“I pray to Heaven to grant the best blessings to this House and to all who will inhabit it in the future. May no one but honest and wise men reign under this roof.”
— John Adams
The White House was built between 1792 and 1800 according to Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s plan for a federal city; the plan was chosen in a competition among nine other proposals. George Washington is said to have been dissatisfied with the primary plan and deemed it too small and simple and unsuitable for the nation’s president, so the White House was enlarged by thirty percent. James Hoban, an Irish architecture, influenced by a palace in Dublin, designed the White House. Construction began on October 13, 1792 by black slaves and free laborers, most of whom were Irish and Italian immigrants. The initial construction took eight years and the White House was ready for use in 1800 and was occupied by John Adams.
The building was referred to as the “President’s Palace” or “Presidential Mansion”, but around 1811 it was called the White House by the public because the building was painted white. In 1814, during the American-British War, British troops set the White House on fire; only the outer walls remained and they needed rebuilding. British troops also looted precious items from the White House that were never returned or recovered, except for a painting by George Washington and a jewelry box that was returned to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1939. At the time of the Civil War, White La house was fully established and full of people. It was later broadened and expanded, which included a national wing in the east and a west wing which in turn included the Oval Office.
In 1948 the house was in poor condition due to poor maintenance and construction and an imminent danger of collapse was declared. So the rebuilding and modification was done by President Truman’s command, leading to the addition of more new locations for work rooms, storage, and a bomb shelter. Later, Jacqueline Kennedy led a very extensive redecoration of the house and collected new artifacts for the home, including antiques and paintings; other household luxuries were added by wealthy donors. Different periods of the republic and world history were selected as the theme for each room, such as the Green Room, the Blue Room, the Yellow Oval Room, the Treaty Room … But each change must be approved by the Committee for the preservation of the White House in order to maintain the unity and integrity of the house.
