Eisenhower Home

Eisenhower Home. The Eisenhower Home is the farmhouse and estate that served as the weekend retreat and retirement residence of the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his wife, Mamie Eisenhower. Located adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield in Pennsylvania, the property was the only home the Eisenhowers ever owned and became a center for diplomatic hospitality and informal political discussion. It was donated to the United States government and is now administered by the National Park Service as the core of the Eisenhower National Historic Site, preserving the estate much as it was during the 1950s and 1960s.

History

The core of the house dates to the 1750s, constructed as part of the Redding Farm on land that witnessed the Battle of Gettysburg. The Eisenhowers purchased the 189-acre farm in 1950, after General Eisenhower's tenure as Supreme Allied Commander Europe and while he was serving as President of Columbia University. Following his election to the presidency in 1952, the farm became known as the "Summer White House" and a frequent retreat from Washington, D.C., where Eisenhower hosted world leaders including Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, French President Charles de Gaulle, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. After leaving the White House in 1961, the Eisenhowers retired to the farm permanently, where the former president wrote his memoirs and indulged in his hobbies until his death in 1969. Mamie Eisenhower continued to live there until her passing in 1979, after which the property was transferred to the National Park Service.

Architecture and grounds

The main residence is a two-story, white-painted brick structure exemplifying Georgian farmhouse style, with later additions made by the Eisenhowers including a porch and a two-car garage. The interior reflects the Eisenhowers' personal tastes, with many original furnishings, Mamie's preference for the color pink evident in several rooms, and numerous gifts of state from foreign nations. The surrounding grounds were extensively developed by Eisenhower, featuring a cattle barn for his prized Angus cattle herd, a putting green, a skeet-shooting range, and a Secret Service security booth. The estate also includes a guest house, a greenhouse, and several support buildings, all set within a pastoral landscape of fields and woodlands that offered the president a working farm environment.

Eisenhower National Historic Site

The entire property was designated the Eisenhower National Historic Site by an act of Congress in 1967, while Eisenhower was still living, to ensure its permanent preservation. Administered by the National Park Service as part of the Gettysburg National Military Park, the site encompasses 690 acres, including the home, outbuildings, and farmland. Its mission is to interpret the life, legacy, and presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, with a focus on his retirement years and his role as a citizen-farmer. The site's collection includes over 65,000 artifacts, from personal items and presidential gifts to farm equipment and military memorabilia from his service in World War II.

Public access and visitation

The Eisenhower Home is open to the public exclusively via a shuttle bus that departs from the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center, as private vehicles are not permitted on the site. Guided tours of the first floor of the home are offered regularly, allowing visitors to see the living room, sun porch, and kitchen preserved in their 1960s state. The grounds, barns, and guest house are accessible for self-guided exploration, and seasonal living history programs demonstrate farm activities and discuss Eisenhower's conservation efforts. Special events, such as lectures and anniversary commemorations related to the D-Day landings or Eisenhower's presidency, are held throughout the year.

In popular culture

The pastoral setting and historical significance of the Eisenhower Home have made it a subject and backdrop for various media. It has been featured in documentary films by networks like C-SPAN and the History Channel, often focusing on the private life of the president and the Cold War diplomacy conducted there. The home and farm have also appeared in biographical works about the Eisenhower family, including books by historians like Stephen Ambrose, and was referenced during televised coverage of President Eisenhower's state funeral in 1969. Its association with the tranquility of presidential retirement has been contrasted in popular history with the tumult of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement that followed his administration.

Category:Houses in Pennsylvania Category:National Historic Sites in Pennsylvania Category:Presidential residences in the United States