The first impression guests and visitors have of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms is the Edward Vason Jones Memorial Hall, dedicated to the talented architect who transformed the main reception rooms.

The architecture of this Elevator Hall and the adjoining Entrance Hall was inspired by great houses along the James River in Virginia. These rooms contain marble busts of George Washington, John Jay, and the Marquis de Lafayette, as well as fine examples of furniture made in the last half of the 18th century in Boston and Philadelphia.

• Side Table: The broad sweep of the double peak serpentine front rail, repeated in smaller scale on the corners and turned into a half serpentine on the sides, distinguishes this superb side table; in form, it is unique in colonial New York furniture.

• Bust of John Jay: Since John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States, had died in 1829, Frazee could not model his bust from life. He, therefore, based his work on a terra cotta bust executed in 1792 in New York by Giuseppe Ceracchi.

• Bust of George Washington: Houdon's image of Washington had been modelled from life when the famous French sculptor visited Mount Vernon in 1785.