Décor & Art: Rooms | The White House Décor & Art: Rooms The Art & Décor of the Public Tour by Room The public in the Grand Foyer of the WH, March 31, 2009. (Official WH Photo by S Appleton) 1 of 6 Painting of George Herbert Walker Bush by Herbert Elmer Abrams, 1994 2 of 6 Mantel Clock by Thomire & Co., c. 1817 3 of 6 Piano by Steinway & Sons, 1938 4 of 6 Pier Table by Pierre-Antoine Bellangè, c. 1817 5 of 6 Painting of William Jefferson Clinton by Simmie Knox, 2001 6 of 6 Share This Gallery Entrance Hall Overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue, this hall serves as a grand foyer for the official reception rooms on the State Floor. During events, the United States Marine Band often performs in this location. Under President Thomas Jefferson , artifacts acquired by explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (1803-6) and Zebulon Pike (1805-7) were displayed in the Entrance Hall.

The grand staircase leads from the State Floor to the Second Floor and is used primarily for ceremonial occasions. On the lowest landing, President Ronald Reagan took his second oath of office on January 20, 1985. Since inauguration day fell on a Sunday, a private ceremony was held in the White House that day with the official ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on the Monday following. Until 1902 two large staircases led from the State Floor to the Second Floor. A staircase at the west end of the Cross Hall that led to the Family Quarters was removed in 1902 to enlarge the State Dining Room. The winding staircase to the east of the Entrance Hall led to the rooms on the east end of the Second Floor that were used as the presidential offices before the creation of the West Wing. When the 1902 Grand Staircase was rebuilt during the Truman renovation, it was redirected to open into the Entrance Hall for more dramatic formal descents from the Second Floor. Share This Gallery Entrance Hall Overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue, this hall serves as a grand foyer for the official reception rooms on the State Floor. During events, the United States Marine Band often performs in this location.

Under President Thomas Jefferson , artifacts acquired by explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (1803-6) and Zebulon Pike (1805-7) were displayed in the Entrance Hall. The grand staircase leads from the State Floor to the Second Floor and is used primarily for ceremonial occasions. On the lowest landing, President Ronald Reagan took his second oath of office on January 20, 1985. Since inauguration day fell on a Sunday, a private ceremony was held in the White House that day with the official ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on the Monday following. Until 1902 two large staircases led from the State Floor to the Second Floor. A staircase at the west end of the Cross Hall that led to the Family Quarters was removed in 1902 to enlarge the State Dining Room. The winding staircase to the east of the Entrance Hall led to the rooms on the east end of the Second Floor that were used as the presidential offices before the creation of the West Wing. When the 1902 Grand Staircase was rebuilt during the Truman renovation, it was redirected to open into the Entrance Hall for more dramatic formal descents from the Second Floor.

Share This Gallery East Room The largest room in the house, the East Room was designated by architect James Hoban as the "Public Audience Room.” It normally contains little furniture and traditionally is used for large gatherings, such as press conferences, bill-signing ceremonies, after-dinner entertaining, concerts, weddings, funerals, and award presentations. Five presidential daughters have been married in the room, most recently Lynda Johnson in 1967. During her four-month occupancy of the President’s House in the winter of 1800-1801, Abigail Adams had her laundry hung out to dry in the unfinished East Room. President Thomas Jefferson partitioned the south end as a bedroom and office for his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, later co-leader of the Lewis and Clark expedition. James Madison later met with his cabinet in these southern rooms. The East Room was completed architecturally during the White House’s restoration following its burning in 1814, but the room was not fully furnished until 1829, during Andrew Jackson’s administration . The East Room was the site of frequent activity during the Civil War. Union troops were quartered here for a period.

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln held a large reception here in honor of General Ulysses S. Grant shortly before his appointment as head of all the Union forces. Following his assassination in 1865, Lincoln lay in state in the East Room, as have all of the presidents who died in office with the exception of President James A. Garfield , as the East Room was being renovated at the time of his assassination. In recent history, the East Room has served as the site of many important events including the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson , Gerald Ford’s swearing in as President in 1974, and the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978. On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in this historic room. Green Room Throughout much of its existence, the Green Room has served as a parlor for teas and receptions. Here, Frances Cleveland held her first White House reception, and Edith Roosevelt received guests before the Friday musicales and concerts held in the adjoining East Room. Under Thomas Jefferson , it was a dining room with a green canvas floor cloth.

