North Lawn ( White House ) - wikipedia North Lawn ( White House ) The North Lawn at the White House An American Elm, Ulmus americana, with yellow fall foliage. Presidential reviewing stand and North Lawn. The North Lawn and a column of the North Portico photographed from the present President 's Dining Room c. 1902. The White House North Lawn and its statue of Thomas Jefferson in the 1860s, during the Abraham Lincoln administration The North Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, is bordered on the north by Pennsylvania Avenue with a wide view of the mansion, and is screened by dense plantings on the east from East Executive Drive and the Treasury Building, and on the west from West Executive Drive and the Old Executive Office Building. Because it is bordered by Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House 's official street address, the North Lawn is sometimes described as the front lawn. Contents 1 Description and use 2 Design and horticulture 2.1 Specimen trees 2.2 Seasonal plantings 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External links Description and use A semicircular driveway runs from the northwest gate through the North Portico, sweeping back to Pennsylvania Avenue through the northeast gate. A circular pool with fountain is centered on the north portico of the White House. Visiting heads of state enter the White House grounds, and are officially welcomed here prior to a state dinner. Public tours, which begin on East Executive Drive, exit through the North Portico, and visitors exit from the northeast gate. White House correspondents, for television news, often stand on the North Lawn with the North Portico as a backdrop. A reviewing stand is erected on the North Lawn facing Pennsylvania Avenue prior to the inauguration of the president. The president uses the enclosed structure to review the parade, which proceeds from the U.S. Capitol. Design and horticulture Pierre - Charles L'Enfant's 1793 plan of the city of Washington placed the President 's House facing a convergence of radial avenues centered on the North Lawn. In 1850, landscape designer Andrew Jackson Davis attempted to soften the geometry of the L'Enfant plan. In 1848 a bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson was placed in middle of the lawn by President James K. Polk ; it was replaced by a pool and `` gurg '' steam - driven fountain in 1871. Through the remainder of the 19th century the North Lawn was planted with increasingly complex seasonal `` carpet '' style flower bedding punctuated by tropical plants borrowed from the White House glass houses. President Theodore Roosevelt, who had engaged the architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White to reconfigure and rebuild part of the White House in 1902, was induced to simplify the grounds, removing what was increasingly seen as Victorian clutter. The bedding scheme on the North Lawn was greatly simplified. Later, in 1934, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt engaged Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to evaluate the grounds and recommend changes. Olmsted understood the need to offer presidents and their families a modicum of privacy balancing with the requirement for public views of the White House. The Olmsted plan presented the landscape largely as seen today : retaining or planting large specimen trees and shrubs on the perimeter to create boundaries for visual privacy, but opened with generous sight lines of the house from north and south. The lawn is planted with a grass variety called tall fescue ( Festuca arundinacea ). ( 1 ) Specimen trees Trees on the North lawn include fern - leaf beech ( Fagus sylvatica asplenifolia ), American elm ( Ulmus americana ), white oak ( Quercus alba ), white saucer magnolia ( Magnolia × soulangeana ), red maple ( Acer rubrum ), American Chestnut Tree ( Castanea dentata ) and American and English boxwood ( Buxus species ). Seasonal plantings The pool is planted seasonally with borders of tulips edged by grape hyacinth ( Muscari armeniacum ) for spring, red geranium ( Pelargonium ) and Dusty Miller ( Senecio cineraria ) in summer, and chrysanthemum ( Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium ) in fall. References Jump up ^ Seale, William. ( 1996 ). The White House Garden... White House Historical Association. pp. 22 -- 23. ISBN 0 - 912308 - 69 - 9. Jump up ^ Seale, William. ( 1996 ). The White House Garden... White House Historical Association. pp. 101 -- 102. ISBN 0 - 912308 - 69 - 9. Jump up ^ Seale, William. ( 1996 ). The White House Garden... White House Historical Association. pp. 54 -- 55. ISBN 0 - 912308 - 69 - 9. Jump up ^ McEwan, Barbara. ( 1992 ). White House Landscapes... Walker and Company. pp. 151, 162. ISBN 0 - 8027 - 1192 - 8. Jump up ^ McEwan, Barbara. ( 1992 ). White House Landscapes... Walker and Company. pp. 181 -- 183. ISBN 0 - 8027 - 1192 - 8. Jump up ^ Seale, William. ( 1996 ). The White House Garden... White House Historical Association. pp. 92 -- 93. ISBN 0 - 912308 - 69 - 9. Jump up ^ Haskell, Sabina ( April 30, 2005 ). `` Dream takes root - Chestnut group president visits White House '' ( PDF ). Rutland Herald. Jump up ^ Seale, William. ( 1996 ). The White House Garden... White House Historical Association. pp. 104 -- 109. ISBN 0 - 912308 - 69 - 9. Further reading Abbott James A., and Elaine M. Rice. Designing Camelot : The Kennedy White House Restoration. Van Nostrand Reinhold : 1998. ISBN 0 - 442 - 02532 - 7. Clinton, Hillary Rodham. An Invitation to the White House : At Home with History. Simon & Schuster : 2000. ISBN 0 - 684 - 85799 - 5. Leish, Kenneth. The White House. Newsweek Book Division : 1972. ISBN 0 - 88225 - 020 - 5. McEwan, Barbara. `` White House Landscapes. '' Walker and Company : 1992. ISBN 0 - 8027 - 1192 - 8. Mellon, Rachel Lambert. The White House Gardens Concepts and Design of the Rose Garden. Great American Editions Ltd. : 1973. Seale, William. The President 's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society : 1986. ISBN 0 - 912308 - 28 - 1. Seale, William, The White House : The History of an American Idea. White House Historical Association : 1992, 2001. ISBN 0 - 912308 - 85 - 0. Seale, William. The White House Garden. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society : 1996. ISBN 0 - 912308 - 69 - 9. The White House : An Historic Guide. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society : 2001. ISBN 0 - 912308 - 79 - 6. External links History of the White House Gardens and Grounds White House Museum page on the North Lawn White House Executive Residence Basement Basement Chief Floral Designer Ground floor China Room collection Office of the Curator Diplomatic Reception Room Library Map Room Vermeil Room State floor Blue Room Cross Hall East Room Entrance Hall Family Dining Room Grand Staircase Green Room Red Room South Portico State Dining Room Chief Usher Second floor Center Hall Dressing Room East Bedroom East Sitting Hall Family Kitchen Lincoln Bedroom Lincoln Sitting Room President 's Bedroom President 's Dining Room Private Sitting Room Queens ' Bedroom Queens ' Sitting Room Treaty Room Truman Balcony West Bedroom West Sitting Hall Yellow Oval Room Third floor Center Hall Diet Kitchen Linen Room Music Room Sun Room Work - out Room West Wing Cabinet Room Executive Office Oval Office desk clock Oval Office Study Press Briefing Room Roosevelt Room Situation Room East Wing Office of the First Lady Graphics and Calligraphy Office Presidential Emergency Operations Center White House Family Theater Social Secretary Visitors Office White House Military Office Grounds The Ellipse Jacqueline Kennedy Garden Lafayette Square North Lawn President 's Park Rose Garden South Lawn White House to Treasury Building tunnel Annex Eisenhower Executive Office Building New Executive Office Building White House Conference Center Blair House Trowbridge House Presidential Townhouse Nearby streets 15th Street 17th Street Constitution Avenue E Street East Executive Avenue H Street NW Hamilton Place Jackson Place Madison Place Pennsylvania Avenue State Place West Executive Avenue Coordinates : 38 ° 53 ′ 54 '' N 77 ° 02 ′ 12 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 38.8983 ° N 77.0366 ° W ﻿ / 38.8983 ; - 77.0366 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=North_Lawn_(White_House)&oldid=799304710 '' Categories : Gardens in Washington, D.C. 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Question: which side of the white house is the front
Answer: North