Grand Staircase (White House)

Hoban’s original design of the Grand Staircase at the west end of the Cross Hall was altered by Benjamin Henry Latrobe in 1803 during the administration of Thomas Jefferson.

McKim’s plan removed the Grand Staircase at the West End of the Cross Hall to increase the size of the State Dining Room by more than a third.

Formal in plan, its relatively narrow opening into the Cross Hall limited visibility of the President, First Lady and their official guests.

Delano was dismayed by the plans and elevations and feared that dismantling the columns and the Cross Hall opening created by McKim was a serious mistake.

[7] The new Grand Staircase was framed by a rectilinear archway, with the interior side walls faced with the seals of the original 13 states.

[8] Above the opening facing the Cross Hall was a plaster arch with a spread American eagle in bas relief with a corona of 13 radiating arrows.

Winslow designed a custom railing with cast iron balusters that incorporated the five pointed federal star within a circle he used in the carved moulding.

A mahogany pier table with gilded caryatid supports attributed to New York cabinetmaker Charles-Honoré Lannuier is located at the bottom of the stair.

[9] In 1998 Hillary Clinton working with then Curator of the White House Betty Monkman refurbished the Grand Staircase.

The Grand Staircase looking north seen from the Cross Hall during the administration of Bill Clinton .
White House State Floor showing the location of the Grand Staircase.
White House Entrance Hall at Christmastime during George W. Bush’s administration with the Grand Staircase on the left.
Charles Follen McKim's Grand Staircase looking north, northwest seen from the Cross Hall photographed during the administration of Harry Truman before reconstruction.
A maquette made by Lorenzo Winslow showing entrance to the Grand Staircase from the Entrance Hall. In the final design the bottom stairs did not project into the Entrance Hall.
A maquette made by Lorenzo Winslow exploring the structure of the Grand Staircase.
Plaster model by Lorenzo Winslow for the balusters of the Grand Staircase.