The White House is the
official residence and workplace of the
president of the United States. Located at 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW in
Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president since
John Adams in 1800 when the national capital was moved from
Philadelphia. The term "White House" is often used as
metonymy
Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.
Etymology
The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...
for the
president and his advisers.
The residence was designed by
Irish-born architect
James Hoban in the
Neoclassical style. Hoban modeled the building on
Leinster House in
Dublin, a building which today houses the
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:
*The President of Ireland
*The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...
, the Irish legislature. Construction took place between 1792 and 1800, with an exterior of
Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When
Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he and architect
Benjamin Henry Latrobe added low
colonnades on each wing to conceal what then were stables and storage. In 1814, during the
War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by
British forces 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 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
The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C.
The oval-shaped room ...
, 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. By 1948, the residence's load-bearing walls and 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 was constructed inside the walls. On the exterior, the
Truman Balcony was added. Once the structural work was completed, the interior rooms were rebuilt.
The present-day White House complex includes the Executive Residence, the West Wing, the East Wing, the
Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which previously served the
State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
and other departments (it now houses additional offices for the
president's staff and the
vice president), and
Blair House, a guest residence. The Executive Residence is made up of six stories: the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, and Third Floor, and a two-story
basement
A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...
. The property is a
National Heritage Site owned by the
National Park Service and is part of the
President's Park
President's Park, located in Downtown Washington, D.C., encompasses the White House and includes the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the Treasury Building, and grounds; the White House Visitor Center; Lafayette Square; and The Ellipse. Pr ...
. In 2007, it was ranked second on the
American Institute of Architects list of
America's Favorite Architecture.
Early history
1789–1800
Following his April 1789 inauguration, President
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
occupied two private houses in
New York City, which served as the executive mansion. He lived at the first,
Franklin House, which was owned by Treasury Commissioner
Samuel Osgood, at 3Cherry Street, through late February 1790. The executive mansion moved to the larger quarters at
Alexander Macomb House
The Alexander Macomb House at 39–41 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, New York City, served as the second U.S. Presidential Mansion. President George Washington occupied it from February 23 to August 30, 1790, during New York City's two-year term ...
at 39–41
Broadway,, where Washington stayed with his wife
Martha and a small staff until August 1790. In May 1790, construction began on a new official residence in
Manhattan called
Government House.
Washington never lived at Government House since the national capital was moved to
Philadelphia in 1790, where it remained through 1800. The July 1790
Residence Act designated the capital be permanently located in the new
Federal District, and temporarily in Philadelphia for ten years while the permanent capital was built. Philadelphia rented the mansion of
Robert Morris, a merchant, at 190 High Street, now 524–30
Market Street, as the
President's House, which Washington occupied from November 1790 to March 1797. Since the house was too small to accommodate the 30 people who then made up the presidential family, staff, and servants, Washington had it enlarged.
President
John Adams, who succeeded Washington and served as the nation's second president, occupied the High Street mansion in Philadelphia from March 1797 to May 1800. Philadelphia began construction of a much grander
presidential mansion
An official residence is the residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-related functions.
...
several blocks away in 1792. It was nearly completed by the time of Adams' 1797 inauguration. However, Adams chose not to occupy it, saying he did not have
Congressional
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
authorization to lease the building. It remained vacant until 1800 when it was sold to the
University of Pennsylvania.
On Saturday, November 1, 1800, Adams became the first president to occupy the White House. The President's House in Philadelphia was converted into Union Hotel and later used for stores before being demolished in 1832.
File:The First Presidential Mansion.jpg, The first presidential mansion, Samuel Osgood House in Manhattan, occupied by Washington from April 1789February 1790
File:New York Second Presidential Mansion.jpg, The second presidential mansion, Alexander Macomb House
The Alexander Macomb House at 39–41 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, New York City, served as the second U.S. Presidential Mansion. President George Washington occupied it from February 23 to August 30, 1790, during New York City's two-year term ...
, in Manhattan, occupied by Washington from February–August 1790
File:PhiladelphiaPresidentsHouse.jpg, The third presidential mansion, President's House in Philadelphia, occupied by Washington from November 1790March 1797. Occupied by Adams: March 1797May 1800.
File:The Government House, New York 1650665.jpg, Government House in Manhattan, built in 1790–1791, was designed to be the permanent presidential mansion, but Congress moved the national capital to Philadelphia before its completion.
File:House intended for the President Birch's Views Plate 13 (cropped).jpg, President's House in Philadelphia (built in the 1790s), was not used by any president after the presidential mansion, known as the White House, was moved from Philadelphia to the new national capital of Washington, D.C.
Architectural competition
The President's House was a major feature of
Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant's 1791
plan for the newly established federal city of Washington, D.C. Washington and his Secretary of State,
Thomas Jefferson, who both had personal interests in architecture, agreed that the design of the White House and the Capitol would be chosen in a
design competition.
Nine proposals were submitted for the new presidential residence with the award going to Irish-American architect
James Hoban. Hoban supervised the construction of both the
U.S. Capitol and the White House. Hoban was born in
Ireland and trained at the
Dublin Society of Arts
The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) ( ga, Cumann Ríoga Bhaile Átha Cliath) is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economi ...
. 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
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
.
