Witch Hazel Cabin

Witch Hazel cabin in 1961

Witch Hazel is the nearest cabin to the Aspen Lodge.  It was one of the original cabins at the camp and had two rooms plus a bathroom. Back in FDR's time, it was known as the "Grace Tully Cottage" because FDR's secretary, Grace Tully, used to stay there.

President Kennedy turned the cabin into a nursery with rooms for young Caroline and John John, a nanny, and a playroom. President Johnson then modified the cabin to make it suitable for his two teenage daughters.

The cabin was renovated in the early 1970s.  President Nixon's secretary, Rose Woods, used to stay in Witch Hazel when she was at Camp David.

The close proximity to the President's cabin has its advantages (or disadvantages, depending on which way you look at it...)  Zbigniew Brzezinski, Assistant to President Carter for National Security Affairs, had this experience during the 1978 Camp David summit:

"One night the President phoned me at 4:15 a.m., and I went to his cabin. He'd been to bed, but he started thinking of something and wanted to discuss it. My cabin, named Witch Hazel, was next to his, Aspen, and I walked over." 

The satellite image below shows the Witch Hazel cabin and its location near the Aspen Lodge.

Google Maps satellite view of Witch Hazel cabin

Sources: The President is at Camp David; Camp David Tour; People Magazine; Google Maps; John F. Kennedy Presidential Library; The Reagans: Portrait of a Marriage

Holly Cabin - The Original Laurel Lodge

1961 photo of the former Laurel Lodge - now called Holly Cabin

The modern-day Holly Cabin was the original Laurel Lodge.  In 1970, a master plan was created for the renovation of Camp David.  The conference and dining facilities at Laurel Lodge were no longer considered adequate and plans were made to build a new Laurel Lodge in 1972 for $700,000.

President Eisenhower leaving the Cabinet Meeting

President Eisenhower held his Cabinet meetings and National Security Council meetings at the original Laurel Lodge while he was recovering from a heart attack in 1955.

The Eisenhower Library has a formerly top-secret memo from an NSC meeting held at Camp David in 1955 in which they discuss the "dangerous situation in Afghanistan".

President Eisenhower meets with his National Security Council in 1955

In 1961, President Kennedy had a letter sent to CIA Director Allen Dulles offering the use of the Laurel area whenever it would "be helpful to you in the performance of your office". Dulles was advised that a bill for costs incurred would be mailed to his office after each use.


Here you can see what the main rooms in the original Laurel Lodge looked like back in the 1960s.

Music room, reading room, and dining room in 1965

In 1978, President Carter chose Holly Cabin as the meeting place for the peace negotiations. He preferred the cozy atmosphere of the rooms in Holly to the formal conference facility at the new Laurel Lodge.  For entertainment, a pool table and movie projector were set up in Holly and 58 movies were shown over the course of the thirteen days of the summit.

Members of the U.S., Egyptian, and Israeli delegations meet in Holly Cabin in September 1978

Guests playing pool at Holly and the Carter family posing for photo with a guest - Christmas 1979

A glass case of photographs from those meetings is now displayed in Holly and a hand-written note of appreciation from President Carter to Prime Minister Begin hangs on the wall there. Holly is currently used for recreation and small meetings.

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair walk in front of Holly 

President Bush and Egyptian President Mubarak in front of Holly cabin in 2002

Secretary Kerry meets one-on-one with Afghan President Ghani in Holly Cabin in March 2015 (State Dept)

Google Maps satellite view of the Holly Cabin - at center.   (Cabin on the upper right is Hawthorn)

Sources:  The President is at Camp David; The New York Times; Camp David Tour; Life Magazine; Eisenhower Presidential Library; Jimmy Carter Library; Ronald Reagan Library; National Archives; US Navy; John F. Kennedy Presidential Library; The White House; State Department; CIA

Tennis at Camp David

President Ford and daughter Susan playing on the clay courts at Camp David  in September 1974. 

In the early 1970s, two regulation-size green clay tennis courts were built using funds donated by Donald Kendall, who was Chairman of Pepsi-Cola and a supporter of Richard Nixon.

Green clay (also known as Har-Tru) provides a softer and slower playing surface than a hard court.  Green clay courts are built using a four inch base of compacted crushed stone topped off with a one inch layer of Har-Tru surfacing.  Prior to each use, the courts have to be brushed using a drag-broom and the lines swept using a line-broom.  The courts need to be periodically watered and rolled.  The top Har-Tru layer must be reapplied annually.