By 1825, under John Quincy Adams , the room had become the “Green Drawing Room,” named for the color of the draperies and upholsteries. In 1862, Willie Lincoln died in the White House of typhoid fever, and his grieving parents placed his open casket in the Green Room. An account of the time stated that Mrs. Lincoln never again entered the room. The Green Room of the White House, Feb. 18, 2009. (Official WH Photo by Joyce Boghosian) 1 of 21 Painting of Andrew Jackson by Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl, c. 1835 2 of 21 Painting of Benjamin Franklin by David Martin, 1767 3 of 21 Benjamin Franklin, sculpture by National Porcelain Manufactory of Sèvres, c. 1810 4 of 21 Painting of Benjamin Harrison by Jonathan Eastman Johnson, 1895 5 of 21 Farmyard in Winter by George Henry Durrie, 1858 6 of 21 Independence Hall in Philadelphia by Joachim Ferdinand Richardt (Reichardt), c.

1858 7 of 21 Painting of James Knox Polk by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1858 8 of 21 Painting of John Quincy Adams by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1858 9 of 21 Lighter Relieving a Steamboat Aground by George Caleb Bingham, 1847 10 of 21 Painting of Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams (Mrs. John Quincy Adams) by Gilbert Stuart, 1821 11 of 21 Mantel Clock by Dubuc (possibly Jean-Baptiste), c. 1806 12 of 21 Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City by Henry Ossawa Tanner, c. 1885 13 of 21 The Builders by Jacob Lawrence, 1947 15 of 21 The Circus No.

1 by John Marin, 1952 16 of 21 The Mosquito Net by John Singer Sargent, 1912 17 of 21 Three Children by George Bellows, 1919 18 of 21 Painting of William Henry Harrison by James Reid Lambdin, 1835 19 of 21 Work Table attributed to Duncan Phyfe, c. 1810 20 of 21 Work Table attributed to Duncan Phyfe, c. 1810 21 of 21 Share This Gallery Blue Room Architect James Hoban’s 1792 plan for the White House included three stacked oval rooms in the center of the building that form a projecting bow on the south side. This room was known by its shape - "Elliptical", "Oval", or "Circular" - until the color was changed to blue in 1837 under Martin Van Buren and a new name emerged.

When it was completely furnished by First Lady Dolley Madison , the Blue Room became the principal formal drawing room of the White House, and the Madisons received their first guests there on New Year's Day, 1810. Among the objects which Dolley Madison had removed to safety in 1814, before evacuating the house to British troops, were the red velvet draperies hanging in this room. In the refurnishing of the house after the fire of 1814, President and Mrs. James Monroe ordered mahogany furniture for this room, but the purchasing agents in France substituted a 53-piece suite of gilded furniture made in Paris by Pierre-Antoine Bellangé. Although most of this suite was sold at auction in 1860, eight original pieces have been returned to the room since 1961. Although special meetings, luncheons, and dinners have been held in the room, it continues to be used for the purpose first intended - the formal reception room of the White House. It is here that the President and his wife often receive guests during receptions. The first Chinese delegation to present diplomatic credentials was received by President Rutherford B.

Hayes in the Blue Room in 1878. Family events held here include the June 2, 1886 wedding of Grover Cleveland , the only sitting President to marry in the White House. Since 1961 (excepting 1962 and 1969), the principal White House Christmas tree has been placed in the center of the room. Share This Gallery Red Room The most striking element of this room is its vibrant red color scheme. This parlor has been known as the “Red Room” since 1845, when a suite of furniture upholstered in “Crimson Plush” was introduced to the room. During Thomas Jefferson’s occupancy of the White House, the Red Room was called the "President's Anti-chamber," a room set aside for those having appointments with the President, whose office was in the adjacent room now used as the State Dining Room. Since then it has been a favorite of President's wives as their "private parlor" to receive friends and official callers. Inventories of the John Quincy Adams administration note that a pianoforte had been placed in the room.

Musical instruments of various descriptions continued to be played here throughout the 19th century, and White House visitors sometimes referred to it as the "Music Room." Before 19th-century state dinners, the guests would be greeted by the President and his wife in the Red Room. On one such occasion, at a dinner given by out-going President Grant for his successor, Rutherford B. Hayes , guests dined in the State Dining Room unaware that in the Red Room the Chief Justice of the United States had just administered the oath of office to the President-elect while President Grant witnessed the ceremony. Because the 1877 Inauguration Day fell on a Sunday, the oath was administered on Saturday evening with the public ceremonies at the Capital taking place the following Monday. Theodore Roosevelt used the Red Room as a "smoking room" where male guests adjourned after dinner for cigars and brandy. The room continues to be used today as a parlor for guests after dinner and during receptions. Share This Gallery State Dining Room This room was Thomas Jefferson’s Cabinet room and office, where he and his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, planned the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1802.

