No, your eyes don’t deceive you.

Purportedly through the encouragement of Harriet Lane (1830–1903), neice and acting First Lady to President James Buchanan, a grand conservatory was built on the White House grounds in 1857.

The White House Conservatory was considerable turn from Thomas Jefferson’s vision of the White House gardens and grounds that he drew up between 1802 and 1805 and largely served as a model for future undertakings.

Alas, the extensive conservatory was short lived. The glasshouses were torn down in 1902 to make way for construction of the West Wing office complex. Ah bureaucracy!

The pattern of construction and destruction has continued to this day. Theodore Roosevelts wife Edith had a “Colonial Garden” built on the east side of the White House between 1902 and 1903. Ten years later, Woodrow Wilson’s wife Ellen, had the Colonial Garden torn out and replaced with what has come to be known as the White House “Rose Garden”.