Ground Floor diagram (click to enlarge)

The tour of the White House begins on what is called the Ground Floor. Upon entering, you walk down a hallway to a waiting area where a video featuring the current President and First Lady welcomes you to the White House. However, there are so many people that if you aren’t in the front of the line, the video will be over by the time you get to it. Nobody seems to pay it much attention anyway, and it certainly is not an integral part of the tour.

Entering the White House

Eventually you are allowed to proceed farther, this time through a hallway lined with photos of the current and recent presidents. Being the first thing guests see in the White House, everyone stops to take photos, but this is peanuts compared to the real rooms you will see when you get to the main section of the house.

Hallway with photos of current and recent presidents

Only three rooms on the ground floor are open for viewing, as the tour does not proceed past the center of the White House to the west side. I asked what the rooms were used for today and was told, “For tourists to take photos of.” In other words, they are rarely used and serve more as museum rooms to display White House antiques. You can only look inside from the doorway, so with the big crowd you actually have to wait in line to get a peak.

VERMEIL ROOM

The Vermeil Room was once a ladies’ coat room and a billiard room. Today it is used to display portraits of the recent First Ladies. It gets its name from the collection of vermeil dishes on display—dishes plated with a thin layer of silver and / or gold.