The Bidens move in: What it’s really like inside the White House

When President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated in Washington DC on Wednesday, it will mean more than a change of job for the 78-year-old. Biden will move into the White House after the inauguration ceremony, and will live there with his wife Jill Biden and their two German shepherds, Champ and Major, for at least four years.

Every US president since John Adams, who moved in in 1800, has lived in the building, and Biden will become the 44th US president to reside there.

But’s what’s it like inside the White House?

Where is the White House?

The official postal address of the White House is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, which is located in Washington DC. The president’s home is part of President’s Park, which encompasses two public parks (Lafayette Square and the Ellipse), government building the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the Treasury Building (an image of which features on the back of 10-dollar bills) and tourist attraction the White House Visitor Center.

Members of the public from around the world can tour the White House but these tours are only available by making a request either to your local Congress member (for US citizens) or contacting your country’s US embassy.

When was it built, and who designed it?

The US’s first-ever president George Washington selected the site for the White House in 1791 but he never ended up living there himself as, by the time construction ended, he was no longer in office.

Initially, Washington worked with artist and engineer Pierre Charles L'Enfant on the design of both the White House, and the city of Washington DC itself. Before L’Enfant could realise his plans, however, he fell out with the president’s commissioners, leading to his dismissal in February 1792.

Later that year, a series of architects submitted their own design suggestions as part of a competition and work began on a plan submitted by Irish-born John Hoban.

Hoban’s design was far less ambitious than L’Enfant’s original plans for the “President’s Palace”, and was only around a quarter of the size. The White House took eight years to build and, when second president John Adams and his family moved in in 1800, it still wasn’t fully finished.

The total cost of building the White House was $232,372 (£169,663), equivalent to an estimated $100million (£73,013,500) today.

How big is it?

In estate agents’ terms, the White House comprises 55,000 square feet across six floors. It boasts 132 rooms, including 35 bathrooms, and the kitchen can provide food for as many as 140 guests. The historical building also features a total of 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, eight staircases, and three lifts. To cover paint the entire building white, you’d need 570 gallons of paint.

As well as the main residence, the complex includes the East and West Wings, which are connected to the main building by galleries. The East Wing houses office space for the First Lady and her staff, while the president’s office space, including the Oval Office and Cabinet Office, is in the West Wing.

What are the living quarters like?

The short answer is: much fancier than 10 Downing Street. The White House features a tennis court, an outdoor swimming pool, cinema, bowling alley, a chocolate shop (where chefs create decadent centrepieces for functions), a gym, games room, a medical room and, reportedly, a golf simulator installed by Donald Trump.

The master bedroom, where Joe and Jill Biden will likely sleep, is located on the second floor. Each first family is allocated $100,000 (£73,097) to redecorate the residence, including refurnishing and repainting. Donald Trump spent around $1.75million (£1.28million) on sprucing up the White House, including $17,000 spent on custom rugs and $5,000 on wallpaper, while Barack Obama spent around $1.5milion (£1.1million).

How does the moving process work?

Moving out all traces of the outgoing president the same day as the new president arrives requires a team of 100 White House staff, who are used instead of external movers to avoid possible security risks.

According to journalist Kate Anderson Brower, author of The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, the move takes place across just five to six hours and requires an “incredibly choreographed” process.

"So as the president's being sworn in on Capitol Hill, it's the White House staff who is physically moving headboards, mattresses, unpacking clothes, hanging them in the closets, so that when they move in everything is absolutely perfect,” Brower told ABC7 News.

Donald Trump and his wife Melania are reportedly moving to their Florida residence at Mar-a-Lago.

"We know that Melania Trump has moved a lot of her things out, sent a lot of boxes to Florida to Mar-a-Lago," explained Brower. "I'm in touch with someone working on the transition on the residence team who says they are preparing for a deep clean of the residence...because of the pandemic there's going to be an extra level of sanitation required in the residence."