Family Dining Room
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: The Family Dining Room is a
dining room A dining room is a room (architecture), room for eating, consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically ...
located on the State Floor of the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
, the
official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...
of the
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
. The room is used for smaller, more private meals than those served in the
State Dining Room The State Dining Room is the larger of two dining rooms on the State Floor of the Executive Residence of the White House, the home of the president of the United States in Washington, D.C. It is used for receptions, luncheons, larger formal dinne ...
. Used in the 1800s as a space for the First Family to have their meals, the Family Dining Room was used less for family meals and more for working lunches and small dinners in the 20th and 21st centuries. (Family dinners are now more often served on the Second Floor in the
President's Dining Room The President's Dining Room is a dining room located in the northwest corner of the second floor of the White House. It is located directly above the Family Dining Room on the State Floor and looks out upon the North Lawn. The Dining Room is ad ...
.)


Creation

Architect
James Hoban James Hoban (1755 – December 8, 1831) was an Irish-American architect, best known for designing the White House. Life James Hoban was a Roman Catholic raised on Desart Court estate belonging to the Earl of Desart near Callan, County Kilkenny ...
1792 design for the White House featured a Grand Stair in the western part of the mansion on the State Floor. Not completed when the White House was occupied in 1800, the Grand Stairs were probably finished by architect
Benjamin Henry Latrobe Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, draw ...
in 1803 or shortly thereafter. To the north of this wing was a Public Dining Room and (between the dining room and the entrance hall) a Porter's Lodge and a narrow, winding Private Stair. To the south of the Grand Stair was a smaller room, to be used as a Cabinet Room or President's Library. To the east of this room was a President's Antechamber (later known as the Red Room). An oval-shaped Drawing Room (now the Blue Room) and a Common Dining Room (now the
Green Room In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre or similar venue that functions as a waiting room and lounge for performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on stage. Green rooms typically have ...
) served as additional dining and living space. During the presidential administration of
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
, the Common Dining Room rather than the Public Dining Room was used primarily for family meals. At Jefferson's request, Latrobe drafted plans for altering the State Floor. In 1807, he proposed turning the Porter's Lodge into a
sitting room In Western architecture, a living room, also called a lounge room ( Australian English), lounge (British English), sitting room (British English), or drawing room, is a room for relaxing and socializing in a residential house or apartment ...
, and partitioning the Public Dining Room. The eastern part of the room would contain a toilet and dressing room, while the western two-thirds of the room would become a bedroom. Latrobe envisioned this as private space for the president to use during the day, or as quarters for a high-ranking presidential aide. Latrobe's changes, however, were never implemented.


