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 dinners, and state dinners for visiting heads of state on state visits. The room seats 140 and measures approximately .
Originally office space, the State Dining Room received its name during the presidency of James Monroe, at which time it was first extensively furnished. The room was refurbished during several administrations in the early to mid 1800s, and gasified in 1853. Doors were cut through the west wall in 1877. The State Dining Room underwent a major expansion and renovation in 1902, transforming it from a Victorian dining room into a "baronial" dining hall of the early 19th century—complete with stuffed animal heads on the walls and dark oak panelling. The room stayed in this form until the White House's complete reconstruction in 1952.
The 1952 rebuilding of the White House retained much of the 1902 renovation, although much of the "baronial" furnishings were removed and the walls were painted celadon green. Another major refurbishment from 1961 to 1963 changed the room even further, more closely approximating an Empire style room with elements from a wide range of other periods. Incremental changes to the room were made throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with major refurbishments of the furnishings in 1998 and 2015.
Early history The Adams administration
The northern third of what is now the State Dining Room was originally the western part of the Cross Hall. Two flights of stairs (one against the north wall, one against the south wall) led from the State Floor to the Second Floor. A single, central stair then led up to the Third Floor (then an attic). Not completed when the White House was occupied in 1800, the Grand Stairs were probably finished by architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe in 1803 or shortly thereafter. To the south of the Grand Stair was a small room, designated by Hoban for use as a Cabinet Room or President's Library.
President John Adams was the first president to occupy the White House. The White House was far too large for their needs, and they had few furnishings with which to make it a home. The State Dining Room was temporarily partitioned in order to make it usable. The southwest corner became a "levee room", where the public could meet and mingle with the president, while the northwest corner became a dining room.
The Jefferson office President Thomas Jefferson used the southwest corner of the State Dining Room as his primary office from 1801 to 1809. The room was sparsely furnished at this time, with only a desk and chairs. He also kept his gardening tools and an assortment of potted plants in the room. The floor was covered with canvas, painted green. In time, charts, maps, and globes; six small mahogany sets of shelves; three long mahogany tables with green cloth tops; two mahogany stools; two mahogany armchairs; a tall bookcase; a small set of mahogany steps (for reaching the top of the bookcase); and a desk, letterpress printer, and sofa. For seating, Jefferson moved 12 of the black-and-gold painted mahogany chairs (purchased during the Adams administration) from the dining room to the office.
Transformation into the State Dining Room Jefferson's successor, James Madison, wanted the room to be a dining room. First Lady Dolley Madison worked with Jefferson's architect, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, to make some structural changes to the State Dining Room, which primarily meant closing off two windows in the west wall.
A large dining table, capable of seating at least 40, was placed in the room, surrounded by simple rush-bottomed chairs. A silver service and a blue-and-gold china service purchased from the Lowestoft Porcelain Factory in England were used for dining, and a simple surtout de table (or "plateau") was used as the centerpiece. Other than the dining table, the largest piece of furniture in the room was a massive sideboard. The windows were uncurtained, and walls papered. Paintings of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were hung on the walls. The Washington image was a copy of the Lansdowne portrait, a full-length, life-size figure of the first President painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796. The canvas flooring was removed, and an ingrain carpet (an inexpensive, flatwoven textile) installed. Otherwise, the room remained only sparsely furnished.
Reconstruction of the State Dining Room The White House was burned on August 24, 1814, by the British Army during the War of 1812. The Landsdowne copy was saved from destruction by doorman Jean Pierre Sioussat and White house gardener Tom Magraw, who cut it from its elaborate frame and spirited it away from the White House just minutes before British troops arrived.
The White House was reconstructed in 1817, after which the Cabinet Room/Presidential Library was called the State Dining Room. The reconstruction added an extensive chimney breast to the fireplace in the room's west wall.
The State Dining Room was extensively furnished at this time. President James Monroe, rather than First Lady Elizabeth Monroe (who was in fragile physical health), was primarily responsible for making decorative decisions for the White House. Monroe decided to have the walls of the State Dining Room covered in green silk. Two Italian Carrara marble mantels, featuring Neoclassical caryatids on either side, were also bought by Monroe and installed over the two fireplaces in this room.