Later photos of the tennis courts (see the 1990 Bush/Evert photo and the Google satellite map below) appear to show a hard court surface, rather than green clay.  The only reference I found concerning subsequent renovations was on the Di Geronimo Associates, Ltd website which lists on the About Us  page:  "1989-1990  Consultant for Special Programs for Tennis Court Construction at Camp David".   It is possible that the green clay court was replaced with a hard court surface during that time frame, however I have not been able to find anything on the internet that confirms it.

President Bush plays doubles tennis with Chris Evert at Camp David in August 1990

President George H.W. Bush enjoyed playing tennis at Camp David.  Some of his guests included tennis pros Chris Evert, Pam Shriver, and Gigi Fernandez.  At her 1995 Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Chris Evert spoke about playing tennis with President Bush in August 1990: 

"We were at Camp David when the Gulf War broke out.  He was working hard on the phone but he came out and said: 'I need a break. Let's play a set.' We started playing but every 10 minutes, he got a call from some president or prime minister. He'd stop and talk and then get back and ask me, 'What was the score?' "

President Bush's recollection of tennis with Chris Evert:

" 'Bend your knees, cover behind me, get up to the net,' " he mimicked her orders. "As President, people would give me long putts, or if I put up a lousy lob, people would give me a kinder, gentler return. Chris Evert never understood that."

The 2005 book From Mount Vernon to Crawford states that President George W. Bush had various new equipment installed at Camp David "without telling the news media"  including new indoor tennis courts.  That was the only reference I could find about indoor tennis courts at Camp David.

Many Presidents and their guests have enjoyed playing tennis at Camp David. Here are two more clay court photos from the Ford era and one of President Carter taken during the Camp David Summit.

President Ford and daughter Susan - September 1974

President Ford's daughter-in-law Gayle playing tennis at Camp David in June 1975

Menachem Begin meets with Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and Cyrus Vance after a tennis match in Sept 1978 

President Obama hosted cabinet members and their families for a Sunday gathering at Camp David in October 2010.  Below is a photo of President Obama, Vice President Biden and Claire Duncan, daughter of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, watching a tennis match at Camp David.

President Obama and Vice President Biden watch a tennis match at Camp David in October 2010 

Google Maps view of the tennis courts at Camp David

Sources:  George Bush Presidential Library; The President is at Camp David; The New York Times; The Daytona Beach News-Journal; From Mount Vernon to Crawford; Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library; National Archives; The White House; Google Maps

Cedar Cabin - Home of the Camp David Commanding Officer

Cedar Cabin - 1980s

The Commanding Officer of Camp David is required to live on-site in Cedar Cabin. The four bedroom one-story building was built in 1957.   Lt. Thomas E. Wyncoop was the first commanding officer to live at Camp David.  When the President is at Camp David, family members of the Commanding Officer are restricted to the immediate area around the home.

In 2003, $109,000 was budgeted to renovate the aging cabin. Here is a description of the renovation project as described in the FY 2003 Navy Budget Estimates for Military Construction:

"This project will provide improvements and repairs to one unit for the Commanding Officer at NSF Thurmont, Maryland. Improvement work includes enlarging the living room, dining room, bathroom,sunroom, front stoop and porch; relocating and modernizing the kitchen; relocating main entry door; reconfiguring a coat closet; converting the existing two car attached garage into a family room with fireplace; all mechanical and electrical work associated with architectural and structural changes; construction of a detached two car garage, trash and recycle bin, a patio and the addition of walkways and outdoor lighting. Improvement work will increase square footage within statutory levels. Repair work includes replacement of HVAC, windows, and downspouts; repair of wood siding."

Cedar Cabin - 1980s

Cedar Cabin - 1958

Cedar Cabin - 1961

Google Maps view of Cedar Cabin - The Commanding Officer's residence

Sources:  Eisenhower Presidential Library; John F. Kennedy Presidential Library; US Navy; Camp David Tour; Google Maps; MLive

Skeet Range

President Eisenhower  / President George H.W. Bush and son Jeb on the Camp David Skeet Range

President Eisenhower installed the skeet range at Camp David in the 1950s.   According to the Trap and Skeet Shooting for Fun book, he spent much time trying to improve his shooting skills on the range.  He noted that his best score was 20 out of 25 targets.  This March 1960 Eisenhower diary references a couple trips to the skeet range.

