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State Dining Room
The State Dining Room, which now seats as many as 140 guests, was originally much smaller and served at various times as a drawing room, office, and Cabinet Room. Today's State Dining Room incorporates the space that President Thomas Jefferson used as a private office. Tall and generously proportioned, the room had fireplaces on the east and west and was flooded
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The Blue Room
The Blue Room with the Yellow Oval Room above and the Diplomatic Reception Room below it, form the most elegant space of James Hoban's plans for the White House. For the south wall of the Blue Room, he designed French doors flanked by long windows. An oval portico with curving stairs that descended to the South Lawn was included in
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The East Room
Ascending from the Ground Floor Corridor, a marble stairway leads the White House visitor to the State Floor level. Off the landing to the right is the East Room. The largest of the State Rooms, it was designed by James Hoban and George Washington to be a "Public Audience Room." Second President John Adams and his wife First Lady Abigail
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The Entrance Hall
The Cross Hall and large Entrance Hall are at the center of the original plan by James Hoban for the State Floor of the White House. The basic floor plan has not been altered substantially, although modifications have been made to the design and placement of the principle staircases. The plan is arranged so that the Cross Hall connects all
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The Green Room
James Hoban, the original architect of the President's House, intended that the space now called the "Green Room" be used as a "Common Dining Room." An 1801 inventory revealed that first residents President John Adams and First Lady Abigail Adams actually used it as a guest bedchamber. However, the next chief executive, Thomas Jefferson, did serve meals in this room. Jefferson
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The Ground Floor
The white marble walls of the Ground Floor corridor complement the vaulted ceiling arching gracefully overhead. Architect James Hoban installed the groin vaulting around 1793. Its sturdy construction withstood the fire of 1814. The vaulted ceiling seen today is a copy of the original vaulting built during the Truman Renovation between 1948 and 1952. One of the house's finest architectural elements, this ceiling was
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The Second Floor
When John Adams first occupied the President's House in 1800, the Second Floor was generally reserved for private and family use. President Adams kept a small office adjacent to his bedroom on the southwest corner of the house, but other early presidents chose to work in rooms on the State Floor. Around 1825, the two rooms that we now call the Lincoln
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James Hoban: Architect of the White House
James Hoban's life is a memorable Irish-American success story. In his boyhood he learned the craft of carpenter and wheelwright, and became an architect by profession and a builder by trade. Hoban came to America with high ambitions, and designed and erected many buildings; but what keeps his name alive today arises from one special commission - he was the
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Civic Contributions and Family
In 1802, Congress granted the citizenry of the District of Columbia limited local government and James Hoban served on the twelve-member city council for the next two decades, except for the years during which he was rebuilding the White House.Founder of Grand Lodge Number One of the Masonic Order, captain of a local militia company, a city councilman, and successful
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Hoban's Designs for the Church
James Hoban became a pillar of the Catholic community in Washington, D.C. Hoban's public involvement included the founding of St. Patrick's Church and convincing Father Anthony Caffrey to come to America from Ireland to lead it. Largely patronized by Irish-born artisans and laborers, the congregation housed in the simple frame church prospered. By 1809, the parish had moved into a
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Life & Work in Charleston, S.C.
When James Hoban set sail for America, and where he landed, are not certain. By 1785, Hoban was advertising his services in a Philadelphia newspaper: "Any gentleman who wishes to build in an elegant style, may hear of a person properly calculated for that purpose who can execute the Joining and Carpenter's business in the modern taste. James Hoban." Two years
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Public Architect and Developer
After 1802, James Hoban concentrated on his successful business partnership with Pierce Purcell in Washington, distancing himself from the politics and the lower pay of public improvement projects. Except for the White House, few of Hoban's buildings still stand. He also superintended the Capitol, completing the North Wing by 1800, when the seat of government moved to Washington.Hoban became the superintendent