Executive Residence
[11] As of 2010, this large central space, originally occupied by the kitchen in the early 1800s, had been subdivided into offices for the White House curator and the United States Secret Service.
It was only sparsely furnished until First Lady Mamie Eisenhower received a large donation of museum-quality antique furniture from the National Society of Interior Designers in 1960.
[12] West of the Servants' Hall, the ground floor originally contained a small bedroom and, in the two westernmost rooms, a Steward's Office.
[29] The Trumans included a bowling alley in this space as well[30] (it is architecturally aligned with the entrance to the Diplomatic Reception Room on the other side of the White House).
Work continued through the four remaining months of his presidency and into the first term of Thomas Jefferson to make the Executive Residence habitable.
[33] There was also no grand staircase east of the Entrance Hall, and the only way to access the second floor was via temporary stairs on the exterior of the building which led up to the top of the South Portico.
[46][47][a] But it wasn't until 1807 that architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe gave the East Room its function as a site for public audiences and large social events.
[50] President James Monroe's daughter was married in the East Room, at which time it was temporarily furnished, but it was not until the administration of John Quincy Adams that its walls were plastered and painted.
[55] Since its inception, the Blue Room has remained the centerpiece of the Executive Residence, serving as the formal reception space for heads of state, ambassadors, and other important people.
[58] The ceiling medallion and cornice moldings were altered by architect Edward Vason Jones during the Nixon administration to more closely resemble early 1800s styles.
[61] A rectangular ceiling fresco with a small central circle, curved trapezoids, and half-moons, designed Thomas Ustick Walter, was added in 1853.
[67] Grant built a billiards room atop and to the south of the breezeway leading from the west end of the ground floor of the White House,[62] but this became a Palm Court in 1877 during the Rutherford B. Hayes administration.
[65] Hayes authorized new doors cut through the stone of the mansion's walls to provide access between the Palm Court and State Dining Room.
[72][33] The small fireplaces in the east and west walls of the State Dining Room were removed, and the northern door to the Palm Court sealed.
[73] The oak paneling, heavily damaged during its removal, was reinstalled and given a coat of bright celadon green to hide the flaws.
First Lady Michelle Obama had the room painted a light grey, and the decor, furniture, rug, and artwork now reflect a mid-20th century modern look.
[82] The renovation of 1902 moved the servants' staircase into the center of this area, creating a corridor on the north and west sides and a small closet to the south.
[93] Before the Theodore Roosevelt renovation of 1902, the executive offices of the president were located at the east end of the second floor[94] and the public had full and free access to these areas.
In the first half of the 1800s, the White House was treated as a government office building rather than a residence, and members of the public expected nearly complete access to it.
James Hoban, the original architect of the White House, planned and built a double-arched Venetian window here to provide as much light as possible to this area.
[95] The next major reconfiguration of this space occurred during the 1952 reconstruction of the White House, when a full bath and toilet were built in the northeast corner of the Lincoln Sitting Room.
[95] The Lincoln Bedroom and Sitting Room were redecorated by First Lady Laura Bush, who changed the decor so it more accurately reflected tastes common during the American Civil War.
[80] This bedroom is also where Winston Churchill stayed on his regular visits to confer with Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry Truman, during and after World War II.
President George W. Bush had the room's historic paneling and its vibrant red, gold, and blue fabrics removed to alter it more to his own personal taste.
Not yet furnished when the White House was first occupied, President John Adams used it as a levée room for New Year's Day celebrations on January 1, 1801.
A tiny entry foyer was partitioned off at the north door, and the western part of the northern third of the room was occupied by a narrow hallway.
The bedroom's south wall was made convex, which created a walled-off dead space in the room's southeast corner.
It later served as a bedroom for President Chester Arthur, Mary Dimmick (First Lady Caroline Harrison's niece and private secretary), John Witherspoon Scott (father of First Lady Caroline Harrison), Kermit Roosevelt, Madge Wallace (mother of First Lady Bess Truman), Caroline Kennedy, Pat and Luci Nugent (she was the daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson), Tricia Nixon, Susan Ford (daughter of President Gerald Ford), and Amy Carter.
[111] When Marian Robinson moved to the White House alongside her daughter Michelle Obama's family in 2009, she took a bedroom and sitting area on the third floor as her private quarters.
[113] Other notable features on the third floor include a sunroom with wet bar (atop the south portico), billiards room, and outdoor rooftop promenade.
