Patricia Nixon's Green Room

The Green Room after the Nixon redecoration, 1971.
Photo:  White House Historical Association.

By the time Patricia Nixon became First Lady in 1969, the State Rooms of the White House were beginning to show signs of wear despite the extensive efforts that had been made by Jacqueline Kennedy shown in the previous post of The Devoted Classicist.  For those too young to remember, Richard Nixon was a seasoned Washington political figure, serving a term as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives after a stint in the Navy during World War II, then a term in the U.S. Senate, and two terms as Vice-President under President Eisenhower before bitterly losing the 1960 Presidential Election to John F. Kennedy.  So there was no great interest in preserving the Jacqueline Kennedy legacy as the Johnsons had done, but there was enough public sentiment to prevent a complete change of the State Rooms despite an extensive refurbishing.

Clement Conger, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, David Richmond Byers 3rd,
First Lady Pat Nixon, and Edward Vason Jones.

Following Jackie Kennedy's example of assembling an advisory team of notable leaders in the decorative arts, Pat Nixon hired Clement Conger as Curator.  He had become one of the country's most respected authorities in classical American antiques, fine arts, and architecture after orchestrating the creation of the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Reception Rooms.  Self-taught, Conger had a small but experienced group of associates that could be called on to execute various special tasks.  One of these experts was Albany, Georgia designer Edward Vason Jones;  though not formally trained as an architect, he had practical construction experience and had worked as a draftsman for the legendary Atlanta firm of Hentz, Reid and Adler.  Both Conger and Jones continued to work on improvements to the White House through the subsequent Ford and Carter administrations as well.  Conger also worked one term with Nancy Reagan, and eventually Conger oversaw the refurbishing a total of 27 of the 35 principal rooms of the White House.  David Richmond Byers, 3rd, was a partner in the well-regarded Atlanta firm W.E. Browne Decorating Company who had also consulted on the Diplomatic Reception Rooms.  (Another member of this team was Berry B. Tracy, but no record could be found of his official involvement in the Green Room).

Clement Conger, First Lady Pat Nixon, and daughter Tricia Nixon Cox. 1971.
Photo:  UPI.

The pair of Duncan Phyfe worktables may be seen in more detail in the Laura Bush refurbishing of the Green Room, here.  The secretary bookcase, showing a display of porcelain instead of books, between the windows was just one of the many acquisitions made between 1969 and 1974.

First Lady Patricia Nixon, December 14, 1971.
Photo:  AP Wirephoto.

Two easy chairs replaced the pair of small settees at the fireplace.  And a large Oriental rug covers the floor;  this was more a symbol of good taste of the time than a historical example of floor covering.  "The Morning on the Seine, Good Weather", 1897, by Claude Monet was chosen by the Kennedy family as a memorial gift to the White House after JFK's assasination and it was hung in the Green Room before Mrs. Kennedy moved out;  however, the painting was exiled to the Vermeil Room on the first floor during this Nixon refurbishing. Green silk moire from Scalamandre, similar to the Kennedy fabric, was used for the walls, but a different scheme was devised for the curtains.

Edward Vason Jones' drawing for the Green Room curtains, circa 1971.
EDWARD VASON JONES - ARCHITECT, CONNOISSEUR, AND COLLECTOR.
Image via White House Museum Organization.

Edward Vason Jones' design for the curtains, shown with only one jabot and one panel with a gathered swag but probably intending a symmetrical arrangement, was inspired by a document for a historic curtain design.  The new pair of pelmets (or cornice boards, as they are sometimes called) were based on a model found at the Miles Brewton House, a Palladian mansion in Charleston, South Carolina, completed about 1769.

A pelmet in the Miles Brewton House dining room.
Photo courtesy of Mr. Ralph Harvard.
Ralph Harvard Inc

Thanks to Ralph Harvard, Ralph Harvard Inc., who is decorating the still-private residence for the Manigault family, we have a look at the original model, of an unkown date, in the room of the Miles Brewton house now used as the Dining Room.

An exhibition at the Nixon Library features a chair from the Green Room.
(Disregard the curtains, if possible).
Photo:  Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.

