Collection President Truman's Renovation
During the administration of President Harry S. Truman, the White House underwent a renovation and expansion so extensive, it changed...
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This Parisian-made elegant centerpiece, or plateau, has impressed White House dinner guests since the Monroe administration.
Bruce White for the White House Historical Association2 of 10
Candelabrum, Paris, ca. 1817 in the East Room.
Bruce White for the White House Historical Association3 of 10
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Blue sapphire draperies and silk upholstery fabrics, carpet, and wallpaper, reproduced from 19th century documents for a 1995 Clinton administration refurbishment, created an elegant space for the French Monroe-era furnishings.
Bruce White for the White House Historical Association5 of 10
William King, Jr., a Georgetown cabinetmaker, made this 1818 mahogany chair, once part of a suite with 24-chairs and four sofas, for the East Room.
Bruce White for the White House Historical Association6 of 10
Basket, ca. 1817. Three gilded baskets with figures of the “Three Graces” accompanied a mirrored plateau acquired for the State Dining Room in 1817.
Bruce White for the White House Historical Association7 of 10
President Monroe ordered a suite of 53 pieces of carved and gilded furniture, ca. 1817, for the Blue Room. Ten original pieces remain in the room today.
Bruce White for the White House Historical Association8 of 10
Four silver wine coolers purchased in Paris while President Monroe lived in France serving as a diplomat were sold to the U.S. Government and remain in the White House, 1798-1809.
Bruce M. White for the White House Historical Association9 of 10
Dessert Plate, Dessert Cooler, and Basket, ca. 1817.
Bruce White for the White House Historical Association10 of 10
James Monroe by Samuel F.B. Morse, ca. 1819, and Elizabeth Kortright Monroe by Eben F. Comens after John Vanderlyn, 1816 or 1820.
White House Historical Association (White House Collection), Courtesy of the Edwards FamilyAbout this Gallery
President and Mrs. Monroe left a residence that reflected splendor, social form and gentility. President Monroe purchased furniture from France as part of the refurnishing of the White House after the fire of 1814. He imported a suite of gilded beechwood furniture by the noted Parisian cabinetmaker, Pierre-Antoine Bellangé (1760-1844) as well as of a table plateau, vases, clocks, tables, gold centerpieces, and candelabrum to create a splendid setting for social events. Many of these pieces are in the White House Collection today.
During the administration of President Harry S. Truman, the White House underwent a renovation and expansion so extensive, it changed...
Biographies & Portraits
Biographies & Portraits
A dinner at the White House has always had significance beyond the merely gastronomical. The elegance of the State Dining...
Romance glints from what little is known of Elizabeth Kortright's early life. She was born in New York City in 1768...
James Monroe was perhaps the most qualified citizen ever to serve as president of the United States. Born in 1758 in...
The Solarium on the Third Floor has been called the “The Camp David of the White House.”1 With its floor-to-ceiling wind...
"I am much at a loss how to dispose of Willey,” James Madison wrote to his father on December 8, 1779. “I can...
Stained glass, a medieval art, was revisited in the historically retrospective nineteenth century. The art was a prominent feature of...
The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room has been the on-grounds quarters for the White House correspondents and news photographers...
In the summer of 1864, Kentuckian John Bullock called upon President Abraham Lincoln at the White House to make a personal...
From its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, the historic preservation movement in the United States...