Adjacent
to the Dining Room, the Butler’s Pantry offers the most striking
juxtaposition of public and private spaces at the Gibson House.
The pantry allows the first glimpse into the other half of the
Gibson Household, the domestic servants. The chestnut woodwork
here, much lighter and grainier than the black walnut used throughout
the rest of the first floor, immediately signals a transition from
the richly decorated entertaining spaces to this hidden workspace.
Situated directly above the ground-floor kitchen and connected
to it by a dumbwaiter, the Butler’s Pantry was well equipped
for service to the dining room. A speaking tube offered communication
capabilities to the kitchen below. The extensive built-in drawers
and cupboards, an architectural innovation of the Victorian era,
reach to the top of the eleven-foot ceiling, offering abundant
storage for dishes and table linens.
 The
small copper-bottomed sink in the butler's pantry was used for washing
the fine china, which was stored in the dining room china closet.
As copper is a softer material than the soapstone usually used
for sinks, there was less chance of breaking anything, or even
simply disturbing the Gibsons and their guests with the noise.
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