A recent exhibition at the Nixon Presidential Library celebrates the 100 years since Pat Nixon's birth.  A chair from the Green Room represents the former First Lady's efforts to build the White House Collection.  According to daughter Julie Nixon Eisenhower in an interview in "The New Yorker", Pat Nixon was responsible for over 600 pieces of furniture and art to be added to the collection.

President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford came to the White House after being first appointed Vice-President after Spiro Agnew resigned, and then becoming President after Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974.  Although there was entertaining in the White House during the 895 day Ford administration, the decor of the State Rooms saw little change.

First Lady Rosalyn and President Jimmy Carter are interviewed by Barbara Walters, 1977.
Photo:  NARA.

First Lady Rosalyn Carter established the White House Preservation Fund to provide an endowment to refurnish the State Rooms.  But her interests were much more geared towards issues of social consciousness and humanity than decor.  However, art was also a priority and it was during the Carter era that Conger bought the painting that is often cited as one of the most important works of art in the White House;  "Lighter Relieving a Steamboat Aground" may be viewed in a previous post of The Devoted Classicist here. 

The Green Room decorated for a Reagan Christmas, 1982.
Note the replacement Empire ormolu and crystal chandelier.
Photo:  The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.

First Lady Nancy Reagan was well-known for having conflicting White House staff fired.  According to historian William Seale, who is the author of the two volume set THE PRESIDENTS HOUSE: A HISTORY. President Reagan insisted on personally firing Conger who had grown too territorial, it was thought.  Former Secret Service agent Rex Scouten, who had served as the White House Chief Usher since the Nixons, replaced Conger:  although he had no background in decorative arts, he was a particularly dutiful favorite of the First Lady who named her dog after him.  (He also allowed the Reagan's personal decorator Ted Graber to proceed according to Nancy Reagan's wishes).  Mrs. Reagan was very successful in soliciting contributions for the complete redecoration of the private quarters and for maintenance of the State Rooms.  According to the White House Historical Association, over 150 objects in the collection received conservation attention, along with the marble walls, wood doors and floors in the State Rooms during the Reagan era, January, 1981, to January, 1989.

The Green Room as depicted in a Christmas card by Mark Hampton
for President George H.W. and First Lady Barbara Bush.
Image:  George Bush Library and Museum.

President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush revived the Committee for the Preservation of the White House to recommend acquisitions.  The White House Endowment Fund was activated by Barbara Bush to operate under the auspices of the White House Historical Association.

Paula Zahn interviews First Lady Barbara Bush, 1992,
in the Green Room as dog Millie does not even pretend to be interested.
Photo:  George Bush Library and Museum.

Although Mark Hampton extensively decorated the private quarters for the Bushes (as the Reagans took their furniture), little was done towards the decoration of the State Rooms during the Bush term, 1989 to 1993, that followed the Reagan era.

An exterior view of the gib door to the Green Room
from the South Portico, 1992.
Photo:  HABS.

In the second half of the 1980s, this writer travelled to Washington, DC, frequently for private renovation projects and enjoyed seeing the north elevation of the White House stripped of the paint that had built up over the years to reveal the blocks of Aquia Creek sandstone.  Section by section, the paint was chemically removed, carefully cleaning the carved detailing, and left bare to dry out until being repainted again.  It was a particularly beautiful sight to behold as the slight variations in the stone brought an even more handsome face to the building.  In 1992, the same process was repeated for the south elevation, as seen in the photo above recorded by the Historic American Building Survey.  (For archival stability, HABS photos of the pre-digital age were almost always black and white).

An interior view of the gib door to the South Portico
from the Green Room, 1992.
Photo:  HABS.

Although the term sometimes varies, the consensus of my colleagues is that this is a Gib Door.  (If just the panels were hinged below the double or triple hung sash, it would be a Gib Window).

The Green Room Wainscot, 1992.
Photo:  HABS.

Many architectural details were salvaged for the 1948-52 rebuilding of the White House, but most of the wood and plaster trims are new replicas.

