Red Room (White House)

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The Red Room, looking northwest during the administration of William Jefferson Clinton.

White House State Floor showing location of the Red Room.

Red Room during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt. This hand tinted 1904 photograph shows the result of a 1902 renovation by McKim, Mead, and White. The late nineteenth century Aesthetic Movement furniture by Herter Brothers and the wall finishes by Louis Comfort Tifany have been removed. The Empire mantel, from the administration of James Monroe, matches one in the Green Room. Both were originally installed in the state Dining Room. The walls have been covered in simple silk velvet. The furniture, a heavy Turkish style suite, originally in the Green Room, was reupholstered in red velvet to match the walls. The large portraits of President and Mrs. Washington are today loctated in the East Room.

The Red Room seen in a stereoscope view following the McKim Mead and White 1902 renovation performed during the Theodore Roosevelt administration. Note the French Empire caryatid mantel has been moved from the State Dining Room.

The Red Room is one of three state parlors on the first floor in the White House, the home of the president of the United States. The room has usually served as a parlor or sitting room, but recent presidents have held small dinner parties in it. It has been traditionally decorated in shades of red.

The room is approximately 28 feet by 22.5 feet. It has six doors, which open into the Cross Hall, Blue Room, South Portico, and State Dining Room.

1 Furnishings
2 History
3 References and further reading
4 External links

[edit] Furnishings

Furnished in the American Empire style, the Red Room contains several pieces of furniture by the French-born New York cabinetmaker Charles-Honoré Lannuier including a labeled c. 1810 center table or gueridon with gilded bronze mounts and an inlaid top of Italian marble. The walls of the Red Room are covered with red silk twill with an Empire style gold scroll woven Jacquard decorative tape mounted above the chair rail and repeated below the plaster ceiling cornice. The 1819 Italian marble mantel, with caryatid supports, is one of a pair ordered by President James Monroe and originally installed in the State Dining Room. The two mantels were moved from the State Dining Room to the Red Room and Green Room by McKim Mead and White during the Theodore Roosevelt administration. The mantel clock is French, c. 1780-85, and was a gift to the nation in 1954 from President Vincent Auriol of France following completion of the Truman reconstruction of the house (1949-52). Much of the Red Room furniture is decorated with French and American Empire motifs of anthemion, dolphins, acanthus leaves, lion heads, and sphinxes (Egyptian motifs became popular after Napoleon's 1798-1801 campaign in Egypt). The furniture is upholstered in red silk of the same shade as that on the walls with a pattern of gold medallions and fruit baskets. A c. 1815 French Savonnerie rug in shades of red, cream and sage was acquired for the room during the Kennedy restoration and has been copied to prevent wear. The rug features a center medallion of red anthemion with borders of laurel leaf and medallions similar to the patterns found in the room's upholstery and decorative tapes.

On the south wall of the room a large gilded bracket holds a bust of President Martin Van Buren carved by Hiram Powers. A portrait of Van Buren's daughter-in-law, Angelica Singleton Van Buren, painted in 1842 by Henry Inman hangs over the mantel. The portrait includes a representation of the marble bust. Drapery panels of yellow-gold silk satin with an overhanging swag and jabots of red with gold medallions recall a description of drapery used here during Dolley Madison's day. The drapes were designed under the direction of curator Clement Conger during the Nixon administration, and are based on historical patterns held by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now called Historic New England) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The thirty-six branched chandelier is French, c. 1805, carved of wood and gilded. The sides of the chandelier repeats the pattern of anthemion and laurel wreath found in the rug. Gilbert Stuart's 1804 portrait of Dolley Madison hangs here, along with other portraits, still lifes, and landscapes.

[edit] History

[edit] The president's antechamber and early Empire influence

Benjamin Latrobe's 1803 drawing of the White House's first floor (the "State Floor") indicates that the Red Room served as "the President's Antichamber" (sic) for the Cabinet Room or President's Library next door in the location of the present State Dining Room. During the James Madison administration, the antechamber became the "Yellow Drawing Room" and the scene of Dolley Madison's fashionable Wednesday night receptions. James Monroe purchased furnishings for the Red Room in the Empire style, as he had for the Blue Room to furnish the rebuilt White House following its buring by the British in 1814.

[edit] A music room

The Madisons, Lincolns, Grants, and Kennedys all used the Red Room as a music room. A guitar, piano and music stands were kept in the room. Today a music stand beside the fireplace recalls that earlier use of the room.

[edit] Use through time

President Ulysses Grant, fearing disruption of the transition of power to Rutherford B. Hayes, due to a contested election decided in the Senate, had the new president-elect secretly sworn into office in the Red Room the evening before the inauguration. The Grants used the Red Room as a family living room. Eleanor Roosevelt used the Red Room for meeting with women members of the press. Following the State Funeral for President John F. Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy received foreign heads of state in the Red Room. The Reagans frequently used this room for official photographs with visiting heads of state. The Clintons favored the room for small dinner parties.

[edit] The Truman reconstruction and later refurnishing

Addition of a new attic story during the Coolidge administration placed great strain on the building's structure. By 1951 the building had become unsound and President Truman directed a major reconstruction. The building's interior was largely dismantled, the interior pieces numbered and stored, and an internal steel structure built within the walls. The Red Room was dismantled and reconstructed during this period. Installation of air-conditioning, 1953-54, required the ceiling height be reduced by approximately 18" and new plaster ceilings with a somewhat generic pattern of stars was installed. In 1972, with advice from curator Clement Conger, more accurate early nineteenth century patterns were copied and installed. Substantial acquisitions of period furniture during the Nixon and Carter administrations replaced less significant pieces. The most significant recent addition to the room is a tall rectilinear secretary desk by Charles-Honoré Lannuier. It was a gift of the White House Historical Association, during the Clinton administration, on the occasion of the two hundreth anniversary of the completion of the house.

In 2000, the Red Room was refurbished, preserving the American Empire style chosen in 1962 during the John F. Kennedy administration. The Kennedy cerise red was changed to a deeper carmine red that historians consider more typical of nineteenth century American manufactured textiles.

[edit] 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.
Garrett, Wendell. Our Changing White House. Northeastern University Press: 1995. ISBN 1-55553-222-5.
Kenny, Peter M., Frances F. Bretter and Ulrich Leben. Honoré Lannuier Cabinetmaker from Paris: The Life and Work of French Ébiniste in Federal New York. The Metropolitian Museum of Art, New York and Harry Abrams: 1998. ISBN 0-87099-836-6.
Leish, Kenneth. The White House. Newsweek Book Division: 1972. ISBN 0-88225-020-5.
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.
Exhibition Catalogue, Sale 6834: The Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis April 23-26, 1996. Sothebys, Inc.: 1996.
The White House: An Historic Guide. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 2001. ISBN 0-912308-79-6.