White House

On our last morning in D.C., we walked along Pennsylvania Ave to go see the White House. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and the streets were deserted. It almost seemed like we had the whole city to ourselves, which was a nice change from the crowds during the last few days.

We heard that the White House was open again for tours, so we sent a request in to our member of Congress. We never heard back and after further investigation we learned that the tour didn't encompass much of the building (only a small portion of the east wing), so we weren't that disappointed. We were hoping to at least be able to visit the White House Visitors Center, but it is undergoing reconstruction right now. So we just contented ourselves with seeing the building's south facade from outside the wrought iron gate on E Street.

The White House was built between 1797 and 1800. Although George Washington oversaw the house's construction, he never lived there. John Adams was the first president to reside in the White House. During Thomas Jefferson's stay, the colonnades were added onto the building. Jefferson also held the first Inaugural Open House here in 1805 and was the president who opened the White House to public tours, making it the "People's House." It has been open to the public from that time (except during war times, and for a period after 9/11) until 2013, when the Obamas closed it. They reopened the house for tours in late 2013, but the tours are much more limited than they were before. More extensive tours are given, but according to whitehouse.gov these tours are "reserved for only the most deserving of citizens. ... Generally speaking, this tour is available to celebrities, business and political leaders, major donors, movers and shakers, and people who know someone who works inside the White House." You can take a virtual tour of the White House by visiting this link or this link.

During the War of 1812, the British set the house on fire, destroying its interior and damaging the exterior. Reconstruction began immediately, and James Madison moved into the house in 1817 while it was still being restored. During Madison's time in the White House, the south portico was added. Andrew Jackson oversaw the addition of the north portico in 1829. The west wing was added, along with a small east wing, in 1902 under the direction of Theodore Roosevelt. William Taft expanded the west wing and created the first oval office in 1909. Calvin Coolidge added a fourth story attic sometime during 1923 to 1929. Herbert Hoover was in office in 1929 when the west wing was damaged by a fire and then repaired. While FDR was president, a second story was added onto the west wing in the 30's, the east wing's reconstruction began in 1942, and the oval office was moved to its present location. During Harry S. Truman's time in office (1945-1953), the second floor balcony over the south portico (seen in the pictures) was added, the White House's interior was dismantled completely, a new steel frame was assembled inside the walls to correct the structural weaknesses, and the interior was reconstructed. Since the Truman renovation, no large architectural changes have been made to the building. Jacqueline Kennedy oversaw a major historical redecoration of the house's interior during her husband's time in office (1961-1963), bringing back historical items once displayed, and decorating each room with a different theme based on a specific period of early American or world history. Throughout all of these changes, the exterior stone walls were left alone, and are the same ones erected over two centuries ago.

A few fun facts about the White House:

• It has 132 rooms, 35 of which are bathrooms.
• There are a total of 6 levels to the house, accessible by its 8 staircases and 3 elevators.
• It has 412 doors, 147 windows and 28 fireplaces.
• The White House received its name in 1901 from Theodore Roosevelt. Before that time it was called the "President's House," "President's Palace," or the "Executive Mansion."

The area was very beautiful with the lush, green grass, blooming trees.

At one point, everyone standing outside the gate got really excited because a Secret Service Agent appeared on the White House's roof. If you look closely in the picture below, you can see him (the black speck to the right of the flag and left of the fountain's spray). There actually was a couple of them and you could see they were holding guns.

Turning so our backs were to the White House, we could see the Washington Monument and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. I don't think it's clear in this picture, but we could make out Thomas Jefferson's statue standing inside his memorial.

From where we stood we could see part of Michelle Obama's kitchen garden. It's planted right there on the left side of the White House lawn. A portion of the vegetables harvested from this garden are donated to local soup kitchens and food banks.

Even though our access to the White House was limited, it was still fun to see. It's a very pretty building, and we enjoyed our time there.

After seeing the White House, we headed back to our hotel to check out. We still had a couple hours we could have used to go see more sights, but at this point we had seen everything on our list and we both just felt done. We hung out at Union Station until it was time to board our bus for home. We had such a fantastic trip, and would love to go back someday. Thanks for following along on our adventures!