No room at the inn, er, Blair House

The Blair House, which functions as the president's official guesthouse, made the news this week as it is unavailable for President-elect Barack Obama's requested move-in date.

The Obamas had asked to occupy it about two weeks before the traditional date of Jan. 15 so that their daughters could be in residence when classes resume Jan. 5 at their new school, Sidwell Friends School.

So just who is staying there of such import that they can't be found a spot elsewhere? The White House wasn't saying.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: Four connected townhouses make up Blair House, with 110 rooms in 70,000 square feet. Credit: J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press

The Bushes as home buyers

The Bushes are new home buyers, in case you missed Andrew Malcolm's report over at The Times' Top of the Ticket Blog:

George W. and Laura W. Bush have bought an 8,000-square-foot home on a quiet (what other kinds are there?) cul-de-sac in the swanky north Dallas neighborhood of Preston Hollow, named for a leafy local hollow and someone named Preston whose moniker went on a local road a long time ago.

Anyway, Preston Hollow, which voted to join Dallas in 1945, has some run-down shanties that go for $800,000, but most are in the seven-figure range, some well up in the eight figures. Some of the wealthiest people in Texas live there. Because of a permanent Secret Service presence -- probably in an adjacent house -- annoying break-ins will be even less likely after Jan. 20.

Word of the purchase was confirmed today by a White House spokesman after everyone poo-poohed a September Cindy Adams gossip report on the impending purchase in the New York Post.

Maps to the Bushes' new home are already being marketed online. "The county appraises the house at nearly $2.1 million, but the home sold for considerably more," reported the Dallas Morning News.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: This is the four-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom house in the Preston Hollow section of Dallas believed to have been purchased by the Bushes. Credit: L.M. Otero / Associated Press

The White House walk-through inspection

On Monday, while President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama met in the Oval Office to discuss the transfer power, their wives were conducting a walk-through inspection of sorts of the Obamas' new digs, reported a story in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times.

Michelle Obama and Laura Bush inspected a White House residence that will soon be home to two girls -- ages 7 and 10 -- and a puppy of undetermined breed.

The president also took time to give the Illinois senator a personal tour of the White House living quarters, including the Lincoln Bedroom.

Obama has already opined on one of the room's amenities. In a campaign swing through North Dakota, he suggested he might remove the flat-screen television he spotted in the bedroom during a visit a few years ago. Guests in the Lincoln Bedroom should be reading the 16th president's writings, not watching sports on TV, Obama said at the time.

So what kind of house are we talking about here? According to the official White House website:

--There are 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 6 levels in the residence. There are also 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators.

--With five full-time chefs, the White House kitchen is able to serve dinner to as many as 140 guests and hors d'oeuvres to more than 1,000.

--The White House requires 570 gallons of paint to cover its outside surface.

--Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: The Lincoln Sitting Room, on the second floor of the White House adjacent to the Lincoln bedroom and used primarily by visiting guests, was refurbished in 1993 to reflect a more Victorian era. Credit: Reuters

Presidential homes throughout history

If you are noodling around on the Internet and still feeling that election spirit, check out the presidential homes at Zillow.com.

Just after John McCain's much publicized multiple homes is Barack Obama's stately Chicago residence of 6,199 square feet with a Zestimate value of $1,432,000. It's interesting to note that Obama purchased that Kenwood neighborhood home in 2005 for $1.65 million, according to the website.

Other presidents' homes that caught my eye: 

-- Gerald Ford's unassuming Grand Rapids, Mich., home where he lived until 1950. Zestimate: $406,000.
-- John F. Kennedy’s boyhood house in Brookline, Mass., from the time he was 3 until age 10. Zestimate for the six-bedroom, 4 1/2-bathroom, 4,755-square-foot home, built in 1900: $1,500,500.
-- Harry Truman's summer White House in Independence, Mo., where Bess and Harry moved after their wedding in 1919. They lived out their days there after he left office. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom, 5,163-square-foot home is now a National Park Service site. Zestimate: $288,500.

A request for 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C., produced the prompt "no matching results."

-- Lauren Beale

Your thoughts? Comments?

Photo: Al Schaben / Los Angeles Times