The White House is where the President of the United States lives and works. More officially, it is the residence of the President. It is located in the capital of the country, the city of Washington DC.
The idea of the building, as well as the place for the construction of the White House, belongs to the first American president, George Washington. Actually, on his orders, Americans began to build the whole of Washington – their new capital. In 1791, Washington signed the relevant act, which announced the competition for the construction of the “house of the president”. In the same year Washington laid a symbolic cornerstone in the foundation of the building, and a year later architect James Hoban won the competition for the best design of the White House.
Looking ahead, it should be said that the birth of the White House became a kind of symbol of the American nation, created by immigrants from different countries. In addition to the Irish architect, the house was built by Africans, natives of Scotland, Italy, Mexico.
The construction of the White House lasted 8 years (from 1792 to 1800). The object was delivered on November 1, 1800. It didn’t take long to build the building, considering that the White House turned out to be the largest building in America, and stayed in that status for a long time. In addition to Hoban’s ideas, the outline of the structure has traces of architectural activity of Washington himself, who made his own changes to the original project. In general, the building belongs to the so-called “early classicism”, or, in another way, Palladian architecture.
George Washington himself did not have to work in his brainchild, the first owner of the White House was the second president of the United States, John Adams, who moved here as a Residence. Since then, the building has fulfilled this function for all, without exception, U.S. presidents.
In 1814, during the Anglo-American War, the White House was set on fire, from which it was badly damaged. It managed to defend the walls, but the entire interior perished in the fire. The house underwent a major renovation, during which it significantly changed its original appearance, and its walls were painted with dazzling white paint. It is said that since then it began to be called the “White House”, before that it was called “President’s House” or “Presidential Palace”. In 1817, the White House was completely renovated, and its new owner was the 5th President of the United States, James Monroe. By the way, it was the same James Hoban who supervised the overhaul.
However, some researchers say that there are papers that confirm: the term “White House” is found already in 1809, that is, before the fire.
Officially, the current name was fixed by President Theodore Roosevelt, signing the corresponding document in 1901.
In 1902, Roosevelt initiated a major overhaul of the White House. During the renovation, the president’s residence was moved from the second floor to a separate building, now known as the West Wing. Roosevelt’s renovation was designed by the renowned New York architectural firm of McKim Mead and White.
Since 1909, the president’s workplace has been in the Oval Office, which is located in the left wing of the White House. Roosevelt’s successor, President William Howard Taft, became the first master of the Oval Office.
The fire set by the British was not the last in the fate of the mansion. In 1929, there was a short circuit in its West Wing and then a fire. Several rooms on the first and second floors of this wing burned.
During Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency, many improvements were also made inside the residence so that he, as an invalid, could travel freely in a wheelchair.
Another remodeling of the White House
Fifty years after the Roosevelt renovation, the White House needed another renovation. President Harry Truman began a major overhaul of the building. All of the exterior walls were removed and new structures were erected in their place, with additional steel supports added. In 1952, 2 years after the renovation began, the Truman family returned to the White House. Truman, by the way, didn’t like it, and called it a “white glamor prison.”
Nowadays, the White House is just over 7 hectares of land, 6 stories, 132 rooms. A couple of upper floors are the personal residence of the presidential family, two middle floors are intended for various public purposes, and two basement floors are occupied by a variety of services. It has, for example, its own dental office, a good library, and a museum. Its exhibitions are available even to ordinary citizens and tourists, because there are regular excursions around the White House. True, they do not always let visitors in, and not in all rooms.
The famous Oval Office, the main workplace of the President of the States, is located in the West Wing of the building. Here is installed a massive desk, known to many by numerous photos and videos. Tradition says that this desk, as well as Abraham Lincoln’s bed (on which, by the way, he never slept), cannot be touched or moved.