The Red Room is one of three state parlors on the State Floor in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, the Washington D.C. home of the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. The room has served as a parlor and music room, and recent presidents have held small dinner parties in it. It has been traditionally decorated in shades of red. The room is approximately . It has six doors, which open into the Cross Hall, Blue Room, South Portico, and State Dining Room.

History of the Red Room and its furnishings

Creating the Red Room

Benjamin Latrobe's 1803 drawing of the White House's first floor indicates that the Red Room served as "the President's Antichamber" ( sic) for the president's "Library & Cabinet" next door in the location of the present State Dining Room. During the administration of

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

, it served as a breakfast room. Jefferson kept a caged

magpie Magpies are birds of various species of the family Corvidae. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent c ...

in the room. During the

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

administration, the antechamber became the "Yellow Drawing Room" and the scene of

Dolley Madison Dolley Todd Madison (née Payne; May 20, 1768 – July 12, 1849) was the wife of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. She was noted for holding Washington social functions in which she invited members of b ...

's fashionable Wednesday night receptions. Dolley ordered a piano she particularly wanted, along with red

velvet Velvet is a type of woven fabric with a dense, even pile (textile), pile that gives it a distinctive soft feel. Historically, velvet was typically made from silk. Modern velvet can be made from silk, linen, cotton, wool, synthetic fibers, silk ...

curtains for the room. The White House was gutted in 1814 when the British set fire to the structure during the

Burning of Washington The Burning of Washington, also known as the Capture of Washington, was a successful United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British Amphibious warfare, amphibious attack conducted by Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet, Georg ...

. It was largely reconstructed during the administration of President James Monroe, and the door and window frames and doors themselves date to this era. Monroe purchased furnishings for the Red Room in the

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 duri ...

, as he had for the Blue Room, to furnish the rebuilt White House.

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter born in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-k ...

's portrait of George Washington originally hung in the Red Room, providing the colloquial name the "Washington Parlor." Stuart's 1804 portrait of

also was hung here.

1902 Roosevelt renovation

The fireplace mantel was one of two originally purchased by President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

in 1817. Carved of white marble in France in the

, it and its partner originally were installed in the State Dining Room. In 1902, President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

selected Charles Follen McKim of the New York architectural firm

McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

to renovate the White House. McKim fashioned all new mantels for the State Dining Room, and reused one of the 1817 mantels in the Red Room. The walls were hung with

burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

silk velvet. A late nineteenth century suite of stuffed Turkish-style furniture was upholstered in the same shade.

1952 Truman renovation

The addition of a new attic story during the Coolidge administration placed great strain on the building's structure. By 1951 the house had become unsound and President Truman directed a major reconstruction. The building's interior was largely dismantled, with some of the architectural elements being numbered and stored. After a steel infrastructure was installed, those elements were restored in their original configuration. The Red Room was dismantled and reconstructed during this period. Installation of air conditioning in 1953 and 1954 required the ceiling height be reduced by approximately 18" and a new plaster ceiling with a somewhat generic pattern of stars was installed. Having nearly no furniture original to the house, Truman hired the New York department store B. Altman's design department to oversee the refurnishing of the house. In the Red Room, a red silk damask in the same pattern as before the reconstruction was installed on the walls. The Louis XVI style mantel clock is French, c. 1780–85, and was a gift to the American nation in 1954 from President

Vincent Auriol Vincent Jules Auriol (; 27 August 1884 – 1 January 1966) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1947 to 1954. Early life and politics Auriol was born in Revel, Haute-Garonne, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Aurio ...

of France following completion of the Truman reconstruction of the house (1949–52).

