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"1917 by The DIPLOMATIC RECEPTION ROOM (not on'+ .hi^- -^¡ +n,,¡\ ¡na ¡f thr¿a

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When the Wh¡te Housewas rebu¡lt following the1814 fire, James Monroebought furniture for theBlue Room from a Frenchcabinetmaker, Pierre-Antoine Bellange.of those p¡eces r(the White Houseincluding this bergère, "!an armchair whose sidesare enclosed.

The RED ROOM, used for small receptions, has

long been a favorite of the First Ladies. JohnAdams used this as a breakfast room; Ruther-ford B. Hayes took the oath of office here onMarch 3, 1877. The room is decorated as anAmerican Empire parlor of 1810-30. The mar-ble mantel is identical to the one in the GreenRoom. An 18th-century French musical clockpresented in 1952 by President Vincent Auriolof France is on the mantel.

This 1797 Gilbert Stuartportrait of George Wash-ington has hung in theWhite House since 1800.Dolley Madison saved itwhen the British burnedthe White House in 1814.

Th¡s 1869 G.P.A. Healyportra¡t of AbrahamLincoln was bequeathedto the White House in1939 by the widow ofRobert Todd Lincoln, thePresident's oldest son.

their credentials to the President. lt was from+hic rnam +hr+ DraciÀan+ Er¡nlzlin ñ Rnncarralf

GROUND FLOORCORRIDOR .

by Duncan Phyfe about 1810. The walls arer¡tara{ r¡rifh rnrrfaro¡l nroan <ill¿ rnri+h ¡lr¡noriac

The STATE DINING ROOM can seat 130 guests atdinners and luncheons. The painted English oakpaneling dates from the renovation in 1902.

Carved into the fireplace mantel is a quotationfrom a letter by John Adams: "l Pray Heaven toBestow the Best of Blessings on THIS HOUSE andAll that shall hereafter inhâbit it. May none butHonest and Wise Men ever rule under th¡sRoof."

ln the Tennessee marble floor of the ENTRANCE

and CROSS HALLS are the construction and ren-ovation dates of the house. Above the Blue

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The White House: A Brief HistoryThe White House is the oldest public building in the Dis-trict of Columbia, and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is themost famous address in the United States. Every Presi-dent except George Washington has conducted tþe gov-ernment of the nation here. ln the past 200 years theWhite House has come to symbolize the American Presi-dency across the world. While the Capitol representsfreedom and the nation's ideals, the White House standsfor the power and statesmanship of the chief executive.

The White House itself has been altered, adapted, or en-larged to suit the needs of the residents and demands ofa growing nation and of a more complicated world.

Throughout all the changes, the basic structure has beenhonored. After the British burning in 1814, the house wasrebuilt between 1815 and 1817 within the same walls.The State Dining Room was enlarged, and space for presi-dential staff was created in a new West Wing in 1902. Agreatly weakened structure was completely rebuilt withinits original walls in 1948-52. However, it has remainedrecognizable for more than 200 years. Engravings andphotographs show alterations, additions, and changes tolandscape features since the White House was first built,but what remains is a structure that George Washingtonwould recognize should he come upon it today.

On July 16, 1790, theU.S. Congress passed

the Residency Act thatestablished a perma-nent capital for theUn¡ted States on thebanks of the PotomacRiver. lt empoweredGeorge Washington toselect the site for theFederal City. Once hechose the precise loca-tion, planning for thecity began. French en-gineer Pierre lJEnfantbased his plan on twostrong focal points: theCapitol and the Presi-dent's House, symbolic

of two of the threebranches of govern-ment. Thomas Jeffer-son, then Secretary ofState, suggested toWashington and the

Commissioners for theDistr¡ct of Columbiathat designs for bothstructures be solicitedthrough a nationwidearchitectural competi-

tion, which was an-nounced on March 141792. On )uly 17, 1792,James Hoban, an archi-tect born and trained inlreland, was declared

the winner. His design(above) was based oncountry houses of theBritish lsles. On October1 3 the cornerstone waslaid by the Freemasons

and the Commissionersof the District of co-lumbia. Hoban super-vised the construction.

