I have noticed that some rooms no longer have under-curtains/sheers at the windows. Why do you think this has been done?My thought is that the various reasons for sheers have slowly gone away: privacy, limiting heat transfer, limiting UV penetration (which fades fabrics). Removing them makes the rooms seem more open, and provides better light and better views. And privacy isn't much of a concern in the public rooms.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Open post: Window sheers
Visitor Luke asks the question:
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Yes, I'm still alive... been under the weather - better now.
ReplyDeleteWindow sheers? They may not need them anymore. I have a very strong hunch that they changed all the window glass in the house during Clinton's term. Have you noticed that the big, thick sliding panels of (bulletproof?) glass that were in the bottom half of the Oval Office windows for years and years are no longer there? I recall seeing scaffolding around windows in pictures - and in person - back in 2000. This would have been years after scaffolding for the stone wall conservation was complete and taken down. Not totally sure, but I think they installed bulletproof glass all through the house after that incident several years ago when the guy opened fire on the house from the Pennsylvania Ave sidewalk.
What a great selection of pics from the Johnson Library! Did anyone notice - in the picture of LBJ dancing with Carol Channing - a very young Gerald and Betty Ford standing between the columns in the Entrance Hall? Sure looks like it to me!
Love that picture of the Johnsons getting ready for the '65 Innauguration - Luci fluffing at the dresser mirror!
In the pic of the Johnsons standing in the West Sitting Hall at Christmas - what a beautiful table behind the sofa (the large drum table with the tripod base). Is that in the White House collection? I've never seen it anywhere else, that I can recall. Maybe it belonged to the LBJ's?
ReplyDeleteMan - LBJ certainly did have a television fetish... they're EVERYWHERE! : )
Indeed, that is the Fords. A very handsome couple.
ReplyDeleteDo the windows in the White House actually open anymore? Not that there is need for open windows, given climate control. Just wondering whether a resident upstairs might be able to open a window to catch the sound of birds or just enjoy a fresh breeze. There was a picture from Bush-41's first morning in the White House showing him peering out and speaking from a second-floor window to reporters on the ground.
ReplyDeleteGood question. I don't recall seeing any recent pictures of open windows, but that's not saying much. My guess is that many of the windows do still open, but not the ones in the Oval Office or main family rooms in the Residence.
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