Serving as both the President's office and home, the White House is constantly buzzing with activity. Here, President Lyndon B. Johnson places a telephone call from the Oval Office.

Presidents of the United States have been working from their home — the White House — long before telecommuting made it fashionable to work in one's pajamas.

The White House is not only where the President works, but where he and his family live. A President starts his day from a second-floor bedroom and heads over to the West Wing and the Oval Office for a day's work.

At night he may find himself downstairs in the Blue Room entertaining foreign dignitaries or in the State Dining Room hosting a formal banquet.

This aerial photograph of the White House was taken in 1935. In this view, you are looking north, with Lafayette Park above and the Ellipse below the Executive Mansion.

At bedtime, if a dignitary is special enough and male (or if he is a big enough contributor to the President) a night in the famous Lincoln bedroom might be his reward. Female guests of honor are provided the Rose Room.

Construction on the White House began in the 1790s and was nearly completed in 1801 when the Adams Family — John, Abigail and children — moved in. The "mansion" had no running water, was unfinished, uncomfortable, and unpleasant. Abigail Adams hung her laundry in the unfinished East Room. In this era Washington, D.C., was like a wilderness, with marshes, mosquitoes, and pigs roaming the streets.

Since the Adamses lived in the White House, each President and more particularly most First Ladies have made changes and additions to the interior. Presidents and their wives can express their individual styles in how they decorate parts of the house.

This French Empire style sofa rests in the Red Room of the White House.

The famed downstairs chambers, such as the famed Red, Blue, Green and East Rooms contain antiques, historic artifacts, examples of American craftsmanship, or important paintings. The furniture in the Red Room, for example, dates from the years 1810-30. All the fabrics now in the Red Room were woven in the United States from French Empire designs.

The East Room is used for large gatherings, such as dances, after-dinner entertainments, concerts, weddings, funerals, award presentations, press conferences, and bill-signing ceremonies. The room features 24 chairs purchased by James Monroe and made by William King, cabinetmaker of Georgetown, and a Steinway grand piano, with gilt American eagle supports designed by Eric Gugler.

Roller-skating in the East Room, a favorite activity of Teddy Roosevelt's children, would be frowned upon today.

A painting of George Washington that today hangs in the East Room is the only object known to have continually remained in the White House since 1800. The portrait was rescued by First Lady Dolley Madison moments before the British burned the White House in the War of 1812. Only the charred exterior walls survived, but the White House was rebuilt and reoccupied in 1817. At this time the walls were whitewashed, which led to folks calling the building the White House, instead of the President's House.

The 1940s saw Harry Truman move out of the White House and into the Blair House (above) across the street at 1651 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Over the years the mansion underwent frequent redecoration and renovation as heating, plumbing, gas, and electricity were added to the building. Many of America's top architects, such as the firm of McKim, Mead, and White made improvements to the White House as well. It was during the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt that the West Wing offices were constructed.

During the Truman administration, the structure was found to be in imminent danger of collapse. Despite some calls for razing the building, the interior was gutted and reworked, a process that took four years and necessitated the removal of the Trumans across the street to live in the Blair House.

Like many domiciles, the White House has celebrated births and marriages, as well as endured scandal and despair. Several Presidents, First Ladies, and First children have passed away while inhabiting the White House.

Unlike many houses, this dwelling boasts a tennis court, putting green, jogging track, swimming pool, movie theater, billiard room and a bowling alley. Not to mention 5 full-time chefs and a choice of transportation that ranges from limo to helicopter to yacht to Air Force One.

Today, over 1 million visitors call upon the White House, one of the few dwellings inhabited by a world leader that is open to the public.