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James Madison movedinto the White Housein 1809. With his wifeDolley he introducedbrilliance and glitterinto the new capital'ssocial life in a WhiteHouse that dazzled as

well from the work ofarchitect BenjaminLatrobe. The Madisonshired Latrobe to deco-rate the oval room andto design furniture. Hiswork survives only insketches, for on August24, 1814, British forces

captured Washingtonand burned the WhiteHouse in retaliation forthe destruction of somepublic buildings inCanada by Americantroops. The exter¡orsandstone walls andinterior brickwork wereall that remained.

Reconstruct¡on beganin 1815 under Hoban'ssupervision, and theWhite House was readyfor James Monroe inSeptember 1817.

By the time AndrewJackson came to live inthe Wh¡te House, thenation was expandingrapidly. Jackson, elect-ed by a large margin,reflected that growth;he was the first west-erner in the WhiteHouse. Under his guid-ance, the East Roomwas first furnished andopened for public use.

These years before theCivil War were impor-tant ones for the WhiteHouse, because, underthe now aged Hoban'sdirection, the northand south porticoeswere built in 1824 and1 829 respectively. Run-ning water was added,and an indoor bath-room was constructed

in 1833. Gas lightingwas installed in '1848.

When Franklin Piercewas President, the firsttruly central and effi-

cient heating systemwas introduced in 1853.Bathrooms and waterclosets were improvedon the second floor.

¡trobe de-chairs abovelisons duringlevival period.made in Balti-{one survivedt8f 4.

The burnt-out shell of the White House (left), as seen from Lafayette Park ln 1815,contrasts vividly with the growing city ltop) that George Cooke painted ¡n 1833.The White House is at center left in the painting.

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Andrew Jackson was one of the most popular Presi-dents. The crush of people at public receptions thatmarked his years in the White House did not deterthose who hoped to see their hero.

A glass conservatory,planned during the lastyear of the Pierce Presi-dency, was built on thewest terrace in 1857. ltproved a delight andbecame a private do-main for the Presiden-tial families. Because ofthe good light it was afavorite place for tak-ing photographs likethe one at right of Mrs.Hayes with her childrenScott and Fanny and a

family friend. Duringthe administration ofRutherford B. Hayesthe conservatory wasgreatly expanded, withwalks and benches as apart of the interior de-sign, and connected tothe White House viathe State Dining Room.

ln March 1885 the sec-ond bachelor President,Grover Cleveland, tookoffice. Little more than

a year lateç on June 2,1886, Cleveland mar-ried Frances Folsom inthe Blue Room lbelowrþht). Although otherweddings have beenperformed in the WhiteHouse, this was the onetime a President wasmarried here.

Cleveland's successorBenjamin Harrison madesome notable changes,including adding electriclights in 1891.

When Theodore Roo-sevelt became President,one of the first thingshe did was to change

the name of the struc-ture to the WhiteHouse. Since the mid-19th century it hadbeen called the Ëxecu-tive Mansion, and be-fore that it had beendescribed in govern-ment documents as thePresident's House. But

of stunned'iled by Lin-n ¡n the East165. Sixteenthe Whitedraped in(right) asr a President,arfield, felln assassin.

almost from the begin-ning it was known pop-ularly as the WhiteHouse. Certainly thatname predated the fireof 1814. ln 1901 Roo-sevelt made it official.Roosevelt faced majorproblems, because thehouse needed exten-sive structural repairs,more space for boththe family and the staff

was required, and theinterior was a conglom-eration of styles.

Congress appropriatedmoney to repair andrefurnish the houseand to construct newoffices for the Presi-dent, with an executiveoffice building (theWest Wing) replacingthe old conservatories

(above). Work began inJune 1902, supervisedby the architecturalfirm of McKim, Mead,and White. By the endof the year the job wascomplete.

EA World War ll, the East ffi-4Il* Succeeding administra-