Existing comment:
State Dining Room - 1895:
The State Dining Room was the first of three post-Gallatin additions constructed by the Charles Speer family. A first floor dining room and two bedrooms upstairs originally occupied this section. The dining room was furnished with a long dining table, two mahogany sideboards, a brass candle-lit chandelier, and a beautiful fireplace. The Speer family and later owners often used this room to entertain guests with lavish dinner parties.
It was the decision of park planners to make adaptive use of this addition along with the South Bedroom Wing and Servants' Quarters. By using these existing sections of the house as exhibit space, officers, and storage, there was no need to construct a new building that, in essence, would become an intrusion on the historic scene. |