President Washington visited
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
, in May 1791 on his Southern Tour, and saw the
Charleston County Courthouse
Charleston County Courthouse (1790–92) is a Neoclassical building in Charleston, South Carolina, designed by Irish people, Irish architect James Hoban. It was a likely model for Hoban's most famous building, the U.S. White House, and both buildi ...
then under construction, which had been designed by Hoban. Washington is reputed to have met with Hoban during the visit. The following year, Washington summoned the architect to Philadelphia and met with him in June 1792.
On July 16, 1792, the president met with the commissioners of the federal city to make his judgment in the architectural competition. His review is recorded as being brief, and he quickly selected Hoban's submission.
Design influences
The
Neoclassical design of the White House is based primarily on architectural concepts inherited from the Roman architect
Vitruvius and the
Venetian
Venetian often means from or related to:
* Venice, a city in Italy
* Veneto, a region of Italy
* Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area
Venetian and the like may also refer to:
* Venetian language, a Romance language s ...
architect
Andrea Palladio. The design of the upper floors also includes elements based on Dublin's
Leinster House, which later became the seat of the Irish parliament (
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:
*The President of Ireland
*The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...
). The upper windows with alternate triangular and segmented pediments are inspired by the Irish building. Additionally, several Georgian-era Irish country houses have been suggested as sources of inspiration for the overall floor plan, including the bow-fronted south front and the former niches in the present-day
Blue Room.
The first official White House guide, published in 1962, suggested a link between Hoban's design for the South Portico and
Château de Rastignac, a neoclassical country house in
La Bachellerie
La Bachellerie (; oc, La Bachalariá) is a commune in the Dordogne department in southwestern France. The French sprinter, journalist and writer Guy Lagorce was born in La Bachellerie in 1937.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Dordogne d ...
in the
Dordogne region of France. Construction on the French house was initially started before 1789, interrupted by the
French Revolution for 20 years, and then finally built between 1812 and 1817 based on Salat's pre-1789 design.
The conceptual link between the two houses has been criticized because Hoban did not visit France. Supporters of the connection contend that
Thomas Jefferson, during his tour of
Bordeaux in 1789, viewed Salat's architectural drawings, which were on file at
École Spéciale d'Architecture. On his return to the U.S., Jefferson then shared the influence with Washington, Hoban, Monroe, and
Benjamin Henry Latrobe.
Construction
Construction of the White House began at noon on October 13, 1792, with the laying of the cornerstone. The main residence and foundations of the house were built largely by both
enslaved and free
African-American laborers, and employed Europeans. Much of the other work on the house was done by immigrants, many of whom had not yet obtained citizenship, including the sandstone walls, which were erected by
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
immigrants, the high-relief rose, and garland decorations above the north entrance and the fish scale pattern beneath the pediments of the window hoods.
There are conflicting claims as to where the sandstone used in the construction of the White House originated. Some reports suggest sandstone from the
Croatian island of
Brač, specifically the
Pučišća quarry whose stone was used to build the ancient
Diocletian's Palace in
Split, was used in the building's original construction. However, researchers believe limestone from the island was used in the 1902 renovations and not the original construction. Others suggest the original sandstone simply came from
Aquia Creek
Aquia Creek () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the tidal segment of the Potomac River and is located in northern Virginia. The creek's h ...
in
Stafford County, Virginia, since importation of the stone at the time would have proved too costly. The initial construction took place over a period of eight years at a reported cost of $232,371.83 (). Although not yet completed, the White House was ready for occupancy circa November 1, 1800.
Due in part to material and labor shortages,
Pierre Charles L'Enfant's plan for a grand palace was five times larger than the house that was eventually built. The finished structure contained only two main floors instead of the planned three, and a less costly brick served as a lining for the stone façades. When construction was finished, the porous sandstone walls were
whitewashed with a mixture of lime, rice glue, casein, and lead, giving the house its familiar color and name.
Architectural description
The main entrance is located on the north façade under a
porte cochere with
Ionic columns. The ground floor is hidden by a raised carriage ramp and
parapet. The central three bays are situated behind a
prostyle portico that was added . The windows of the four bays flanking the portico, at first-floor level, have alternating pointed and segmented
pediments, while the second-floor pediments are flat. A
lunette
A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void.
A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...
fanlight
A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...
and a sculpted floral
festoon surmount the entrance. The roofline is hidden by a balustraded
parapet.
The three-level southern façade combines
Palladian and neoclassical architectural styles. The ground floor is
rusticated in the Palladian fashion. The south portico was completed in 1824.
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. The bow has a ground-floor
double staircase leading to an
Ionic colonnaded
loggia and the
Truman Balcony, built in 1946.
The more modern third floor is hidden by a balustraded parapet and plays no part in the composition of the façade.
Naming conventions
The building was originally variously referred to as the President's Palace, Presidential Mansion, or President's House. The earliest evidence of the public calling it the "White House" was recorded in 1811. A myth emerged that during the rebuilding of the structure after the
Burning of Washington, white paint was applied to mask the burn damage it had suffered, giving the building its namesake hue. The name "Executive Mansion" was used in official contexts until President
Theodore Roosevelt established "The White House" as its formal name in 1901 via Executive Order. The current letterhead wording and arrangement of "The White House" with the word "Washington" centered beneath it dates to the administration of
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Although the structure was not completed until some years after the presidency of George Washington, there is speculation that the name of the traditional residence of the president of the United States may have been derived from
Martha Washington's home,
White House Plantation, in Virginia, where the nation's first president courted the first lady in the mid-18th century.