1961 Kennedy restoration

Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

made extensive renovations to the White House in 1961 and 1962. When the Kennedy family first moved into the White House, the Red Room (along with other rooms on the State Floor of the White House) were arranged and decorated using existing items by Sister Parish, Mrs. Kennedy's long-time friend and interior decorator. Parish initially rearranged the Red Room, but did no refurbishment of it. By the middle of 1961, however, as the wider Kennedy renovation of the White House moved into high gear, Parish's Red Room decor was dismantled and she no longer played much of a role in the renovation. The Kennedy renovation was overseen by American antiques autodidact Henry Francis du Pont and French interior designer Stéphane Boudin and his company, Maison Jansen. Kennedy also established an advisory Committee on Fine Arts made up of museum professionals as well as wealthy individuals interested in antiques. Kennedy was an ardent admirer of French interior design, and the Red Room was not only the first room to be redesigned during the Kennedy renovation but also the room refurbished almost completely in a French style. But because the involvement of a French interior decorator was considered politically unpalatable to the American people, Boudin's role in redecorating the Red Room was not mentioned and the refurbishment was for many years attributed solely to Parish. Boudin, rather than du Pont, proved to have the greatest impact on the Red Room. About June 1961, Boudin proposed two alternative treatments for the walls. The more elaborate of these featured cerise (pinkish-red)

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

upholstery for the walls, with a broad band of gold decorative "tape" around the inside of each panel (above the dado rail, below the

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

, and along both sides). The second proposal was nearly identical, but omitted the decorative band. In August, du Pont agreed that either of Boudin's suggestions would be appropriate. The second proposal was approved by Kennedy Parish assisted by attempting to find a manufacturer who could not only duplicate the colors Boudin wanted but also the various medallion patterns he proposed. The New York textile manufacturer

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

was approached, but problems with design, manufacture, and cost forced Parish to utilize the Scalamandré firm instead. The wall covering was put in place in late 1961. Du Pont suggested the room be made over using Duncan Phyfe furniture, while Gerald Shea of the Committee on Fine Arts felt that American Empire style furniture would be better. Other advisors wanted furniture in the "French antique" style of Charles-Honoré Lannuier. Since no single individual was in charge of the renovation effort, at first confusion reigned. The issue was largely decided after a potential patron turned down a request to donate a suite of American Empire furniture, and Kennedy convinced du Pont that a mix of French Empire and American Empire was appropriate. The room's refurnishing was made around a small circular '' guéridon'' probably designed and manufactured by Lannuier. A family in New York, which had owned it since American colonial times, donated the piece. As of 1998, furniture historians James Abbott and Elaine Rice say, it "is still considered the best example of American neoclassical furniture in the mansion." Sofas which once belonged to

and Nelly Custis (granddaughter of Martha Washington) were donated and placed in the room, as was a sofa table which featured a

sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

as a base (also attributed to Lannuier). Two card tables with intricate wood inlays and sphinx-like legs; three French Empire armchairs with gilt-

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

frames; and a French Empire desk were also purchased and installed. Four gondola side chairs, a pair of early Rococo Revival side chairs, and a French Empire armchair already owned by the White House were removed from storage and placed in the room. A carpet woven in Aubusson, France, was selected by Kennedy for the floor of the Red Room. Too expensive to purchase outright, Boudin and his Maison Jansen associate Paul Manno approached financier André Meyer, who agreed to purchase and donate the carpet to the White House in exchange for a meeting with Mrs. Kennedy. To light the room, a gilded wood French

chandelier A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now inca ...

(made about 1820), three French

bouillotte Bouillotte is an 18th-century French gambling card game of the Revolution based on Brelan, very popular during the 19th century in France and again for some years from 1830. It was also popular in America. The game is regarded as one of the games ...

table lamps, and a pair of French torchères were purchased and added to the Red Room. Boudin oversaw the installation of art in the Red Room as well. Boudin preferred a French design aesthetic, which emphasized covering as much wall space as possible with paintings. This scheme was implemented early in 1961, but in early 1962 (after the walls were recovered in silk) Boudin altered this scheme. He now created two rows of paintings, one at eye-level and one above the top of the door frames. This mimicked the look of an art gallery, and was used in many French country manor-houses. Boudin and du Pont also competed to design window treatments for the Red Room. Boudin suggested straight panels of cerise silk, suspended from a gilded wood rod and rings. Du Pont proposed a lighter treatment of white cotton

voile (; French for veil) is a soft, sheer fabric, usually made of 99% cotton or cotton blended with linen or polyester. Named for its light weight, the fabric is mostly used in soft furnishing. In tropical climates, ''voile'' is used for window tr ...

or muslin, drawn back from the windows with tassels. Mrs. Kennedy was concerned that du Pont's drapes would require constant pressing in order to look good, and that souvenir-hunters might snip at the tassels and fringe. Boudin's scheme won out.

