As we know the White House has been around since 1792, that is a long time, with plenty of stories to follow through the years. In this article I have dug up some details you may not have known about that could spark your interest even more when it comes to the White House and its hidden tales. We are never told outright the secrets hidden in the White House walls. Let’s start taking a deeper look into what we never knew.
Hidden Secrets of The White House
The White House has a Twin in Ireland
An Irish architect named James Hoban in the year 1972 entered a newspaper contest to discover a builder for the “President’s House”. Rumor has it that he based his design off of the Leinster House in Dublin, today it is the home to the Irish Parliament.
The White House is Massive
I know, you are thinking “yea of course it is a huge house”, but are you aware of how big it truly is? The White house has 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, 412 doors, and a whopping 147 windows strewn across the different levels of the mansion. Can you even fathom about having to ever clean a home that large?
“secret” rooms
Everyone knows the what the White House consists of rooms such as The Oval Office, the Situation Room, and Press Briefing Room, it is not common knowledge that presidents through time have added other rooms to the White House. from the movie theater to the Calligraphy Office, Game Room, Music Room, and the Solarium, there’s also a Chocolate Shop, Flower Shop and dentist’s office on the ground floor, according to AOL and the White House Museum.
Built by slaves
Slavery was wildly known and accessed during the time the White House was built, so many slaves gathered and built what is known as the White House According to Smithsonian, historic payroll documents reveal that many builders involved with constructing the White House were enslaved. The architect James Hoban employed his own slaves Ben, Daniel, and Peter as carpenters on the project.
The White House carries many stories throughout history. Some of which we learn about in school, the rest we have to dig or and discover which is a fun treasure hunt to go on. Some even say the White House is haunted, also that it takes 12 hours for staff to move the new Presidents belongings in on inauguration day. Learning new things about the White House is almost a right of passage, because many do not take the time to dig deeper into history, and all that built the White House into what it is today. The White House will continue to grow and change as years go on long after we are gone, and our children will be able to witness history we will never get to see. IF you book a guided tour you will be able to learn more than if you go and try to on your own, the guides know neat information about the historical sites and all that surround them, they know things that you won’t find in any text book, book a guided tour to gather the most information!