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TheVermeil Room (/ˈvɜːrməl/VUR-məl;French:[vɛʁˈmɛj]) is located on the ground floor of theWhite House, theofficial residence of thepresident of the United States. The room houses a collection ofsilver-gilt orvermeil tableware, a 1956 bequest to the White House by Margaret Thompson Biddle. Portraits ofAmerican First Ladies hang in the room.^[1]

The Vermeil Room was originally a staff work room used for storage and later for polishing silver.Theodore Roosevelt's 1902 renovation of the White House by architectCharles Follen McKim reconfigured the use of the house, finishing much of the ground floor for public use. When first furnished for public use, the room was termed the Social Room because it served as a lounge adjacent to a women's restroom. McKim provided the room with late Georgian-style cove moldings and a paneled wainscot. On the west wall, McKim installed aColonial Revival mantel with paired Tuscan Doric columns and bas-relief medallions with American eagles similar to the one found in theseal of the president of the United States. A pair of built-in arched cupboards flanked the mantel.

The Truman reconstruction of the White House in 1952 replaced the 1815 pine beams installed during the reconstruction of the house after its burning by the British in 1814. PresidentHarry S. Truman had the ancient beams sawn and installed as paneling in the Vermeil Room,China Room, andLibrary. The style of wall paneling and bracketed molding installed during the Truman reconstruction were based on aGeorgian period model, contemporary with the design of the White House exterior. They were initially left unpainted, showing their grain and knots, a look popular in the 1950s.

Margaret Thompson Biddle's collection was significant and ranged from Renaissance to 19th-century French and English pieces. The collection includes work by English Regency silversmithPaul Storr (1771–1844) as well as French Empire silversmiths,Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751–1843) andJean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot (1763–1850). First LadyMamie Eisenhower had the collection displayed in the room's glass-enclosedvitrines.

Biddle was the daughter ofWilliam Boyce Thompson and the wife ofA. J. Drexel Biddle, Jr.

At first, the collection was only displayed in the Vermeil Room in a museum-like setting. First LadyJacqueline Kennedy, on the recommendation of her friendRachel Lambert Mellon, began using the collection for the display of flowers and fruit in the rooms on the state floor.

During the Kennedy White House restoration, interior designerStéphane Boudin proposed painting the room in a style used in 17th and 18th century England and Normandy. Boudin had used a similar treatment in the Blue Bedroom atLeeds Castle in Kent, England. Rather than attempting to putty and polish the rough-sawn timbers, he highlighted the porous texture of the paneling. The walls were rubbed with wire brushes to bring up the grain and create an "aged" surface. Next, a solid coat of off-white paint was applied, followed by a "dragged" coating of blue paint. This was sealed using a bar of wax dabbed in pure dry blue pigment, and finally, the surface was lightly distressed to tiny specks of white in the underlying base coat.

The interior of the shelves displaying the vermeil was covered in white velvet. One of two neoclassical caryatid mantels was installed (still in place). White damask drapes were made with blue and off-whitefringe trim. A finely patterned blue and white carpet was installed and a large center table was created with a custom-dyed blue velvet cloth not delivered until the Johnson years. A gilded chandelier, referring to the vermeil collection, was installed. The result was a gallery room, not a sitting room.The White House: An Historic Guide (1964) shows an architectural cross-section of Boudin's blue Vermeil Room.

In 1971 First LadyPat Nixon, working with White House Curator Clement Conger, refurbished the Vermeil Room adopting aFederal style for the room's decoration. The Georgian cornices were replaced with later-period cornices. Severalvitrines were closed up, and the paneling was given many coats of putty to transform it to a smooth finish. The room was painted a soft green, and drapery was designed byEdward Vason Jones in gold, green, and blue with complex swags trimmed in bobbintassels. A late 19th-century English crystal chandelier was installed, and the room was furnished with two Federal-style sofas and an Empire pier table between the windows on the south wall.

In 1991, during theGeorge H. W. Bush administration, the room was repainted a soft yellow, the pier table was replaced with an empire-style sofa, and a pair of lolling chairs replaced the two federal-style sofas. The striped gold-and-blue drapery was replaced with striped silk damask in blue and cream.

In 2006 the White House curator Bill Allman, First LadyLaura Bush, Bush family decorator Ken Blasingame and theCommittee for the Preservation of the White House refurbished the room. Walls were painted in an enamel gloss finish in an ivory color with a tint of green described asDeauville. An 1829 center table in the late neoclassical style by Philadelphia cabinetmaker Anthony Gabriel Quervelle was placed in the room. The lolling chairs were reupholstered in patterned white silk damask, the c. 1815 sofa on the south wall is attributed toDuncan Phyfe and upholstered in pink silklampas. On each side of the sofa stand Boston work tables produced in the early 19th century, likely to be the work of cabinetmakers John Seymour or Thomas Seymour. Though an unmatched pair, each has drawers and a fabric sewing bag. Windows were given new drapery – straight panels of patterned silkjacquard in olive and gold, topped by a single festoonedswag and sidejabots of the same patterned silk, trimmed intassels. The carpet is a Turkish Hereke with a background of light green and was produced in about 1860.

This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(April 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Abbott, James A. (August 1995).Frenchman in Camelot. Boscobel Restoration.ISBN 978-0-9646659-0-3.
• Abbott, James Archer; Rice, Elaine M. (1998).Designing Camelot. Van Nostrand Reinhold.ISBN 978-0-442-02532-8.
• Abbott, James Archer; Jansen, Jean-Henri (2006). Owens, Mitchell (ed.).Jansen. Acanthus Press Llc.ISBN 978-0-926494-33-6.
• Helme, Tom; Friedman, Joseph; Terestchenko, Ivan (2003).Paint and color in decoration. Rizzoli Intl Pubns.ISBN 978-0-8478-2593-6.
• McKellar, Kenneth, Douglas W. Orr, Edward Martin, et al.Report of the Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion. Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion, Government Printing Office: 1952.
• Mellon, Rachel Lambert.The White House Gardens Concepts and Design of the Rose Garden. Great American Editions Ltd.: 1973.
• Monkman, Betty C. (2000-11-01).The White House. Abbeville Press.ISBN 978-0-7892-0624-4.
• Seale, William (1986).The President's House. National Geographic Society.ISBN 978-0-912308-28-9.
• Seale, William (January 2001).The White House. White House Historical Association.ISBN 978-0-912308-85-2.
• The White House: An Historic Guide. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1964.

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• Rooms in the White House

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