The Green Room Ceiling, 1992.
Photo:  HABS.

Although there is some notation that Edward Vason Jones had improved some of the architectural features in the East Room, no specific documentation was found to support that;  perhaps he designed this plaster ceiling medallion.

The Clinton Christmas card, 1996, by Thomas McKnight.
Photo:  William J. Clinton Presidential Library.

President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's decoration of the second floor with Little Rock, Arkansas, decorator Kaki Hockersmith is still talked about in design circles. 

The Clinton Green Room, 1999.
Photo:  NARA.

The Blue Room and the East Room were refurbished in 1995; the Entrance Hall, Cross Hall, and Grand Staircase were refurbished in 1997; and the State Dining Room was refurbished in 1998.

The Clinton Green Room, 1999.
Photo:  NARA.

The Green Room remained with few changes since the Pat Nixon decorating scheme until the refurbishing by First Lady Laura Bush seen here.

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg with First Lady Michelle Obama
in the Green Room, October 31, 2011.
White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson.

There appears to have been little if any changes to the Green Room by First Lady Michelle Obama.  But Devoted Readers can see for themselves as the Obamas have teamed with the Google Art Project to allow a virtual tour of the White House that is available for view on-line.

The Green Room decorated for Christmas for the Obamas, 2011.
Photo:  AFP/Getty Images.

The White House is one of this country's great treasures, undoubtedly the most famous building in the world, and it deserves better treatment than it has sometimes received in the past.

Woodrow Wilson House

President Woodrow Wilson was too ill to attend the March 4, 1921, inaguration of Warren G. Harding, having suffered a stroke in 1919.  After spending his last morning as the twenty-eighth President with the formalities of adjourning Congress, President Wilson and his wife Edith went directly to their new home at 2340 S Street in the Washington, DC, elevated neighborhood Kalorama, which translates from Greek as "fine view".  Several hundred people were waiting in front of the house when they arrived, and that afternoon, many more well-wishers passed through the doors of the Adamesque Revival/Neo-Federal style house where he would spend the last three years of his life.

Moving vans brought the Wilsons' furnishings from the White House and from storage in March, 1921.
Photo:  National Trust for Historic Preservation.

After an undergraduate degree from Princeton, Wilson was briefly an attorney in Atlanta after graduating from the University of Virginia Law School before attending Johns Hopkins University's doctoral program in history and politcal science.  He was a faculty member at Bryn Mawr and Wesleyan before returning to Princeton as a professor, being promoted to president of Princeton in1902.  He was elected Governor of New Jersey in 1910 before winning the Presidential Election of 1912.  All of these moves were a factor in deciding to make Washington his home after leaving office, the only U.S. President to do so.

The brick house with limestone trim was completed in 1915 for Henry Parker Fairbanks, a Boston businessman and carpet industry lobbyist, who used the house for entertaining.  The designer was celebrated D.C. architect Waddy B. Wood.  A proponent of the Colonial Revival styles, Wood wrote that his architectural designs were a reflection of the time when craftsmen created buildings as an art form.  With his former partner William E. Deming, an early expert in the restoration of historic homes, Wood had been closely associated with fine examples of American architecture from the Georgian and Federal periods.  Wood also presented his views as an economic reality with the heavy Craftsman style being more costly than the delicate and more simple Colonial Revival style.  But rather than following many other early 20th century architects by just applying classical detailing, Wood felt his use of classicism was an inspiration to modern design.

Despite the traditional appearance, this house was very up-to-date in terms of technology.  And that was a selling point to Wilson's purchase as a surprise to his wife.  Using the $50,000 cash award from winning the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize (awarded in 1920) plus ten friends' contributing $10,000 each, Fairbanks almost doubled his initial investment.  To make the house wheelchair-accessible, an elevator was installed and a doorway was cut to the driveway in order to make automobile transfers easier.  A brick garage was added for his beloved White House Pierce Arrow, bought from the government, which was used almost every day for outings;  sometimes the former president was driven to Griffith Stadium to watch baseball games from his car parked on the outfield grass.  And bookshelves were added in the library;  Wilson had over 8,000 volumes.  The car was donated to The Woodrow Wilson Birthplace and the books, along with the Nobel medal, were given to the Library of Congress, but the house and contents were bequeathed by Edith Wilson to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1954 who became the custodians after her death in the house in 1961.

