West Sitting Hall is one of my favs. I have never liked any of the seating arrangements in the room. The scale of the window dictates more dramatic furniture and layout. The smaller groupings of seating don't make a great impact. I'd face couches flanking the window not block it.
I believe the foliage on the draperies could be a pattern of peanut vines. Ewwww! I would have donated a decent couch. They didn't really have to go to a thrift shop to find one.
I don't mind the furniture set-up. I believe that room actually gets a ton of use. Sitting that far apart just to make the fan window more visible would be secondary to me. I'd want the seating more conducive to visiting.
I believe the coffee table pictured in the 1977 West Sitting Hall photo is currently being used in the Oval Office. In the 2005 Oval Office photo the table appears to have a bad water ring on it.
Derek, I emailed you a sketch made by Edward Vason Jones of the Green Room drapes. Did you receive it?
I don't like the 1977 WSH either, but, for what it's worth, everything except a few personal objects was put in by the Fords just a few months before the end of their term, including those hideous drapes. Apparantly the Carters felt it would be a waste of money to replacing everything so soon.
Thanks Eric and Derek so much for the Edward Vason Jones sketches for the 1971 Green Room window treatments. What a difference in design philosophy he had from DuPont and Boudin! DuPont said that the Red and Green Rooms were horribly proportioned and that it was a mistake to have elaborate treatments and valances which would draw the eye up to the windows and away from the room itself. Boudin created the designs with that stipulation in mind, following the French school which says the treatments must be extensions of the wall. The American/British philosophy is the direct opposite. Traditionally, these windows have been treated in the French fashion, until Conger and Jones.
Does anyone know if there are any pictures of the Kennedy Green Room drapery- or of the room photographed with the window treatments? From what I have seen- (the watercolor sketches for the 1963 Christmas cards)the drapes look more like a modern version of a period design. The same approach for the Blue Room and Red Room draperies.
West Sitting Hall is one of my favs. I have never liked any of the seating arrangements in the room. The scale of the window dictates more dramatic furniture and layout. The smaller groupings of seating don't make a great impact. I'd face couches flanking the window not block it.
ReplyDeleteI believe the foliage on the draperies could be a pattern of peanut vines. Ewwww! I would have donated a decent couch. They didn't really have to go to a thrift shop to find one.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind the furniture set-up. I believe that room actually gets a ton of use. Sitting that far apart just to make the fan window more visible would be secondary to me. I'd want the seating more conducive to visiting.
ReplyDeleteWhen I looked at the WSH Carter drapes . .. . I threw in my mouth a little.
ReplyDeleteI believe the coffee table pictured in the 1977 West Sitting Hall photo is currently being used in the Oval Office. In the 2005 Oval Office photo the table appears to have a bad water ring on it.
ReplyDeleteDerek, I emailed you a sketch made by Edward Vason Jones of the Green Room drapes. Did you receive it?
I don't like the 1977 WSH either, but, for what it's worth, everything except a few personal objects was put in by the Fords just a few months before the end of their term, including those hideous drapes. Apparantly the Carters felt it would be a waste of money to replacing everything so soon.
ReplyDeleteEric - Yes. I wasn't going to post it because it was so small. Can you send a large scan?
ReplyDeleteThanks Eric and Derek so much for the Edward Vason Jones sketches for the 1971 Green Room window treatments. What a difference in design philosophy he had from DuPont and Boudin!
ReplyDeleteDuPont said that the Red and Green Rooms were horribly proportioned and that it was a mistake to have elaborate treatments and valances which would draw the eye up to the windows and away from the room itself. Boudin created the designs with that stipulation in mind, following the French school which says the treatments must be extensions of the wall. The American/British philosophy is the direct opposite. Traditionally, these windows have been treated in the French fashion, until Conger and Jones.
Hmmmm... I wonder who could have been putting his feet on that table and leaving wet glasses on it? : )
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if there are any pictures of the Kennedy Green Room drapery- or of the room photographed with the window treatments? From what I have seen-
ReplyDelete(the watercolor sketches for the 1963 Christmas cards)the drapes look more like a modern version of a period design. The same approach for the Blue Room and Red Room draperies.