1817 recreation

Following the
Burning of Washington The Burning of Washington was a British invasion of Washington City (now Washington, D.C.), the capital of the United States, during the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812. It is the only time since the American Revolutionary War that a ...
and the near-destruction of the White House in 1814, the State Floor was rebuilt. This 1817 recreation saw the old Cabinet Room/Presidential Library turned into the State Dining Room, and the President's Antechamber into a Yellow Parlor. The Public Dining Room now became the Private Dining Room. The room was partitioned to make it smaller, and the western third of the room turned into a
pantry A pantry is a room or cupboard where beverages, food, and sometimes dishes, household cleaning products, linens or provisions are stored within a home or office. Food and beverage pantries serve in an ancillary capacity to the kitchen. Etymol ...
. President
James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...
gave
State Dinners A state banquet is an official banquet hosted by the head of state in his or her official residence for another head of state, or sometimes head of government, and other guests. Usually as part of a state visit or diplomatic conference, it is h ...
in the Private Dining Room from 1817 to 1825, and subsequent presidents used it as a formal dining room for the First Family or as a space for official but small official events. An 1829, 18-light chandelier (fueled by
whale oil Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Whale oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tears, tear" or "drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil obtained from the ...
and of unknown make) was moved from the East Room into the State Dining Room in 1834 to provide light. In time, the term "Family Dining Room" began to replace the name "Private Dining Room." In 1869, President
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
rebuilt the Grand Stair. Now, only a single staircase led up the north wall to the landing, while a second stair on the south wall led from the landing to the Second Floor. Because so much new room was created on the landing by this renovation, this area on the State Floor became known as the West Sitting Hall. In 1880, during the administration of
Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...
, First Lady
Lucy Webb Hayes Lucy Ware Hayes ( née Webb; August 28, 1831 – June 25, 1889) was the wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes and served as first lady of the United States from 1877 to 1881. Hayes was the first First Lady to have a college degree. She was a ...
purchased a large mahogany table and a
sideboard A sideboard, also called a buffet, is an item of furniture traditionally used in the dining room for serving food, for displaying serving dishes, and for storage. It usually consists of a set of cabinets, or cupboards, and one or more drawers ...
from Henry L. Fry of
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
. The table was transformed into a
console table A console table is a table whose top surface is supported by corbels or brackets rather than by the usual four legs. It is thus similar to a supported shelf and is not designed to serve as a stand-alone surface. It is frequently used as pier tab ...
two years later. During the first administration of President
Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A ...
, the D.C. firm of W. B. Moses & Son manufactured a large table for the dining room, which could be extended with leaves, and a mahogany sideboard. An
oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
sideboard was supplied by John C. Knipp & Brothers of Baltimore. Eighteen leather-upholstered dining room chairs were ordered in 1882 from Hertz Brothers of New York, and another 12 more in 1883. A few years later, 22 copies of these chairs were manufactured by Daniel G. Hatch & Company of Washington, D.C. But by 1901, these 40 chairs were moved to the State Dining Room.


1902 Roosevelt redesign

The White House was extensively renovated in 1902, during which the Stair Hall and its staircase were demolished and the State Dining Room expanded northward. Renovations by architect
Charles Follen McKim Charles Follen McKim (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the partn ...
during the administration of
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
architecturally transformed the Family Dining Room. Using White House architect James Hoban's groin vaulted ground floor hall ceilings as a model, McKim installed a similar
groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: L ...
ceiling. The surface was articulated with a low relief plaster
meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...
(Greek key) and
five-pointed star A five-pointed star (☆), geometrically an equilateral concave decagon, is a common ideogram in modern culture. Comparatively rare in classical heraldry, it was notably introduced for the flag of the United States in the Flag Act of 1777 and ...
decoration, and an eagle within a
laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a sy ...
on the east wall above the mantel. McKim commissioned the Boston furniture manufacturer
A. H. Davenport and Company A. H. Davenport and Company was a late 19th-century, early 20th-century American furniture manufacturer, cabinetmaker, and interior decoration firm. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it sold luxury items at its showrooms in Boston and New York Ci ...
to build a somewhat overscaled
Federal-style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...
sideboard, china cabinet, and dining table. Reproduction Chippendale-style sidechairs replaced the series of Victorian chairs used in the nineteenth century. The style combined both Jacobean and Chippendale styles. McKim also ordered a new mahogany console table based on Anthony Quervelle's 1829 console table (made for the East Room, but since about 1860 having stood in the Family Dining Room), and a new mirror. To light the room, McKim hired Edward F. Caldwell & Co. of New York to design a new chandelier and wall sconces for the room. The chandelier design was copied from 18th-century English and French chandeliers, and cut glass was used for the chandelier and wall sconces.


1952 Truman reconstruction

A photograph of the ceiling area taken while the room was being dismantled previous to the Truman reconstruction, shows the simple c. 1818 moulding and several pieces of Victorian era wall paper. Plaster decoration and wood trim was removed from the room with the intention of reinstalling it after the reconstruction. Like much of the salvaged wood and plaster from the house, it was pronounced unusable. McKim's groin vaulted ceiling and plaster decoration was copied, along with the Greek key, stars and large eagle ornament. Most of McKim's
Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...
furniture was returned to the room.