1971 Nixon refurbishment

Most furniture currently found in the Red Room was acquired during the Kennedy and Nixon administrations. In 1971 the room was redecorated by First Lady

Pat Nixon Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon (; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of President Richard Nixon. She also served as the Second ladies and gentlemen of the United States, second lady ...

with advice from a new White House curator Clement Conger who collaborated with architect and designer Edward Vason Jones. Conger replaced a generic plaster molding and ceiling medallion installed during the Truman reconstruction with historically accurate molding profiles and a new ceiling medallion. Conger used the workshop of Franco Scalamandré for textiles, keeping the motif of medallions and scrolls, but changed the red color used by the Kennedys to a warmer more scarlet shade of red. On the south wall of the room between two windows a large gilded bracket was installed to hold a bust of President

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

carved by Hiram Powers. A portrait of Van Buren's daughter-in-law, Angelica Singleton Van Buren, painted in 1842 by Henry Inman hangs above the mantel. The portrait includes a representation of the marble bust. Drapery panels of yellow-gold silk satin with elaborate swags and jabots of red with gold medallions with handmade fringe recall a description of drapery used here during Dolley Madison's day. The curtains were designed by Edward Vason Jones, and are based on historical patterns held by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now called Historic New England) and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

. Conger returned use of the decorative tape along the ceiling moulding but not above the dado.

Post-Nixon changes

The 2000 refurbishment of the Red Room led by First Lady

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

with advice from the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, and White House curator Betty Monkman retained the general form of Clement Conger's 1971 design. The color for walls and upholstery was changed to a deeper

carmine Carmine ()also called cochineal (when it is extracted from the Cochineal, cochineal insect), cochineal extract, crimson Lake pigment, lake, or carmine lake is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminium coordination complex, compl ...

red that historians considered more typical of nineteenth-century American manufactured textiles. The wide decorative tape, like those used in the Kennedy administration was installed above the dado. The most significant recent addition to the Red Room is a tall rectilinear secretary desk attributed to Charles-Honoré Lannuier. It was a gift of the White House Historical Association during the Clinton administration, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the completion of the house. In 2019, First Lady Melania Trump had the wall fabric of the Red Room refreshed after sunlight streaming into the room had left parts of the walls faded.

Usage

The Madisons, Lincolns, Grants, and Kennedys all used the Red Room as a music room. A guitar, piano and music stands were kept in the room. Today a music stand beside the fireplace recalls that earlier use of the room. In 1833, during the presidency of

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

, the Red Room was host to the second

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

ceremony in the history of the White House. William Matthews presided over the baptism of Andrew Jackson Pageot, the son of Joseph Pageot and Mary Anne Lewis, a ward of Jackson. President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

, fearing disruption of the transition of power to Rutherford B. Hayes (because of the latter's contested Election of 1876) had the new president-elect secretly sworn into office in the Red Room the evening before the inauguration. The Grants used the Red Room as a family living room. Eleanor Roosevelt used the Red Room for meeting with women members of the press. Following the State Funeral for President John F. Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy received foreign heads of state in the Red Room. The Reagans frequently used this room for official photographs with visiting heads of state. The room was Nancy Reagan's favorite. Her husbands portrait is positioned outside the room looking in as if he is watching over it. The Clintons favored the room for small dinner parties. In 2012, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

had lunch with the Bush family in the Red Room ahead of the unveiling of the presidential portrait of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. During the presidency of Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and Queen Rania of Jordan had lunch together in the Red Room in April 2017. President Trump met with French President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

in the Red Room during an official state visit in 2018. The Bidens used the Red Room for their 2021

Lunar New Year Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendar years begin with a new moon and have a fixed number of lunar months, usually twelve, in contrast to lunisolar calendar ye ...

message, red being an auspicious color in Chinese and East Asian culture.

