The White House Gardens Tour

A spin through the backyard of the People's House

When you tell people you live in Washington, you get some questions that reflects a disconnect between perception and reality. For example, they may ask whether you live in Maryland or Virginia. Or how much your neighborhood turns over when there is a change in administration. Or how often do you go to the White House.

In my case, the answer to the last question is exactly once — when I was a teenager on a school trip and some friends of my parents were in town for a reception President Carter was holding for the Peanut Brigade, as Georgians who campaigned for him were known. I have been to some professional meetings in the Old Executive Office Building, which is considered part of the White House complex, and I have a few friends who worked in the West Wing. But I’m not high enough on anybody’s list to get invited to anything exciting. Okay, so there was that one time when a colleague’s husband, a uniformed Secret Service agent, let me and my five year old into the Easter Egg Roll without a ticket. But it’s been a two decade plus drought since then.

That’s why I was excited, as I teased last week, to visit the White House gardens on Sunday, October 13. This was a ticketed event but the barrier to entry was low; tickets were given away at 8:30 am for timed entrances throughout the day. Although the line already stretched around the block when we arrived at 7:45, by the time we got to the front, they were still giving away tickets for the earliest slot which was at 10 am. The weather was glorious so neither the wait for the tickets nor the wait for the entry was of much concern.

This wasn’t so much of a tour as rather a stroll through the 18 acres of the property on a designated path and it wasn’t at all intimate. But I’m not complaining. A Marine band was playing on the balcony of the south portico so the atmosphere was festive. And let’s just say there was a lot of selfie taking going on.

One thing that strikes me every time I go by the White House is that it’s actually quite small compared to residences of other world leaders — consider the Kremlin in Moscow, Buckingham Palace in London or the Élysée Palace in Paris. (And yes, I fact checked that last one; the White House has 55,000 square feet compared to the French president’s residence which is 120,000 square feet.).

It’s also increasingly a bunker with frontage on Pennsylvania Avenue blocked off to vehicles and the road separating the south lawn from the Ellipse blocked off completely in the years since 9/11. And when you see how close the Oval Office is to the lawn, you understand why. Even with the President away surveying hurricane damage in Florida, there were Secret Service agents stationed everywhere.

Those windows are the ones you see behind the President’s desk in a thousand images of the inside of the Oval Office.

Curious about the state of the Rose Garden after Melania Trump’s renovations, I peeked over the barrier and came away unimpressed. It’s not the season for roses but judge for yourself.

There’s more grounds than actual gardens here with a major focus being the various trees planted by presidents, their wives and foreign dignitaries—from a southern magnolia planted close to the house by Andrew Jackson in 1830 to a Yoshino cherry planted by Jill Biden and Yuko Kishida (wife of then Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida) in 2023. But Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden is still going strong as are the adjacent bee hives. The children’s garden was closed to visitors although there was a newish playset closer to the house (presumably erected for the Biden grandchildren).

All in all, it was a lovely way to spend a beautiful fall morning. But Joe and Jill, listen. I’m available for the tour of the Christmas decorations or any other receptions or dinners you have planned for the next few months. And same goes for you, Kamala and Doug, when you’re the White House’s next residents.