If you’ve ever wanted to step foot in the White House’s Oval Office and sit behind the Resolute desk, consider your wish fulfilled. Washington, D.C. is getting an identical replica of President Joe Biden's office, right down to his desk, the armchairs in front of the fireplace and the weathered family Bible resting on a side table. Put together by “The People’s House: A White House Experience,” the full-scale replica of the Oval Office will be redecorated to look exactly like the new president's office after the November elections this year.
Here’s what you should know about the exhibit.
Created by the White House Historical Association, “The People’s House: A White House Experience” is a new cutting-edge museum experience located in Washington, D.C., just one block from the White House. The educational space tells the story of the famed building, its inhabitants and the people who have dedicated their careers to its functions.
Few people have ever set foot in the Oval Office. It is not on the White House public tour route, but at “The People’s House,” not only will visitors get to see what one of the most famous offices in the world looks like, they will get to experience it, too.
The technology-driven education centre has a space called the “Immersive Theater” which transforms into some of the more notable rooms in the White House every five minutes. “You can take a call from Mr. Putin or anybody you’d like to receive a call from, have your photo taken there,” said Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association. "You can sit on the sofas or in the president's chair as you’ve visualised him sitting there and you see him on the news talking with a visitor or a head of state. You can do the same thing right there in front of the fireplace.”
The wallpaper, draperies, rug, furniture, paintings and other artwork are exact replicas of the furnishings as they currently are in the Oval Office. The plan is to change the décor with each future president. “It is exactly like President Biden's, exactly,” McLaurin said. “Even the family Bible with the weathered elements are duplicated.”
The only new item at the exhibit is the “digital column” in the centre of the room that shows visitors how the physical office has evolved throughout the presidency. It also turns into a mirror so visitors can see themselves standing in the Oval Office.
The museum's technology also transforms the “Immersive Theater” every five minutes into each of the five rooms on the White House State Floor: the East Room, the Red, Blue and Green Rooms, and the State Dining Room. Images on the walls in each room were chosen by the association's historians. Visitors can touch the walls to unlock information about the art, furniture or other history that happened there. "We want people to feel they are in that room of the White House,” McLaurin said.
Leaving the theatre, visitors will walk to the replica Oval Office along a stone path resembling the White House colonnade with a view of art made to represent the Rose Garden. Another exhibit will show how presidents use the White House for work, family and social functions. Visitors can attend cabinet meetings and vote on a course of action for the president, sit at a table set as it would be for a state dinner to learn how presidents use these glitzy events to conduct diplomacy or settle into a seat in the family movie theatre.
In a separate gallery, the head groundskeeper, florist, lead military aide and chief usher are among White House staff members featured on video explaining what they do. After entering the education centre, visitors will come upon a large model of the south side of the White House, listen to an audio greeting from first lady Jill Biden and watch an orientation film narrated by Martin Sheen, who played a president on the television show “The West Wing.”
McLaurin said the centre was designed to be an enhancement to the White House public tour, not a replacement. “This new immersive education centre will take visitors on an incredible journey using technology and innovation to bring White House history to life,” said Jill Biden, the first lady and a community college professor. “Especially as an educator, I'm so excited to see it opening to the public.”
Admission is free, but visitors must request timed tickets. The association is planning for 800 visitors every day, with most staying a little over an hour.
The White House Historical Association was created in 1961 by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy to help preserve the museum quality of the interior of the White House and educate the public. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organisation that receives no government funding. It raises money mostly through private donations and merchandise sales, including an annual Christmas ornament.
(With inputs from multiple news sources)