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Benjamin Henry Latrobe's 1803 drawing of the State Floor indicates that the Red Room served as "the President's Antechamber" for the President's office and Cabinet Room next door. During the James Madison administration, the room became First Lady Dolley Madison's famous salon. A sunflower yellow, not red, dominated the room's decor. Visitors were received at her famous Wednesday night receptions in the "blazing splendor" of this room. The Red Room traditionally has served as a parlor or sitting room; recent presidents have had small dinner parties here. The Madison's style of entertaining came to an abrupt end on August 24, 1814 just after the British invaded Washington and burned the mansion. President James Monroe moved into the restored house in 1817. He strove to bring a cosmopolitan taste to the State Floor, decorating the rooms in the prevailing French Empire style. During John Tyler's administration, this room became the "Washington Parlor," when the large Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, now in the East Room, was displayed here at that time. Yellow dominated the color scheme until 1845, when President James K. Polk and First Lady Sarah Polk furnished the room with rocking chairs, ottomans, armchairs, and lounges in various colors of red and green. Soon the "Washington Parlor" became the "Red Room."
This photograph of the Red Room was taken around 1884-1885, during the Chester A. Arthur or Grover Cleveland administration.
Library of CongressOn March 3, 1877, the Red Room was the scene for the historic swearing-in of president-elect Rutherford B. Hayes. Political tensions ran high after his bitterly contested election over Samuel J. Tilden, so Hayes secretly took the Oath of Office at the White House. Inauguration Day fell on a Sunday that year, and this swearing-in avoided a 24-hour delay in the transfer of power and any perceived danger of a coup. President Ulysses Grant slipped away from a dinner party in the next room to attend the ceremony. Hayes took the Oath of Office again in public on March 5 on the East Front of the Capitol without incident.
In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt oversaw the first major renovation of the White House under the direction of renowned architect Charles Follen McKim of the New York firm McKim, Mead and White.
Library of CongressIn 1882, President Chester Arthur commissioned Louis Comfort Tiffany to redecorate the Red Room. The walls were painted Pompeiian red with a richly decorated tawny red frieze of abstract stars. Tiffany embellished the room with a cornice and ceiling medallion stenciled in gold leaf and the ceiling's star pattern was finished in gold and copper tones. The designer also added a new cherry mantel, stained a deep amaranthine red inlaid with brown, amber, and brown-amber red glass tiles that changed in tone with the light.
The Red Room. Peter Waddell, Composition in Red and Gold, oil on canvas, 36 x 48.
Peter Waddell for the White House Historical AssociationThroughout the nineteenth century, the room was often used as a music chamber and contained instruments, such as a pianoforte and guitar ordered by First Lady Dolley Madison. Sunday evenings were popular for family gatherings in the Red Room, and President Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln frequently used the space for informal entertaining.
With Theodore Roosevelt's major State Room renovations of 1902, architect Charles McKim retained the room's red silk velvet walls and strongly contrasted them with the new snowy white neoclassical woodwork. He also moved a striking white marble mantle from the State Dining Room, purchased during the Monroe administration, into the Red Room. Edith Roosevelt displayed her doll collection in the Red Room and, at her suggestion, the portraits of first ladies that traditionally hung in this area were moved to the Ground Floor Corridor.
President Harry Truman's interior renovations, directed by project architect Lorenzo Winslow between 1948-1952, retained the neoclassical design of McKim, Mead and White. He reinstalled Monroe's white marble mantle in the rebuilt Red Room and added a replica of Hoban's cornice.