1961 Kennedy restoration

During the Kennedy restoration the room was designed largely by
Sister Parish Sister Parish (born Dorothy May Kinnicutt; July 15, 1910 – September 8, 1994) was an American interior decorator and socialite. She was the first practitioner brought in to decorate the Kennedy White House, a position soon entrusted to French int ...
who asked preservation architect Robert Raley, a consulting architect to
Henry Francis du Pont Henry Francis du Pont (May 27, 1880 – April 11, 1969) was an American horticulturist, collector of early American furniture and decorative arts, breeder of Holstein Friesian cattle, and scion of the powerful du Pont family. Converted into ...
's
Winterthur Museum Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Pronounced “winter-tour," Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana (culture), Americana in the United States. The museum and es ...
, to assess the room. Raley considered the room to be very strong and in keeping with the White House's time of construction. He made two proposals which were followed: the removal of moulding that organized the walls into a series of upper and lower panels; and the lowering of the window height by extending a cornice across the north wall of the room. These changes had the dual effect of unifying the room and giving the vaulted ceiling more presence. Parish had the walls painted a soft yellow, and yellow silk curtains, tied back twice with ornamental cords and
tassel A tassel is a finishing feature in fabric and clothing decoration. It is a universal ornament that is seen in varying versions in many cultures around the globe. History and use In the Hebrew Bible, the Lord spoke to Moses instructing him to ...
s, installed within the frame of the windows. French interior designer
Stéphane Boudin Stéphane Boudin (28 October 1888 – 18 October 1967) was a French interior designer and a president of Maison Jansen, the influential Paris-based interior decorating firm. Boudin is best known for being asked by U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kenn ...
had recommended a similar treatment by her in the
Yellow Oval Room The Yellow Oval Room is an oval room located on the south side of the second floor in the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. First used as a drawing room in the John Adams administration, it has been used ...
. A series of mantels and chandeliers were tried, finally resulting in permanent installation of a late Louis XVI green marble mantelpiece with a carved eagle and festoons in white marble. This mantel was acquired for the Yellow Oval Room but proved too small for the scale of that room. Baseboard trim was painted to match the green marble of the mantel, and Federal period dining and side chairs installed. Several pieces of early 19th-century furniture, made in Maryland, were also added to the room. The Kennedy alterations were both praised and criticized. Patrick Phillips-Schrock, writing in 2013, noted that the room's "furniture, fireplace and fixtures serve the space well" and praised the lowering of the upper sill of the window to more correctly match the cornice line of the room. But he harshly disapproved of the room's painting scheme (calling it a "Yellow Fever Epidemic"), and called the insertion of a
register Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), the ...
in the frame above the room's northeast door "in incredibly poor taste". In 1981, First Lady
Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in N ...
hired Ted Graber to update the Kennedy design slightly. Yellow silk draperies based on an English Regency pattern were installed to cover the window frames. Reagan also had the chairs reupholstered and the carpet replaced. A silver mirror plateau, made in New York by John W. Forbes about 1820, was placed on the table.


