Answers to Questions

Grades K-3

1. Because the items in the rooms such as carpet, furniture, and wall coverings are all done in the color of the room.

2. A total of 140 people for formal dinners.

3. Paintings, table, sofa.

4. You would see this as you were leaving the White House.

5. This room is used for large groups, weddings and funerals. There cannot be too much furniture because many people will be standing in this room.

6. A lighthouse clock, which is on the bookshelves.

7. During wars, it was used as a place to view maps and see where the troops were deployed.

8. This is the room where all the Fine China of past Presidents is kept and displayed.

9. Paintings of people and scenes.

10. The President and his family and important people who visit. It is used as an entrance to the White House.

Grades 4-8

1. No, it is designed for the following purposes: Entertaining; diplomatic; working environment; displaying furniture, paintings, china of years gone by; and living quarters for the President and his family.

2. The entrances and the second floor. Possibly for security reasons.

3. The State Dining Room and the Green Room; for small dinner parties the Red Room.

4. Vermeil room for the ladies and the Red Room and in the past the Library for the gentlemen.

5. The Red Room, East Room, Diplomatic Reception Room and the Blue Room.

6. James Hoban designed the White House.

7.. “I pray Heaven to Bestow the Best of Blessings on This House and on All that Shall Hereafter Inhabit It. May None but Honest and Wise Men Ever Rule This Roof.”

8. The Library was used for storage of tubs and buckets, and it was used as a laundry area.

9. The fire was started by the British in 1814 and was a result of the War of 1812.

10. The First Ladies with portraits are: Eleanor Roosevelt, Lady Bird Johnson, Jacqueline Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, Patricia Nixon and Lou Hoover.  Vermeil is gold.

Grades 9-12

1. The Oval office, working offices and the President and his family’s private rooms.

2. Maps were consulted by the President and his military staff and plotted to follow the troops in WWII as the war took place. Strategic decisions were possibly being made here.

3. The entrance to the White House for the First Family and the ambassadors arriving to present credentials to the President.

4. A budget was given to the President in the appropriation bill. This had a special clause that said decaying furniture could be replaced. The budget for Fine China was listed under the category of furnishing. Sometimes Fine China was sold in an auction and the money used to purchase new plates.

5. A full-length portrait of George Washington hanging in the East Room is thought to have been there since the White House was built in the 1800’s.

6. The library was used as storage, a laundry area, a Gentlemen’s ante-room, drinking tea, meetings and meals. It is also used to store books.

7. The Vermeil Room, also known as the Gold Room.

8. President Monroe purchased the White House in 1817.

9. It is a historic treasure of furnishings from various times in history. The rooms were often decorated in classic styles and pieces were often custom made. The rooms were furnished in various styles, and redecorated according to the era. Usually there would be one First Lady, in charge of a committee, who would oversee the decoration. Sometimes Presidents would order specific pieces made. Currently, refurbishing is done to preserve the design as originally intended.

10. The design was modified to increase the size of the State Dining          room. One stairway was removed and one was enlarged.