geeky
seaivy had a great idea about the "Presidential Places" series focusing on the summer homes of the Presidents. When it comes to that subject, the first place that comes to mind for me is the Harry S. Truman Little White House in Key West, Florida. It was the winter White House for President Harry S Truman for 175 days during 11 visits and it is located in the Truman Annex neighborhood of Old Town, Key West. (I regret to admit that the one and only time I've been to Key West, I never went to see it.)
The house was originally waterfront when it was built in 1890 as the first officer's quarters on the submarine base naval station. It was a wooden duplex which contained two separate quarters for the base commandant and for the paymaster. In 1911 the home was converted into a single-family dwelling to house the base commandant and additional land was filled in front of the house. The waterfront view was eventually blocked by a new building at the station.
The first President to visit the site was William Howard Taft in December 1912. He visited there before sailing to Panama to inspect the canal then under construction. During World War I, Thomas Edison resided in the house while donating his service to the war effort. He worked on 41 weapons during his six month stay. The house remained command headquarters through World War II.
In November 1946, President Harry Truman, who had been in office for 19 months by this time, was ordered by his physician, Dr. Wallace Graham, to take a vacation in a warm climate to combat physical exhaustion. Truman stayed at the home for part of that month and promised to return whenever he felt the need for rest. His second vacation came in March 1947. This set the pattern for additional visits every November–December and every February–March. New technology allowed the President to communicate with multiple political or world leaders from there and he could summon staff to Key West for a meeting in three hours by a flight from Washington. Truman later said that he realized that the White House was wherever the President was and vice versa. Truman spent 175 days of his presidency at the Little White House in Key West, FL.
During the Truman visits, Cabinet members and foreign officials were regular visitors for fishing trips and poker games. Truman visited Key West shortly after his 1948 re-election and Division Street was renamed Truman Avenue in his honor. After Truman left office he returned to Key West several times and stayed at various other places.
Other presidents also used the Key West Little White House as well. In 1948-49 General Dwight D. Eisenhower held a series of meetings that resulted in the creation of the Department of Defense. He returned in December 1955 and January 1956 as President to recuperate from a heart attack. President John F. Kennedy and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan held a one day summit there in March 1961. President Kennedy made a second visit in 1962 immediately following the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The house served as the Naval Station commandant's house until March 1974, when the submarine base was closed due to the Navy's conversion from diesel to nuclear submarines. On February 12 of that year, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. On January 1, 1987, it was deeded to the State of Florida and is held in trust as a public museum. In 1990 almost a million dollars was spent restoring the house to its 1949 condition.
In 1991, the house opened as a state historic site & museum. Today regular guided tours take visitors through the site, and tourists are allowed to enter the rooms where the Trumans lived, worked and relaxed. Items such as President Truman's briefcase, books, telephone, and his famous "The Buck Stops Here" sign are still at his desk. (The reverse of the sign says, "I'm From Missouri".)
Former Presidents have also made use of the facility/ Jimmy Carter and his family had a reunion there in 1996. In January 2005, former President Bill Clinton and his wife, then Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, spent a weekend relaxing at the house.
Here is some further information for anyone wishing to check out this facility (as I certainly will the next time I am in the neighborhood):
Website: http://www.trumanlittlewhitehouse.com
Location: 111 Front Street, Key West, Florida
Blog: http://www.trumanblog.com/
Twitter: @TrumanKeyWest