These days, the White House looks like something out of the Gilded Age, full of golden statues and accessories that are more gaudy than glam – and don’t even get us started on President Donald Trump’s plans for the East Wing overhaul. But we’re old enough to remember a time when the People’s House actually looked like people lived there. A time when we could use terms like “quiet luxury” and “modern sophistication” to describe the style – the time we fondly recall as the Obama years.
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During his eight years in office, former President Barack Obama spent a lot of his time speaking to the American people from various corners of the White House, including the Oval Office, the East Room and the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
But after a long day of meetings with world leaders, members of Congress and cabinet members, our Forever President spent a good deal of his downtime in a special corner of the White House – after having dinner with First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters, Malia and Sasha, of course. The Treaty Room is located on the second floor of the White House, which has traditionally been home to the First Family’s private living space.
The room is already full of amazing American history. One of the highlights is a large desk – the place where then-President William McKinley signed The Treaty of Paris, ending the Spanish-American War in 1898 and where former President John F. Kennedy signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963.
With the help of designer Michael S. Smith, the Obamas put their personal touch on the space during their time in the White House, adding artwork, furniture pieces and other accessories that reflected their refined style and taste, including textured wallpaper and a beautifully rich, gold velvet sofa. And at the heart of the room was a statement work of art, “Butterfly,” a 1976 painting by Susan Rothenberg on loan from the National Gallery of Art.
In a video tour of the space, President Obama said The Treaty Room was his preferred place to review briefings, read letters sent to him by the American people, and write many of the speeches that made his time in office so memorable. A self-described “night owl,” Obama found it to be a quiet place to get things done, while staying close to his family.
But when he wasn’t working, the Treaty Room was also a hangout where Obama often watched his beloved Chicago Bulls with his family on the large-screen television mounted on the wall.
One Instagram user described Obama’s cozy presidential man cave perfectly in two words, writing, “So classy.”
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