The Diplomatic Reception Rooms are among the most beautiful rooms in the world used for official entertaining. The 18th-century-style rooms are located in the Main State Department building. In this setting the Secretary of State, the Vice President, and Members of the Cabinet entertain the leaders of the world as well as foreign and American dignitaries. They are entertained at luncheons, receptions and dinners. In addition, 60,000 visitors tour the reception rooms each year. On this virtual tour, you can meet the Director of the Collection, as well as sample below, a representative portion of the objects in the Rooms.

The Collection of museum-caliber American furnishings of the period 1750-1825 has been acquired with the generous tax-deductible contributions from public-spirited citizens, foundations, and corporations. Since its inception, the project's only expenditure of tax money has been for salaries and the office expenses of a very small staff.

Select a Room and Begin Your Tour
	Edward Vason Jones Memorial Hall Guests enter the rooms in this beautifully proportioned hall.		John Quincy Adams State Drawing Room The room is used for receiving diplomats. At large functions, the Secretary of State, his distinguished guests and other notables form a line opposite the fireplace.
	The Entrance Hall Design for the hall is based on two great Georgian plantation houses on the James River in Virginia.		Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room The largest of the rooms was redesigned architecturally in the classical manner by John Blatteau and completed in 1985.
	The Gallery Designed by Edward Vason Jones. In 1965, Jones brought a team of carpenters and craftsmen to Washington to create new designs in the Palladian tradition of Thomas Jefferson's time.		Thomas Jefferson State Reception Room The Room contains many features of Jefferson's buildings in Virginia in the neoclassical or Palladian style.
	Walter Thurston Gentlemen's Lounge Designed by Walter M. Macomber, who was the resident architect of Mount Vernon and one of the first architects of Colonial Williamsburg.		Martha Washington's Ladies Lounge Before renovation, the condition of this area prompted the original curator to volunteer to refurnish the Diplomatic Reception Rooms.
	Sign Guestbook Please sign our Reception Room Pages guestbook so we will know you were here!		Read Guestbook see who else has been here! (Access may be slow.)

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Select Other Tours
	The Old Executive Office Building: Served for the signing of the Treaty of Paris, September 3, 1783.		Art in Embassies Program
	Other Points of Intrest in Washington, D.C.		The White House

Last updated: April 8, 1996.