Historic Resources Committee

Did any of you watch the live stream of the NCPC hearing yesterday? Shalom Baranes presented the revised scheme and danced around questions about the size of the ballroom and the design process. He emphasized that the new ballroom cornice would match the White House's while hoping no one would notice the very much higher monumental pedimented porch at the south end that is a new addition to the design. He talked a lot about the monumental stairs on the east and south sides but explained that handicap access was only available through the White House. He suggested that these stairs were primarily for exits! The floor plans were only shown briefly but it didn't appear that there were any provisions for security screening at the east entrance. None of the commissioners seemed very adept at reading architectural drawings and there were very few critical questions. Hopefully the staff will be more critical. Did any of you have any other comments?

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George Bryant (retired)
Philadelphia PA
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I did attend the NCPC meeting, took notes, took screenshots and reported my findings to Daniel Roche at The Architect's Newspaper whereupon he wrote an article that can be viewed there from yesterday.  The plan as presented has serious issues and overwhelms the existing White House.  Commissioner Phil Mendelson was the only one who questioned Baranes.  The others are all sycophants of this president.

To top it all off Baranes stated that now the plan is to add a second story to the West Wing!  As I've stated before, the prez is just planning to turn the entire White House into a casino!

I will report more later.  Got to work on projects and root on my Ducks vs. Indiana.  Go Ducks!

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Samuel Duff Combs, AIA, NCARB
Combs & Combs, AIA, Architecture, Interiors, Art
Architect/Owner
Anchorage, AK
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2026 12:18 PM
From: George Bryant
Subject: White House Ballroom NCPC Hearing

Did any of you watch the live stream of the NCPC hearing yesterday? Shalom Baranes presented the revised scheme and danced around questions about the size of the ballroom and the design process. He emphasized that the new ballroom cornice would match the White House's while hoping no one would notice the very much higher monumental pedimented porch at the south end that is a new addition to the design. He talked a lot about the monumental stairs on the east and south sides but explained that handicap access was only available through the White House. He suggested that these stairs were primarily for exits! The floor plans were only shown briefly but it didn't appear that there were any provisions for security screening at the east entrance. None of the commissioners seemed very adept at reading architectural drawings and there were very few critical questions. Hopefully the staff will be more critical. Did any of you have any other comments?

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George Bryant (retired)
Philadelphia PA
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I saw most of it and agree with George.  they did bring up a new one story to be added somewhere obtaining entry to the white House ...probably Security.  

Mr. Baranes said that the ceiling in the Golden Room was +/- 32 feet..!  That is pretty high..!

He could easily bring that down to human scale.  Thus the addition wouldn't compete with the White House so much.

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Nelson B. Nave AIA
Nelson Breech Nave, AIA Architect
Kalamazoo MI
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2026 12:18 PM
From: George Bryant
Subject: White House Ballroom NCPC Hearing

Did any of you watch the live stream of the NCPC hearing yesterday? Shalom Baranes presented the revised scheme and danced around questions about the size of the ballroom and the design process. He emphasized that the new ballroom cornice would match the White House's while hoping no one would notice the very much higher monumental pedimented porch at the south end that is a new addition to the design. He talked a lot about the monumental stairs on the east and south sides but explained that handicap access was only available through the White House. He suggested that these stairs were primarily for exits! The floor plans were only shown briefly but it didn't appear that there were any provisions for security screening at the east entrance. None of the commissioners seemed very adept at reading architectural drawings and there were very few critical questions. Hopefully the staff will be more critical. Did any of you have any other comments?

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George Bryant (retired)
Philadelphia PA
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The plans presented were too schematic and unlabeled to make much sense of them or make any comments. One question that was not asked was "who decreed that there had to be space for 1000 seated diners"?  That number drives the entire plan, square footage and massing of the building and yet was not questioned.  It also is the reason there is an approximately 10,000 s.f. kitchen on the ground floor. It is interesting to me that only about 1/3 of the proposed 89,000 square footage is actually related to the Ballroom: 22,000 for the Ballroom itself plus the 10,000 kitchen. That leaves about 57,000 square feet of something else, which is still more square footage than the main White House structure has. Some of that is of course a new First Lady's Suite, but it would be helpful if a program document was available for review to verify that 89,000 square feet of space is in fact needed.

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John Prokop Assoc. AIA
Rowe Architects
Tampa FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2026 12:18 PM
From: George Bryant
Subject: White House Ballroom NCPC Hearing

Did any of you watch the live stream of the NCPC hearing yesterday? Shalom Baranes presented the revised scheme and danced around questions about the size of the ballroom and the design process. He emphasized that the new ballroom cornice would match the White House's while hoping no one would notice the very much higher monumental pedimented porch at the south end that is a new addition to the design. He talked a lot about the monumental stairs on the east and south sides but explained that handicap access was only available through the White House. He suggested that these stairs were primarily for exits! The floor plans were only shown briefly but it didn't appear that there were any provisions for security screening at the east entrance. None of the commissioners seemed very adept at reading architectural drawings and there were very few critical questions. Hopefully the staff will be more critical. Did any of you have any other comments?

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George Bryant (retired)
Philadelphia PA
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