Since 1809, however, it has served as the State Dining Room, with the smaller Family Dining Room to its north. Prior to its enlargement in 1902, 35-40 guests could be seated at a rectangular dining table, 50-65 at an I-shaped table. In 1902, with the removal of a staircase at this end of the Cross Hall, the State Dining Room was enlarged and completely redesigned for President Theodore Roosevelt . Remaining from that renovation are the oak paneling (first painted in 1952), the three eagle-pedestal side tables, the Queen Anne-style chairs, and the lighting fixtures (gilded in 1961). Wild animal heads that had been hung on the dark wooden walls were removed in the 1920s. Today, using circular tables, as many as 140 guests can dine in the room for formal events. Share This Gallery Ground Floor Corridor Until 1902, the Ground Floor in the White House served as utilitarian space used by servants.

As a result, by the end of the 19th century, James Hoban’s original groin vaulting in the wide corridor of this floor had been cut through in numerous places to accommodate pipes and ducts. The furnace room (now the Diplomatic Reception Room) also jutted into the corridor. When McKim, Mead, & White created a new guest entrance in the East Wing during the 1902 renovation of the White House, they transformed much of the Ground Floor into public space. All intrusions were removed, the vaulting was restored, and the refurbished corridor received rugs and seating furniture. At First Lady Edith Roosevelt’s initiative, two cabinets were purchased for the corridor in 1904 to display pieces of dinner and dessert services used by former presidents. Mrs. Roosevelt also decided to hang portraits of first ladies in this space, inaugurating a tradition that has been retained to the present. Share This Gallery Vermeil Room The room takes its name from the large collection of vermeil (gilded silver) received by the White House in 1958 as a bequest of Margaret Thompson Biddle, selections of which have been on display in this room ever since.

The 1,575 piece collection contains examples of work by the most prominent English and French silversmiths working in the 18th and 19th centuries. Pieces from the vermeil collection are also on display throughout the house. Until the end of the 19th century, Ground Floor rooms were the domain of White House servants, who probably used this room as a bedroom or storeroom. During a complete renovation of the White House for President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, this room became a coat/dressing room for female guests. Later, it was used as an office, waiting room, conference room, and billiard room. Since the Nixon administration, it has served as a sitting room. Share This Gallery China Room Since 1917, the Ground Floor room known as the China Room has been used as an exhibition space for examples of ceramics, glass, and silver used in the White House or owned by the first families. Throughout the 19th century, this room, like the rest of the Ground Floor, had been used by White House servants.

It became a public space in 1902, when it was transformed into a coat/dressing room during the Theodore Roosevelt renovation of the White House. When she became first lady in 1889, Caroline Harrison continued to pursue the Victorian art form of china painting. This hobby and her interest in history (she was the first president of the Daughters of the American Revolution) led her to take an active interest in collecting and preserving White House tableware used in previous administrations. Although she planned to have a cabinet built in the State Dining Room to display examples of White House china services, her idea was not executed before her premature death in 1892, while her husband was running unsuccessfully for re-election. In 1901, Mrs. McKinley allowed journalist Abby Gunn Baker to survey the surviving White House service pieces which resulted in a scholarly article. In 1904, Mrs. Roosevelt ( ) had two cabinets made for the newly refurbished Ground Floor Corridor to display samples of White House china chosen for this purpose by Ms. Baker, and together they publicized their search for past White House tableware and actively collected examples to supplement what had survived at the White House.

Edith Wilson decided to devote an entire room to display the growing collection of White House china, creating the “Presidential Collection Room” in 1917. Abby Gunn Baker was again asked to select and arrange the china, silver, and glassware installed in built-in cabinets around the room. Share This Gallery East Garden Room This room, at the west end of the East Terrace, is the intersection between the Residence and the East Wing. Double doors in the northwest corner provide entry into the Ground Floor Corridor within the original walls of the White House. The glazed south wall is an extension of the East Colonnade facade, with a door opening into the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden. Coming down the colonnade, guests first see an enormous bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln by Gutzon Borglum in a niche in the west wall, to the right of which hang display panels - historic photographs most of the year, official Christmas cards during the holiday season. Large portraits of four former presidents hang on the other two walls. The Colors and Shapes of the White House - White House Historical Association The Colors and Shapes of the White House A Lesson Plan: Grades K – 3 TEACHER'S TEXT: The White House lends itself to an exploration of colors and shapes.

The rooms that visitors see on the first floor are rectangles, squares and ovals. There are also arches and a semi-circular porch. Bold colors are represented in the paint, wallpaper, draperies and furniture upholstery of the rooms. To illustrate this point, three rooms are actually known as the Green Room, the Blue Room and the Red Room. The original designer of the White House, an Irish-born builder named James Hoban, drew a floor plan of the first floor that still survives today. Hoban gave variety to the plan by incorporating (1) a large rectangular East Room suited for large groups of people gathered for receptions; (2) a somewhat smaller rectangular State Dining Room, for public dinners; (3) two square parlors, the Green Room and Red Room; and (4) the oval Blue Room, which was a space for greeting the president and first lady. He expected visitors to move from space to space and enjoy the changing shapes of the rooms. One of the most famous rooms, the president’s Oval Office, was designed in the 20th century and is part of the West Wing. By examining architecture, students can readily see how shapes play a part in their everyday lives.

