White House
| White House | |
|---|---|
Top: the northern facade with a columned portico, facing Lafayette Square
Bottom: the southern facade with a semi-circular portico, faces The Ellipse |
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 Location in Washington, D.C.
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical, Palladian |
| Address | 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20500 U.S. |
| Coordinates | 38°53′52″N 77°02′11″W / 38.8977°N 77.0365°WCoordinates: 38°53′52″N 77°02′11″W / 38.8977°N 77.0365°W |
| Current tenants | Donald Trump, President of the United States and the First Family |
| Construction started | October 13, 1792 |
| Completed | November 1, 1800 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | James Hoban |
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. The term White House is often used to refer to actions of the president and his advisers, as in "The White House announced that...".
The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the Neoclassical style. Construction took place between 1792 and 1800 using Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he (with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) added low colonnades on each wing that concealed stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior. Reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817. Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semi-circular 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 as the section was expanded. In the main mansion, 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. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space. By 1948, the house's load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under Harry S. Truman, the interior rooms were completely dismantled and a new internal load-bearing steel frame constructed inside the walls. Once this work was completed, the interior rooms were rebuilt.
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Wikipedia