Washington  - The White House, the presidential residence that Barack Obama is set to call home following his inauguration Tuesday, is full of small secrets:

- Not always white: The White House used to be grey. After it was set on fire by British troops in 1814, its facade was painted white in order to hide the soot stains.

- Children's play: As a child, John Jr, the son of John F. Kennedy, liked to hide under his father's desk in the Oval Office. He called the desk "my house."

- Children's play II: The children of Franklin D Roosevelt once smuggled a pony into the White House and took it up to the second floor, the area where the First Family lives.

- Domestic animals: Grace Coolidge, the wife of President Calvin Coolidge, had a racoon as a pet in the White House.

- Sticky fingers: During a reception at the White House in 1861, four days after the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, thieves stole the guests' coats and hats.

- Golden cage: Harry Truman called the White House "the big white prison."

- Luxury resort: Ronald Reagan called the White House an 8-star hotel.

- Roof party: President Dwight D Eisenhower loved to grill steaks on the roof of the White House. (dpa)