They can begin to see when certain shapes are more practical than others — a large gathering room is more likely to be rectangular than square. They can also see when creative uses of shapes — like ovals, triangles and arches — add to the beauty of a space. The White House is a building that offers many such lessons. By successfully completing this lesson and accompanying activities, students will: Identify two-dimensional shapes as they are represented in the White House. Recognize colors as they have been applied within the White House. Compare and measure lengths and widths. Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics "The Colors and Shapes of the White House" conforms to standards established for grades K-4 by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Reston, VA, 1989. In grades K-4, the mathematics curriculum should include two- and three-dimensional geometry so that students can Describe, model, draw, and classify shapes, Investigate and predict the results of combining, subdividing, and changing shapes Develop spatial sense Relate geometric ideas to number and measurement ideas Recognize and appreciate geometry in their world. LESSON PLAN: Once you go inside the White House, it is not very white!

Three of the rooms are so colorful that they are called the Green Room, the Blue Room, and the Red Room. And it is not just the walls that are colorful. Look at the carpets, the drapes on the windows, the couches and the chairs. Why are these rooms so colorful? Presidents long ago used these colors in the rooms and most presidents after them did, too. Thomas Jefferson, our third president, had a green carpet in the "Green Room." President Martin van Buren started using blue to decorate the Blue Room in 1837. When John Tyler was president in the 1840s, people started calling the Red Room red. Today, when these rooms are decorated, these colors are still used. You can also find many shapes inside and outside the White House. Rectangles: The State Dining Room and East Room are rectangles. The president and first lady have always had parties and dinners in the White House. In the State Dining Room, 140 people can sit down for dinner. In the East Room, even more people can sit and listen to a concert or a speaker. Big Bird sang with the Marine Band in the East Room! The Cross Hall is also a rectangle.

A hall is a place where many people walk from one room to another. Like all the rooms in the White House, many changes have been made over the years. Here is the Cross Hall in 1889. Another hall at the same time had many shapes on the floor. The Entrance Hall had pretty tiles on the floor made of squares, circles and diamonds. These big rooms are rectangles. If you think about your living room or dining room in your house, it is probably a rectangle too. The biggest rooms in buildings are usually rectangles. Squares The Green Room and Red Room are squares. Small groups of people can meet here. Presidents and first ladies had tea here. Thomas Jefferson ate dinner in the Red Room. These rooms are sometimes called parlors. Ovals There are four oval rooms in the White House. An oval is like an egg. It is not a perfect round circle. It is a little flat on two sides, but has no sharp corners. If the president invited you to dinner or a party, he might meet you in the oval Blue Room. You would shakes hands there and then go to another room that was big enough to hold everyone. A long time ago, people would stand near the walls in a circle.

The president would speak to each person as he walked around the circle. There is another oval room above the Blue Room. This is called the Yellow Oval Room. President John Adams had his first reception in this room. The president works in the Oval Office. He can pick his desk, chairs, couches, and the pictures that hang on the wall. The president has meetings and meets visitors here. He also has another office on the second floor of the White House. Other Shapes There are other shapes in the White House. They help make the building more beautiful. Colors and shapes are important parts of the White House. They are important in all buildings. Now that you have seen colors and shapes in the White House, you can look for them in stores, schools, churches, and other houses. Inside the WH - West Wing Tour | The White House WW tour president letter Letter from the President It is my pleasure to welcome you to the West Wing of the White House. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt relocated his office from the second floor of the residence to this newly constructed building. The West Wing has expanded and undergone several renovations since then, but it has remained the official workplace of the President.

President Thomas Jefferson first opened the White House for public tours because he understood then, as we do now, that this house belongs to the American people. I am proud to continue his tradition. In our country, the halls of government are not reserved for a privileged few, and the President’s workplace should be no exception. Your visit today helps to fulfill my goal of creating the most open and accessible administration in American history. Once again, welcome to the West Wing, and please accept my best wishes for an enjoyable tour. Sincerely, Watch on Youtube This Is A Tour Of The West Wing (In Sign Language) West Wing Receptionist Leah Katz-Hernandez narrates a tour of the West Wing in American Sign Language, visiting the West Wing Lobby, the West Colonnade, the Rose Garden, the White House Press Briefing Room, the Cabinet Room, the Roosevelt Room, and the Oval Office. Watch here for a full audio description. Ground floor 1. Navy Mess The Navy Mess at the White House, June 25, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) Navy Stewards have provided food service to the Commander in Chief since 1880.