Evolution of the White House
Early use, 1814 burning, and reconstruction
On Saturday, November 1, 1800,
John Adams became the first president to take residence in the building. The next day he wrote his wife Abigail:
"I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this House, and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."
President
Franklin D. Roosevelt had Adams's blessing carved into the mantel in the State Dining Room.
Adams lived in the house only briefly before
Thomas Jefferson moved into the "pleasant country residence" in 1801. Despite his complaints that the house was too big ("big enough for two emperors, one pope, and the grand lama in the bargain"), Jefferson considered how the White House might be added to. With
Benjamin Henry Latrobe, he helped lay out the design for the East and West Colonnades, small wings that help conceal the domestic operations of laundry, a stable and storage. Today, Jefferson's colonnades link the residence with the East and West Wings.
In 1814, during the
War of 1812, the White House was burnt by
British forces during the
Burning of Washington, in retaliation for acts of destruction by American troops in
the Canadas; much of Washington was affected by these fires as well. Only the exterior walls remained, and they had to be torn down and mostly reconstructed because of weakening from the fire and subsequent exposure to the elements, except for portions of the south wall. Of the numerous objects taken from the White House when it was sacked by the British, only three have been recovered.
White House employees and slaves rescued a copy of the
Lansdowne portrait, and in 1939 a Canadian man returned a jewelry box to President Franklin Roosevelt, claiming that his grandfather had taken it from Washington; in the same year, a medicine chest that had belonged to President Madison was returned by the descendants of a
Royal Navy officer.
Some observers allege that most of the spoils of war taken during the sack were lost when a convoy of British ships led by
HMS ''Fantome'' sank en route to
Halifax off
Prospect
Prospect may refer to:
General
* Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer
* Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team
* Prospect (mining ...
during a storm on the night of November 24, 1814, even though ''Fantome'' had no involvement in that action.
After the fire, President
James Madison resided in
the Octagon House from 1814 to 1815, and then in the
Seven Buildings from 1815 to the end of his term. Meanwhile, both Hoban and Latrobe contributed to the design and oversight of the reconstruction, which lasted from 1815 until 1817. The south
portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
was constructed in 1824 during the
James Monroe administration. The north portico was built in 1830. Though Latrobe proposed similar porticos before the fire in 1814, both porticos were built as designed by Hoban. An elliptical portico at
Château de Rastignac in La Bachellerie, France, with nearly identical curved stairs, is speculated as the source of inspiration due to its similarity with the South Portico, although this matter is one of great debate.
Italian artisans, brought to Washington to help in constructing the
U.S. Capitol, carved the decorative stonework on both porticos. Contrary to speculation, the North Portico was not modeled on a similar portico on another Dublin building, the
Viceregal Lodge (now ''Áras an Uachtaráin'', residence of the
president of Ireland), for its portico postdates the White House porticos' design. For the North Portico, a variation on the
Ionic Order
The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...
was devised, incorporating a swag of roses between the volutes. This was done to link the new portico with the earlier carved roses above the entrance.
File:The President's House by George Munger, 1814-1815 - Crop.jpg, The White House as it looked following the fire of August 24, 1814
File:White-House.jpg, Jefferson and Latrobe's West Wing Colonnade, in this nineteenth-century engraved view, is now the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
File:Latrobe White House cropa2.jpg, The principal story plan for the White House by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, 1807
File:White House 1846.jpg, The earliest known photograph of the White House, taken by John Plumbe during the administration of James K. Polk
Overcrowding and building the West Wing
By the time of the
American Civil War, the White House had become overcrowded. The location of the White House, just north of a canal and swampy lands, which provided conditions ripe for
malaria and other unhealthy conditions, was questioned. Brigadier General Nathaniel Michler was tasked with proposing solutions to address these concerns. He proposed abandoning the use of the White House as a residence, and he designed a new estate for the first family at
Meridian Hill
Meridian Hill Park, also known as Malcolm X Park, is a structured urban park located in the Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Columbia Heights; it also abuts the nearby neighborhood of Adams Morgan. The park was designed and built between 1912 a ...
in Washington, D.C. Congress, however, rejected the plan. Another option was Metropolis View, which is now the campus of
The Catholic University of America.
When
Chester A. Arthur took office in 1881, he ordered renovations to the White House to take place as soon as the recently widowed
Lucretia Garfield
Lucretia Garfield ('' née'' Rudolph; April 19, 1832 – March 13, 1918) was the first lady of the United States from March to September 1881, as the wife of James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States.
Born in Garrettsville, Oh ...
moved out. Arthur inspected the work almost nightly and made several suggestions.
Louis Comfort Tiffany was asked to send selected designers to assist. Over twenty wagonloads of furniture and household items were removed from the building and sold at a
public auction
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
. All that was saved were bust portraits of
John Adams and
Martin Van Buren. A proposal was made to build a new residence south of the White House, but it failed to gain support.
In the fall of 1882, work was done on the main corridor, including tinting the walls pale olive and adding squares of
gold leaf
Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...
, and decorating the ceiling in gold and silver, with colorful
traceries
Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...
woven to spell "USA." The Red Room was painted a dull Pomeranian red, and its ceiling was decorated with gold, silver, and copper stars and stripes of red, white, and blue. A fifty-foot jeweled
Tiffany glass screen, supported by imitation marble columns, replaced the glass doors that separated the main corridor from the north vestibule.
