The Prestige_The Watergate Hotel - Flipbook - Page 56
pl a n n i n g a v i s i t
Public tour requests must be submitted through
one’s Member of Congress. These self-guided
tours are available from 7:30 am to 11:30 am
Tuesday through Thursday, 7:30 am to 1:30 pm
Fridays and Saturdays (excluding federal holidays
or unless otherwise noted). Tour hours will be
extended when possible based on the official White
House schedule. Tours are scheduled on a first
come, first served basis. Requests can be
submitted up to three months in advance and no
less than 21 days in advance. You are encouraged
to submit your request as early as possible as a
limited number of spaces are available.
All White House tours are free of charge.
(Please note that White House tours may be
subject to last minute cancellation).
“The country’s most famous house”
W H I T E H OU S E
The home of every U.S. president except George
Washington, the site of the White House on
Pennsylvania Avenue was selected in June 1791.
The design for the Presidential Mansion (as it was
originally called) was decided by a contest, and
the winner was James Hoban, a native of Ireland.
Designed to be far larger and grander than it is,
the building of the Presidential Mansion began in
October 1792 and was finished in 1800.
The first president to live in the White House,
which, surprisingly, was originally painted yellow,
was John Adams. British soldiers captured and
burned the building during the War of 1812 when
James Madison was in office. Reconstruction was
completed in 1817, and President James Monroe
and his family were able to move into the building,
which was now painted white, as it is today. In
1902, President Theodore Roosevelt designated
that the nickname for the mansion would now
be its official name, the White House.
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THE PRESTIGE | THE WATERGATE HOTEL
THE PRESTIGE | THE WATERGATE HOTEL
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