St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square

Known as the Church of the Presidents, this yellow stuccoed church faces the White House across Lafayette Square. Designed by Benjamin Latrobe and completed in 1816, it has hosted every sitting president since James Madison, with pew 54 traditionally reserved for the chief executive. Its Greek-cross plan, gilded dome, and slender steeple make it a graceful counterpoint to the surrounding government buildings. A bell cast at Paul Revere's foundry hangs in the tower, and the interior remains a working parish steeped in national ceremony.