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., the house was designed by Irish-born James
Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the
Neoclassical style. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since
John Adams. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he (with
architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) expanded the building outward, creating two
colonnades that were meant to conceal 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 house in October
1817. Construction continued with the addition of the South Portico in 1824 and
the North 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, President William Howard Taft
expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office which was eventually
moved as the section was expanded. 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