The modern White House Navy Mess was established under President Harry S. Truman in 1951. The Navy’s culinary specialists prepare and serve fine foods in the West Wing. Seated reservations are available to senior officials including commissioned officers, Cabinet Secretaries, and their guests. Staff located in the West and East Wing can enjoy food made in the Navy Mess from a take-out window located adjacent to the dining hall. 2. Situation Room The Situation Room of the White House, Dec. 30, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy) President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. Seated, from left, are: Brigadier General Marshall B. “Brad” Webb, Assistant Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command; Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Standing, from left, are: Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; Tony Blinken, National Security Advisor to the Vice President; Audrey Tomason Director for Counterterrorism; John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Please note: a classified document seen in this photograph has been obscured. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) Months after being sworn into office, President John F. Kennedy was confronted with the Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba and insisted that intelligence information feed directly into the White House. The Situation Room was established in 1961 to meet President Kennedy’s request. The current “Sit Room” is a 5,000-square-foot complex of rooms that is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week to monitor national and world intelligence information. Televisions for secure video conferences and technology can link the President to generals and world leaders around the globe. First floor 3. West Colonnade President Barack Obama walks along the Colonnade of the White House to the Oval Office, Feb. 14, 2011.

(Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) Also known as the “45 second commute,” the West Colonnade was built for Thomas Jefferson to run alongside service spaces underneath the West Terrace, such as the ice house and storage rooms for coal and wood. The open columned walkway is now used by the President and his staff to travel between the West Wing and the Executive Residence. 4. Rose Garden & South Lawn State Dinner in the Rose Garden of the White House, June 7, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) President Barack Obama walks through the Rose Garden of the White House with National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, April 14, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) The Rose Garden was created by First Lady Ellen Axson Wilson in 1913. It was redesigned by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to serve as a Presidential reception area. President Nixon’s daughter, Tricia Nixon Cox, was married here in 1971. Marine One arrives at the South Lawn of the White House, Nov. 2, 2011.

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) The South Lawn is the site of the President’s Marine One arrivals and departures and includes the White House tennis court, putting green, and, as of March 2009, a kitchen garden. The White House Kitchen Garden includes over 50 kinds of vegetables, as well as berries, herbs, and a beehive. 5. Cabinet Room President Barack Obama holds a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Jan. 31, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) In the Cabinet Room, the President meets with the Cabinet Secretaries, members of Congress, the National Security Council, and foreign Heads of State on topics ranging from energy efficiency to national security. When the President meets around the large mahogany table with the Cabinet Secretaries, each is assigned a chair based on the date their department was established with the oldest Cabinet departments seated closest to the center. The President sits at the center of the table with his back to the Rose Garden doors and opposite the Vice President. As a reflection of their inspiration and governing style, Presidents select the portraits that hang in the Cabinet Room. In May 2009, President Obama chose Frank O.

Salisbury’s portrait of President Harry S. Truman to join the portraits of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt already displayed in the room. 6. Oval Office President Barack Obama works at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Feb. 11, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) As the official office of the President and his primary place of work, the Oval Office provides the President with easy access to his senior advisors and the Executive Residence. Beyond its distinctive shape, the most famous feature of the Oval Office is the Resolute Desk. Made from timbers of the H.M.S. Resolute – a British navy ship – it was presented by Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880. Since then, the desk has been used by every President with the exception of Presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Ford. Other notable furnishings in the Oval Office are the two paintings that flank the south windows. The Avenue in the Rain by Childe Hassam, 1917, depicts Fifth Avenue in New York City adorned with flags and banners in support of the Allied war effort during World War I.

The Statue of Liberty by Norman Rockwell was prepared for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post to commemorate the Fourth of July in 1946. Each President decorates the Oval Office to suit his tastes, but some features remain constant including the white marble mantel from the original 1909 President’s Office, the Presidential Seal on the ceiling, and the two flags behind the President’s desk – the U.S. Flag and the President’s Flag. In addition to covering the walls with hand-painted striped wallpaper, President Obama added a new oval-shaped rug, which is made of 25% recycled wool. This rug features the Presidential Seal in the center and five historical quotations of meaning by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy around its border. 7. Roosevelt Room The Roosevelt Room occupies the original location of President Theodore Roosevelt’s office when the West Wing was built in 1902. This room was once called the Fish Room because President Franklin D. Roosevelt used it to display an aquarium and his fishing mementos.

In 1969, President Nixon named the room in honor of Theodore Roosevelt for building the West Wing and Franklin D. Roosevelt for its expansion. On the southeast wall hangs President Theodore Roosevelt’s Congressional Medal of Honor awarded posthumously on January 16, 2001 to honor his heroism in the Spanish-American War in 1898. To the left of the fireplace hangs President Theodore Roosevelt’s Nobel Peace Prize, awarded in 1906, for his mediation of the Russo-Japanese War peace settlement. This was the first Nobel Prize awarded to an American. 8. West Wing Lobby The West Wing Lobby of the White House, Dec. 30, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy) The West Wing lobby is the reception room for visitors of the President, Vice President, and White House staff. The current lobby was renovated by Richard Nixon in 1970 to provide a smaller, more intimate receiving space. The large gilt clock was likely created from assembled parts (both old and new) to imitate an early nineteenth century clock, similar to those used in churches and other public buildings.