As this March 1960 photo shows, sometimes President Eisenhower would practice shooting outside the Aspen Lodge

President Kennedy with David Niven and Ben Bradlee shooting skeet at Camp David in 1963

Many presidents and their guests have enjoyed practicing their skills shooting clay birds on the skeet range over the years.  This 1970 newspaper article describes a visit to Camp David by an "exuberant" 21-year old Prince Charles who "easily bested" David Eisenhower at skeet shooting, one of his favorite sports.

Steve and Susan Ford at the Camp David Skeet Range on Labor Day Weekend in 1974

I came across a website with a message board that described an incident at the Camp David skeet range during the Reagan era:

"Reminds me of the story my buddy told me that happened while he was a Marine stationed at Camp David during the Reagan years. One day VP Bush and his sons showed up and wanted to go out to the range to shoot. My buddy was charged with assembling the presidential shotguns and ammo and they proceeded to shoot. Well, one of the sons (I can’t remember which one but IT WAS NOT our latest President), placed a different gauge shot shell into the 12 gauge and squeezed off. According to Mike, he could have been killed but apparently got dusted up a bit. Well, the CO wanted to throw the book at Mike for somehow getting different shells mixed with the guns but Old man Bush stepped in and said to forget the whole matter."

I tend to believe this account since I found a separate reference to Jeb Bush narrowly escaping injury at the Camp David skeet range when the barrel of a Remington shotgun exploded.

President Barack Obama shoots clay targets on the range at Camp David, Md., Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012.
 (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

2013 UPDATE:  In a 2013 interview with The New Republic, when asked if he ever fired a gun, President Obama replied "Yes, in fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time. Not the girls, but oftentimes guests of mine go up there."  This claim generated some controversy, as noted in the Fact Checker blog in the Washington Post. At the time, no photos had surfaced of the President shooting skeet except the one on my White House parody site, which was briefly posted by The New Republic and then quickly deleted.  The White House released the above photo on February 2, 2013.

Google Maps view of the Camp David Skeet Range

I wrote a related post about how the satellite view of the skeet range has changed over the years.



Sources:  Camp David Tour; US Navy; The White House; Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library; Cecil Stoughton: Portrait of Camelot -A Thousand Days in the Kennedy White House; Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library; Trap and Skeet Shooting For Fun; Rome News-Tribune; Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission; Google Maps; The New Republic

Birch and Dogwood Cabins

Much has been written about the President's cabin Aspen Lodge.  I was curious about the other guest cabins at Camp David.  The most prominent guest cabins (not including Aspen, Laurel, or Hickory) are the Birch and Dogwood cabins.  These two cabins are located equal distance from the Aspen Lodge.  In a 2007 book Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait, she refers to Birch and Dogwood as the "dignitary" cabins.

Original Birch Cabin (on the right) from the 1950s

Birch and Dogwood started out as single-room cabins when Camp David was first constructed.

 In 1970, it became clear that many of the aging guest cabins would need to be rebuilt due to termite and fungus damage.

Birch and Dogwood were the first to be rebuilt at an estimated cost of $145,000 in 1970-1971.

The new Birch cabin has two bedrooms, two baths, a large living room that opens out to a patio, vaulted ceilings and a large stone fireplace.

During the 1978 peace negotiations held at Camp David, Israeli Prime Minister Begin stayed at Birch.  Gerald Ford also stayed at Birch Cabin when he visited Camp David while serving as Vice-President.

Menahem Begin and Zbigniew Brzezinski play chess outside Birch Cabin - September 1978

In 1971, Tricia Nixon and Ed Cox stayed in newly-refurbished Dogwood cabin at Camp David for their honeymoon following a wedding ceremony held in the Rose Garden at the White House.   In 1973, Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev stayed in Dogwood cabin as a guest of President Nixon.

Also in 1973, Rose Woods, who was President Nixon's secretary, spent a weekend in Dogwood Cabin transcribing the tapes of Nixon's White House conversations about Watergate.  She later testified that the eighteen and a half minute gap in the tape could have accidentally occurred when she leaned over the tape machine to answer the phone.

 In 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat stayed at Dogwood during the peace summit.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat outside Dogwood cabin in 1978 

Presidents Carter and Sadat meet inside Dogwood Cabin in September 1978

Harold Brown and Cyrus Vance meet with Anwar Sadat and the Egyptian delegation on the deck of  Dogwood cabin

President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin outside Dogwood cabin in September 2003

At the 2012 G8 Summit, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was assigned to Dogwood cabin and French President François Hollande was assigned to Birch. 

