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The Blue Room with the Yellow Oval Room above and the Diplomatic Reception Room below it, form the most elegant space of James Hoban's plans for the White House. For the south wall of the Blue Room, he designed French doors flanked by long windows. Since the time of President Thomas Jefferson, this oval room has been used for receptions.
James Hoban, the original architect of the President's House, intended that the space now called the "Green Room" be used as a "Common Dining Room." An 1801 inventory revealed that first residents President and Mrs. John Adams actually used it as a guest bedchamber. However, the next chief executive, Thomas Jefferson, did serve meals in this room. Jefferson may have foreshadowed
The Cross Hall and large Entrance Hall are at the center of the original plan by James Hoban for the state floor of the White House. The basic floor plan has not been altered substantially, although modifications have been made to the design and placement of the principle staircases. The plan is arranged so that the Cross Hall connects all
Ascending from the Ground Floor Corridor, a marble stairway leads the White House visitor to the state floor level. Off the landing to the right is the East Room. The largest of the state rooms, it was designed by James Hoban and George Washington to be a "Public Audience Room."
This video showcases the afternoon session of the White House Gardens Symposium on May 2, 2019. The White House Gardens Symposium was a day-long event, hosted by the White House Historical Association and Rachel Mellon’s Oak Spring Garden Foundation, featuring the history and development of the White House gardens, specifically the West and East Gardens. This informative gathering brought together experts in
This video showcases the luncheon speaker of the White House Gardens Symposium on May 2, 2019. The White House Gardens Symposium was a day-long event, hosted by the White House Historical Association and Rachel Mellon’s Oak Spring Garden Foundation, featuring the history and development of the White House gardens, specifically the West and East Gardens. This informative gathering brought together experts in
This video showcases the morning session of the White House Gardens Symposium on May 2, 2019. The White House Gardens Symposium was a day-long event, hosted by the White House Historical Association and Rachel Mellon’s Oak Spring Garden Foundation, featuring the history and development of the White House gardens, specifically the West and East Gardens. This informative gathering brought together experts in
The White House Historical Association's first lecture in our series "White House History with Ann Compton" on February 19, 2019, featured Dr. William I. Hitchcock, author of The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s. Dr. Hitchcock presented a portrait of the president as an engaged and thoughtful leader who profoundly shaped the nation's destiny for decades to come.
The White House Historical Association's second lecture in our series "White House History with Ann Compton" featured Rebecca Roberts, author of Suffragists in Washington, DC: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote. This lecture was hosted in conjunction with the Supreme Court Historical Society and the U.S. Capitol Historical Society as part of the National Heritage Lecture and
