Other oval rooms

I added a couple more images sent by Mimlog to the Oval Office page. One of them is Nixon’s OO just after moving in and the other is Nixon talking to the Apollo astronauts. In both, we see Johnson’s decor, but I noticed that the curtains changed: there is blue edging in the 1969 pic. In the 1964 guide, Johnson’s OO has Boudin’s original curtains with red edging, but I’m not sure who made the change.

Also, while I was looking at the ’64 guide, I decided to add a couple of images to the Yellow Oval Room page: the room in ’64, and a bridal pic of Lynda in ’67 that I had been too lazy to place and date. (I also reprocessed a Kennedy pic.)

A peek at the 1930s

Mimlog sent several photos that capture the early 1930s West Wing, Blue Room, and Kitchen. And the 1969 Cabinet Room shows the room before Nixon converted it to match the empire style of the mansion.

White House overview & TR’s trophies

I came across a couple of high-resolution overviews of the White House on a military site and cut them up to provide views of the grounds and exterior in 1984.

Also, John in NOLA sent a great cartoon from the early 20th century poking fun at TR’s wildlife-encrusted State Dining Room.

Open post: Truman Balcony

Dennis mentioned that William Seale dislikes the Truman Balcony—something I didn’t know. I think it’s eminently practical and a huge improvement over the ghastly old awnings, but in need of some dentil molding or something. Discuss.

Truman photos

Found a photo of the East Bedroom in 1952 showing the mantelpiece clearly. I think this could be the room where Ike got his mysterious picture taken. And check out the wheelchair. Madge Wallace’s? It doesn’t look like FDR’s.

Also got an extra one of the Yellow Oval Room as Harry’s study and Margaret’s fireplace, which I only had in its unfinished state.

Also: For those with an interest in architecture beyond our favorite example, I spent the weekend Pittsburgh and went on a photo walkabout.

Kennedy bedrooms

The Ike’s Lair discussion prompted John in NOLA to pass along two photos from the Kennedy archives that show Junior’s mantel and Jackie’s mantel (see What’s New) but don’t help solve the mystery. (But they’re nice, John; really they are.) Conspiracy theorists now suggest that Ike had a room in his library made to look a lot like the White House a family residence room but not exactly like one.

Tyler chairs and Boudin’s ground floor

Visitor John M asks three questions I can’t answer….

When Mrs. Kennedy gave her famous tour in 1962 she spent considerable time in the newly restored Red Room. She mentioned two chairs by the desk between the windows as grateful acquisitions perhaps from the Tyler administration. What ever happened to those chairs?

Also, Boudin had approved changes from Mrs. Kennedy for the Vermeil and China rooms in 1963. Were any of these changes implemented during the Johnson administration? If so were the rooms photographed?

Finally, why did they choose to place William McKinley’s portrait in the East Room? As for the other portraits I understand Washington and his wife as he laid the cornerstone and they were the original first couple. I understand TR because he was responsible for the interior architecture via McKim, Mead, and White. In my opinion they should balance out the male/female portraits and remove McKinley and replace it with Shikler’s portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy who helped create the White House Historical Society and establish the permanent collection of historic antiques.

I don’t think the WH comments on why certain portraits are placed where they are. I’m sure –for all administrations–it’s a combination of curatorial historical expertise and vicious partisanship. 😉

Ike strikes back

With the idea that the photo of Ike was taken in the West Bedroom quashed by cruel logic, I re-examined the Private Dining Room as the scene of the crime… er… photo op. That made me re-search the Truman Library for more pics of the room in the 50s, which I found. Additional research is now making me lean toward the Treaty Room.

General Eisenhower, in the West Bedroom, with the Candlestick

I think we have a winner in the “Where’s Ike?” contest. Visitor Kevin G provides this fine bit of detective work demonstrating that the photo of Ike must have been taken in the small West Bedroom upstairs.