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy redecorated the Red Room parlor in 1962, utilizing the American "Empire" furnishings in the White House Collection and a design motif inspired by American cabinetmaking of the 1820s.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum/NARAThe present appearance of the Red Room was inspired by the 1971 redecoration that preserved the American Empire style selected in 1962 during the John F. Kennedy administration. The elegance of the Red Room furniture derives from a combination of richly carved and finished woods with decorative hardware made of gilded bronze in characteristic designs such as dolphins, acanthus leaves, lion's heads, and sphinxes. All the fabrics now in the Red Room were woven in the United States from French Empire designs. The walls are covered by a red twill satin fabric with a gold scroll design in the border. The furniture, like the American Empire sofa, is upholstered in a silk of the same shade of red. The carpet of beige, red and gold is a reproduction of an early nineteenth century French Savonnerie carpet in the White House Collection. The thirty-six light French Empire chandelier was fashioned from carved and gilded wood around 1805.
Notable portraits which have been displayed in the Red Room include an 1842 portrait of Angelica Singleton Van Buren by Henry Inman, and Gilbert Stuart's 1804 portrait of First Lady Dolley Madison.
The Red Room, 2000.
White House Historical Association
In the 1960s, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy oversaw the task of restoring the White House interiors and thus founded the White House Historical Association to enhance the understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the Executive Mansion. As a part of our mission, the Association provides financial support for acquisitions, refurbishing projects, and preservation initiatives of the White House, which involves collaboration
Featuring John F.W. Rogers, Chairman of the White House Historical Association’s Board of Directors
Since 1965, the White House Historical Association has been proud to fund the official portraits of our presidents and first ladies, a long-standing tradition of the White House Collection. Recent presidents and first ladies typically select their respective artists before leaving the White House and approve the portraits before their formal presentation to the public and induction into the collection. The
A State Dinner honoring a visiting head of government or reigning monarch is one of the grandest and most glamorous of White House affairs. It is part of an official State Visit and provides the president and first lady the opportunity to honor the visiting head of state and his or her spouse. In this collection, explore the history of
Featuring Laurie Grace, Chairman of the James Hoban Society of Ireland; Brother Christy O’Carroll, Congregation of Christian Brothers; Ciarán O’Connor, State Architect of Ireland; Merlo Kelly, Senior Architect, Lotts Architecture & Urbanism; Brian O’Connell, Director and Founder of O’Connell Mahon Architects and a contributor to the book James Hoban: Designer and Builder of the White House
A dinner at the White House has always had significance beyond the gastronomical delights. The elegance of the State Dining Room and the intimacy of the Family Dining Room set the stage for the politics and diplomacy that takes place between courses. In this collection, learn how the style of each room has evolved with its purpose, and how the
During the administration of President Harry S. Truman, the White House underwent a renovation and expansion so extensive, it changed the Executive Mansion more than the fire of 1814. The White House we know today is largely due to the renovation led by Truman. The construction took place between 1948 and 1952 and was a remarkable feat of engineering. National Park Service photographer
Since the White House was first occupied by President John Adams in 1800, influential people and organizations—or those who hoped to have influence—have bought property and built homes and offices along the streets surrounding the White House. For more than two centuries, this neighborhood has been the setting for political decision-making and diplomacy, social gatherings and protests, wartime expediencies and
Two grand houses were under construction in the young Federal City in 1816: one the President’s House, reconstructed after it was burned by the British in 1814, and the other Tudor Place, an elegant mansion rising on the heights above Georgetown. The connection between these two houses is more than temporal, as they were connected through lineage and politics for generations. Th
From the beginning of its construction in 1792, until the 1902 renovation that shaped the modern identity and functions of the interior of the White House, the fourteen paintings of this series examine the history of a national icon. Through meticulous research and tireless attention to detail, numerous sources inspired the brush of Peter Waddell to create a vision of the White
President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s advocacy for the arts endures as a vital part of their White House legacy. From 1961 to 1963, the White House became a focal point for the arts and cultural engagement. The Kennedys hosted numerous concerts and performances and infused the Executive Mansion and the country with the same vitality, youth, and id
James Hoban's life is a memorable Irish-American success story. In his boyhood he learned the craft of carpenter and wheelwright, and became an architect by profession and a builder by trade. Hoban came to America with high ambitions, and designed and erected many buildings; but what keeps his name alive today arises from one special commission—he was the architect of