In 1891, First Lady
Caroline Harrison proposed major extensions to the White House, including a National Wing on the east for a historical art gallery, and a wing on the west for official functions. A plan was devised by Colonel Theodore A. Bingham that reflected the Harrison proposal. These plans were ultimately rejected.
In 1902, however,
Theodore Roosevelt hired
McKim, Mead & White
McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), Wil ...
to carry out expansions and renovations in a neoclassical style suited to the building's architecture, removing the Tiffany screen and all Victorian additions.
Charles McKim
Charles Follen McKim (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the partn ...
himself designed and managed the project, which gave more living space to the president's large family by removing a staircase in the West Hall and moving executive office staff from the second floor of the residence into the new West Wing.
President
William Howard Taft enlisted the help of architect
Nathan C. Wyeth
Nathan Corwith Wyeth (April 20, 1870 – August 30, 1963) was an American architect. He is best known for designing the West Wing of the White House, creating the first Oval Office. He designed a large number of structures in Washington, D.C., in ...
to add additional space to the West Wing, which included the addition of the
Oval Office
The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C.
The oval-shaped room ...
. In 1925, Congress enacted legislation allowing the White House to accept gifts of furniture and art for the first time. The West Wing was damaged by fire on Christmas Eve 1929;
Herbert Hoover and his aides moved back into it on April 14, 1930. In the 1930s, a second story was added, as well as a larger basement for White House staff, and President Franklin Roosevelt had the Oval Office moved to its present location: adjacent to the
Rose Garden.
Truman reconstruction
Decades of poor maintenance, the construction of a fourth-story attic during the
Coolidge administration
Calvin Coolidge's tenure as the 30th president of the United States began on August 2, 1923, when Coolidge became president upon Warren G. Harding's death, and ended on March 4, 1929. A Republican from Massachusetts, Coolidge had been vice presi ...
, and the addition of a second-floor balcony over the south portico for
Harry S. Truman took a great toll on the brick and sandstone structure built around a timber frame. By 1948, the house was declared to be in imminent danger of collapse, forcing President Truman to commission a reconstruction and to live across the street at
Blair House from 1949 to 1951.
The work, completed by the firm of
Philadelphia contractor
John McShain, required the complete dismantling of the interior spaces, construction of a new load-bearing internal steel frame, and the reconstruction of the original rooms within the new structure. The total cost of the renovations was about $5.7million ($ million in ). Some modifications to the floor plan were made, the largest being the repositioning of the grand staircase to open into the Entrance Hall, rather than the Cross Hall. Central air conditioning was added, as well as two additional sub-basements providing space for workrooms, storage, and a bomb shelter. The Trumans moved back into the White House on March 27, 1952.
While the Truman reconstruction preserved the house's structure, much of the new interior finishes were generic and of little historic significance. Much of the original plasterwork, some dating back to the 1814–1816 rebuilding, was too damaged to reinstall, as was the original robust Beaux Arts paneling in the East Room. President Truman had the original timber frame sawed into paneling; the walls of the
Vermeil Room,
Library,
China Room
The China Room is one of the rooms on the Ground Floor of the White House, the home of the president of the United States. The White House's collection of state china is displayed there. The collection ranges from George Washington's Chines ...
, and
Map Room on the ground floor of the main residence were paneled in wood from the timbers.
Jacqueline Kennedy restoration
Jacqueline Kennedy
Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A po ...
, wife of President
John F. Kennedy (1961–63), directed a very extensive and historic redecoration of the house. She enlisted the help of
Henry Francis du Pont of the
Winterthur Museum to assist in collecting artifacts for the mansion, many of which had once been housed there. Other antiques, fine paintings, and improvements from the Kennedy period were donated to the White House by wealthy philanthropists, including the
Crowninshield family,
Jane Engelhard
Jane Engelhard (August 12, 1917 – February 29, 2004), born Mary Jane Reiss, was an American philanthropist, best known for her marriage to billionaire industrialist Charles W. Engelhard Jr., as well as her donation of an elaborate 18th-century ...
,
Jayne Wrightsman
Jayne Kirkman Wrightsman (née Larkin; October 21, 1919 – April 20, 2019) was an American philanthropist, arts collector and widow of Charles B. Wrightsman (1895–1986). She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in ...
, and the Oppenheimer family.
Stéphane Boudin of the
House of Jansen, a Paris interior-design firm that had been recognized worldwide, was employed by Jacqueline Kennedy to assist with the decoration. Different periods of the early republic and world history were selected as a theme for each room: the Federal style for the
Green Room, French Empire for the
Blue Room, American Empire for the
Red Room, Louis XVI for the
Yellow Oval Room
The Yellow Oval Room is an oval room located on the south side of the second floor in the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. First used as a drawing room in the John Adams administration, it has been used ...
, and Victorian for the president's study, renamed the
Treaty Room
The Treaty Room is located on the second floor of the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room is a part of the first family's private apartments and is used as a study by the president.
History
Befor ...
. Antique furniture was acquired, and decorative fabric and trim based on period documents was produced and installed.
The Kennedy restoration resulted in a more authentic White House of grander stature, which recalled the French taste of Madison and Monroe. In the
Diplomatic Reception Room, Mrs. Kennedy installed an antique "Vue de l'Amérique Nord" wallpaper which
Zuber & Cie had designed in 1834. The wallpaper had hung previously on the walls of another mansion until 1961 when that house was demolished for a grocery store. Just before the demolition, the wallpaper was salvaged and sold to the White House.
