Collection Presidential and First Lady Portraits
Since 1965, the White House Historical Association has been proud to fund the official portraits of our presidents and first ladies,...
Amenities & Living Comforts
- The first bath tubs in the White House were portable and made of tin; water was hauled in buckets.
- Running water was piped into the White House in 1833.
- Gaslighting, installed in the White House in 1848, replaced candles and oil lamps.
- A central heating system was installed in the White House in 1837 when many people still warmed themselves with a log or coal fire.
- Running hot water was first piped into the first family's second floor bathroom in 1853.
- In 1801 a cooking stove replaced the kitchen's open-hearth fireplace for preparing meals.
- The White House had its first hydraulic elevator installed in 1881, its first electric elevator in 1898.
A third floor bathroom, c. 1927.
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