For weeks the name of the occupant booked into Blair House on January 12 was a mystery. President-elect Barack Obama and his family asked to stay there before taking the keys to the White House but were told it was already booked.
I'm having trouble understanding how
it could be booked considering ...
The original Blair House was built in 1824. We describe it as the original Blair House because it is the Pennsylvania Avenue home into which Francis Preston Blair and his family moved in 1837. What is today known as Blair House is in fact the combination of that original home and three other handsome townhouses. While they appear from the outside to be independent of one another, the four homes are connected internally.
Together, the complex is larger than the White House, with 119 rooms and total area of 70,000 square feet. There are 14 guest bedrooms, eight staff bedrooms, 35 bathrooms, four dining rooms, kitchen facilities, laundry and dry cleaning facilities, an exercise room, a flower shop, and a fully equipped hair salon. Blair House strives to be comfortable, discreet and secure, and to provide any service that a visiting dignitary might require.
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