Green Room (White House)

The Green Room is one of three state parlors on the first floor of the White House, the home of the President of the United States. It is used for small receptions and teas. During a state dinner, guests are served cocktails in the three state parlors before the president, first lady, and a visiting head of state descend the Grand Staircase for dinner. The room is traditionally decorated in shades of green.

The room is approximately 28 by 22.5 feet (8.5 by 6.9 m). It has six doors, which open into the Cross Hall, East Room, South Portico, and Blue Room.

Descriptions of the Green Room's furnishings before the 1814 fire are limited. Following the 1816 rebuilding, inventories suggest the room initially contained French Empire items bought by President James Madison. Throughout most of the 19th century, the room was decorated in a series of revival styles.

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt selected the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White to make extensive structural changes to the White House and redecorate most of its rooms. For the Green Room, the firm decided to mimic an 1820s-style parlor or drawing room in the French Empire style. An 1817 fireplace mantel was removed from the State Dining Room and used in the Green Room, displacing its original mantel. The door moldings, which dated from the James Monroe administration, were retained.

In 1924, First Lady Grace Coolidge undertook a refurbishment of the White House. Coolidge appointed a group of wealthy patrons of the arts, many of whom were knowledgeable in Colonial and Early American furniture and art, to locate historic furnishings and raise money for the renovation. A split emerged in the committee between those who wished to implement a Colonial Revival style room and those who wished to preserve the 1902 Beaux-Arts decor. The dispute became public, and President Calvin Coolidge ordered the renovation stopped. Work resumed with a different committee in 1926, and the room redecorated in Colonial Revival and Federal furniture.

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