The first White House guidebook was produced under the direction of curator Lorraine Waxman Pearce with direct supervision from Mrs. Kennedy. Sales of the guidebook helped finance the restoration.
In a
televised tour of the house on
Valentine's Day in 1962, Kennedy showed her restoration of the White House to the public.
The White House since the Kennedy restoration
Congress enacted legislation in September 1961 declaring the White House a museum. Furniture, fixtures, and decorative arts could now be declared either historic or of artistic interest by the president. This prevented them from being sold (as many objects in the executive mansion had been in the past 150 years). When not in use or display at the White House, these items were to be turned over to the
Smithsonian Institution for preservation, study, storage, or exhibition. The White House retains the right to have these items returned.
Out of respect for the historic character of the White House, no substantive architectural changes have been made to the house since the Truman renovation. Since the Kennedy restoration, every presidential family has made some changes to the private quarters of the White House, but the
Committee for the Preservation of the White House must approve any modifications to the State Rooms. Charged with maintaining the historical integrity of the White House, the congressionally authorized committee works with each First Familyusually represented by the first lady, the
White House curator
The White House Office of the Curator is charged with the conservation and study of the collection of fine art, furniture and decorative objects used to furnish both the public and private rooms of the White House as an official residence and a ...
, and the
chief usherto implement the family's proposals for altering the house.
During the
Nixon Administration (1969–1974), First Lady
Pat Nixon refurbished the Green Room, Blue Room, and Red Room, working with
Clement Conger
Clement Ellis Conger (October 15, 1912 – January 11, 2004) was an American museum curator and public servant. He served as director of the U.S. Department of State Office of Fine Arts, where in that role he worked as curator of both the Diploma ...
, the curator appointed by President
Richard Nixon. Mrs. Nixon's efforts brought more than 600 artifacts to the house, the largest acquisition by any administration. Her husband created the
modern press briefing room over
Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's old swimming pool. Nixon also added a single-lane bowling alley to the White House basement.
Computers and the first laser printer were added during the
Carter administration
Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat from Georgia, Carter took office after defeating incumbent Republican President ...
, and the use of computer technology was expanded during the
Reagan administration. A Carter-era innovation, a set of
solar water heating panels that were mounted on the roof of the White House, was removed during Reagan's presidency. Redecorations were made to the private family quarters and maintenance was made to public areas during the Reagan years. The house was accredited as a museum in 1988.
In the 1990s,
Bill and
Hillary Clinton refurbished some rooms with the assistance of
Arkansas decorator Kaki Hockersmith, including the Oval Office, the East Room, Blue Room,
State Dining Room
The State Dining Room is the larger of two dining rooms on the State Floor of the Executive Residence of the White House, the home of the president of the United States in Washington, D.C. It is used for receptions, luncheons, larger formal dinne ...
,
Lincoln Bedroom, and Lincoln Sitting Room. During the
administration of George W. Bush
George W. Bush's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 43rd president of the United States began with First inauguration of George W. Bush, his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Repu ...
, First Lady
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...
refurbished the Lincoln Bedroom in a style contemporary with the
Lincoln era; the Green Room,
Cabinet Room, and theater were also refurbished.
The White House became one of the first wheelchair-accessible government buildings in Washington, D.C. when modifications were made during the presidency of
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who used a wheelchair because of
his paralytic illness. In the 1990s,
Hillary Clinton, at the suggestion of the Visitors Office director, approved the addition of a ramp in the East Wing corridor, affording easier
wheelchair access for the public tours and special events that enter through the secure entrance building on the east side.
In 2003, the Bush administration reinstalled solar thermal heaters. These units are used to heat water for landscape maintenance personnel and for the
presidential pool and spa. One hundred sixty-seven solar photovoltaic grid-tied panels were installed at the same time on the roof of the maintenance facility. The changes were not publicized as a White House spokeswoman said the changes were an internal matter, but the story was covered by industry trade journals. In 2013, President
Barack Obama had a set of
solar panel
A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...
s installed on the roof of the White House, making it the first time solar power was used for the president's living quarters.
Layout and amenities
The current group of buildings housing the presidency is known as the White House Complex. It includes the central
Executive Residence flanked by the
East Wing and
West Wing. The
chief usher coordinates day to day household operations. The White House includes six stories and 55,000 square feet (5,100 m
2) of floor space, 132 rooms and 35 bathrooms, 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, eight staircases, three elevators, five full-time chefs,
a tennis court, a (single-lane) bowling alley, a movie theater (officially called the
White House Family Theater
The White House Family Theater is a small movie theater located in the White House in Washington, D.C. for the use of the president and his family. Originally there was no room in the White House specifically for screening films, so the present ve ...
), a jogging track,
a swimming pool, and a putting green. It receives up to 30,000 visitors each week.
Executive Residence
The original residence is in the center. Two
colonnadesone on the east and one on the westdesigned by Jefferson, now serve to connect the East and West Wings added later. The
Executive Residence houses the president's dwelling, as well as rooms for ceremonies and official entertaining. The State Floor of the residence building includes the
East Room
The East Room is an event and reception room in the Executive Residence, which is a building of the White House complex, the home of the president of the United States. The East Room is the largest room in the Executive Residence; it is used for ...
