https://www.whitehousehistory.org/educational-resources/designing-the-white-house-1792-1830
“ Before I close my letter, I pray Heaven to grant the best blessings to this House and to all who shall inhabit it. None but honest and wise men can govern under this roof.”
John Adams , 2nd President of the United States.
1st President to reside in the White House - 1 Nov 1800
official archive of The White House Government .
Location: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
architect: James Hoban
year of construction: 1792-1800
year of renewal:1814 - 1817
built area: 5100.67m2
height: 21.34m
width: 51.21m. bedrooms: 132. bathrooms: 35. fireplaces: 28
elevators: 3 floors: 6 doors: 412. windows 147
original color: whitish sandstone.
as references inform:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-white-house/
https://discover.hubpages.com/politics/whitehouse
Did you know that you can visit the White House? But first things first…
Built in the Neoclassical style, with the aim of bringing balance, rationality and harmony, the House Branca (which over the years has undergone many renovations and additions to its area) bears the symbol of the power of one of the most influential nations in the world.
The first president of the United States of America, George Washington, organized a competition to choose the design for what would be one of the country's main postcards.
The winning architect was Irishman James Hoban.
The work began in 1792 and was completed in 1800.
At the White House (ca. 1792–1800). These marks served as personal identifiers of specific masonry. Several markers are still visible today. Image courtesy of the White House Historical Association.
https://wakelet.com/wake/GX6TIuPfk_iu11tZ1pVmX
The property was known as the Presidential Palace or President's House and was the largest residence in the United States until the 1860s.
It was also the target of a fire in 1814, during the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom.
First Lady Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison, managed to escape the building before British troops arrived, saving Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington and several important documents.
George Washington by Gilbert Stuart
1st President - George Washington (1789-1797)
After the 2nd President of the United States John Adams, all presidents have resided in the White House.
2nd President - John Adams (1797-1801)
The first president to live in the Presidential Palace “White House”
3rd President - Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
Requested the construction of full bathrooms upstairs to replace the outdoor bathroom.
4th President - James Madison (1809-1817)
After the fire, he requested that the house be restored as originally designed.
5th President - James Monroe (1817-1825)
Decorated the White House with a “modern” touch
6th President - John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
Opened the first garden of the house
7th President - Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
8th President - Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
9th President - William Henry Harrison (1841)
10th President - John Tyler (1841-1845)
11th President - James K. Polk (1845-1849)
12th President - Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
13th President - Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
placed a library in the oval room on the 2nd floor.
14th President - Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
1 5th President - James Buchanan (1857-1861)
16th President - Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
the house was completely open to the public and the place was also used for wedding ceremonies.
17th President - Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
The president's daughter redecorated the house with geometric designs, greenhouses were added to the sides of the house, bringing a wide variety of flowers and plants and also being a place for reading.
18th President - Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
19th President - Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
20th President - James A. Garfield (1881-1881)
21st President - Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)
22nd President - Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
Oval Office 1886
23rd President - Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
Electricity was installed in the Presidential House, the President and his wife, Caroline Harrison were afraid to use the switches, so only the staff turned the lights on and off,
24th President - Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)
25th President - William McKinley (1897-1901)
26th President - Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
officially adopted the name of the presidential palace as the White House. In 1902 he removed the Victorian decorations that had accumulated over the previous 30 years and returned the house to its roots with federal elements from Georgia.
West Wing Office - project supervised by Edith Roosevelt
Edith Roosevelt's plan for the White House family quarters. Image courtesy of the Houghton Library, Harvard University (1901).
The Theodore Roosevelt family. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress
27th President - William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
28th President - Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
29th President - Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
30th President - Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
The First Lady asked Congress to allow the White House to receive gifts of American furniture.
31st President - Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
32nd President - Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
image of President Roosevelt's inauguration on January 20, 1945, as the country was at war, World War II, for security reasons and lack of supplies, the ceremony took place at the White House.
He served 4 terms, and in the last term he died 4 months later, on April 12, 1945. After his death, an amendment to the country's Constitution was approved limiting the number of presidential terms to two.
33rd President - Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
Vice President of Roosevelt - bathrooms were built in each room, basements were dug (which were not in the original project)
The house was deemed uninhabitable in 1948, 150 years after its construction.
The work was completed in 1952. Air conditioning and an air raid shelter with protection against poisonous gas and radioactivity were installed.
34th President - Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
35th President - John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
The White House was renovated and furnished, and the First Lady created an Association, the White House Fine Arts Committee, to help raise awareness of the historic heritage, and it was declared a museum for preservation, selecting pieces that belonged to former presidents. From that time on, the White House was seen as a living museum, so architectural changes and decoration were limited to preserving the history of the house.
36th President - Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
37th President - Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
requested a cinema room for journalists during press conferences
38th President - Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
speech by President Gerald Ford with his wife Betty on August 9, 1974, after Nixon's resignation.
39th President - Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
40th President - Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
41st President - George H. W. Bush (1989-1993)
42nd President - Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
43rd President - George W. Bush (2001-2009)
44th President - Barack Obama (2009-2017)
45th President - Donald Trump (2017-2021)
46th President - Joe Biden (2021-2025)
47th President - Donald Trump (current)
If you want to know more about each president, click on the link below:
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-presidents-timeline
As described above, since the John F. Kennedy administration, changes in architecture and decoration have been restricted.
The president's private areas can be changed at the request of the new family.
While the new president is being sworn in, at the same time the White House is undertaking a logistical task to welcome the new family.
But this change cannot happen while the previous president is still in charge, so from the elections onwards the life of the likely future president is already being studied, from his breakfast preferences, mattresses, routine, decoration, home accessories, bed and bath linens, to the cleaning supplies preferred by the new family, after all he will live in the White House for at least 4 years.
All transfers and moves are conducted by a master of ceremonies and not by a transport company.
All moving work is carried out by employees, people who have authorization and are familiar with the White House routine.
As soon as the president leaves the White House for the inauguration ceremony, the teams begin work. One family's boxes come out on one side and the new family's boxes come in on the other.
On the day of the ceremony, the White House team has the mission of executing the move within 6 hours. (I've read in some places that the time is shorter).
According to Kate Andersen, author of The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House , the atmosphere is filled with affection and mutual respect. As a way of remembering the family, they receive the American flags used at the beginning and end of the term.
“Ask not what your country can do for you -
Ask what you can do for your country”
JFKennedy
Are you a fan of the White House? You can contribute to its preservation at https://www.whitehousehistory.org
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Bibliographic references:
https://www.whitehousehistory.org
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-white-house/