The artist inscribed the name “Simon Willard,” an important clock maker at the turn of the nineteenth century. The English-made mahogany bookcase (c.1770) is one of the oldest pieces of furniture in the White House collection. Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) by Emanuel Leutze and Eastman Johnson is a recreation of Leutze’s monumental life-size painting of the same subject. The painting has numerous historical inaccuracies, including the depiction of the American flag which was designed more than a year after the crossing took place. Vernal Falls is an 1889 view of a waterfall in the Yosemite Valley in California by Thomas Hill. Belonging to the permanent White House collection, this painting complements the c.1881 view of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone by Albert Bierstadt that hangs on the same west wall of the reception room. 9. James S. Brady Press Briefing Room President Barack Obama gives a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, June 23, 2009.

(Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy) During the Nixon Administration, more space was required to accommodate the growing press corps. Therefore, in 1970, the briefing room was constructed on top of the emptied pool that was installed for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s physical therapy. In 2000, the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room was named in honor of former Press Secretary James Brady. He was shot and disabled during a 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Today, the current White House press corps is made up of about 200 members. With just 49 chairs (arranged 7 by 7), it is up to the White House Correspondents Association to decide who gets these coveted seats. A plaque on each seat displays the name of the news organization to which it is assigned. Who Paid for Jacqueline Kennedy’s Historical Restoration of the White House? Who Paid for Jacqueline Kennedy’s Historical Restoration of the White House? by Carl Anthony on November 29, 2015 Jacqueline Kennedy in the Red Room, following her restoration of the mansion.

(CNN) This article is a more full explanation based on a response to a recent public inquiry about whether the federal government underwrote the cost of Jacqueline Kennedy’s legendary historical refurnishing of the White House, a project she began almost immediately upon becoming First Lady in 1961. Facing a CBS camera, Jacqueline Kennedy narrating the story of her White House restoration for the public, during her televised tour of the rooms showing her efforts. (CNN) From the very onset of her vision for making the White House not only a showcase of presidential history and the finest examples of Americana but, more subtly, a “classroom” of sorts, to be used to tell the story of democracy at a time of Cold War conflict with the Soviet Union’s promotion of communism, Mrs. Kennedy determined that it could be done without expense to the American taxpayers. She first organized a volunteer committee of national experts on different aspects of furnishings from the founding period of the United States and named as its chairman, Henry DuPont, a Republican – thus diffusing any potential conflict raised by political partisanship. Mrs. Kennedy and her committee.

(JFKL) With not only the wealth but the contacts throughout the high-end antique collecting world, the committee was able to solicit donations or raise funds to purchase many of the White House’s most prized and rarest of objects. After seeking the advice of White House counselor Clark Clifford, Jackie Kennedy decided to establish a privately run foundation, still in place today, called the White House Historical Association. In there Treaty Room, Mrs. Kennedy with Vice President Johnson and Senate leaders during a ceremony during which they presented a donated chandelier that had been in the Capitol but was once in the White House. (JFKL) This permitted her to accept cash donations from the public to underwrite the project as well as donations of historical furnishings to be used in what is considered to be the public parts of the presidential mansion: the ground floor parlors (the library, vermeil room, china room), and the first floor state rooms (The East Room, Red Room, Green Room, Blue Room, State Dining Room, Family Dining Room, Cross Hallway, North Entrance Hall). The Kennedys in the second floor Yellow Oval Room.

(JFKL) It also covered the quasi-private second floor bedroom suites and study (the Lincoln Suite, the Queen’s Suite, the Treaty Room). The private, family quarters of the White House on the west side of the second floor and all of the third floor were redecorated with the traditional congressional appropriation provided by Congress to each new, incoming presidential family. At the ceremony during which Jacqueline Kennedy was presented with the first copy of the White House guidebook, the President takes a peek. (WHHA) Although this “redecoration” is always considered in overviews as part of the dramatic visual change she coordinated throughout the White House, the federal funding for it cannot correctly be considered part of her “project.” She also created a vehicle which not only made her process and the results of it entirely accessible to the public in a tangible, permanent form, by having the WHHA publish the first edition of a color-illustrated booklet, The White House: An Historic Guide. The completed Kennedy Green Room. (JFKL) The booklet, still in print through many editions for over half a century, was sold at a nominal fee and all the proceeds went to the WHHA to underwrite the cost of purchases and upkeep.

