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Most of the work was done by African Americans, some free, others enslaved. 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. In addition to the Oval Office, the West Wing complex includes the Situation Room, Cabinet Room, Roosevelt Room and press briefing room, among others. 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.
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Commissioners originally tried to bring cheap workers over from Europe to build the new capital, their recruitment efforts fell short. As a result, they forced local enslaved people to provide the labor, often renting workers from their masters for year-long periods of time. In 2005, Congress put together a task force to shed light on the subject. After months of research, the commission announced that while it would never be able to tell the full story of the enslaved laborers who built these buildings, there was no doubt that they were intricately involved in the work, Alexander Lane reported for PolitiFact. President Theodore Roosevelt had massive renovations done to the White House in 1902, and this is when the President’s Offices were moved from the second floor to their current location in the West Wing. It was Roosevelt’s successor, William Howard Taft, that had the Oval Office built.
Executive Residence
James Hoban rebuilt it according to the original design, but this time the sandstone walls were painted white. In medieval Europe, kings and other lords were frequently known for the impressiveness and strength of their castles. Did America always have the White House, and has it always looked the way it appears today? Here’s a look at the history of the country’s most famous residence and its growth from a simple house to a vast office complex capable of running the nation.
King Tut once lived at the White House
The idea of a president refusing to leave the White House after losing an election or an impeachment trial was unthinkable. Each president has left their stamp on the building, which is not surprising considering the White House is their residence for the duration of their term in office. This floor accommodates the offices of staff serving the president, assistants, speechwriters, and legal advisors. The former housekeeper’s room, with its built-in closets, is now the Diplomatic Reception Room. At that time, the Public Audience Room (East Room) was not finished and remained unfinished for years. The grand staircase at the north end of what is now the State Dining Room and some of the second-floor rooms were only used for storage.
What is the architectural style of the White House?
But what documentation exists today shows that many of Washington, D.C.’s most iconic government buildings, including the White House, were built by enslaved people. It survived a fire at the hands of the British in 1814 (during the war of 1812) and another fire in the West Wing in 1929, while Herbert Hoover was President. Throughout much of Harry S. Truman's presidency, the interior of the house, with the exception of the third floor, was completely gutted and renovated while the Trumans lived at Blair House, right across Pennsylvania Avenue. Nonetheless, the exterior stone walls are those first put in place when the White House was constructed two centuries ago.
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He was forced to flee to the safety of a hotel while staff filled washtubs with orange juice and whiskey to lure the mob out of the house. During the 19th century the White House became a symbol of American democracy. In the minds of most Americans, the building was not a “palace” from which the president ruled but merely a temporary office and residence from which he served the people he governed. The White House belonged to the people, not the president, and the president occupied it only for as long as the people allowed him to stay.
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In October 1792, construction began on the president’s house, which was set on an 82-acre preserve. Although Washington DC designer Pierre Charles L’Enfant designed the president’s house, architect James Hoban finalized a more conservative design. Hoban had won a competition among nine submissions to design the White House, receiving a gold medal. George Washington himself selected the exact site of the house within the city, symbolically choosing a spot near where the Capitol would be. The first president to live in the White House was John Adams, the second president and first vice president (serving under George Washington), whose family took up residence in 1800. However, the first president George Washington did not live in the White House.
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Engineers confirmed that the building was at risk of collapse, and Truman and his family relocated to Blair House, the president’s guesthouse located nearby at 1651 Pennsylvania Ave. Since Grover Cleveland’s presidency, inaugural crowds have no longer been able to freely enter the house. After his inauguration, he held a presidential review of the troops from a grandstand constructed in front of the building. This procession then evolved into the official inaugural parade we recognise today. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt began a major renovation of the White House, including the relocation of the President’s offices from the Second Floor of the Residence to the newly constructed temporary Executive Office Building (now known as the West Wing).
The White House today holds 132 rooms on six floors, the floor space totaling approximately 55,000 square feet. It has hosted longstanding traditions such as the annual Easter Egg Roll, as well as historic events like the 1987 nuclear arms treaty with Russia. The only private residence of a head of state open free of charge to the public, the White House reflects a nation’s history through the accumulated collections of its residing presidents, and serves as a worldwide symbol of the American republic. The cornerstone was laid on October 13, 1792, and over the next eight years a construction team comprised of both enslaved and freed African Americans and European immigrants built the Aquia Creek sandstone structure. It was coated with lime-based whitewash in 1798, producing a color that gave rise to its famous nickname. Built at a cost of $232,372, the two-story house was not quite completed when John Adams and Abigail Adams became the first residents on November 1, 1800.
Bordering the East Colonnade is the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, which was begun by Jacqueline Kennedy but completed after her husband's assassination. The East Wing, which contains additional office space, was added to the White House in 1942. Among its uses, the East Wing has intermittently housed the offices and staff of the first lady and the White House Social Office. Rosalynn Carter, in 1977, was the first to place her personal office in the East Wing and to formally call it the "Office of the First Lady". The East Wing was built during World War II in order to hide the construction of an underground bunker to be used in emergencies. The bunker has come to be known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center.
Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semicircular South Portico in 1824 and the North Portico in 1829. Because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. Eight years later, in 1909, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office, which was eventually moved and expanded. In the Executive Residence, the third floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as a reception area for social events; Jefferson's colonnades connected the new wings. The East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space.
Although the White House will never come up for sale, it has an estimated value of around $400 million. The building is, primarily, a large mansion, and the price is based on this and its location, as well as its number of rooms and other features. Over the years, these have been replaced by concrete walls and steel beams. The pavilions, porticos, or columns supporting the entrance roof were added later. It includes a billiards room, a workout room, a solarium, and a music room added by the Clinton family.
The original architect, James Hoban, was chosen to rebuild the White House. And, in 1929, there was a fire in the West Wing when Herbert Hoover was in power. The fire occurred on Christmas Eve and was said to have been started by faulty electrics.
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