Here is the photo about Eisenhower. These are just my conclusions, but I looked at the wainscoting panels and the only ones I find of the same length are in the West Bedroom

See what you think. I was wondering if the mantels could have been changed in the Kennedy restoration. Also note the electrical plug in the West Bedroom photo. I believe outlets would have been added.

Update: Well… perhaps not. Unless Ike temporarily changed the mantel himself, the fireplace is wrong. The original, uncaptioned photo comes from a page on Ike’s post-White-House years, so it’s possible that the photo was not taken in the WH and yet… he had the motive, the opportunity, and the desire….

Dispatch from Fort Necessity

Lousy connectivity from the Doubletree in Pittsburgh this week is making it difficult to do any kind of online activity. Nevertheless, I managed to just acquire this fine miniature of the White House from the Danbury Mint via Ebay.

I already have the 5-inch version, which is considerably less detailed and accurate. This one is the 9-inch version and much better all around. I also recently acquired a 1950s-era plastic model that is quite accurate, altho it seems to have the 1917 roof.

Open post: Designing Camelot

Visitor Scott W suggested an open post on the topic of James Abbott and Elaine Rice’s book Designing Camelot. I know I got a lot out of that book, not only on the subject of the Kennedy renovation, but also from the floor plans at the back. If only we had such a work on the other major renovations….

Update: Adding a page for resources, where I’ll list this book and other books, periodicals, and videos recommended for anyone interested in the heritage of the White House.

More visitory goodness

Added several more photos from visitors to the White House, including a museum shot of the old 1903 piano in the Smithsonian and the Kennedy swimming pool mural, which was removed from the room and put in what is apparently a Kennedy Library conference room. With a little help from the straightener, the color-corrector, and the brightener, these photos are all great. See What’s New.

New front page

I changed the front page to a nice photo of Reagan’s Oval Office in 1981 (still using the Ford rug).

Gary Walters –> Stephen Rochon

President Bush just welcomed Rear Admiral Stephen Rochon to the position of chief usher of the White House, succeeding Gary Walters after 20 years. Here’s to a long and happy retirement to Mr. Walters and best wishes to the admiral and his new deputy, Dennis Freemyer.

Mr. Walters says that he is looking forward to a nice quiet retirement, managing the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and, on weekends and holidays, planning the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Update: The Wikipedia entry for “Gary Walters” is only for the basketball player. Let’s do something about that, eh?

New White House web site look

The official White House site changed its look today. The pastel blue and chromed silver design appears to be a cross between a child daycare service and Boeing Aircraft.

Boatload of tourist snaps

Webshots has provided a boatload of snapshots taken by tourists on the 2006 holiday tours and a few others I’d overlooked before from previous years. There are too many to list here (see What’s New), but one is the first “real” pic of the East Wing Lobby!

They may be spelling-challenged, photography-challenged, and memory-challenged, but these tourists are precious to me. In the spirit of the Reathel Odum Distinguished Service Award (and tonight’s Oscars), I award Haleychura, Amber, Cdhopk, Spificwoman13, Sspin55, and all the others the Dan Quayle A for Effort Award.

Update: More touristy goodness!

Oval Office

Visitor Dennis pointed out that the picture of Ike in the Oval Office had to be wrong, because the fireplace wasn’t historically correct. I realized that I didn’t have a good picture of the Oval Office fireplace anywhere, but I found a nice one on the Truman Library site.

Update: The paneling is like the paneling in the family residence, not the OO, but the mantel is still a mystery. Perhaps this is actually a location in Ike’s library or home that happens to resemble the WH.

Grab bag and a puzzle

Dropped a few new photos in of various areas, including an intriguing one of the Roosevelt Room. The new one shows the ceiling very well with what appears to be a skylight. My (well, Pete’s) floor plan of the second floor does not show a skylight well, so I wonder if it’s really just a flourescent fixture, but Pete pointed out that there is a roof pylon in the right place that presumably is a skylight.