The color photography work was done by the National Geographic Society without charge. Lastly, one of the key components to the success of launching the “restoration” project was bringing on a professionally trained curator. Mrs. Kennedy with Lorraine Pearce sorting through donated items. (Life) Of all she did, Jackie Kennedy said she was proudest of the historic restoration. (LIFE) Although the White House was first and foremost a home, as well as being a working office and public entertaining space, by its very nature it was also an historical site. Certainly some have argued that, having been gutted and girded from within by new steel beaming, a job only completed in 1952 that the White House that Jacqueline Kennedy moved into was, in fact, a 9-year old modern building. Mrs. Kennedy in the curator’s office looking over a blueprint of the mansion. (Life) However, the warehouses full of accumulated historical furnishings acquired in previous administrations dating back to the mid-19th century, as well as the still-standing four original walls made it, at the least, a museum. Mrs. Kennedy moving furnishings with federal government maintenance personnel in the Blue Room.

(Life) To not only begin the research and restoring of incoming, donated antiques but also maintain the existing collection in a professional manner, a curator was essential. During her tenure, there would be three who held the position. The first two were professionals requisitioned to work at the White House from the federal government’s Smithsonian Institution staff. Lorraine Pearce, the second to hold that position, worked closely with Mrs. Kennedy as the project got underway. The First Lady adjusts a chair’s placement in the Green Room. (LIFE) An office space to conduct the work was not leased; instead the “broadcast” room used during by Presidents and First Ladies in the Administrations that immediately preceded the Kennedy one, was converted into the curator’s office. The small space, though expanded to some degree, continues to serve as the work space of the White House curatorial staff. The White House Curator became an official federal position towards the end of the Kennedy Administration. Thus, the third person to hold that role, James R. Ketchum, was the first to be specifically granted a federal salary and work directly as part of the White House staff. Mrs. Kennedy guiding her television tour through the State Dining Room.

(AP) This position continues to this day and is technically the only extra federal cost generated by Jacqueline Kennedy’s innovations. Finally, the White House and all of its furnishings continue to be cared for, protected and cleaned by household staff professionals who are also federally-salaried. Whether it would be antique furniture, draperies, rugs, china, clocks, food service silver utensils and other items or modern ones bought at a department store, however, the maintenance it all would still be a necessity. The Queen’s Sitting Room is the only space in the White House which still looks as Jackie Kennedy planned it. (WHHA) Today, the White House Historical Association and the White House Curator remain as Jacqueline Kennedy’s enduring legacy to the nation, the direct result of her vision for the first house of the country. In the half a century since her work, the rooms have been renovated and redecorated several times. However, in one private corner of the White House, tucked away on the second floor at the northeast end, the Queen’s Sitting Room has remained unchanged, a more personal tribute to her personal touch.

Rooms of the White House Rooms of the White House The White House Rooms of the White House How many rooms in the White House does the President of the United States use? Every student in the United States has to learn about the White House, the seat of power for the United States, but it’s not often covered just how many rooms in the White House there are or what they’re used for. Brief History of the White House The White House is an institution; a symbol of the freedom and strength of the United States. It is also the residence of presidents and their families. The White House has not always been the seat of executive power in the United States. The first capitol was located in Philadelphia and then, for a very brief time, in New York until construction was completed. It wasn’t until December, 1790, when President Washington signed an Act of Congress in order to declare that government would be located in a district that would not be more than 10 square miles and would be on the river Potomac that Washington D.C. came into existence. The White House began construction over the following decade, but would not be completed until after Washington’s death in 1799.

The White House survived not one, but two fires. The first fire came at the hands of the British in 1814 during the war of 1812. In 1929 a fire erupted in the West Wing during Herbert Hoover’s term as President. Harry S. Truman and family were living in Blair House (located across from the White House) for much of his presidency because the majority of the interior was gutted and under renovation. If you look closely you can see the discoloration of some of the bricks used in the White House due to the 1814 fire. How Many Rooms Does the White House Have Today? The White House is a legitimate mansion and, as such, has many rooms. Currently there are 132 rooms in the White House and there are also 35 bathrooms, 6 floors (levels). Plenty of doors at 412, lots of windows at 147, plenty of warmth from 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases and 3 elevators. There are even a few secret passageways that lead under the White House and a secret bunker that was allegedly used by President John F. Kennedy.

Aside from these fun facts here are the rooms in the White House that have actual functionality: The Blue Room: One of three parlors that is located on the first floor. It is oval in shape and is used for receptions, receiving lines and sometimes the place for small dinners. This is one of the original rooms in James Hobel’s design. The Green Room: Another parlor on the first floor; the Green Room is also oval and used for receptions, receiving lines and small dinners. Cocktails are served in the parlors before the President and First Lady descend the Grand Staircase. The Red Room: The third parlor on the first floor of the White house. The Red Room is a parlor and music room that is used for small dinner parties at rare times. The Cabinet Room: Located in the West Wing of the White and adjacent to the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room is where the secretaries and advisors gather to hold audience with the President. James S. Brady Press Briefing Room: This is a small theater in the West Wing where daily briefings are held by the press secretary. The President sometimes addresses the press and nation.