Prime Minister Medvedev outside Dogwood cabin - May 2012

President Hollande greets Canadian Prime Minister Harper outside Birch cabin - May 2012

Inside Birch cabin - May 2012

Below you can see how Birch and Dogwood cabins are diplomatically located approximately the same distance from the Aspen Lodge.

Google Maps view of Birch and Dogwood Cabins at Camp David

Sources:  Eisenhower Presidential Library; National Archives; Jimmy Carter Library; Google Maps; Camp David Tour; The President is at Camp David; Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait; Daytona Beach Morning Journal; White House; @damedvedev; Prime Minister of Canada

Evergreen Chapel at Camp David

Evergreen Chapel

In 1991, the Evergreen Chapel was dedicated by President George H.W. Bush. It was built using funds raised by a nonprofit corporation formed by Kenneth Plummer, president of the National Lay Leaders Association of the United Methodist Church.

The Wagner Roofing website acknowledges the role that their founder's wife Evelyn Murray played in the construction of the Evergreen Chapel:

"Evelyn was instrumental in the fundraising for the beautiful non-denominational Chapel constructed at Camp David during the Reagan Administration. Evelyn delights in relating the history of the Chapel, discussing its design and recalling the marvelous dedication ceremony that she was able to attend. She even owns some of the stained glass used in the Chapel. "

President Reagan made the first contribution of $1,000 and selected the site location within Camp David. The rustic octagonal building made of wood and stained glass can seat up to 150 people.

The chapel's faceted and stained glass windows were created by Rudolph Sandon, an Italian immigrant who came to the U.S. after World War II and wanted to donate the windows "because America had been good to him".

The window on the side of the chapel where the President sits is the "Tree of Knowledge" and includes the presidential seal, a dove, a sheaf of wheat, and other symbols. On the opposite side of the chapel is the "Tree of Life". The symbols were designed to be open to interpretation by people of varying faiths.

The Tree of Knowledge (Rudolph Sandon)

The Tree of Life (Rudolph Sandon)

Kenneth Plummer, Rudolph Sandon, President and Mrs. Bush on the day of the dedication. (4/21/1991)

Additional details about the history, architecture and windows of the chapel can be found in this Evergreen Chapel pamphlet.

Architectural drawing of the Camp David Chapel

The chapel bell is from the USS Endicott, a Navy destroyer launched around the same time that President Roosevelt established Camp David (which he originally named "Shangri-La").

The pipe organ has two keyboards and 827 pipes ranging in size from 6 inches to 20 feet tall.  The organ was built by the Moller Pipe Organ Company of Hagerstown, MD. The chapel also has a Yamaha grand piano. You can read more about the Camp David organ in the Pipe Organ Database.

President Bush at the dedication service of the new Camp David chapel - April 1991

The Evergreen Chapel holds two weekly Sunday services. The 8AM Catholic mass is performed by contract priests from Mount Saint Mary's University. The Protestant service follows at 10 AM and is performed by the Camp David chaplain. The chapel is open to the 400 military personnel serving at Camp David along with their families.  On average, around 50-70 people are in attendance.

In 1992, the first wedding ceremony was performed at the chapel when Dorothy Bush LeBlond exchanged vows with Bobby Koch.

President Clinton wrote in his autobiography about his last trip to Camp David :

"Don Henley gave us a wonderful solo concert after dinner in the Camp David Chapel. The next morning was our family's last service in the beautiful chapel, where we had shared many services with the fine young sailors and marines who staffed the camp and their families.

They had even let me sing with the choir, always leaving the sheet music in Aspen, our family cabin, on Friday or Saturday so that I could review it in advance."


President George W. Bush and his family attended the Christmas Eve candlelight service at Evergreen Chapel for all eight years of his administration.

The Bush family at an Easter service at the Evergreen Chapel in 2006

President Bush greets military personnel outside the Evergreen Chapel - April 2006

According to press secretary Robert Gibbs at a White House briefing in December 2009, President Obama has attended church fairly regularly up at Camp David where "he's comfortable in and has enjoyed attending."

11/25/2013 Update:  Camp David is seeking a new music director for the Evergreen Chapel

View of Evergreen Chapel from the road

Close-up of the stained glass window inside Evergreen Chapel

Google Maps Earth view of Evergreen Chapel at Camp David

Sources: The President is at Camp David;  My Life: The Presidential Years; Camp David Tour; George Bush Presidential Library; The White House; US Navy; www.mongiello.org; GPO; Peabody Institute; Google Maps; @SylviaCarignan; The Times Leader; Barbara Sandon Norris