First lady of the United States Melania Trump has revealed that a tennis pavilion, which takes cues from the neoclassical style of The White House, is being built on the grounds of the presidential residence.
Melania Trump, whose husband Donald Trump is US president, revealed on Twitter that construction of the tennis pavilion is underway. The building appears to have been designed in house by the National Park Service (NPS).
"I am excited to share the progress of the Tennis Pavillion [Sic] at @WhiteHouse," she tweeted alongside images of her on site. "Thank you to the talented team for their hard work and dedication."
The structure will replace a building that currently houses restrooms and storage space near to the tennis courts on the grounds, which covers over 18 acres (7.3 hectares).
The pavilion's design is "heavily influenced by the White House architecture", according to a report the NPS created for the final review of the project last year. Taking cues from the neoclassical building, which was completed in 1800, the pavilion will be fronted with columns and large arched windows.
"It will use the design of the White House as inspiration and incorporate architectural elements such as a colonnade, large floor-to-ceiling windows and fanlight windows in the facades," NPS added.
Other details including white limestone cladding and a copper roof were also chosen to match The White House style.
President Trump, Melania Trump's husband, expressed his love for classical architecture earlier this year in a proposed draft order that would require all new federal buildings to be built in the style.
According to the NPS document, Melania Trump's Tennis Pavilion is intended to provide a more unified connection between two other building projects on site that were designed by previous first ladies.
These include the Kitchen Garden vegetable allotment led by Michelle Obama and the Children's Garden playspace completed by Lady Bird Johnson in 1968.
It is also the first in part of two-stage project to transform the site, located in the south of the garden. The second phase is intended to replace the neighbouring NPS Maintenance Building called the Pony Shed.
Tennis Pavilion isn't Melania's first foray into architecture and design. She started an undergraduate degree in architecture at the University of Ljubljana but left the course after her first year to pursue modelling in Milan.
This background came to light after it emerged she falsely stated she had a degree in architecture on her website and was forced to take the site down.
In 2018, it was reported that she also designed a "clean-lined" logo to front her Be Best initiative.
Images are courtesy of National Capital Planning Commission.
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