The White House Garden

by William Seale, Erik Kvalsvik

Book by Seale, William

Genres: Gardening, History

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

William Seale was an American historian and author whose work focused on historical writing and the restoration of historic American buildings, notably state capitols. He attended Southwestern University in Texas and completed his Ph.D. at Duke University in North Carolina. An independent author since 1965, he wrote extensively on the White House and participated in the restoration of many state capitols. He was the founding editor of White House History Quarterly, the award-winning quarterly journal of the White House Historical Association, and author of The Imperial Season; The Tasteful Interlude: American Interiors Through the Camera’s Eye; Recreating the Historic House Interior; The Virginia Governor’s Mansion; Temples of Democracy; The State Capitols of the USA, and many others. With the Association, he provided commentary for At Home in the President’s Neighborhood: A Photographic Tour and authored numerous books including: The President’s House: A History; The White House Garden; The White House: The History of an American Idea; An Artist Visits the White House Past; The Night They Burned the White House: The Story of Tom Freeman’s Painting, the 23rd edition of The White House: An Historic Guide; Blair House: The President’s Guest House; A White House of Stone: Building America’s First Ideal in Architecture; and the forthcoming title Life on Lafayette Park.

Reviews

[Christy Chance · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mother gifted me this book since we are going to DC this spring, and because she knows I love gardening books. I was expecting it to just be a table book full of pretty pictures. And it is full of gorgeous shots of the White House and surrounding gardens (although page 25 in my book is a misprint with half the image missing). BUT it is also full historical facts, quotes, fascinating renderings of the original grounds on through the years, and accounts of the chronology of the gardens. I can’t wait to see them in person this spring!