The President's portrait over the Library fireplace was commissioned from Stanislav Rembski by Mrs. Wilson.  The President's cabinet chair is shown with another from the House of Representatives.
Photo:  Architectural Digest.

In the Library, a Princeton tiger is flanked by an Abyssinian and a Samurai sword.
Photo:  National Trust for Historic Preservation.

This house is well known by The Devoted Classicist because of a summer internship spent with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, DC.  One of the requirements of my Bachelor of Architecture degree was a Service Practicum, working for an architect.  I was very fortunate to win a coveted internship with the Trust and work as a member of the team of the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) under the direction of staff architect John Burns in the office headed by John Poppeliers, noted for authorship of the book WHAT STYLE IS IT?.  The three architecture students, Kenneth S. Williams of the University of Florida, Charles G. Young of the Illinois Institute of Technology, and John J. Tackett of the University of Tennessee, measured and drew the house, producing documentary drawings now housed in the Library of Congress but available for viewing on-line in their entirety on the HABS website.  Additional historic research was completed by other student interns and the HABS staff, and that information can also be viewed on-line, in addition to the black & white photographs by Jack Boucher.  For many years, the photos were a subject of litigation as the photographer, paid on a contract basis, claimed control over the use of the images;  that has now been resolved and these interesting visual documents are now available for public view.

The Serving Kitchen (adjacent to the Dining Room) features a remarkable sink for washing china and crystal.
Photo:  Historic American Building Survey.

There are several unique architectural features that allow light and ventilation to interior spaces, such as these clerestory windows in the Linen Closet.
Photo:  Historic American Building Survey.

The gas-fired clothes dryer in the Laundry Room on the top floor.  The garments were laid on the pull-out racks.
Photo:  Historic American Building Survey.

Perhaps it was because both of the last owners had died in the house, but there was a time that many of the visitors to the Woodrow Wilson House came because they thought it was haunted.  A number of times when I was at the house to measure a detail "behind the ropes", I would emerge from a closed door or begin to stand from behind an upholstered chair and there would be gasps if not shrieks from surprised visitors.

The Drawing Room.
Photo:  Architectural Digest.

The Gobelin tapestry in the Drawing Room was presented by the French government to Mrs. Wilson in 1918.  The autographed photo is of England's King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.  The sofa belonged to Mrs. Wilson before her marriage to the President.
Photo:  Architectural Digest.

A 1920 portrait of Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, the President's second wife, hangs over the fireplace in the Dining Room.  The fringed silver filigree candle shades were one of The Devoted Classicist's favorite objects in the house.
Photo:  National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Solarium overlooks the formal garden.
Photo:  National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In the President's Bedroom, the portrait shown here of Mrs. Wilson now hangs in the Drawing Room.  It is a copy of the 1916 painting by A.Muller-Ulry that hangs in the White House.  During the President's time, a portrait titled Geraldine J was installed over the fireplace and was placed there again after a 1986 study of the original furnishings.
Photo:  Architectural Digest.

The history of Woodrow Wilson's Presidency is an interesting one, especially after it was discovered that the extent of his illness after his devasting stroke was kept private.  Though much has been written that Edith Wilson ran the country and was the First Woman President, it seems that the country was hardly run at all during that period.  But Edith Wilson's efforts to support her husband and preserve his legacy should not be underestimated;  her story is an interesting one as well.

The Woodrow Wilson House is a museum open to the public with the exception of Mondays and major holidays;  more photos and additional information can be seen at the website.  Teachers of grades 5 - 12 should be aware of the National Park Service program "Teaching With Historic Places";  more information is found here to enliven studies of history and civics.  The "Architectural Digest" photos come from the 1979 book THE WORLDS OF ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST, HISTORIC INTERIORS edited by Paige Rense and published by The Knapp Press, Los Angeles.