White House is the official residence of the president of the United States. The president lives and works in the world-famous mansion in Washington, D.C. The White House contains the living quarters for the chief executive’s family and the offices in which the president and staff members conduct official business of the United States. Some of the most important decisions in history have been made there.
The 132-room White House stands in the middle of a beautifully landscaped 18-acre (7.3-hectare) plot at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The building was popularly known as the White House in the 1800’s. However, its official name was first the President’s House and then the Executive Mansion until 1901. That year, President Theodore Roosevelt authorized White House as the official title.
The White House is a popular tourist attraction, and millions of people have enjoyed tours of the parts of the mansion open to the public. Tickets for tours are available through members of Congress.
Outside the White House
The main building
is 170 feet (52 meters) long and 85 feet (26 meters) wide. A wide curved portico (porch) with Ionic columns two stories high stands on the mansion’s south side. A square portico on the north side is the main entrance. Two long, low galleries extend from the building’s east and west sides. The terraced roof covering them forms a promenade on the first floor. Facilities for the White House press corps are under the west terrace. A theater is under the east terrace.
The east and west wings
stand at the end of the terraces. The west (executive) wing contains the president’s office, an oval-shaped room called the Oval Office. It also contains the offices of the presidential staff and the Cabinet room. The east wing includes the offices of the president’s military aides.
The south lawn,
often called the President’s Park, contains many trees and shrubs planted by former occupants of the White House. For example, the south portico is shaded by magnificent magnolia trees planted by President Andrew Jackson.
Inside the White House
Public rooms.
Tourists enter the White House through the east wing. Most visitors are shown only five rooms on the first floor of the mansion, but these rooms represent the elegance and beauty of the entire interior.
The State Dining Room at the west end of the main building can accommodate as many as 140 dinner guests at one time. It was remodeled in 1902.
The Red Room is furnished in the style of the period from 1810 to 1830. The walls are hung with red silk.
The Blue Room is the main reception room for guests of the president. Its furnishings represent the period from 1817 to 1825. President James Monroe, who occupied the White House during these years, ordered much of the furniture now in this oval room. 
The Green Room has been restored in the style of the years between 1800 and 1814. Its walls are covered with a light green silk moire. Its furniture is in the style of Duncan Phyfe, a noted American furniture maker of the late 1700’s and early 1800’s.
The East Room is the largest room in the White House, 79 feet (24 meters) long and 363/4 feet (11.2 meters) wide. Guests are entertained in the East Room after formal dinners. It is at the end of the first floor. The East Room was remodeled in 1902.
Private rooms.
The president, the president’s family, their guests, and the president’s staff use many other rooms in the White House every day. The ground floor contains the Diplomatic Reception Room, used as the entrance for formal functions; the kitchen; the library; and offices of the White House physician and curator.
The second floor contains the living quarters of the president and the president’s family. The Lincoln Bedroom, the Treaty Room, and the Queen’s Room are also on that floor. The third floor contains guest rooms and staff quarters. The White House also has a private bowling alley, swimming pool, and movie theater.
History of the White House
The original building
was begun in 1792. It was designed by James Hoban, an Irish-born architect. Hoban’s design was selected in a competition sponsored by the federal government. It showed a simple Georgian mansion in the classical Palladian style of Europe in the 1700’s. He may have modeled the design after Leinster House, which is today the meeting place of the Irish Parliament, in Dublin, Ireland.
President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, became the first occupants of the White House in 1800. But work on the White House had not yet been completed, and they suffered many inconveniences. Mrs. Adams used the East Room to dry the family laundry.
The White House became more comfortable and beautiful during the administration of Thomas Jefferson. With the aid of architect Benjamin H. Latrobe, Jefferson carried out many of the original White House plans, and added terraces at the east and west ends.
A new building.
British forces burned the mansion on Aug. 24, 1814, during the War of 1812. President James Madison and his wife, Dolley, were forced to flee. The White House was rebuilt, and President James Monroe and his wife, Elizabeth, moved into it in 1817. The north and south porticos were added in the 1820’s.
President Theodore Roosevelt had the building repaired in 1902. He rebuilt the east terrace and added the executive wing adjacent to the west terrace.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt enlarged the west wing. An indoor swimming pool was added there. The east wing was also expanded.
Rebuilding and redecorating.
The White House underwent extensive repairs from 1948 to 1952, during the presidency of Harry S. Truman. Workers used concrete and steel to strengthen the dangerously weakened structure of the Executive Mansion. The third floor was converted into a full third story, and a second-story balcony was added to the south portico for the president’s private use. The basement was expanded, and the total number of rooms was increased from 125 to 132.
But the historic rooms familiar to the American public remained basically unchanged until the administration of John F. Kennedy. In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy appointed a Fine Arts Committee to restore the White House interior to its original appearance. The White House Historical Association was chartered in 1961 to publish guide books on the mansion and to acquire historic furnishings for the White House. A library committee was formed to stock the White House library with books representing American thought throughout U.S. history.
More major changes in the building’s historic rooms occurred during the administration of Richard M. Nixon. Beginning in 1970, First Lady Pat Nixon continued Mrs. Kennedy’s efforts to restore the White House interior in an early 1800’s motif (theme).
The Lincoln Bedroom underwent a makeover during the administration of George W. Bush. First Lady Laura Bush worked with White House historians to restore the room to its appearance during the 1860’s. President Abraham Lincoln had used the room as an office.
