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The White House Review
Read our Washington, D.C. sights reviews. Or post your own.
The White House
- Address: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, White House area, Washington, DC | Map It
- Phone: 202/208-1631; 202/456-7041 24-hr info line
- www.whitehouse.gov
- Category: Houses/Mansions, Government Buildings
- Location: White House area
Fodor's Review:
America's most famous house is open to visitors, but getting in requires planning. The building was designed in 1792 by Irishman James Hoban, who took inspiration from Dublin's Georgian-style Leinster Hall. It was known officially as the Executive Mansion until 1902, when Congress rechristened it the White House, long its informal name. The house has undergone many structural changes: Andrew Jackson installed running water, James Garfield put in the first elevator, and Harry Truman had the entire structure gutted and restored, adding a second-story porch to the south portico.
The self-guided tour includes rooms on the ground floor, but the State Floor has the highlights. The East Room is the largest room in the White House. It's the site of ceremonies and press conferences it's also where Theodore Roosevelt's children roller-skated and one of Abraham Lincoln's sons harnessed a pet goat to a chair and went for a ride. The portrait of George Washington that Dolley Madison saved from torch-carrying British soldiers in 1814 hangs here. The Green Room is named for the moss-green watered silk covering its walls: the place where President Monroe played cards is now known to news junkies as the site of presidential photo ops with foreign heads of state. The only president to get married in the White House, Grover Cleveland, was wed in the Blue Room. The White House Christmas tree stands in here every winter. The Red Room, decorated in early-19th-century American Empire style, has been a favorite of First Ladies. Mary Todd Lincoln had her coffee and read the morning paper here. Bill Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, hosted pizza parties in the State Dining Room, which can seat 140.
To see the White House, you need to contact your representative or senator -- arrangements are made through their offices. To visit in spring or summer, you should make your request about six months in advance. For a January visit, a month might suffice. Non-U.S. citizens make arrangements through their embassy.
You need a group of 10 or more in order to visit. If your group is smaller, the office of your representative or senator may be able to place you with another group. Before your visit, you'll be asked for the names, birthdates, and social security numbers of everyone in your group, and you'll be told where to meet and what you can bring.
On the morning of your tour, call the White House Visitors Office information line, 202/456-7041. Tours are subject to last-minute cancellation.
Arrive 15 minutes early. Your group will be asked to line up in alphabetical order. Everyone 15 years or older must present photo ID. Going through security will probably take as long as the tour itself: 20 to 25 minutes.
- Cost: Free; reservations required
- Open: Tours Tues.-Sat. 7:30-12:30
- Metro: Federal Triangle, Metro Center, or McPherson Sq.
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