I love the LEGO Architecture series (as does my son Jamie). These micro-scale builds are not only remarkably accurate to the building they are based on, but they come with a cool booklet that gives a lot of background information about the building. Set 21006, The White House is a good example of what the Architecture series is all about. Because of the small scale the details are obviously limited, but once built you have something that you could very easily sit on your desk or shelf for display. Plus it's thematically appropriate for the day! - LEGO Architecture: The White House (21006)Recently, there's been quite a bit of chatter about just how much the White House is worth (you know, just in case you're holding up for a "for sale" sign to pop up in front, though we imagine that's pretty unlikely). Still, the figures are fascinating: Time reports that the estimates range from $90 million all the way to $250 million. This got us thinking — while many people know plenty about celebrity homes and other famous houses in America, what else is unknown about the White House?
To be honest: probably the following quirky facts. Read on to discover the tidbits about the People's House you never knew. George Washington preferred the design for the building because it was a far cry from Europe's royal palaces. There are also 412 doors, 28 fireplaces, eight staircases and three elevators. But the First Family has to pay their own grocery bills. The exact shade is called "Whisper White," and it's made by Duron. Painting the White House sandstone cost U.S. taxpayers $283,000 in 1994. President Obama redesigned the tennis court so it could also be used for basketball, George H.W. Bush installed a horseshoe pit and Richard Nixon added a bowling alley. Jackie O. famously brought in Sister Parrish to refurbish the president's living quarters, too. Ever since then, subsequent presidents – including President Obama, who hired Michael S. Smith – have tasked an interior designer with working alongside he and the First Lady to curate and preserve the White House.
She decorated the third floor space – which used to be Jack Ford's bedroom – with music memorabilia. President Franklin D. Roosevelt used it to exercise his polio-stricken legs. JFK swam in it twice a day – once at noon, and again in the evenings. Electricity was first installed in the White House during his presidency in 1891 – and, given the crude nature of electrical technology back then, it was a valid fear. He reportedly had White House staff turn the light switches on and off. Ever since then, First Families have held a trick-or-treating event to benefit a charitable organization. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower was the first to decorate the White House for Halloween in 1958.Please confirm you are not a robot by checking the box. This Year’s White House Christmas Decorations Include Massive Sunny and Bo Yarn Dogs On Tuesday, the White House welcomed military service members, their families, and media for an early look at this year’s holiday decorations.
Volunteers from 33 states, the District, and Puerto Rico worked over the Thanksgiving holiday to put up more than 70,000 ornaments. There are trees made out of pencils on a pedestal that reads “Let girls learn” in the library, garlands bedecked with faux fruits in the Green and Red rooms to celebrate the gift of fresh produce from the White House garden, Lego “gingerbread” houses representing every state and territory in the State Dining Room, and yarn models of the Obamas’ dogs that are taller than most people. After First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the military guests and encouraged tourists to “Come to the White House—it’s really cool!” she and the real First Dogs, Sunny and Bo, mingled with the guests while the kids decorated cookies and made other holiday crafts. Scroll down for more highlights. Proposed EPA Cuts Could Devastate the Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Plan Cherry Blossom Phases Before Peak Bloom, Ranked DC Lobbyist Will Hire Actors to Reenact Seth Rich’s Murder
The Washington Post Is Unclear on the Concept of Generation X 17 Ways the Washington Post Has Avoided Calling Trump a Liar DC’s Cherry Blossoms Will Hit Peak Bloom March 14-17 Five Kitchen Products Every Adult Should Own A Play About Valerie Plame Has Come to Washington Restaurant Hangs “You Need A Boyfriend” Sign Amid Feud With Neighbors What a Nursing Mom Getting Ready for Pageant Season Eats in a Day March 2017: 50 Great Places to Work We Can’t Stop Staring at the Food at This Stunning Greek Garden Wedding A Surprisingly Bitter Battle Over Paid Parking Comes to RestonImage: Courtesy of Lego Architecture You too can have a "machine in the garden" – no, not a rusted out old car in your backyard, but a Lego model of Le Corbusier's iconic Villa Savoye, his radical vision of the suburban home as a "machine for living." He built his ground-breaking (though it floated on pilotis over the ground, actually) country house in Poissy, France in 1931, but you can build yours on the dining room table and site it on your lawn, to mimic Corb's siting of the home: a pristine, manmade geometric form, independent of nature.
With Lego's Architecture kits of iconic buildings, a modern masterpiece is achievable even for those of us of modest means. But maybe you're not a Corb fan? Maybe you prefer Mies van der Rohe or even the much more rustic Frank Lloyd Wright? Lego has your back. The Farnsworth House is also in the Architecture line, and Wright boasts a veritable neighborhood: you can build his Robie House, Fallingwater, and the Guggenheim Museum, complete with its latter day additions (though Mr. Wright might want you to leave those out). Lego’s Scale Model line began in 1962; it was discontinued three years later, but revived some 40 or so years later when Lego noticed what a certain Kansas State Architecture school grad, Adam Reed Tucker, was doing. He had started a company called Brickstructures, Inc., making Lego brick models of famous buildings. Lego bought him out and renamed the line Lego Architecture. Now Tucker is one of three Lego “architectural artists” making a living “interpreting” famous buildings and architectural landmarks into Lego model sets that anyone can make.