The American people might own the White House, but most know very little of the juicy secrets lurking inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.<\/p>\n
Its interior has become an object of controversy, after President Trump announced he would gut renovate the state ballroom. The East Wing, built in 1902, has been changed many times, but Trump plans to ambitiously add 90,000-square feet to accommodate 650 people, up from the current capacity of 200.<\/p>\n
Construction of the White House proper began in 1792 under the supervision of the first U.S. president, George Washington. The property encloses 18 acres of land, and the building itself is roughly 55,000 square feet.<\/p>\n
There are six floors, 132 rooms \u2014 and 35 bathrooms!<\/p>\n
But the father of our country died before his masterpiece was completed. John Adams, America\u2019s second president, was the inaugural resident in 1800.<\/p>\n
At first, it was called the \u201cExecutive Residence,\u201d then in 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt decided that sounded too stuffy and came up with the new handle.<\/p>\n
The White House has six floors, 132 rooms and 35 bathrooms. Getty Images<\/p>\n
There are four kitchens where an army of chefs whip up delicious meals, along with a private kitchen where the first family can enjoy a snack.<\/p>\n
Beneath the building, there\u2019s a flower shop, a carpenter\u2019s space and even a dentist. There\u2019s an indoor pool, a bowling alley and a putting green.<\/p>\n
Also underground: a secret bunker. The Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) was designed during World War II. Insiders say there are state-of-the-art features that ensure the president and his key staff stay alive even in a nuclear attack.<\/p>\n
Somewhere within the White House walls also lies a hush-hush pile of secret artifacts, including rumored gifts from other nations too bizarre to display. Some of the strange gifts given to presidents include roller skates, a Shirley Temple police badge, swords, daggers, sandals, snuff boxes, elephant tusks, saddles, a ping pong table, and two grains of rice with portraits of Richard Nixon on them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
President Harry S. Truman bowling in the newly installed alleys in the White House basement. Bettmann Archive<\/p>\n
There is also an apparent tunnel beneath the Oval Office so those-in-the-know can make a quick getaway in times of trouble.<\/p>\n
And there are the ghosts!<\/p>\n
Presidents, first ladies, staff members and guests have reported spiritual presences, unexplained noises and even actual apparitions.<\/p>\n
The most reported ghost is Abraham Lincoln, even though he didn\u2019t die there. <\/p>\n
In 1933, an indoor swimming pool was built for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. National Archives<\/p>\n
The first president to install\u00a0electric lighting<\/a>\u00a0was Benjamin Harrison in 1891, but he and his wife, Caroline, were too terrified to touch the switches, convinced she\u2019d be electrocuted. They left the risky job of turning the lights on and off to staff members, and when they forgot, the couple would sleep with the lights on!<\/p>\n