Final answer:
In the sentence provided, 'The White House' is a proper noun because it is the specific name of a place and is capitalized.
Step-by-step explanation:
The underlined phrase in the sentence, 'The White House has been home to many animals as well as presidents,' is 'The White House'. This phrase represents a specific place and is always capitalized, which makes it a proper noun.
A proper noun signals the name of a particular person, place, entity, or event, as opposed to a common noun that denotes a general category or class of objects, a compound noun that consists of two or more words used together to denote a single noun, or a collective noun that names a group of things or people as a unit.
General nouns or common nouns name broad classes or categories of things like 'city' or 'dog'. Concrete nouns refer to particular things and are often paired with specific details to create vivid reading experiences.
For instance, 'Michael', 'collie', and 'Chicago' are concrete nouns that give a clearer picture due to their specificity. Unlike common nouns, proper nouns like 'The White House' refer to one-of-a-kind entities and are always capitalized.