Diplomatic Reception Room

Though the ground floor oval room was much improved and now a part of the finished living space in the house, it remained primarily a passageway, not a destination.

White House architect Lorenzo Winslow designed a new chimney breast and mantel that, though intended to appear traditional, subtly evokes Art Moderne in its ribbed curved sides.

Rebuilt by Harry Truman as a sitting room, it was refurbished in 1960 during the Dwight Eisenhower administration in the style of the Federalist Era[1] with antiques selected by New York interior designer Michael Greer.

A suite of lancet-arched side chairs and a pair of sofas with splayed legs are attributed to the workshop of New York cabinetmakers Abraham Slover and Jacob Taylor.

A rug in shades of blue and gold, incorporating the seals or coats of arms of the fifty United States in an elliptical border, specially made for the room in 1983.

Towards the end of the video, the room becomes the subject of conversation, with Obama questioning Galifianakis' authority to film on that site over the past few years.

West side of the Diplomatic Reception Room showing the panoramic Zuber et Cie wallpaper Scenes of North America.
White House ground floor showing location of the Diplomatic Reception Room.
President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room
Detail of the panoramic Zuber et Cie wallpaper Scenes of North America showing Boston Harbor . The African American men depicted wear Phrygian caps as a sign of their status as free men.