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Gardens & Grounds

Featured Collection

White House in Bloom

The White House Grounds began as approximately 85 acres of land chosen by George Washington and was refined and cultivated by garden-loving President Thomas Jefferson. These shifting grounds around the Executive Mansion have seen retaining walls, green houses, vegetable gardens, and beautiful flowers. Changes to the landscape came in long intervals and evolved to fit the era and the needs of

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First Lady Helen Taft's Luneta

“That Manila could lend anything to Washington may be an idea that would surprise some persons, but the Luneta is an institution whose usefulness to society in the Philippine capital is not to be overestimated.”–Helen Herron TaftIn her memoirs, Recollections of Full Years, Helen Herron Taft wrote about a promenade by the Manila Bay that inspired the first public projec

Educational Resource

Every Day is Presidents' Day at the White House

TEACHER'S TEXT:Why wait until February to learn about the history-making decisions of America’s most recognized leader? Since George Washington essentially invented the office of the president in the 1790s, the nation’s chief executive has rarely stayed on the sidelines when major events unfold. The westward movement, race relations, war, and space exploration are just a few of the