Green Room (White House) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Green Room (White House) |
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The Green Room, in an undated photo, likely created between 1860 and 1880, and then used as a Presidential study.
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| Location | 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20500 |
| Built | circa 1800 |
| Built for | Common Dining Room |
| Rebuilt | 1816 (after the British burned the White House in 1814) and 1904 by McKim, Mead & White, both in French Empire styles. |
| Restored | Coolidge-appointed committee of Colonial Revival and Federal furniture experts in 1926. Subsequent work by Maison Jansen in 1961 and Clement Conger in 1971 further refined that restoration. |
| Architect | James Hoban |
| Architectural style(s) | Early American Colonial Revival and Federal style |
| Governing body | The White House Office of the Curator, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, the White House Historical Association and the White House Endowment Trust |
The Green Room is one of three special rooms on the first floor of the White House. This famous building is the home of the President of the United States. The Green Room is used for smaller parties and tea gatherings. When there's a big state dinner, guests gather here for drinks before the President and First Lady come down for dinner.
This room is always decorated with different shades of green. It's about 28 feet long and 22.5 feet wide. It has six doors that lead to other parts of the White House, like the Cross Hall, East Room, South Portico, and Blue Room.
We don't know much about how the room looked when it was first built around 1800. It was probably decorated in the popular French Empire style of that time. Later, President Calvin Coolidge wanted to make the room look more like it did when the White House was first built. He asked experts to help restore it to an earlier American style.
First Lady Jackie Kennedy continued this work in 1961. She created the White House Historical Association to help collect important American historical items. Congress also passed a law that made the White House furnishings official property of the White House. This helped protect and preserve the items like a museum.
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Early Green Room Styles
We don't have many details about how the Green Room looked before a fire in 1814. After the White House was rebuilt in 1816, records show the room had French Empire furniture. President James Madison likely bought these items. For most of the 1800s, the room was decorated in different "revival" styles.
1902 Changes by President Roosevelt
In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt hired architects to make big changes to the White House. They redecorated many rooms, including the Green Room. For this room, they chose to copy the French Empire style from the 1820s.
They moved a fireplace mantel from the State Dining Room to the Green Room. This mantel was from 1817. The decorative door frames, which were from President James Monroe's time, were kept.
1926 Restoration by First Lady Coolidge
In 1924, First Lady Grace Coolidge started a project to restore the White House. She asked a group of art lovers and experts to find old furniture and raise money. There was a disagreement about whether to use a Colonial Revival style or keep the existing Beaux-Arts look.
President Calvin Coolidge stopped the work for a bit. But it started again in 1926 with a new group. The room was then redecorated in a mix of Colonial Revival and Federal styles.
Coolidge replaced the old flowery wallpaper with a simple green silk velvet. The old fireplace mantel was replaced with a French Empire one that President Monroe bought in 1819. Some old furniture was found and put in the room, but most pieces were copies.
Later, in 1952, the White House was completely renovated under President Harry S. Truman. The Green Room walls were covered in a green silk fabric. The window curtains used the same fabric.
1961 Changes by First Lady Kennedy
In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy began a big project to update the White House. This included the Green Room. She worked with experts on American antiques and a French interior designer.
The Green Room was one of the first rooms redesigned with a lot of input from these experts. They mostly agreed on the Federal style for the room. They did disagree about the wall fabric. Mrs. Kennedy chose a soft, moss-colored silk with a special wavy pattern. A French company made this fabric.
They also disagreed about the window curtains. At first, the curtains were inside the window frame. Later, the French designer changed them to straight panels that covered the side moldings. These new curtains used the same silk fabric as the walls.
Many important antique furniture pieces were added to the room. These included card tables, chairs, a desk, and sofas. Many items were recovered in white fabrics. Later, the French designer suggested making all the furniture green, but only one armchair was changed to match the walls.
Artwork in the room was chosen to fit the Federal style. These paintings included Niagara Falls by John Frederick Kensett and a portrait of Edith Roosevelt. A beautiful English carpet with a Neoclassical pattern was placed on the floor.
The Green Room became President John F. Kennedy's favorite room. After his death, a painting by Claude Monet was given to the White House and hung in the Green Room. His official portrait was also hung there in 1970.
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson created a committee to help preserve the White House rooms like a museum. He also created a permanent job for a White House curator.
1971 Changes by First Lady Nixon
Many changes happened during President Richard Nixon's time, led by First Lady Pat Nixon. The new White House curator, Clement Conger, added historically accurate crown moldings and ceiling decorations. He also designed new curtains made of striped cream, green, and coral silk.
Special decorative cornices (fancy tops for curtains) were built and installed above the windows. These were topped with hand-carved, gold-colored American eagles. These eagles were a popular design during the Federal period. The walls were re-covered with a copy of the moss green silk from the Kennedy era.
Conger also added several large furniture pieces by a famous cabinetmaker named Duncan Phyfe. These included work tables, chairs, and card tables. These replaced some of the more delicate furniture from the Kennedy era.
2007 Updates by First Lady Bush
The Green Room was updated in the summer of 2007 by First Lady Laura Bush. Most of the design from the Nixon era was kept. The walls were again hung with silk, but this time in a darker green with a bigger wavy pattern.
The coral color in the chairs and curtains was made brighter, almost red. The curtains were similar to the 1971 design but with the brighter color. A new rug was placed on the floor, made in a French style. As part of this update, a painting called The Builders by Jacob Lawrence was bought for the White House. This painting, along with another, were the only ones by African-American artists in the White House's permanent collection at that time.
How the Green Room is Used
The architect, James Hoban, originally planned for this room to be the "Common Dining Room." President Thomas Jefferson used it as a dining room and even put a green canvas on the floor to protect it.
Sadly, William Wallace Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln's son, was prepared for burial in the Green Room after he passed away. Later, First Lady Grace Coolidge used the room for small parties with her friends. Eleanor Roosevelt also hosted famous pilot Amelia Earhart in the Green Room.
