James Buchanan, 15th president of the United States, purchased Wheatland in 1848, a large Federal style house featuring a two and one-half story central section flanked by three-story wings, situated on a 22-acre estate. The main block of the 17-room building contains a central hall with matching rooms on either side. A Doric-columned porch dominates the front of the main section of the house. Few changes have occurred over the years except for some interior improvements made by Buchanan. These included installation of a furnace and central heating, replacement of the open hearth in the kitchen by a cast-iron stove, and the addition of such modern conveniences as a tin bathtub. After being succeeded in office by Abraham Lincoln in early 1861, Buchanan returned to Wheatland, where he died in a plainly furnished back room in 1868. Wheatland has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.