White House History, Location, & Facts
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During the War of 1812 the building was burned by the British, and Pres. James Madison (1809–17) and his family were forced to flee the city. The Madisons eventually moved into the nearby Octagon House, the Washington mansion of John Tayloe, a Virginia plantation owner. Reconstruction and expansion began under Hoban’s direction, but the building was not ready for occupancy until 1817, during the administration of Pres. Hoban’s reconstruction included the addition of east and west terraces on the main building’s flanks; a semicircular south portico and a colonnaded north portico were added in the 1820s. Our first president, George Washington, selected the site for the White House in 1791.
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Not long after the inauguration of President George Washington in 1789, plans to build an official President’s House in a federal district along the Potomac River took shape. A contest to find a builder produced a winning design from Irish-born architect James Hoban, who modeled his building after an Anglo-Irish villa in Dublin called the Leinster House. The White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., in Washington, D.C., perhaps the nation's most famous address. Empowered by the Residence Act of 1790, President George Washington chose the exact spot for the 10-square-mile capital, on the Potomac River's east bank and near the Capitol building.
When Was the White House Built?
Louis Comfort Tiffany was asked to send selected designers to assist. The building’s South and North Porticoes were added in 1824 and 1829, respectively, while John Quincy Adams established the residence’s first flower garden. Subsequent administrations continued to overhaul and bolster the interior through Congressional appropriations; the Fillmores added a library in the second-floor oval room, while the Arthurs hired famed decorator Louis Tiffany to redecorate the east, blue, red and state dining rooms. Ever since Theodore Roosevelt moved his workspace from the residence to the newly built West Wing in 1902, the two-story West Wing has been home to the U.S. presidential offices.
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Monroe had the semicircular South Portico added to the building in 1824. Later in the decade, President Andrew Jackson (1829 — 37) added the North Portico. Adam’s stay at the house was to be short-lived, though, as the newly-elected President Thomas Jefferson ( ), the third US President, made his entry in the White House in March, 1801 amidst much fanfare. The cornerstone was laid on the October of next year and Washington was actively involved in the project during the next eight years of its construction.
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Labourers, including local enslaved people, were housed in temporary huts built on the north side of the premises. They were joined by skilled stonemasons from Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1793. Because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901.
Nine proposals were submitted for the new presidential residence with the award going to Irish-American architect James Hoban. Capitol and the White House.[17] Hoban was born in Ireland and trained at the Dublin Society of Arts. He emigrated to the U.S. after the American Revolution, first seeking work in Philadelphia and later finding success in South Carolina, where he designed the state capitol in Columbia. Thomas Jefferson added his own personal touches upon moving in a few months later, installing two water closets and working with architect Benjamin Latrobe to add bookending terrace-pavilions. Having transformed the building into a more suitable representation of a leader’s home, Jefferson held the first inaugural open house in 1805, and also opened its doors for public tours and receptions on New Year’s Day and the Fourth of July.
The building’s history begins in 1792, when a public competition was held to choose a design for a presidential residence in the new capital city of Washington. Thomas Jefferson, later the country’s third president (1801–09), using the pseudonymous initials “A.Z.,” was among those who submitted drawings, but Irish American architect James Hoban won the commission (and a $500 prize) with his plan for a Georgian mansion in the Palladian style. The structure was to have three floors and more than 100 rooms and would be built in sandstone imported from quarries along Aquia Creek in Virginia.
Builders laid the White House cornerstone on October 13, 1792, with the Capitol cornerstone following soon after on August 18, 1793. In 1842 the visit to the United States of the English novelist Charles Dickens brought an official invitation to the White House. After his calls at the White House door went unanswered, Dickens let himself in and walked through the mansion from room to room on the lower and upper floors. Finally coming upon a room filled with nearly two dozen people, he was shocked and appalled to see many of them spitting on the carpet. Dickens later wrote, “I take it for granted the Presidential housemaids have high wages.” Until the Civil War, however, most White House servants were enslaved people. Moreover, the wages of all White House employees—as well as the expenses for running the White House, including staging official functions—were paid for by the president.
Hatton Garden
A Russian nobleman visiting the White House shortly before the Civil War was left thoroughly unimpressed by its magnitude. He commented that the mansion looked just about ‘sufficient for a private family’ and was far from what any European would expect of a president’s home. Hoban’s design was of a Palladian style Georgian mansion spread across three floors and containing more than 100 rooms. The stone exterior of the building was first painted with a lime-based whitewash in 1798 to protect it from the elements and freezing temperatures. According to the White House Historical Association, the "White House" moniker began to appear in newspapers before the War of 1812. In stark contrast, Jefferson, already during the early days in the house’s history, felt it to be too large—large enough, in Jefferson’s estimate, to accommodate one Pope, two emperors, and the grand lama!
Both home and workplace of the president of the United States, the White House stands stately and regal at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW as an unmistakable emblem of American democracy. Every US president since John Adams and their families have made the building their home at one time or other and the history and the evolution of the building is closely intertwined with the history of the nation itself. Here took place numerous treaty signings, summit meetings and several other events of the kind that were to have huge impact on the global political scene. Referred by many as the “living museum of American history”, the history continues to unfold at this iconic building that is the While House. A guide to 10 of the very best historic sites in America's capital city, including The Capitol, Lincoln Memorial and The White House.
Before the construction began, a public completion was staged requesting design submissions for the would-be presidential palace. Irish-born architect James Hoban’s drawing was chosen out of a total nine submissions. The site of the historic building in the new capital city of Washington was chosen by George Washington (1789 — 97), the first US President, in 1791. He was assisted in the task by the renowned city planner, Pierre L’Enfant. The White House Visitors Centre is worth visiting regardless as a great source of White House history, including details of the building’s architecture and history. There are plenty of fun anecdotes and a comprehensive American Presidential history.
Every president since John Adams has occupied the White House, and the history of this building extends far beyond the construction of its walls. The White House remains a place where history continues to unfold. Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of President John F. Kennedy (1961–63), directed a very extensive and historic redecoration of the house.
The bow has a ground-floor double staircase leading to an Ionic colonnaded loggia and the Truman Balcony, built in 1946.[33] The more modern third floor is hidden by a balustraded parapet and plays no part in the composition of the façade. White House, the official office and residence of the president of the United States at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. In Washington, D.C. It is perhaps the most famous and easily recognizable house in the world, serving as both the home and workplace of the president and the headquarters of the president’s principal staff members. The general layout of the White House grounds today is based on the 1935 design by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. of the Olmsted Brothers firm, commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the Kennedy administration, the White House Rose Garden was redesigned by Rachel Lambert Mellon. Bordering the East Colonnade is the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, which was begun by Jacqueline Kennedy but completed after her husband's assassination.
In June 2023, fighter jets moved to intercept a light aircraft that violated Washington DC airspace near the White House, before it crashed in Virginia.[108] All occupants in the intrusion aircraft were killed. Get HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week. The White House was the scene of mourning after the assassination of Pres. While Mary Todd Lincoln lay in her room for five weeks grieving for her husband, many White House holdings were looted.
The three-level southern façade combines Palladian and neoclassical architectural styles. The south portico was completed in 1824.[33] At the center of the southern façade is a neoclassical projected bow of three bays. The bow is flanked by five bays, the windows of which, as on the north façade, have alternating segmented and pointed pediments at first-floor level.
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