Presidential History by Metro

That smaller-than-expected feeling? Everyone gets it. The White House looks enormous on television and oddly modest in person, partly because you're seeing it from across a closed-off Pennsylvania Avenue, set back behind a lawn. Here's something the guidebooks skip: when Truman gutted the entire interior between 1948 and 1952, leaving only the outer stone walls standing, workers salvaged the original timbers and stone. Some were turned into commemorative gifts and walking canes; pieces of the actual house from 1800 are scattered in collections around the country. Look closely at the second-floor balcony tucked into the South Portico — Truman added that in 1948, and critics howled that he'd defaced a national monument. It's now considered essential. John Adams moved in while plaster was still wet. The British torched it in 1814, and a thunderstorm saved the shell. Theodore Roosevelt made "White House" the official name in 1901. One thing: the postcard view — the rounded south facade with the fountain — isn't here. For that, walk down to the Ellipse on E Street. This north side is the back-of-the-front, basically.