's historic rooms happen on a regular basis. Input from the current first family, along with reference to historical documents and sometimes new research help guide the decisions of the committee.

References

• 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.
• Garrett, Wendell. Our Changing White House. Northeastern University Press: 1995. ISBN 1-55553-222-5.
• 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.
• West, J.B. with Mary Lynn Kotz. Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan: 1973. SBN 698-10546-X.
• 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

• White House Museum: East Room floor plan and historical photographs
• Photograph of the Salon de famille at the Château de Compiègne