The White House is arguably the most famous residence in the world. The official home and office of the President of the United States, the mansion was designed by Irish born James Hoban and was built between 1792 and 1800. Today it stands at six stories high and is constructed from Aquia sandstone in the neoclassical style. All American Presidents since John Adams (1797) have lived here. The Oval Office is located in the West Wing of the building.

Free public tours of the White House are available but requests must be submitted through one's Member of Congress in advance.

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s Founding Fathers and the third President of the United States. Situated in West Potomac Park, on the shore of the Potomac River Tidal Basin, this elegant neoclassical building was completed in 1943 and designed by John Russell Pope. The famous bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson was designed by Rudulph Evans and was added in 1947.

The Jefferson Memorial was officially dedicated by President Roosevelt on 13th April 1943; the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birthday.

Built mainly from Indiana limestone in a neo-Gothic design, the impressive National Cathedral’s principal architect was George Frederick Bodley, followed after his death by Philip Hubert Frohman. The Cathedral contains many works of art as well as more than two hundred stained glass windows including, the ‘Space Window’, which honors man's landing on the Moon and includes a fragment of lunar rock at its center.

The National Cathedral has been the location for the funerals of four American Presidents (Woodrow Wilson, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford) and prides itself on being known as ‘the national house of prayer for all people’. Construction started in 1907 when President Theodore Roosevelt laid the foundation stone, and officially ended in 1990 when President George H.W. Bush oversaw the placing of the last finial.

The National Cathedral is the second largest cathedral in the United States (after Saint John’s in New York City) and the sixth largest in the world.

It was at Ford’s Theatre on April 14th, 1865 that President Abraham Lincoln, while watching a performance of Our American Cousin with his wife, was assassinated by the actor John Wilkes Booth. The fatally wounded President was then carried across the street to the Petersen House where he died the next morning. Today both the Petersen House and the Theatre are preserved together as Ford's Theatre National Historic Site.

There is also a fascinating museum beneath the theatre. On display are many items related to the assassination including the Derringer pistol used to carry out the shooting, John Wilkes Booth's diary and the original door to Lincoln's theatre box.

Following extensive renovations the theatre re-opened on February 12th, 2009, to commemorate Lincoln's 200th birthday. The theatre now regularly produces stage productions.

Located on the National Mall, the Lincoln Memorial is a memorial built in the Greek Doric temple style to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It was constructed between 1912 and 1922 and designed by the architect, Henry Bacon.

The sculptor of the famous seated Lincoln statue was Daniel Chester French. It is an impressive 19 feet high but would have been 28 feet tall if the President had been standing! The Memorial is open to the public 24 hours a day and is free to visit.