National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

FIRST FLOOR BUTLERS' PANTRY
Resource History and Description of Existing Conditions
The Butlers' Pantry is a two-story room south of the Dining Room. It is accessed from
the service stair hall and the Dining Room and is directly above the Scullery and Dumbwaiter's
closet in the basement. A second floor balcony lines the north, south, and west sides of the
room and is accessed from the service stair hall. The Dumbwaiter also serves the balcony. The
Butlers' Pantry is lined with built-in shelves, drawers, and storage closets for china, glassware,
flatware, silver, and linen.
McKim's plan for the first floor of the Butlers' Pantry bears light pencil tracings of one
amendment to the room. As originally proposed, the safe was in the southeast corner. Freehand
tracings, which are undated and unsigned, show the current safe installed behind the
pantry wall in space originally in the lavatory to the south. 943 The safe, manufactured by
Herring, Hall, Marvin Co. of New York, was accessed through a closet in the pantry. Other
discrepancies exist between the plan and the room's current configuration, and it is not always
evident whether the current configuration is as-built or reflects renovations. The swing of the
door from the service stairs was changed; a proposed closet to the north of the refrigerator on
the west wall is not present; the Dumbwaiter door was reoriented from its eastern face to its
southern, a countertop is situated in front of the north window, and a dresser was proposed for
the southwest corner where two closets and a small dresser are located today.
A sink flanked by two white marble sideboards was formerly on the east wall. A private
phone was installed in the small cupboard on the west wall. It was connected to the Coach
House, the Power House, and the Pavilion. A plate warmer was on the north wall. All three
items were removed between 1938 and 1947, according to Alfred Martin. 944 A built-in plate
warmer is still in place on the north wall. The call box survives along with the DeVeau intercom,
but three speaking tubes, labeled "Kitchen," "Mrs. V.," and "Mr. V.," have been removed.
The Butlers' Pantry was used for storage and cleaning of service dishes, glassware,
flatware, and silver. A small supply of linen for daily use was also kept in the room. The
decorative silver displayed on the dining room table and sideboards was stored in the silver safe,
and a supply of flower vases was kept in the pantry. 945
The closet on the north wall stored glass for everyday use. The closet in the northeast
corner stored very fine glassware with heavy gold trim, used primarily for parties. The closet in
the southeast corner held the bowls and glass used to decorate the center of the dining table.
The closet on the south wall held valuable china. Its bottom shelf held fancy breakfast trays or
breakfast sets used for the bedrooms upstairs. The sets matched the room color schemes such
as blue, mauve, pink, and red. The second shelf held gold and white china used for parties. The
small closet on the west wall stored very valuable French porcelain cups and saucers used in the
bedrooms only on special occasions as indicated by Mrs. Vanderbilt. Linen for everyday use
was stored in two drawers on the south side of the room. A two-drawer case has been added to
this wall at the countertop, and may be the drawers used for linens. Silver was kept in the silver
safe. Within the safe, party silver was kept on the top shelves, and everyday silver such as
breakfast trays, was kept on the lower shelves. Silver was used for the most part as serving dishes
943
McKim, Mead & White, Drawing # 8.
944
Martin, December 1, 1947.
945
Martin, December 1, 1947.
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