Press Briefing Room

Wingnut points out that a Politico article on Helen Thomas mentions that the Press Briefing Room won’t be ready until May or June, meaning that the room will have been out of commission for 10 or 11 months. We saw in Barney’s holiday video that the room was no where near done in December, so that seems accurate, but the long timeline is a stumper. Aside from the possibility that the administration has an ulterior political motive for keeping the press out of the WH, what could be the delay? Charles McKim restored the whole mansion in the same time frame.

My guess: they’re building in additional facilities of some sort underground.

Presidents Day miscellany

Added a few more Bush, Reagan, and Carter pics from the presidential libraries: West Sitting Hall, Press Briefing Room, Kitchen, State Dining Room, and second floor Central Hall, with the Reagans standing in front of the Chinese screen on their anniversary.

Other presidential places

I mentioned at one time that I’d purchased Oneobservatorycircle.org and planned to do at least a few pages on the vice-president’s residence (Wonkette recently posted some really juicy photos called—in typical Wonkette fashion—”Inside the Monster’s Lair“), but I’ve also begun wondering about adding just a couple of pages about Air Force One (for which there are a good number of photos and even a pretty good diagram) and Camp David (for which there are some photos, but not a lot). I know these locations don’t have the allure of the White House, but they seem like logical extensions of the WHM.

I’m personally kind of curious about the old Mayflower and other presidential yachts, too, but I don’t think much in the way of photos or diagrams of them exist. I’m not very interested in Marine One or the presidential limos, since they are so small and utilitarian, but I know that some pretty good diagrams exist.

Inkin’ Lincoln, I’ve been thinkin’

Found those Newsweek Lincoln Bedroom photos online and created an homage to them on the Lincoln Bedroom page. And wow, that room looks great. Check out the draperies and the Lincoln-era mantel.

Not shown: a “You must be this tall to sleep in this bed” poster with a life-sized Abe. Not only tacky but not even historically accurate.

White House Today and Yesterday

The blog comments about the January 1961 issue of National Geographic and its cover article “Inside the White House” brought up this little book: The White House: Today and Yesterday. John in NOLA scanned the cover for us. He notes that this book is available through Abe Books and Amazon. Only 60 cents new, in 1962, the book is still available for next to nothing, but has some really wonderful photos—some John had never seen anywhere else and many we’ve all seen. “Worth adding to your collection, I assure you,” he says, altho he notes, “The size of the actual book is 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches,” so it’s quite small. I’ll check it out, but I’ll see if I can find the infamous “butcher” cover.

Also, visitor Chris points out that this week’s Newsweek features an article on the redecoration of the Lincoln Bedroom.

Update: Link to the Newsweek article online.

Yellow Oval chandelier

Mike B writes:

While looking on the whitehouse.gov site this morning, I noticed a photo of Laura Bush entertaining in the Yellow Oval Room. The chandelier overhead looked noticeably different from the one in past photos. Am I seeing things or was the chandelier recently switched with one that looks remarkably like one from the Kennedy/Johnson era ?

You are definitely correct. That certainly looks like the chandelier used in the Kennedy era. It’s beautiful and a tad less formal than the one used thru the Clinton era. It looks a lot like the one in the old Family Dining Room.

The American President audio commentary

I’ve completed the second White House-oriented audio commentary, this time for the movie The American President, starring Michael Douglas as a widowed top exec wooing Annette Bening. It’s over on my other website. The filmmakers managed several visits to the WH to get the details right. One of the things I note is the really beautiful blue watered silk wall-covering they chose for the president’s bedroom and the elegant, yet girlish, patterned wallpaper for the first daughter’s bedroom—really well done.

Also, Patrick P has contributed a detailed analysis of the film Wilson, which I put on the Movies page. Thanks, Patrick!

Update: Dennis points out that the French PM state dinner was modeled closely after the Yeltsin dinner, as depicted in the Inside the White House documentary. I’ve altered the page descriptions, but I think I’ll rerecord that part. Thanks for the tip, Dennis!