,
Green Room,
Blue Room,
Red Room,
State Dining Room
The State Dining Room is the larger of two dining rooms on the State Floor of the Executive Residence of the White House, the home of the president of the United States in Washington, D.C. It is used for receptions, luncheons, larger formal dinne ...
,
Family Dining Room
:
The Family Dining Room is a dining room located on the State Floor of the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room is used for smaller, more private meals than those served in the State Dining Room. U ...
,
Cross Hall,
Entrance Hall, and
Grand Staircase. The Ground Floor is made up of the
Diplomatic Reception Room,
Map Room,
China Room
The China Room is one of the rooms on the Ground Floor of the White House, the home of the president of the United States. The White House's collection of state china is displayed there. The collection ranges from George Washington's Chines ...
,
Vermeil Room,
Library, the main kitchen, and other offices.
The second floor family residence includes the
Yellow Oval Room
The Yellow Oval Room is an oval room located on the south side of the second floor in the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. First used as a drawing room in the John Adams administration, it has been used ...
,
East and
West Sitting Hall
The West Sitting Hall is located on the second floor of the White House, home of the president of the United States. The room is entered from the second floor Center Hall on the east side of the room. The room features a large lunette window on ...
s, the White House Master Bedroom,
President's Dining Room
The President's Dining Room is a dining room located in the northwest corner of the second floor of the White House. It is located directly above the Family Dining Room on the State Floor and looks out upon the North Lawn. The Dining Room is ad ...
, the
Treaty Room
The Treaty Room is located on the second floor of the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room is a part of the first family's private apartments and is used as a study by the president.
History
Befor ...
,
Lincoln Bedroom and
Queens' Bedroom, as well as two additional bedrooms, a smaller kitchen, and a private dressing room. The third floor consists of the White House Solarium, Game Room, Linen Room, a Diet Kitchen, and another sitting room (previously used as President George W. Bush's workout room).
West Wing
The West Wing houses the president's office (the
Oval Office
The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C.
The oval-shaped room ...
) and offices of his senior staff, with room for about 50 employees. It includes the
Cabinet Room, where the president conducts business meetings and where the
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
meets, as well as the
White House Situation Room,
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, and the
Roosevelt Room
The Roosevelt Room is a meeting room in the West Wing of the White House, the home and main workplace of the president of the United States. Located in the center of the wing, near the Oval Office, it is named after two related U.S. president ...
. In 2007, work was completed on renovations of the press briefing room, adding
fiber optic cables and
LCD
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but in ...
screens for the display of charts and graphs. The makeover took 11 months and cost of $8million, of which news outlets paid $2million. In September 2010,
a two-year project began on the West Wing, creating a multistory underground structure.
Some members of the president's staff are located in the adjacent
Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which was, until 1999, called the Old Executive Office Building and was historically the State War and Navy building.
The Oval Office, Roosevelt Room, and other portions of the West Wing were partially replicated on a
sound stage and used as the
setting
Setting may refer to:
* A location (geography) where something is set
* Set construction in theatrical scenery
* Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction
* Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...
for ''
The West Wing'' television show.
East Wing
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
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...
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.
Grounds
The White House and grounds cover just over 18 acres (about 7.3 hectares). Before the construction of the North Portico, most public events were entered from the
South Lawn
The South Lawn at the White House in Washington, D.C., is directly south of the house and is bordered on the east by East Executive Drive and the Treasury Building, on the west by West Executive Drive and the Old Executive Office Building, and ...
, the grading and planting of which was ordered by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson also drafted a planting plan for the
North Lawn
The North Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, is bordered on the north by Pennsylvania Avenue with a wide view of the mansion, and is screened by dense plantings on the east from East Executive Drive and the Treasury Building, and on th ...
that included large trees that would have mostly obscured the house from Pennsylvania Avenue. During the mid-to-late 19th century a series of ever larger
greenhouse
A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...
s were built on the west side of the house, where the current West Wing is located. During this period, the North Lawn was planted with ornate carpet-style flowerbeds.
The general layout of the White House grounds today is based on the 1935 design by
Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.
Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (July 24, 1870 – December 25, 1957) was an American landscape architect and city planner known for his wildlife conservation efforts. He had a lifetime commitment to national parks, and worked on projects in Acadia, t ...
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
Rachel Lambert Mellon (August 9, 1910 – March 17, 2014), often known as Bunny Mellon, was an American horticulturalist, gardener, philanthropist, and art collector. She designed and planted a number of significant gardens, including the Whi ...
. The Rose Garden borders the West Colonnade. Bordering the East Colonnade is the
Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, which was begun by
Jacqueline Kennedy
Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A po ...
but completed after her husband's assassination.
On the weekend of June 23, 2006, a century-old
American Elm (''Ulmus americana'' L.) tree on the north side of the building came down during one of the
many storms amid intense flooding. Among the oldest trees on the grounds are several magnolias (''
Magnolia grandiflora'') planted by Andrew Jackson, including the Jackson Magnolia, reportedly grown from a sprout taken from the favorite tree of Jackson's recently deceased wife, the sprout planted after Jackson moved into the White House. The tree stood for over 200 years. In 2017, having become too weak to stand on its own, it was decided it should be removed and replaced with one of its offspring.
Michelle Obama planted the White House's first organic garden and installed beehives on the South Lawn of the White House, which will supply organic produce and honey to the First Family and for state dinners and other official gatherings. In 2020, First Lady
Melania Trump redesigned the Rose Garden.
