London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

This Is the Room Where Jon Meacham Makes History

This Is the Room Where Jon Meacham Makes History

In the esteemed historian’s private office and library, he can keep things just as cluttered as he likes.

It started with the presidential busts. My wife, Keith, and I have long disagreed about the aesthetic value of my collection of noble heads of our former leaders, purchased at minimal cost to me (and to her), at presidential-library gift shops. So when I walked into my study one afternoon to find my busts hidden in a cabinet, I knew it was only a matter of time before Keith would fully take over the one space in our house that belongs to me.



Eight years ago, as we packed up the 2,000-square-foot apartment in New York City we shared with our three children, Keith painted a halcyon picture of our new life in Nashville. There, we would have a proper house. The Georgian Revival, built in 1929, had a capacious floor plan that would allow for a guest room, a bedroom for each of the children, a family kitchen, a mudroom, and-most alluring-a private library at the far end of the house. I would work undisturbed, surrounded by my books and my collection of campaign posters, busts, and beloved political ephemera.

            

As soon as we moved into the new house, the meddling began. Wouldn’t the books be better organized if alphabetized by author? Couldn’t I sort through the boxes of letters and photographs and file them out of sight? Did I really want to hang that life-size poster of Gerald Ford in public view?

I lost the battle before it even began. Every time my wife hosted a party, I was sent to my study to tidy up piles and clear surfaces so that guests could rest their glasses and handbags on side tables without the bother of my clutter.

Sensing marital discord, our brilliant architect, Ridley Wills, together with our equally brilliant decorators, Brockschmidt & Coleman, suggested we consider renovating the old carriage house that was nestled in a grove of trees just below the main house and had not been touched since the 1930s, when the previous owners realized they could no longer afford a chauffeur.

It was the perfect solution.



After a small renovation that involved knocking out the ceiling to reveal existing vaulting and give the room height, and the addition of six banks of bookshelves organized into stacks, I finally had a room of my own (my apologies to Virginia Woolf).

Keith was invited in briefly, along with Bill Brockschmidt and Courtney Coleman, to choose paint colors and fabrics that would complement an inherited Oriental rug and to furnish the room with antiques and smaller pieces from Reed Smythe & Company (the online shop founded by Keith and the late Julia Reed, a close friend). Aside from that minimal invasion, I have been allowed to do with the room as I please. I’ve added to my collection six proper busts that watch over me from their perches atop the bookcases-Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and Frederick Douglass. I am grateful to my friend the painter Michael Shane Neal for the copy of his brilliant portrait of Congressman John Lewis, the original of which was recently purchased by the National Portrait Gallery, and for his rendering of George H.W. Bush. My campaign posters from both sides of the political spectrum make for eclectic decor. What could be more fun for a political junkie than to hang JFK’s 1960 campaign poster next to the iconic David Hume Kennerly black-and-white photograph of Nixon with Roy Acuff and a yo-yo on the stage at the Grand Ole Opry?

Ever since I moved into what Keith and our children ironically refer to as my “global headquarters,” life inside our house has been far more harmonious. No one meddles with my papers. Or suggests a different manner of organizing. No one mentions the haze of cigar smoke that greets the few guests invited to sit on the small front porch of the library. It’s bliss. I can fully attest to the pleasure-and necessity-of having a room of one’s own.

Take a Look Inside Jon Meacham’s “Global Headquarters”






A short path leads from Jon and Keith Meacham’s 1929 Georgian Revival house in Nashville to the carriage house, which Meacham renovated with architect Ridley Wills and interior designers Brockschmidt & Coleman to create his office space and library.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
×