Visiting the President: The White House Museum

Twenty years ago I got to tour the White House, but since I was only five years old I remember absolutely nothing.  Nowadays, because of increased security, it's difficult for an average citizen to be able to visit the President's home.  But if you're curious about the layout of this famous building and its grounds, and you don't mind wading through some dense information, the White House Museum is a pretty good resource.

The museum can seem a little intimidating at first, because when you enter the museum you're greeted with a page full of text and numbers (seriously - the square footage of the White House is listed, along with the number of bedrooms and bathrooms).  The museum's creator must have realized how boring this page looks, because helpfully included are links on the side to some of the building's more popular rooms.  If you scroll to the middle of the page, you can find interactive maps of all White House's wings.  There you can click to arrive on a layout of each floor, which provides a much more interesting museum experience.

The layouts are labeled with all the rooms in the White House, and each room has its own page.  Some of these pages are text-heavy, but most present just enough information.  Included with each room's page are a good number of photographs with brief, informative captions.  Many of the photographs are from the past decade, but there are quite a few historical images, some dating back to the nineteenth century.  The White House grounds are presented in a similar manner, and they're definitely worth a look, if only so you can realize just how many amenities the President has at his residence.

Aside from those two sections, the museum has only one other part, and it turned out to be my favorite.  There is a small gallery of art and furnishing in the White House, and the images of these artifacts are excellent.  A short description of accompanies the objects, as well as a link to the room where each is located.  It's quite interesting to see and learn about a few of the historical pieces that surround the President.

This museum is not connected to the government in any way, but is instead a private effort.  It's pretty amazing, then, to have all these images and information at your fingertips and laid out in an appealing way.  The text definitely needs to be whittled down, but aside from being too wordy this museum is really worth a look.  If you can't make it down to Washington, D.C., this might just be the next best thing.


The White House Musuem
Mission:  To provide a place to explore the history and heritage of the home of the president of the United State of America.
Website:  www.whitehousemuseum.org