File:White-house-floor1-cross-Hall.jpg, The Cross Hall, connecting the State Dining Room
The State Dining Room is the larger of two dining rooms on the State Floor of the Executive Residence of the White House, the home of the president of the United States in Washington, D.C. It is used for receptions, luncheons, larger formal dinne ...
and the East Room
The East Room is an event and reception room in the Executive Residence, which is a building of the White House complex, the home of the president of the United States. The East Room is the largest room in the Executive Residence; it is used for ...
on the State Floor
File:WhSouthLawn.JPEG, Marine One
Marine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president of the United States. It usually denotes a helicopter operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One ( HMX-1) "Nighthawks", consisting of either the larg ...
prepares to land on the South Lawn, where State Arrival Ceremonies are held.
File:White House, Blue Sky.jpg, A view from the south, with the south fountain
File:1122-WAS-The White House.JPG, A view from the north, with the north fountain
File:The White House at night, 2011.jpg, The White House at night, viewed from the north
Public access and security
Historical accessibility
Like the English and Irish country houses it was modeled on, the White House was, from the start, open to the public until the early part of the 20th century. President
Thomas Jefferson held an open house for his second inaugural in 1805, and many of the people at his swearing-in ceremony at the
Capitol followed him home, where he greeted them in the
Blue Room. Those open houses sometimes became rowdy: in 1829, President
Andrew Jackson had to leave for a hotel when roughly 20,000 citizens celebrated his inauguration inside the White House. His aides ultimately had to lure the mob outside with washtubs filled with a potent cocktail of orange juice and whiskey.
The practice continued until 1885, when newly elected
Grover Cleveland arranged for a presidential review of the troops from a grandstand in front of the White House instead of the traditional open house. Inspired by Washington's open houses in New York and Philadelphia, John Adams began the tradition of the
White House New Year's Reception
The White House New Year's Reception was an annual public reception held at the White House every New Year's Day from 1801 to 1932. Attendees were able to go inside the White House to greet and shake the hand of the president of the United States ...
. Jefferson permitted public tours of his house, which have continued ever since, except during wartime, and began the tradition of an annual reception on the Fourth of July. Those receptions ended in the early 1930s. President
Bill Clinton briefly revived the New Year's Day open house in his first term.
Aviation incidents
In February 1974, a stolen
U.S. Army helicopter
landed without authorization on the White House's grounds. Twenty years later, in 1994, a stolen
light plane flown by
Frank Eugene Corder crashed on White House grounds, causing Corder to die instantly.
During the
September 11 attacks, shortly after notice of the plane impacts, the White House staff and other occupants were ordered to evacuate by the
U.S. Secret Service
The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...
after a call was made to them from
Ronald Reagan National Airport air traffic control staff, stating, "There is an aircraft coming at you," though an aircraft never did show up.
On May 12, 2005, as a result of increased security regarding air traffic in the capital, the White House was evacuated after an unauthorized aircraft could approach the grounds. After being forced to land by two
F-16 fighter jets and a
Black Hawk helicopter
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System ( ...
at a small airport nearby, the pilot was identified to be a student pilot who accidentally breached White House grounds without knowledge.
On January 27, 2015, at 3 a.m. an intoxicated man flew a
quadcopter drone from his apartment near the White House but lost control of it, prompting it to crash on the southeast side on White House grounds. The White House was temporarily put on lockdown by the Secret Service shortly after an officer reported witnessing "
drone flying at a low altitude." Investigators suspected that the drone accidentally flew and breached into the property because of either wind or trees.
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.
All occupants in the intrusion aircraft were killed.
Closure of Pennsylvania Avenue
On May 20, 1995, primarily as a response to the
Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995, the
United States Secret Service closed off Pennsylvania Avenue to vehicular traffic in front of the White House, from the eastern edge of Lafayette Park to 17th Street. Later, the closure was extended an additional block to the east to 15th Street, and East Executive Avenue, a small street between the White House and the
Treasury Building.
After
September 11, 2001, this change was made permanent, in addition to closing E Street between the South Portico of the White House and
the Ellipse. In response to the
Boston Marathon bombing, the road was closed to the public in its entirety for a period of two days.
The Pennsylvania Avenue closure has been opposed by organized civic groups in Washington, D.C. They argue that the closing impedes traffic flow unnecessarily and is inconsistent with the well-conceived historic plan for the city. As for security considerations, they note that the White House is set much farther back from the street than numerous other sensitive federal buildings are.
Prior to its inclusion within the fenced compound that now includes the
Old Executive Office Building to the west and the Treasury Building to the east, this sidewalk served as a queuing area for the daily public tours of the White House. These tours were suspended in the wake of the September 11 attacks. In September 2003, they resumed on a limited basis for groups making prior arrangements through their Congressional representatives or embassies in Washington for foreign nationals and submitting to background checks, but the White House remained closed to the public. Due to budget constraints, White House tours were suspended for most of 2013 due to
sequestration. The White House reopened to the public in November 2013.
Protection
The White House Complex is protected by the
United States Secret Service and the
United States Park Police.
During the 2005 presidential inauguration,
NASAMS (Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) units were used to patrol the airspace over Washington, D.C. The same units have since been used to protect the president and all airspace around the White House, which is strictly prohibited to aircraft.
See also
*
Architecture of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, has a unique and diverse architectural history. Encompassing government, monumental, commercial, and residential buildings, D.C. is home to some of the country's most famous and popular structur ...
