Did You Know?…

Little-Known White House Facts

On November 1, 1800, John Adams became the first US President to move into the White House.

President and Mrs John Adams officially opened the President’s House when they hosted the first New Year’s Day reception in 1801. Presidents used to host New Year’s receptions that were open to the public, but the practice ended in 1932 once attendance grew too large.

President Woodrow Wilson allowed his sheep to graze on the south grounds of the White House during his presidency. During World War I, he donated the wool from his sheep to the Red Cross to auction for the war effort.

Pennsylvania Avenue did not originally cross in front of the White House. The area was a public common for fairs and parades until 1822, when the street was built and Lafayette Park was established.

The White House grounds comprise 18 acres within the iron fencing surrounding the building.

Winston Churchill was sometimes a difficult guest at the White House. Often informally dressed in his famous one-piece jumpsuit, Britain’s Prime Minister enjoyed his meals, cigars and brandy at odd hours, and his unpredictability kept FDR and the White House staff constantly guessing. The Prime Minister also reportedly liked to stay up late at night, and therefore sleep late in the morning.

George Washington was the only President who never slept in the White House. He ended his service as Chief Executive and died before the federal government moved in 1800 from Philadelphia to the village capital named in his honor.

While George Washington never slept in the White House, he did select the site for the President’s House, and also chose the Georgian design for the mansion that had been done by the Irish architect James Hoban. President Washington selected Mr Hoban’s design for the Georgian-style mansion from entries submitted for an open competition.

On a site selected by President Washington, the cornerstone for the President’s House was laid on October 13, 1792. Construction of the building then took eight years.

The outside walls of the White House are stone. The inside walls are lined with bricks made on the grounds using soil from the site.

The West, or Rose, Garden of the White House is nearly a century old. Ellen Axson Wilson, the first wife of President Woodrow Wilson, planted the first rose garden in the manner of 17th Century Italian gardens.

On Easter Monday 1879, a new law forbade the use of the US Capitol grounds or terraces as “play grounds or otherwise,” disappointing several hundred children who wished to roll their Easter eggs down the western incline of Capitol Hill, as had been the custom for many years. President Rutherford B. Hayes invited the children to the grounds of the White House to continue the Easter tradition, and it has remained an annual event on the south grounds ever since.

The White House grounds present one of the most extensive collections of American trees anywhere. First planted nearly 200 years ago, the groves include nearly every variety of oak found in the country, along with elms, maples and 100 additional species.

The oldest tree in the extensive groves at the White House is a giant, gnarled magnolia tree. President Andrew Jackson brought the tree with him from The Hermitage, his home near Nashville, Tenn.

Andrew Jackson’s wife, Rachel, died on Christmas Eve 1828. One year after his inauguration in 1829, President Jackson had magnolia trees transplanted from the grounds of the couple’s home in Nashville and planted on the White House grounds in memory of his wife.

The first bathtubs in the White House were portable and made of tin; water was hauled in buckets.

Running water was brought into the White House 33 years after the first President to live in the building took up residency. It was not until 1853, during the Franklin Pierce administration, that hot and cold running water and hot-water heating was installed on the building’s second floor.

Gas lighting replaced candles and oil lamps at the White House in 1848, the first telephone was installed for President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877, and electricity was installed in the White House in 1891.

The portrait of George Washington that hangs in the East Room of the White House is the oldest object in the White House. First Lady Dolley Madison escaped with the portrait as British forces captured Washington, D.C., and burned the White House on the night of August 24-25, 1814.

More than 500 trees, 41 of which are commemorative, thrive on the 18 acres of grounds within the iron fence surrounding the White House.

The term “President’s House” was used exclusively for the building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue until 1850, when “Executive Mansion” began to appear on official documents. President Theodore Roosevelt issued an Executive Order on September 17, 1901, changing the official name to the “White House.”

Planted nearly two centuries ago on land worn out from farming, the White House grounds survive as one of the oldest continually maintained landscape gardens in the United States. President John Adams planted the first garden.

President and Mrs Calvin Coolidge initiated the tradition of a National Christmas Tree erected on the Ellipse of the White House in 1923.

The White House was first painted with whitewash in 1798, two years before the interior was finished. However, the term “White House” was not used in official government documents until 1901, when Teddy Roosevelt officially changed the building’s name.