The Dining Room
The Dining Room, once described as "the most exciting room in the house," showcased wall painting by celebrated Austrian artist, Gustav Krollman. His oil paint and silver leaf treatment depicted peacocks, macaws (a motif which also appears on the exterior shutters) and other exotic bird species, their plumage trailing around mirrors and doorways. The woodwork and doors were antiqued silver and the baseboards were olive green. The carpet, nearly wall-to-wall, was a soft peacock green.
This room was completely remodeled in the late 1980s into an L-shaped space expanding it to slightly more than twice its original square footage, and nearly tripling its service capacity.
The Dining Room today approximates most closely within the house the Colonial Revival taste. Though neo-classical architectural elements run throughout Eastcliff's interior, in this room they combine with the existing furnishings (the Federal-style sideboard, the reproduction Duncan Phyfe table and Chippendale-inspired dining chairs, all gifts from the Pillsbury family), to suggest that the wallcovering design follow suit. A "document" paper was selected to most accurately respond to this aesthetic.
The silver and china in the china cabinet belong to Eastcliff. Wedgewood china lines the sides of the cabinet with several tea sets on the shelves of the middle section. The most precious set, a George Jensen, occupies the second shelf from the top. The two large crystal pieces in the cabinet are personal pieces acquired by the President and his wife. They purchased the basket in Prague and received the canister as a wedding present.
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