One of Monroe's most important purchases were several ornamental ormolu (or bronze doré) pieces to furnish the State Dining Room. The surtout de table, crafted by Denière et Matelin in France, was long when fully extended. The piece had seven sections, each long, which could be removed or inserted as needed to adjust the length. It had a mirrored floor, and garlands of fruit and flowers formed the rim. Seventeen bacchantes (personifications of the female servants of Bacchus, the ancient Roman god of wine) standing on orbs, their outstretched arms holding candleholders, could be inserted into small rectangular pedestals at equidistant points around the centerpiece. Although surtout de table were common in elegant English and French dining rooms, few Americans had seen them and the piece deeply impressed those who saw it. Other ormolu items included three pedestals for crystal vases (one large, two small), consisting of the Three Graces holding up a basket; three porcelain vases in the Etruscan style and ornamented with festoons of flowers; and a pair of pedestal stands, or trepieds, consisting of sphinxes sitting on slender legs, their upraised wings supporting a shallow bowl.
Monroe also ordered the White House's first tableware and dinnerware. These included 72 silver place-settings, which included an unknown number of serving dishes, platters, tureens, chafing dishes, and other items. These were manufactured by Jacques Henri Fauconnier of Paris. Thirty-six vermeil (gold-gilt silver) flatware settings, manufactured by J. B. Boitin of Paris, were also purchased. A 30-setting gilt porcelain china service was also purchased, although its design and manufacturer are not known as no pieces have survived. A few items of the accompanying 166-piece, 30-setting dessert service, manufactured by Dagoty et Honoré in Paris, have survived. The dessert plates for this amaranth-on-white china service feature a Napoleonic eagle in the center. Five vignettes, representing agriculture, strength, commerce, science, and arts, are set into the broad, red rim.
Changes in the early to mid 1800s
President Andrew Jackson had the dining room wallpapered some time after 1829. The paper was purchased from French-born Louis Véron, a Philadelphia fine furnishings purveyor. This material, which was blue, green, yellow, and white and with a scattering of gold stars and gilt borders, was used in most of the rooms on the State Floor. Some time during 1833 and 1834, Veron supplied mirrors as well, and carpeting from Belgium and new mahogany dining room chairs from Alexandria, Virginia, cabinetmaker James Green also helped refurbish the room. An 1829, 18-light chandelier (fueled by whale oil and of unknown make) was moved from the East Room into the State Dining Room in 1834 to provide light.
Heavy crowds in the White House during the Jackson administration left the mansion in shabby condition. President Martin Van Buren purchased a new, table for the State Dining Room, and reupholstered the chairs in blue satin fabric. Blue and yellow drapes and rugs complimented the chairs. At some point, the mantels over the fireplace had been replaced with new ones of black marble, and three chandeliers now lit the room.
Although little upkeep was made to the White House during the administrations of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler due to a national depression, President James K. Polk redecorated the State Dining Room in the summer of 1845. New purple and gold drapes were hung in the room, and 42 rosewood balloon-back side chairs with cabriole legs and a heart-shaped crest were purchased. They were upholstered in purple velvet and manufactured by New York City furniture maker Charles Baudouine. The carpet was likely replaced with one of Turkish make.
President Franklin Pierce completely refurbished the room in 1853. The chandeliers were converted to natural gas, the wood moldings and dado rails replaced, the room replastered and repainted, and new carpets and drapes provided. L. R. Menger & Co. of New York provided gilt plaster cornices for the windows, and new gilt frames for the mirrors in the room. It is likely that Anthony and Henry Jenkins, furniture makers from Baltimore, crafted four walnut side tables for Pierce, and that these were later used in the State Dining Room.
A large greenhouse was added to the west side of the White House by President Pierce in 1857, replacing one on the east side which had been torn down that year to make way for expansion of the Treasury Building.
Although First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln refurbished most of the rooms in the White House in 1861, there is scant evidence to indicate she did much to the State Dining Room. However, the room was used by Francis Bicknell Carpenter as an artist's workshop as he painted First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln from February to July 1864. In 1867, four walnut console tables were placed against the walls of the dining room.
Changes in the mid to late 1800s The western greenhouse burned down in 1867, and in 1869 President Ulysses S. Grant built a larger, taller greenhouse in its place. Grant also rebuilt the Grand Stair at this time, so that only a single staircase against the north wall led to the Second Floor. (A second stair on the south wall of the Second Floor led to the Third Floor.) Later presidents expanded the greenhouse further, and after it was turned into a palm court in 1877 by President Rutherford B. Hayes new doors were cut through the stone of the mansion's walls to provide access between the Palm Court and State Dining Room.
Minor furnishing changes were also made in the last quarter of the 1800s. In 1880, First Lady Lucy Webb Hayes installed a new carpet and lace curtains in the State Dining Room. She also purchased two Victorian candelabra for $125 each ($ in dollars) from Tiffany & Co. The three-tiered items, featuring floral garlands and the heads of satyrs and reclining children at the base, were probably made in Europe (their manufacturer is not known) and have remained in the room ever since.