*
Art in the White House
*
Camp David
Camp David is the country retreat for the president of the United States of America. It is located in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont and Emmitsburg, about north-northwe ...
*
Pedro Casanave
Pedro Pablo Casanave (c. 1766 – 1796), also known as Peter Casanave, was a prominent Spanish American merchant and politician who served as the fifth mayor of Georgetown, Washington, D.C., Georgetown in Washington, D.C. He was a member of th ...
*
Germantown White House
The Germantown White House (also known as the Deshler–Morris House) is a historic mansion in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest surviving presidential residence, having twice housed Founding Father George Was ...
*
Graphics and Calligraphy Office
The Graphics and Calligraphy Office (GCO) is a unit of the Social Office at the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. Located in the East Wing, the Graphics and Calligraphy Office coordinates and produces al ...
*
List of largest houses in the United States
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Washington, D.C.
*
List of the oldest buildings in Washington, D.C.
This article lists the oldest extant buildings in Washington, D.C., including extant buildings and structures constructed prior to and during the United States rule over Washington, D.C. Only buildings built prior to 1820 are suitable for inclusion ...
*
List of residences of presidents of the United States
*
Number One Observatory Circle
Number One Observatory Circle is the official residence of the vice president of the United States. Located on the northeast grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., the house was built in 1893 for the observatory superinte ...
, residence of the vice president
*
Replicas of the White House
Replicas of the White House are reproductions of the home of the president of the United States, the White House. Notable examples include:
* Atlanta, Georgia: A model exists. It was built in 2001 by Atlanta home builder Fred Milani, an America ...
*
Reported White House ghosts
*
White House Acquisition Trust
*
White House Chief Calligrapher
The White House chief calligrapher is responsible for the design and execution of all social and official documents at the White House, the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States.
The chief calligrapher w ...
*
White House Chief Floral Designer
The White House chief floral designer is responsible for the planning, design, arrangement and placement of all floral decorations for the first family, their private entertaining, and official state functions at the White House, the offici ...
*
White House Christmas tree
*
White House Communications Agency
*
White House Endowment Trust
*
White House Executive Chef
*
White House Fellows
* ''
White House History''
*
White House Social Secretary
*
:Rooms in the White House
*
White House COVID-19 outbreak
Notes
References
Further reading
* Abbott, James A. ''A Frenchman in Camelot: The Decoration of the Kennedy White House by Stéphane Boudin.'' Boscobel Restoration Inc.: 1995. .
* Abbott, James A. ''Jansen.'' Acanthus Press: 2006. .
* Clinton, Hillary Rodham. ''An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History.'' Simon & Schuster: 2000. .
*
*
* Garrett, Wendell. ''Our Changing White House.''
Northeastern University Press: 1995. .
* Guidas, John. ''The White House: Resources for Research at the Library of Congress.'' Library of Congress, 1992.
* Huchet de Quénetain, Christophe. "De quelques bronzes dorés français conservés à la Maison-Blanche à Washington D.C." in ''La Revue'', Pierre Bergé & associés, n°6, mars 2005 pp. 54–55. .
* Kenny, Peter M., Frances F. Bretter and Ulrich Leben. ''Honoré Lannuier Cabinetmaker from Paris: The Life and Work of French'' Ébiniste ''in Federal New York.''
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and Harry Abrams: 1998. .
* Klara, Robert. ''The Hidden White House: Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America's Most Famous Residence.'' Thomas Dunne Books: 2013. .
* Kloss, William. ''Art in the White House: A Nation's Pride.'' White House Historical Association in cooperation with the National Geographic Society, 1992. .
* Leish, Kenneth. ''The White House.'' Newsweek Book Division: 1972. .
* McKellar, Kenneth, Douglas W. Orr, Edward Martin, et al. ''Report of the on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion.'' Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion, Government Printing Office: 1952.
* Monkman, Betty C. ''The White House: The Historic Furnishing & First Families.'' Abbeville Press: 2000. .
* New York Life Insurance Company. ''The Presidents from 1789 to 1908 and the History of the White House.'' New York Life Insurance Company: 1908.
* Penaud, Guy ''Dictionnaire des châteaux du Périgord.'' Editions Sud-Ouest: 1996. .
* Phillips-Schrock, Patrick. ''The White House: An Illustrated Architectural History'' (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013) 196 pp.
* Seale, William. ''The President's House.'' White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. .
*
* Seale, William, ''The White House: The History of an American Idea.'' White House Historical Association: 1992, 2001. .
* West, J.B. with Mary Lynn Kotz. ''Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies.'' Coward, McCann & Geoghegan: 1973. .
* Wolff, Perry. ''A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy.'' Doubleday & Company: 1962.
* ''Exhibition Catalogue, Sale 6834: The Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis April 23–26, 1996.'' Sothebys, Inc.: 1996.
* ''The White House: An Historic Guide.'' White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 2001. .
* ''The White House. The First Two Hundred Years,'' ed. by Frank Freidel/William Pencak, Boston 1994.
External links
*
The White House Historical Association with historical photos, online tours and exhibits, timelines, and facts
President's Park (White House)part of the
National Park Service
The White House Museum a detailed online tour
*
Detailed 3D computer modelof White House and grounds
* Video tours:
**
**
**
*
Virtual tour of the White Houseprovided by
Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world.
It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...
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