President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump spent Saturday and Sunday night before the inauguration at Blair House, a famous but rarely seen inside residence across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.
Blair House, often known as “The President’s Guest House,” is where presidents-elect traditionally stay before the inauguration. Foreign heads of state will often stay at Blair House when in Washington for a visit at the White House.
The home is maintained by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Chief of Protocol and the General Services Administration, but it’s the president who extends an invitation for guests to stay there, according to the Blair House Foundation.
Blair House is located at 1651 Pennsylvania Avenue, directly across the street from the White House complex.
The home was built as a private home in 1824 and was purchased by the U.S. government during World War II, according to the Blair House Foundation.
The house was formerly owned by the Blair family, including Francis Preston Blair, who moved there in 1837.
President Truman stayed at Blair House during a renovation of the White House and during the development of the Truman Doctrine and the signing of the Marshall Plan. It was also the site of Andrew Jackson’s “kitchen cabinet” meetings and private conversations with President Lincoln.
“Now, as then, U.S. Presidents continue to rely on Blair House as a significant foreign policy tool,” the foundation’s website says.
Blair House underwent a major renovation in the 1980s, the State Department said. The State Department has a Blair House Division that makes sure the house is “in a constant state of readiness.”
Getty Images
The presidential motorcade sits parked outside the Blair House while U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visit former U.S. President George W. Bush and former First Lady Lauren Bush, not pictured, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. President Trump has declared Wednesday a national day of mourning for former President George H.W. Bush. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
WASHINGTON, DC.- MAY 9: The Blair house, also known as the President’s guest house as photographed for the Washington Post in Washington, DC. (Photo by Stacy Zarin Goldberg/ For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC- MAY 9: The Blair house also known as the President’s guest house as photographed for The Washington Post via Getty Images in Washington, DC. (Photo by stacy Zarin Goldberg/ For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC.- MAY 9: The Blair house, also known as the President’s guest house as photographed for the Washington Post in Washington, DC. (Photo by Stacy Zarin Goldberg/ For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
