The Entrance Hall is the primary and formal entrance to the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room is rectilinear in shape and measures approximately 31 by 44 feet. Located on the State Floor, the room is entered from outdoors through the North Portico, which faces the North Lawn and Pennsylvania Avenue. The south side of the room opens to the Cross Hall through a screen of paired Roman Doric columns. The east wall opens to the Grand Staircase.
The Entrance Hall looking northwest during the administration of George W. Bush.
The Entrance Hall looking north
Maquette by Lorenzo Simmons Winslow showing the reorientation of the Grand Stair to the Entrance Hall during the Truman reconstruction.
McKim, Mead, and White renovation of the Entrance Hall in 1924 during the administration of Calvin Coolidge.
The Cross Hall is a broad hallway on the first floor in the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. It runs east to west connecting the State Dining Room with the East Room. The room is used for receiving lines following a State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn, or a procession of the President and a visiting head of state and their spouses.
The Cross Hall, looking east
The Cross Hall c. 1898, showing James Hoban's original Ionic columns and Louis Comfort Tiffany's glass screen separating the Cross Hall and Entrance Hall
President Barack Obama walks through the Cross Hall to the East Room to present a televised press conference, 2009.
President George W. Bush delivers his farewell address with the Cross Hall behind him, January 2009
