11. Important Dates
White House Photo / Samantha Appleton
- 1824: South Portico is completed
- 1829: North Portico is completed
- 1833: Running water is installed
- 1848: Natural gas lighting installed
- 1891: Electric lighting installed
- 1902: West Wing constructed
- 1909: Oval Office (off the West Wing) built
- 1913: Rose garden created
- 1933: Indoor swimming pool built
- 1975: Outdoor inground swimming pool built
- 1989: A horseshoe pitch is created beside the outdoor swimming pool. It's removed in 1993, then rebuilt in 2001.
- 1991: A basketball half-court is built on the South Grounds
- 1993: A jogging track is installed
- 2009: The White House Kitchen Garden is created
12. Secret Passage to the Pool: No More Peeking From the West Wing
Photo Courtesy of whitehousemuseum.org
13. The Orangery and Greenhouses
Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston / Library of Congress
President Andrew Jackson - the one who enjoyed those crack-of-dawn swims in the Potomac and early-morning gardening - created the White House orangery, a type of greenhouse in which tropical fruit trees and flowers can be grown. Some 18 years later, during President Franklin Pierce's administration, Jackson's orangery was expanded into a greenhouse.
In 1857, the orangery was torn down to accommodate a new wing for the Treasury Department. Another greenhouse was built on the west side of the White House, next to the State Floor.
14. The Small Plane on the Portico Incident
At 2 a.m. on September 13, 1994, a small plane aimed for the White House bedroom of President Clinton, barely missing secret service agents stationed in the South Portico.Reported The New York Times: "...the Cessna passed the fountain and the red cannas blooming on the South Lawn, bounced off the grass just short of the White House, crashed through the branches of a magnolia tree planted by Andrew Jackson and came to rest in a crumpled heap...below the bedroom."
Luckily, the Clintons were away while the White House's ventilation system was being repaired. The pilot died in the crash. The wreckage was right next to a set of white, cast-iron patio furniture, further emphasizing how close it came to the presidential living quarters.
15. The Treehouse That Jimmy Carter Built
National Archives
16. Which First Lady Swam Outside in Winter?
Photo Courtesy of The White House
First Lady Barbara Bush (that would be H.W.'s spouse) used to swim in the outdoor heated pool even on cold winter days, and would sometimes come back to the White House with icicles in her hair. She also reportedly once discovered an uninvited guest in the White House pool - a rat (not sure if it was dead or alive).
17. Grant's Pools
Library of Congress
In the 1870s, President Ulysses S. Grant oversaw the expansion of the south grounds and had round reflection pools built on the North and South lawns. These pools and fountains are frequently photographed.
18. Lots of Groundskeepers
Photo Courtesy of the White House.
According to Dale Haney, Grounds Superintendent for the White House, the outside crew consists of 20 grounds employees, including gardeners, maintenance workers, electricians and plumbers. Haney has also been seen taking care of the presidential pets on the grounds, including walking the President Bush's Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley and the Obama family's dog, Bo.
19. Weddings in the Rose Garden
On June 12, 1971, Tricia Nixon was the first and only president's daughter to be married in the Rose Garden, which was designed as an outdoor extension of the West Wing during Kennedy's presidency. She wed Edward Finch Cox.
The only other outdoor White House wedding took place during the Clinton administration. On May 28, 1994, then-First Lady (and current Secretary of State) Hillary Rodham Clinton's brother, Anthony Rodham, married Nicole Boxer, daughter of Senator Barbara Boxer.
20. Playtime at the White House
- With frequent visits from their 13 grandchildren, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt had swings, sandboxes and slides built on the South Lawn.
- In 1961, a swing set and jungle gym was installed on the west side of the South Lawn for Caroline and John F. Kennedy, Jr.
- First Daughters Malia and Sasha Obama receive their first-ever swing set, situated on the lawn near the Oval Office.