2015 Obama redecoration

In February 2015, a newly redecorated Old Family Dining Room was unveiled. The redecoration marked the first time since the Kennedy administration that the room was entirely renovated. The room was repainted a light gray to make it look more airy. The room's new style is Mid-Century American, and features a rug, artwork, table, gilded metal and glass wall light sconces, and tea service typical of mid-20th century American design. Some elements of the room were retained, such as the buffet table. New red drapes, influenced by the 1961 Kennedy redesign but less formal, graced the windows. The room's new brown, beige, black, and white rug has a design adapted from the 1950 work ''Black, White, and Gray'' by textile artist
Anni Albers Anni Albers (born Annelise Elsa Frieda Fleischmann; June 12, 1899 – May 9, 1994) was a German textile artist and printmaker credited with blurring the lines between traditional craft and art. Early life and education Anni Albers was born Ann ...
. The silver tea service was manufactured by Graff, Washbourne, & Dunn of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and was manufactured for the
1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...
. The service is accompanied by
ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
,
porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
, and glass servingware. The World's Fair servingware and other 20th century American tableware are on display in the Philadelphia bookcase (which is against the south wall), while the tea service is on display on the
sideboard A sideboard, also called a buffet, is an item of furniture traditionally used in the dining room for serving food, for displaying serving dishes, and for storage. It usually consists of a set of cabinets, or cupboards, and one or more drawers ...
on the west wall. A mirror replaced C. Gregory Stapko's 1952 portrait of
Frances Folsom Cleveland Frances Clara Cleveland Preston ( née Folsom born as Frank Clara; July 21, 1864 – October 29, 1947) was an American socialite, education activist, and the first lady of the United States from 1886 to 1889, and again from 1893 to 1897 as ...
over the fireplace in the east wall. The mirror has a historic connection to the room: It was present in the room in 1901 when President Theodore Roosevelt hosted a dinner attended by
Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...
. (The informal event triggered protests by racists who opposed African Americans as guests in the White House.) A 1902 portrait of
Edith Roosevelt Edith Kermit Roosevelt (née Carow; August 6, 1861 – September 30, 1948) was the second wife of President Theodore Roosevelt and the First Lady of the United States from 1901 to 1909. She also was the Second Lady of the United States in 1901. ...
by Theobald Chartran was taken down from the west wall, and the 1998
Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...
work ''Early Bloomer nagram (A Pun)' took its place. On the north wall, a mirror was removed and replaced with the 1966
Alma Thomas Alma Woodsey Thomas (September 22, 1891 – February 24, 1978) was an African-American artist and teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and is now recognized as a major American painter of the 20th century. Thomas is best known for t ...
work ''Resurrection''. On the south wall are two paintings by
Josef Albers Josef Albers (; ; March 19, 1888March 25, 1976) was a German-born artist and educator. The first living artist to be given a solo show at MoMA and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he taught at the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College, ...
: the 1963 ''Study for Homage to the Square: Asking'' and the 1966 ''Homage to the Square''.


Use of the Family Dining Room

President
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
and his family used the Family Dining Room frequently. Presidents throughout the 1800s and 1900s continued to use it for private family dining, but nearly all disliked it, finding it too cavernous. In 1961, First Lady
Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A po ...
had a new kitchen and
President's Dining Room The President's Dining Room is a dining room located in the northwest corner of the second floor of the White House. It is located directly above the Family Dining Room on the State Floor and looks out upon the North Lawn. The Dining Room is ad ...
created on the
Second Floor A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US). T ...
of the White House, which largely ended the practice of the First Family eating in the Family Dining Room. After the assassination of President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
on November 22, Jacqueline Kennedy asked that a
Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
be held in the White House at 10:00 AM on November 23.
White House Chief Usher The White House chief usher is the head of household staff and operations at the White House, the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States of America. The position is currently held by Robert B. Downing, wh ...
J. B. West initially had the Family Dining Room set for this service. But Jacqueline Kennedy asked that the Mass be moved, and it was held in the State Dining Room instead. (A second Mass, held on November 24 at 11:15 AM, was held in the
East Room The East Room is an event and reception room in the Executive Residence, which is a building of the White House complex, the home of the president of the United States. The East Room is the largest room in the Executive Residence; it is used for ...
.) During the presidency of
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, the annual White House Seder was held in the Family Dining Room. President Obama would host the traditional meal for
Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...
. When events are held in the State Dining Room, the Family Dining Room is often used as a pantry. Since the White House kitchen is on the mansion's
Ground Floor A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US). T ...
, this helps alleviate many of the inconveniences which occur when moving food, china, and serving dishes up to the State Floor. On February 10, 2015, the Family Dining Room was opened to the public for the first time as part of the White House Tour.


References

;Notes ;Citations


Bibliography

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Further reading

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