The reception hall was created as part of the 1885-86 renovation and reflected the popularity of the "living hall" in American architectural design of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The living hall represented a room through which people did not merely pass, like the front hall, but was more comfortably furnished with chairs, tables and other objects, and usually prominently featured a fireplace.

The ceiling paper in the reception hall is a snowflake design with warm yellow tones, and the wallpaper is a pattern of large blue flowers with an unusual pattern of ochre spiderwebs and blossoms.