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The American people might own the White House, but most know very little of the juicy secrets lurking inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Its interior has become an object of controversy, after President Trump announced he would gut renovate the state ballroom. The East Wing, built in 1902, has been changed many times, but Trump plans to ambitiously add 90,000-square feet to accommodate 650 people, up from the current capacity of 200.
Construction of the White House proper began in 1792 under the supervision of the first U.S. president, George Washington. The property encloses 18 acres of land, and the building itself is roughly 55,000 square feet.
There are six floors, 132 rooms — and 35 bathrooms!
But the father of our country died before his masterpiece was completed. John Adams, America’s second president, was the inaugural resident in 1800.
At first, it was called the “Executive Residence,” then in 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt decided that sounded too stuffy and came up with the new handle.
There are four kitchens where an army of chefs whip up delicious meals, along with a private kitchen where the first family can enjoy a snack.
Beneath the building, there’s a flower shop, a carpenter’s space and even a dentist. There’s an indoor pool, a bowling alley and a putting green.
Also underground: a secret bunker. The Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) was designed during World War II. Insiders say there are state-of-the-art features that ensure the president and his key staff stay alive even in a nuclear attack.
Somewhere within the White House walls also lies a hush-hush pile of secret artifacts, including rumored gifts from other nations too bizarre to display. Some of the strange gifts given to presidents include roller skates, a Shirley Temple police badge, swords, daggers, sandals, snuff boxes, elephant tusks, saddles, a ping pong table, and two grains of rice with portraits of Richard Nixon on them.
There is also an apparent tunnel beneath the Oval Office so those-in-the-know can make a quick getaway in times of trouble.
And there are the ghosts!
Presidents, first ladies, staff members and guests have reported spiritual presences, unexplained noises and even actual apparitions.
The most reported ghost is Abraham Lincoln, even though he didn’t die there.
The first president to install electric lighting was Benjamin Harrison in 1891, but he and his wife, Caroline, were too terrified to touch the switches, convinced she’d be electrocuted. They left the risky job of turning the lights on and off to staff members, and when they forgot, the couple would sleep with the lights on!
When Hollywood megastar Tom Hanks toured the White House in 2004, he was shocked the Press Room was missing a coffee machine — so he sent them one.
He’s kept it up, providing upgrades. In 2017, the actor sent an espresso machine with a note that read: “Keep up the good fight for truth, justice and the American way!”
English (US)