Roosevelt Room: Located in the West Wing; almost nearly center of it, this room acts as the official workplace of the President. China Room: A collection of state china is on display here and covers pieces from President Washington’s Chinese china to President Clinton’s china which commemorates the 200th anniversary of the occupancy of the White House. The First Lady generally makes use of this room for tea, meeting and small receptions. State Dining Room: This room is used when head of state come to visit and a formal dining setting is needed. Treaty Room: One of the rooms used by the First Family, the Treat Room is primarily used by the President as a study. Lincoln Bedroom: Most likely the most well known room other than the Oval Office, the Lincoln Bedroom was used as Lincoln’s office. Today it is primarily an award from president’s to their friends and supporters and used as a guest suite. Lincoln Sitting Room: Interestingly enough the Lincoln Sitting Room was used as the telegraph room from 1865 to 1902. The East Room: Used as the chief area for entertaining the East Room is also the largest room in the White House.

Map Room: Located on the ground floor of the White House the Map Room got its name from Franklin Roosevelt’s use of it during World War II. He used it as a situation room where maps of troop movements were hung. Oval Office: By far the most famous room of the White House the Oval Office is the official office of the President. It was created in 1909 as an expansion to the West Wing during the serving of President Taft. It was modeled after the Blue Room. By Stephanie Stiavetti China Room - White House Museum China Room The China Room in 2006 ( Ejconkey ) The China Collection see the collection Once the quarters of a fireman hired by Martin Van Buren to stoke the massive furnace in today's Diplomatic Reception Room , McKim made it a cloakroom in 1902. The "Presidential Collection Room" was designated by Mrs. Woodrow Wilson in 1917 to display the growing collection of White House china. Up to that time, presidential china was regularly sold at auction to help fund the purchase of new china. Even so, almost every past president is represented in the China Room either by state or family china or glassware.

The collection is arranged chronologically, beginning to the right of the fireplace. The portrait of Grace Coolidge This room is about 27 1/2 feet by 20 1/2 feet. It was was redecorated in 1970, retaining the traditional red color scheme determined by the portrait of Mrs. Calvin Coolidge—painted by Howard Chandler Christy in 1924. Its red theme continues in the red velvet-lined cabinets, silk taffeta draperies and the early 20th-century Indo-Ispahan rug. The cut-glass chandelier, made about 1800, is in the English Regency style. Flanking the portrait of Mrs. Coolidge are Chippendale sidechairs used by President George Washington in the earlier presidential residences in New York and Philadelphia. The painting above the mantel, "View on the Mississippi Fifty-Seven Miles Below St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis", was completed by Ferdinand Richardt in 1858—the year Minnesota achieved statehood. Of this room, Mrs. Hoover wrote : But the China Room in the Hoover era had besides its museum use a human role.

In winter the President's morning ball cabinet met there for its after-game fruit and coffee and administrative gossip, before family breakfast table claimed the players.

Reagan and Clinton china on display in 2000 (Nick Valenziano) The China Room, circa 1999 The China Room in 1992, looking southwest (HABS) The China Room in 1992, looking northeast (HABS) The China Room in 1992, looking northeast ( HABS ) Barbara Bush helps Millie put her pawprint on a holiday greeting card in 1991 ( White House ) The China Room in 1975 (White House Historical Association) Luci Johnson in 1966, looking north ( Life ) The China Room in 1964 (Kennedy Library) The Kennedy China Room, around late 1962 (James Archer Abbot collection) The China Room in May, 1962 ( Kennedy Library - Robert Knudsen) The China Room in 1960 ( Kennedy Library - Robert Knudsen) Mamie shows off the the china around 1959 Guests visit the room in 1958 ( Life ) The room in the Eisenhower era, circa 1957 ( Eisenhower Library ) The China Room in the Truman era, circa 1

954 (White House postcard) The China Room in 1952, before paint (Truman Library) The China Room in 1948, before the Truman reconstruction , looking east (Truman Library) The China Room in 1948, before the Truman reconstruction, looking southwest ( Truman Library ) The China Room in 1944 ( Life ) The China Room around 1930, during the Hoover era, with portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln ( NARA ) The China Room around 1927 The China Room in 1918 (White House) Men's Lavatory The China Room provides access to a men's lavatory.

When it was first added, it was a women's lavatory, and the ladies' room off the Vermeil Room was a men's room. Men's Lavatory in 2000 (Nick Valenziano) The men's lavatory accessible from the China Room, in 1992 (HABS)

Question: In which famous building are rooms named Vermeil, China, Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow Oval?
Answer: The Whitehouse