Redecorating the White House
How Wallpaper from a House in a Small Town Now Greets Diplomats
© Jim Rada
Jun 10, 2008
He purchased the wallpaper for $50 and spent the next three days carefully removing it from the walls.
Catching Jackie’s Eye
On Thursday, April 6, Hill notified the Smithsonian Institution of his find, according to an article in The Frederick News (September 21, 1961). He knew John Newton Pearce of the Cultural Historical Section through some previous antique sales he had made to the Smithsonian. The following day, Hill took the wallpaper to the White House and spread it out on the floor of Pearce’s wife’s office. Mildred Pearce was the White House curator.
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy walked into the office around noon with two of her friends. “The historic paper, displaying the French flavor she likes so well, caught the first lady’s eye instantly,” wrote Dorothy McCardle in The Washington Post. Kennedy decided on the spot that she wanted the wallpaper.
Incorporating It into the White House
The Diplomatic Reception Room was chosen as the room where the wallpaper would be hung, in part, because the National Society of Interior Designers was redesigning the room with an Americana theme. The round walls of the room also worked well to display the panoramic wallpaper. The First Lady asked the society to purchase the wallpaper for the room as part of what would be an $180,000 redecoration of the room, according to McCardle.
However, the wallpaper from the Stoner House was not enough to finish the entire room. Pearce was able to find an additional 25 feet in a New York antique shop to finish the project.
The original design was also too short for the space that needed to be filled, but Peter Guertler who did the renovation of the room came up with a solution. Where the paper was too short to fully reach the ceiling of the diplomatic reception room, he carefully painted in inches of blue sky, matching the color of the wallpaper, according to McCardle.
The Cost of Wallpaper
The society purchased the wallpaper for $17,500, though it paid only $12,500 for it, which was the amount they could afford according to McCardle. In a letter dated Aug. 14, 1961, Hill told Stoner that the difference was “given in the name of Thurmont.”
Though not known at the time of purchase, the White House could have purchased a modern set of the wallpaper, produced by Jean Zuber and Co. The company has been in France since 1797 and is still in business (www.zuber.fr). The company’s web site claims it is the last factory in the world still producing wallpaper using wood blocks. It also still uses the original wood blocks. A new set of the wallpaper in 1961 would have cost around $2,200 and not needed repairs.
Finishing the Job
The restoration and remounting of the wallpaper was completed just in time for a State dinner for Peruvian President Manuel Prado on September 20, 1961.
To view more of the historic wallpaper in the White House, visit the White House Historical Association at www.whha.gov.
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