A look inside the famous residence – NBC New York

President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump spent Saturday and Sunday evening before the inauguration at the Blair House, a famous but rarely seen 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 they are in Washington to visit the White House.

The home is maintained by the US State Department’s Office of the Chief of Protocol and the General Services Administration, but it is the president who invites guests to stay there, according to the Blair House Foundation.

Where is Blair House?

The Blair House is located at 1651 Pennsylvania Avenue, directly across from the White House complex.

Blair House History

The house was built as a private home in 1824 and was purchased by the US government during World War II, according to Blair House Foundation.

The house was previously 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, American presidents continue to rely on Blair House as an essential foreign policy tool,” the foundation’s website states.

Blair House underwent a major renovation in the 1980s The State Department said. The State Department has a Blair House section that ensures the House is “in a constant state of alertness.”

What does Blair House look like? See photos of Blair House

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