Entrance Hall - McKim's Return To Neoclassicism

McKim's Return To Neoclassicism

In 1902, soon after taking office and occupying the White House, President Theodore Roosevelt engaged architect Charles Follen McKim in the redesign of the White House. McKim reconfigued the house, adding wings, demolishing the greenhouses, and sweeping away the ornate late 19th century interiors. McKim attempted to make the White House interiors appear closer to how they had near the time of construction, during the period of the early republic. McKim's office McKim, Mead, and White researched the house's history, and where no clear documentation was available created rooms in the then popular Colonial Revival and Beaux Arts styles.

In the Entrance Hall, McKim removed the Tiffany screen, Hoban's Ionic columns, and the ornamental painting. In its place he created a far simpler neoclassical interior. On the south side of the room is a screen of single and paired Roman Doric columns. Doric pillasters are used on the east, north and west wall. A robust entablature of triglyphs, garlanded bureaucrania, ornamental cuirass, and spread Roman eagles integrate the frieze and ceiling. A simple color palette of soft ochres, gray and white contrasted dramatically with the Victorian era interior. The presidential arms were cast in bronze and installed in the center of the room's floor. Bronze torchères, still in use, and a simple lantern with a cylindrical glass chimney lit the room. McKim's new finishes though robust in form were made of plaster and stucco over wood frames hastily added to Hoban's original surfaces. While the response to McKim's interiors were positive, the Entrance Hall has been criticized for being more appropriate to a public building than a home.