Kermit Roosevelt: The White House Greenhouses (1902)

Figure 1.--The Roosevelts greatly enjoyed living in the White House. The green house complex was a special favorite. The Kermit and the two younger boys (Quintin and Archie) had great fun at the White House. Mostly the public through the press saw the outside antics on the White House grounds. Here we have an inside view. We see a modern recreation of the fun Kermit was having in their secret garden. The Roosevelt boys like the Lincoln boys were know for their menagerie of pets. Here the artist's wonderful recreation depicts Kermit Roosevelt, the President's second youngest son, playing with his blue macaw -- Eli Yale. Kermit is holding his cat, Tom Quartz. His mother Edith Roosevelt is look on from the open door into the White House. Artist: Peter Waddell.

For most of the 19th and early-20th centuries, the residents and their families in the White House enjoyed adjacent greenhouses. Andrew Jackson was responsible for the first greenhouse, an orangery (1833). It proved so popular that it was moved adjoin the White House (1856). It opened off the west end of the main hall. It burned down (1867). It was so popular, however, that a larger structure was built. Over the remainder of the 19th century it was expanded into a major greenhouse complex. There were orchid rooms, cactus rooms, a rose garden, many camellias, seasonal flowers, and the citrus trees that President Jackson first introduced. The tropical room was placed next to the White House which is what you see here. No first family got more pleasure out of these facilities than any first family. The Roosevelts greatly enjoyed living in the White House. The green house complex was a special favorite. The Kermit and the two younger boys (Quintin and Archie) had great fun at the White House. Mostly the public through the press saw the outside antics on the White House grounds. Here we have an inside view. We see a modern recreation of the fun Kermit was having in their secret garden. The Roosevelt boys like the Lincoln boys were know for their menagerie of pets. Here the artist's wonderful recreation depicts Kermit Roosevelt, the President's second youngest son, playing with his blue macaw -- Eli Yale. Kermit is holding his cat, Tom Quartz. His mother Edith Roosevelt is look on from the open door into the White House. The White House architect wanted to tear the complex dowm to restore the original historical vision. The Roosevelts would not hear of it. Finally during World War II the Greenhouses came dowm. As the United States became a world power and the Prresident a leading figure, it was finally decided that the area around the White House needed to be used for more important purposes than growing flowers. The jungle folliage is interesting, because President Roosevlt after the white House years desrroyed his health and almost got himself and Kermit killed in a poorly managed expedition into the Brazilian jungle (1913-14). Only Kermit's bravery saved his father. Had it mot been for this, Roosevelt probably would have lived longer and been elected president again in 1920.