Sun Room

The "Sky Parlor"

The Solarium, or Sun Room, was added to the White House in the early 20th century by William Howard Taft in the form of a "Sleeping Porch" to give the first family a cool place to sleep on hot nights. It was improved in 1927 when the third floor was expanded, and Grace Coolidge called it the "Sky Parlor." It was redesigned again in the 1952 Truman reconstruction and now includes a kitchenette.

The Sun Room has been a particular favorite of many first families. President Eisenhower like to grill on the Promenade just outside and eat and play bridge in the Sun Room. The Kennedys turned this room into a school room for Caroline and several other children. The Johnsons (after Caroline's semester ended), turned the room into a teen hangout for Luci and Lynda.

This room is also where Richard Nixon broke the news to his family in 1974 that he had chosen to step down as president. And Mrs. Reagan was in this room with Chief Usher Rex Scouten when she was informed the the president had been shot.

Adapted from America's First Families: Chapter 3, A Home Within a Symbol:

The most famous and popular room on this floor was created by Grace Coolidge, directly above the Yellow Oval Room. She called it her "sky parlor" because it offered an open view looking out to the sky from walls of glass. The Trumans installed a linoleum floor and artificial bamboo furniture, and the space was Mamie Eisenhower's bridge party room, Caroline Kennedy's kindergarten, the teenage Johnson daughters' hangout—complete with soda machine. It was the one quiet retreat where Nixon son-in-law Ed Cox could come to study for his law bar exams, and Rosalynn Carter could focus on Spanish lessons with her in-residence daughters-in-law Caron and Annette.

Ronald Reagan recuperated in the bright room in the weeks following the assassination attempt. There is a small wet bar here. It was the favorite room of the Clintons, whether for meetings or board games or family dinners. Here they displayed collections of humorous stacking Russian dolls depicting them and other political figures.