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17-550: The chief floral designer heads the White House Flower Shop in the White House basement . The chief floral designer leads a staff of four assistant designers and works with the first lady , chief usher , and White House social secretary to plan arrangements and decorations for state dinners , receptions, and day-to-day placement throughout the ceremonial rooms and Executive Residence . The chief floral designer serves at

34-682: The Garden Room and along the East Colonnade, which has a view of the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden , past the theater to the Visitors' Foyer. They enter the residence at the ground floor. President Thomas Jefferson added colonnaded terraces to the east and west sides of the White House, but no actual wings. Under Jackson in 1834, running water was piped in from a spring and pumped up into

51-553: The Vermeil Room , was also utilized for arrangements. The position of Chief Floral Designer was established, and Rusty Young was the first to occupy the position, continuing to work into the Johnson and Nixon administrations. In addition to the ongoing production of fresh-cut floral displays for the White House, the chief floral designer oversees the annual holiday decoration of the house. White House basement The basement of

68-517: The White House is a two-story structure that serves as office space for the first lady and her staff, including the White House social secretary , White House Graphics and Calligraphy Office and correspondence staff. On the ground floor, the East Wing includes the visitors' entrance and the East Colonnade, a corridor connecting the body of the East Wing to the Executive Residence . Along

85-628: The White House , the Washington, D.C. , residence and workplace of the president of the United States , is located under the North Portico and includes the White House carpenters' shop, engineers' shop, bowling alley, flower shop , and dentist office, among other areas. The White House Situation Room is located in the basement beneath the West Wing . During World War II , a bomb shelter

102-535: The White House Library should be expanded to include sound recordings, that trade group donated over 2,200 LPs during the Nixon and Carter administrations; when Ronald Reagan took office, the collection was moved to the White House basement, where it is still located. 38°53′51″N 77°02′11″W  /  38.8976°N 77.0365°W  / 38.8976; -77.0365 East Wing The East Wing of

119-543: The White House had been extremely formal in style. Guided by advice from her horticulturalist friend Rachel Lambert Mellon , First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy began to use looser and more informal arrangements, many based upon 16th-century Flemish floral and fruit still lifes . China dishes from previous administrations were used as vases, including two 18th-century dessert coolers used by the Madisons. The White House collection of vermeil tableware , previously only on display in

136-464: The White House removed the greenhouses and constructed the West Wing and East Wing. Flowers were brought from nearby government greenhouses. With the advent of plane transportation, flowers began to arrive from distant destinations: Florida, Colorado for First Lady Mamie Eisenhower 's favored pink carnations , and southern California. Until the administration of John F. Kennedy , floral arrangements at

153-514: The White House. She retired on May 31, 2009, and was an author and lecturer until her death in January 2012. During the early republic, the White House used flowers sparingly, initially only in the summer months when in season. Wax fruit and wax, silk and paste porcelain flowers were displayed in the French porcelain and gilt bronze vases purchased by President James Monroe for the White House in 1815. By

170-515: The construction of an underground bunker, now known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC). Around the same time, Theodore Roosevelt's coatroom became the movie theater. Later, offices for correspondence, calligraphers and the social secretary were placed in the East Wing. Eleanor Roosevelt employed the first social secretary . Rosalynn Carter , in 1977, was the first first lady to keep her own office in

187-443: The corridor is the White House theater , also called the family theater. Social and touring visitors to the White House usually enter through the East Wing. The East Wing was built on top of the Presidential Emergency Operations Center , a secure emergency underground shelter for the president. Visitors touring the White House enter through the wood-paneled lobby , where portraits of presidents and first ladies hang. They go through

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204-425: The east terrace in metal tubes. These ran through the walls and protruded into the rooms, controlled by spigots. Initially, the water was for washing items, but soon the first bathing rooms were created, in the ground-level east colonnade. Van Buren had shower baths installed here. The East Terrace was removed in 1866. For many years, a greenhouse occupied the east grounds of the White House. The first small East Wing

221-590: The first White House television broadcast from a special room in the basement in 1953, though the "broadcast room" was soon divided for other purposes. A bowling alley was added by Richard Nixon in 1973. There had previously been a bowling alley in the West Wing, built for President Truman in 1947, which had been moved to the Old Executive Office Building in 1955. After the Recording Industry Association of America suggested that

238-490: The mid-1830s, a series of greenhouses were begun on the west side of the White House above the West Colonnade; they continued to be added to on the west, occupying much of the space of the present West Wing . The greenhouses allowed year-round use of potted plants and cut flowers in the White House. At their zenith, the White House greenhouses supplied thousands of potted plants to the White House. The 1902 renovations of

255-444: The president's pleasure and may be appointed, or reappointed, by each administration. The first chief floral designer was Nancy Clarke, who began working at the White House in 1978 during the administration of President Jimmy Carter , first as a part-time volunteer, and eventually becoming full-time permanent staff in 1981 during the administration of President Ronald Reagan . Nancy Clarke served six first families during her 31 years at

272-496: Was built during the Theodore Roosevelt renovations, as an entrance for formal and public visitors. This served mainly as an entrance for guests during large social gatherings, when it was necessary to accommodate many cars and carriages. Its primary feature was the long cloak room with spots for coats and hats of the ladies and gentlemen. The East Wing as it exists today was added to the White House in 1942 primarily to cover

289-455: Was constructed under the East Wing , later converted into the Presidential Emergency Operations Center . The sub-basement was added during the reconstruction of the White House under Harry S. Truman . It contains storage space, the laundry , elevator control machinery, the water softener , and incinerator , as well as dressing rooms for White House performers. Dwight Eisenhower made

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