Gallery

File:Post funeral reception. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Mrs. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Angier Biddle Duke, reception... - NARA - 194232.jpg, The funeral reception for John F Kennedy, 25 November 1963. File:Photograph of First Lady Betty Ford Dining with Alexander Haig and an Unidentified Woman in the Red Room of the White... - NARA - 186781.tif, First Lady Betty Ford and former

White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...

Alexander Haig Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. (; 2 December 192420 February 2010) was United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House chief of staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to and in between these cabine ...

during a dinner in the Red Room, 23 October 1974. File:Official portrait of Nancy Reagan in the Red Room.jpg, First Lady

Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress who was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in ...

in the Red Room, her favorite White House room, 1981. File:President Ronald Reagan talking with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the Red Room.jpg, President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

in the Red Room, 1983. File:Bush immediate extended family.jpg, The

family in the Red Room, 2005. File:Barack Obama readings notes in the Red Room.jpg, President

reading notes in the Red Room, 2009. File:Women in the Red Room after meeting Michelle Obama.jpg, Members of the public in the Red Room during White House tour, 2012. File:Obamas and Bushes in Red Room.jpg, The Obamas sharing lunch with the Bush family in May 2012. File:The Official State Visit of France (41659629252).jpg, The Trumps meeting with French President

and his wife

Brigitte Macron Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron (; Trogneux , previously Auzière ; born 13 April 1953) is a French former teacher and wife of Emmanuel Macron, the incumbent president of France. Early life Brigitte Macron was born Brigitte Marie-Claude Trogne ...

, 24 April 2018. File:P20210121AS-0360 (50911772403).jpg, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

signing the commission for

Avril Haines Avril Danica Haines (born August 27, 1969) is an American lawyer who served as the seventh Director of National Intelligence, director of national intelligence in the Presidency of Joe Biden, Biden administration. She is the first woman to serve ...

to become DNI, 21 January 2021.

References

;Notes ;Citations

Bibliography

* *

For further reading

* Abbott, James A. ''A Frenchman in Camelot: The Decoration of the Kennedy White House by Stéphane Boudin.'' Boscobel Restoration Inc.: 1995. . * Clinton, Hillary Rodham. ''An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History.'' Simon & Schuster: 2000. . * Garrett, Wendell. ''Our Changing White House.'' Northeastern University Press: 1995. . * Kenny, Peter M., Frances F. Bretter and Ulrich Leben. ''Honoré Lannuier Cabinetmaker from Paris: The Life and Work of French'' Ébiniste ''in Federal New York.'' The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and Harry Abrams: 1998. . * Leish, Kenneth. ''The White House.'' Newsweek Book Division: 1972. . * Seale, William. ''The President's House.'' White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. . * Seale, William, ''The White House: The History of an American Idea.'' White House Historical Association: 1992, 2001. . * West, J.B. with Mary Lynn Kotz. ''Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies.'' Coward, McCann & Geoghegan: 1973. SBN 698-10546-X. * David, preter. ''
sofa design
company'' houses & Company: 1961. * Wolff, Perry. ''A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy.'' Doubleday & Company: 1962. * ''Exhibition Catalogue, Sale 6834: The Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis April 23–26, 1996.'' Sothebys, Inc.: 1996. * ''The White House: An Historic Guide.'' White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 2001. . * ''The White House: Celebrating Two Hundred Years 1800–2000.'' White House Historical Association: 2002. .

External links

with many historical pictures {{coord, 38, 53, 51.15, N, 77, 2, 11.4, W, region:US-DC_type:landmark, display=title Rooms in the White House