Little-Known Facts About the White House

(Illustration of President Andrew Jackson’s inauguration celebration at White House courtesy Library of Congress)

To commemorate Barack Obama’s historic inauguration as he becomes the first African-American president of the U.S. today, we decided to help celebrate by creating a Zestimate for the White House.  It was a fun exercise and it refreshed our knowledge of U.S. history. In the process, it uncovered little-known facts about the White House that we thought you might find interesting as well.

Did you know…

• President George Washington commissioned that sandstone from the quarries of Aquia Creek in Stafford County, VA, be used to build the White House and other notable DC buildings, including the Capitol.
• Painting the White House sandstone cost U.S. taxpayers $283,000 (in 1994) and 570 gallons of Duron’s “Whisper” white paint was used. (Time)
• The White House is the only private residence of a head of state that is open to the public, free of charge. (White House)
• During President Andrew Jackson’s open house inauguration in 1829 (illustration above), a horde of 20,000 celebrants forced President Jackson to flee to a nearby hotel while his aides filled washtubs with orange juice and whiskey to lure the mob out of the overrun White House and onto the lawn. (Washington Post)
• In 1840, Martin Van Buren hired a live-in fireman to manage the boilers of a monstrous new furnace. (White House History)
• Electricity was installed in the White House in 1891 and President Benjamin Harrison and his family often went to bed and left all the new electric lights burning because they were afraid to touch the switches. He used to have White House staff turn them on and off. (Classroomhelp.com)
• Throughout history, the White House was known as the “President’s Palace,” the “President’s House,” and the “Executive Mansion.” President Theodore Roosevelt officially gave the White House its current name in 1901. (White House)
• Under the press briefing room is an indoor pool, which was installed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt who used it for therapy for his polio. Forty years later, a growing press corps pushed President Richard Nixon’s administration into building the press briefing room over the pool. Hillary Clinton wanted to return the pool to use and find another space for the press briefing room, but the idea was never put into action. (White House Museum.org)
• The president, his wife and family are charged for every meal and other incidentals, such as toiletries and dry cleaning. (White House History)
• President John Quincy Adams enjoyed skinny-dipping in the Potomac most mornings at 5 a.m. (Metapedia.org)
• President Abraham Lincoln would keep important papers inside his stovepipe hat.
• President William Taft was the biggest president in history (332 lbs) and needed a special bathtub built for him that is said to accommodate four average-sized men.
• Lincoln’s ghost is said to be the most active in the White House. Others include Dolley Madison, Andrew Jackson, Abigail Adams, a menacing British soldier with a torch and Washington’s “Demon Cat.”

Here’s another fun blog post about life in the White House.