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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. 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.
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Later, President Benjamin Harrison’s wife Caroline Harrison would rue the fact that there was ‘no feeling of privacy’ on the property. A refrigerator was among the first modern amenities to make their way to the interior of the grand mansion. Soon after, in 1849, gas lighting was installed and later, in 1891, came electric lighting. Before the construction of the White House, there were two presidential palaces, one in New York and the other in Philadelphia. Both were occupied by Washington at different times during his eight-year tenure as the president. Originally, it was planned that the sandstone for the building would be imported from Europe.
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Responding to charges that she had stolen government property when she left the White House, she angrily inventoried all the items she had taken with her, including gifts of quilts and waxworks from well-wishers. The White House is a Georgian mansion in the Palladian style. Reportedly, Abigail was in the habit of using the then still incomplete East Room for hanging out the laundry!
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Not until 1909 did Congress provide appropriations to pay White House servants. 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.
He personally drew up landscaping plans and had two earthen mounds installed on the south lawn to remind him of his beloved Virginia Piedmont. Meanwhile, construction continued on the building’s interior, which still lacked ample staircases and suffered from a persistently leaky roof. During Jefferson’s tenure, the White House was elegantly furnished in Louis XVI style (known in America as Federal style).
In addition to the Oval Office, the West Wing complex includes the Situation Room, Cabinet Room, Roosevelt Room and press briefing room, among others. Over the years, the executive mansion has seen multiple renovations, including extensive work by Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, which included the installation of electric lights. In 1948, after engineers discovered the building to be structurally unsound and unsafe for habitation, Harry S. Truman ordered a complete gutting of the interior and a total overhaul of the building's structure and foundation. Truman and his family lived in Blair House across the street during the renovations. By the time John Adams had moved in at the now iconic building, the entire federal government was already relocated from its previous seat in Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington. The White House today holds 132 rooms on six floors, the floor space totaling approximately 55,000 square feet.
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Originally called the “President’s Palace” on early maps, the building was officially named the Executive Mansion in 1810 in order to avoid connotations of royalty. Although the name “White House” was commonly used from about the same time (because the mansion’s white-gray sandstone contrasted strikingly with the red brick of nearby buildings), it did not become the official name of the building until 1901, when it was adopted by Pres. The White House is the oldest federal building in the nation’s capital. The official home for the U.S. president was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the 1790s. Rebuilt after a British attack in 1814, the “President’s House” evolved with the personal touches of its residents, and accommodated such technological changes as the installation of electricity.
The White House since the Kennedy restoration
Allow an hour or two to do it justice and the visitors centre is open until 4pm daily. The Kennedy restoration resulted in a more authentic White House of grander stature, which recalled the French taste of Madison and Monroe.[69] 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. Burned to the ground by the British in August 1814, the President’s House was nearly left in its smoldering remains as lawmakers contemplated moving the capital to another city.
There are rumors of secret rooms in the building, but, according to the White House Historical Association, the only "secret" passage is an emergency shelter built under the East Wing during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, following the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. Vice President Dick Cheney used the passage during the 9/11 terrorist attacks and, The Washington Post reports, President Donald Trump was likely sequestered there during a 2020 protest outside the White House. At 55,000 square feet, the six-floor White House boasts 132 rooms (16 are family guest rooms), along with 35 bathrooms.
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She believed it would be altogether inappropriate to hang the president’s laundry outdoors. In 1962, Jacqueline also conceived of and then conducted a televised tour of the many rooms of the mansion to arouse public interest in the beauties of the place. President William Howard Taft (1909 — 13), Roosevelt’s immediate successor, oversaw the construction of the Oval Office within an enlarged West Wing. The East Wing will be added during the tenure of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933 — 45).
The interior was redecorated during various presidential administrations and modern conveniences were regularly added, including a refrigerator in 1845, gas lighting in 1849, and electric lighting in 1891. Less than fifty years after the Roosevelt renovation, the White House was already showing signs of serious structural weakness. President Harry S. Truman began a renovation of the building in which everything but the outer walls was dismantled. The reconstruction was overseen by architect Lorenzo Winslow, and in 1952, the Truman family moved back into the White House. 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.
The White House is both the home and workplace of the president of the United States, and it is the headquarters of the president’s principal staff members. There was no one at the door to receive Charles Dickens when he visited the White House on an official invitation during his 1942 tour to the US. Subsequently, the famed novelist let himself in and began exploring the building on his own. Jefferson’s zealous republicanism meant that he made the house open for public visitation at a certain hour each morning. The first Inaugural open house at the White House took place in 1805 and was held by President Thomas Jefferson following his swearing-in ceremony.
According to the official White House web page, it’s home to 28 fireplaces, eight staircases, three elevators, 412 doors and 147 windows—and has a kitchen equipped to serve full dinner for up to 140 guests, or hors d'oeuvres for 1,000-plus visitors. And when it gets a new coat of paint every four to six years? The second president of the United States, John Adams, moved into the still-unfinished presidential mansion on November 1, 1800.
The following year, the cornerstone was laid and a design submitted by Irish-born architect James Hoban was chosen. After eight years of construction, President John Adams and his wife Abigail moved into the still-unfinished residence. During the War of 1812, the British set fire to the President’s House, and James Hoban was appointed to rebuild it. James Monroe moved into the building in 1817, and during his administration, the South Portico was constructed. In 1829, Andrew Jackson oversaw the addition of the North Portico.
Instead, Hoban was brought back to rebuild it nearly from scratch, in some areas incorporating the original, charred walls. Upon reassuming residency in 1817, James Madison and his wife Dolley gave the home a more regal touch by decorating with extravagant French furniture. Also two stories, the East Wing, meanwhile, contains office space for the first lady and her staff and features a covered entrance for guests during large events.
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