White House - View of the North Side from Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Facts About the White House

• The address is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500.
• George Washington and Pierre L’Enfant (Washington city planner) selected the site.
• Architect James Hoban’s design was selected from nine proposals.
• Construction began in late 1792.
• John Adams, the second president, was the first chief executive to occupy the White House when he and his wife Abigail moved there in 1800.
• In 1805 Thomas Jefferson held a public open house following his inauguration.
• There were fires in the White House in 1814 and 1929.
• The interior of the White House was reconstructed while Harry Truman was president.
• The stone exterior of the White House is the same as when it was originally constructed during the years 1792 to 1800.
• There are 132 rooms in the White House and 35 bathrooms.
• Although not apparent from the outside, the White House has 6 levels.
• The White House has been known by a variety of names including:
  • President’s Palace
  • Presidential Mansion
  • President’s House
  • Executive Mansion
  • White House – used officially by Theodore Roosevelt in 1901

Tours of the White House are generally conducted Monday through Saturday. A tour can be arranged by contacting the Member of Congress from your district. Citizens of countries other than the United States will need to contact their embassy in Washington DC in order to make arrangements for a tour.

White House - View of the South Side and the South Lawn from E Street NW

Both the north and south facing sides of the White House are easily recognizable. The north facing side appears on the back of the $20. The inauguration parade passes by this side of the White House, and this where official guests often arrive by car. The south facing side often appears in the news as the location where the president appears, often accompanied by various officials and dignitaries, and where ceremonies and events take place.

The White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, and the north side is visible from Pennsylvania Avenue. Click Here for Google Map showing the location of the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue NW just in front of the White House. At this location you will be about 250 feet or 80 meters from the front of the White House.

Closest Metro Station (North Side): The Farragut West Metro Station and the McPherson Square Metro Station, both on the Blue and Orange Lines, are the nearest stations to the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the White House.

The south facing side of the White House and the south lawn is visible from E Street NW between South Place NW and East Executive Avenue NW. Click Here for Google Map showing the location of the sidewalk on E Street NW from which the south facing side of the White House and the south lawn are visible. At this location you will be about 750 feet or 230 meters from the White House and about three times further away from it than you will be on the Pennsylvania Avenue NW side.

Closest Metro Station (South Side): The Federal Triangle Metro Station on the Blue and Orange Lines is the nearest station to the E Street NW location from which the south facing side of the White House can be seen. At the same time, the Farragut West Metro Station and the McPherson Square Metro Station, both on the Blue and Orange Lines and the Metro Center Station on the Red, Blue and Orange Lines are all just slightly further away than the Federal Triangle Station.

Mural At Metro Center - Full Mural

Inside the Metro Center Metro Station is a 15 foot by 60 foot mural depicting many of the popular tourist sties in Washington DC. This mural is inside the entrance at the northeast corner of 12th and G Streets NW. It is located along the wall with the entrance from the Metro Station into the Macy’s Downtown-Metro Center Department Store. Fare card machine stand against that wall, and the mural is above those fare card machines.

Although this mural is located inside the Metro Center station, it is located in the area between the outside entrance and the turnstiles where the fare cards are read as riders enter the station. So it is possible to view this mural without having to pay a fare to ride the Metro. At the same time, Metro Center has four entrances, and it is possible to view the mural without paying a fare only by entering the 12th and G Streets NW entrance.

Entrances to the Metro Center Station are at these locations:

• 13th and G Streets NW (Southeast Corner)
• 11th and G Streets NW (Southeast Corner)
• 12th and G Streets NW (Northeast Corner) – The mural is located at this entrance.
• 12th and F Streets NW (Southwest Corner)

The image below is of the left more or less triangular shaped portion of the mural. It depicts carved figures and fossils from the Smithsonian Institution Natural History Museum, the Smithsonian Institution’s Castle (its first building), a noble lion guarding the Columbus Statute located near Union Station and Union Station itself.

Mural at Metro Center - Triangular Portion at Left

The large rectangular piece that constitutes the center of the mural incorporates many images from around Washington DC. But interestingly there are two hands painted at the top of the mural. Each hand forms a letter from the ASL, American Sign Language, alphabet. The letters are U and P, and they are painted in an arc of blue that may represent the sky. At the sides of the hand signs for UP are arrows that point to the right and left, directions that would take a Metro rider to street level.

Just below the UP is a painting of the Dupont Circle Fountain. To the left of the fountain is a painting of a panda from the Washington Zoo. To the right of the panda and beneath the Dupont Circle Fountain is a painting of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

To the right of the painting of the Jefferson Memorial is a painting of the Washington Monument with cherry blossoms bursting forth.

Finally, to the far right of the center rectangle is a painting of the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln found in the Lincoln Memorial.

Mural at Metro Center - Rectangular Portion That Constitutes the Center of the Mural

The right triangular portion of the mural has some interesting images. At the top is a painting of one of those fisheye type mirrors. Visible in the reflected image is the Metro attendant’s booth complete with attendant sitting inside. Toward the bottom of the reflected image is a person in what looks like a pink or rose colored winter coat. A third person is standing over near the turnstiles.

At the lower edge of the triangle is a man at the top of an escalator. Between the fisheye mirror painted at the top and the escalator rider at the bottom is an Asian style lion or dog and some figures painted to look like carved marble.

Mural at Metro Center - Triangular Portion at Right

This mural was painted in 1988 by G. Byron Peck who has painted a number of murals in Washington DC as well as others around the world.

This mural is located inside the Metro Center Metro Station at the 12th and G Streets NW entrance. Click Here for Google Map showing the location of the 12th and G Streets NW entrance to the Metro Center Metro Station.

Closest Metro Station: Metro Center on the Blue, Orange, and Red Lines is the nearest Metro Station to this mural (as the mural is inside the Metro station).