New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the US from February 12 to 13. According to various reports, Modi’s agenda in Washington will cover trade, strategic defence cooperation, and global security challenges, reflecting the depth and complexity of the India-US relationship.
There are reports that the PM will stay at the Blair House near the White House while visiting the US. This House is the President’s guest house. Blair House has been a site of many historic meetings and has become a significant part of America’s story.
In this article, let us look at the history, architecture and more about the Blair House.
A Look into the History of Blair House
All about the Blair House
The US President-elect stays at the Blair House before the inauguration ceremonies and during the transition period. Blair House is also known as the President’s Guest House. It is the official residence in Washington, DC, known as the ‘world’s most exclusive hotel’. This is because it is mainly used as the state guest house for the host visiting dignitaries and other guests of the US President. Since the 1940s, parts of the Blair House historic complex have been used as an official residence.
Blair House is located just across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. It is a complex of four formerly separate houses: Blair House, Lee House, Peter Parker House, and 704 Jackson Place.
It was in the 19th Century that the renovations of these residences joined these homes together.
Blair House has 14 guest bedrooms and is 70,000 square feet, larger than the White House’s executive residence. President Harry S Truman and his family lived in the original Blair House from late November 1948 to March 27, 1952, while the White House was rebuilt. Truman survived an assassination attempt at Blair House in 1950. Along with the White House and The Octagon House, the Blair House is one of only seven houses that have served as presidential residences in US history.
How Did the Name Blair House Come About?
The name Blair House comes from the merging of four houses into one. Specifically, Blair House refers to one of those original buildings. The US State Department often uses “Blair House” to mean the whole facility, describing it as the “President’s Guest House”. The General Services Administration refers to the entire complex as the “President’s Guest House” but uses “Blair House” to highlight the historic part of the facility.
The Architectural Grandeur of Blair House and its Expansion
Construction of Blair House
Blair House was built in 1824 and is the oldest of the four structures of the President’s Guest House. The brick house was originally a private home for Joseph Lovell, the eighth surgeon general of the US Army. In 1836, Francis Preston Blair, a newspaper publisher and advisor to President Andrew Jackson, acquired it.
Montgomery Blair, Francis’s son and Postmaster General under Abraham Lincoln, lived in Blair House after his father. On April 18, 1861, Francis Preston Blair Sr. shared an important message from Lincoln to Robert E Lee about leading Union forces in the Civil War during a meeting at Blair House. Later that year, a conference was held there, and Admiral David Farragut was selected to lead an attack on New Orleans.
In 1939, the US Department of the Interior placed a marker at Blair House, making it the first building to receive a federally recognised landmark designation. It gained formal status as a National Historic Landmark in 1973.
Starting in 1942, the Blair family began leasing the property to the US government for visiting dignitaries. The government outright purchased the property in December of that year. This change partly resulted from Eleanor Roosevelt’s request, as she found Winston Churchill’s informal visits to the White House sometimes disruptive. There was an incident where Churchill attempted to wake President Franklin Roosevelt at 3 am for a discussion.
The other three houses
Lee House
In 1859, Francis Preston Blair built a house next to Blair House for his daughter, Elizabeth Blair Lee, and her husband, Samuel Phillips Lee. This House became known as Lee House.
Peter Parker House and 704 Jackson Place
The Peter Parker House at 700 Jackson Place and an adjacent home at 704 Jackson Place were built in 1860. The Peter Parker House is named after its original owner, physician Peter Parker. The US government acquired both properties between 1969 and 1970 after renting them for office space. The Peter Parker House had previously been the headquarters for the Civil War Centennial Commission and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and it is also a National Historic Landmark like Blair House.
How Did the Unification of the Four Houses Happen?
During renovations in the early 1950s, Blair House and Lee House were combined into a single facility informally called Blair–Lee House.
In the early 1980s, Congress approved $9.7 million for further renovations, with an additional $5 million coming from private donations. The buildings on Jackson Place were joined into one structure and connected to Blair–Lee House via a new corridor. This extensive renovation closed the facilities from 1982 to 1988.
What’s inside the Blair House?
Lincoln Room
During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln often walked across Pennsylvania Avenue for private talks with his cabinet member Montgomery Blair. These conversations took place in Blair’s study, which was also his former law office.
Blair Drawing Room
The elegant rear Drawing Room is part of the original 1824 Blair House. It connects to the front Drawing Room, dining room, and garden through wide doorways, allowing for large gatherings. Weddings have occurred here, including Elizabeth Blair’s marriage to Samuel Phillips Lee in 1843.
Library
The Blair House Library has over 1,500 books about the history and culture of the United States and other countries. Foreign delegations often give Blair House books about their nations. A selection of these important gifts, many signed by current and former heads of state, is displayed to show that America values these international friendships and respects other cultures.
Lee Dining Room
The Lee Dining Room is one of Blair House’s busiest rooms. It is suitable for lunch meetings and formal dinners. Its decor includes 18th-century Chinese export porcelain and English Georgian pine panelling donated by Congressman Peter HB Frelinghuysen, Jr and his siblings.
Truman Study
During the White House renovation from 1948 to 1952, President Harry S Truman moved into Blair House and made this room his office. In his time, the walls were painted green, and he worked at a small desk facing away from the fireplace.
Jackson Place Conference Room
The President, Vice President, and Secretary of State have all held important meetings in this large room, known as the Jackson Place Conference Room or Treaty Room. It has an antique conference table that seats 22 and is used for signing agreements, planning official visits, and media interviews.
Jackson Place Sitting Room
This room was once part of two townhouses from around 1860 that were added to Blair House in 1969-1970. It was originally a parlour but now serves as a quiet space for hospitality and small informal gatherings.
Blair House Protocol and Notable Guests
Protocol of the Blair House
When a foreign dignitary visits and stays at the President’s Guest House, their official flag is displayed on the flagpole. If they do not have an official flag, their national flag will be shown instead. If two or more dignitaries of the same rank visit Washington, neither will stay at the President’s Guest House to prevent any appearance of favouritism.
Notable guests who have stayed at the Blair House
Notable guests who have stayed at the President’s Guest House or the formerly separate Blair House include
- Elizabeth II (Former Queen of the United Kingdom)
- Nikita Khrushchev (Former Prime Minister of the Soviet Union)
- Vyacheslav Molotov (Former Prime Minister of the Soviet Union)
- Emperor Akihito (Member of the Imperial House of Japan)
- Charles de Gaulle (Former President of France)
- Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (Former Prime Minister of Nigeria)
- François Mitterrand (Former President of France)
- Vladimir Putin (President of Russia)
- Boris Yeltsin (Former President of Russia)
- Hosni Mubarak (Former President of Egypt)
- Margaret Thatcher (Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)
- Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines)
- Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (Former Secretary-General of the United Nations)
- Nambaryn Enkhbayar (Former President of Mongolia)
- Aung San Suu Kyi (Former Burmese politician)
- Tony Blair (Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)
- Narendra Modi (Prime Minister of India)
- Lee Hsien Loong (Senior Minister of Singapore)
- Hamid Karzai (Former President of Afghanistan)
- Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister of Israel)
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (President of Brazil)
- Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister of Canada)
- Rishi Sunak (Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)
- Anthony Albanese (Prime Minister of Australia)
This article explores Blair House’s rich history, its architectural significance as a complex of four historic buildings, its role in US presidential history, and its protocol for hosting distinguished international guests. It also details its unique features, including the Lincoln Room and the Blair Drawing Room. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
