Tags: washington (28 pics) The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 (412 years ago) Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 (220 years ago) and 1800 (212 years ago) of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style and has been the residence of every U.S. President since John Adams. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the home in 1801 (211 years ago), he (with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) expanded the building outward, creating two colonnades which were meant to conceal stables and storage. In 1814 (198 years ago), during the War of 1812 (200 years ago), 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 Oct. 1817 (195 years ago). Construction continued with the addition of the South Portico in 1824 (188 years ago) and the North in 1829 (183 years ago). Due to crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had nearly all work offices relocated to the newly-constructed West Wing in 1901 (111 years ago). 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 (85 years ago) by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as a reception area for social events; both new wings were connected by Jefferson's colonnades. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946 (66 years ago) creating additional office space. By 1948 (64 years ago), the house's load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under Harry S. Truman, the interior rooms were completely dismantled, resulting in the construction of a new internal load-bearing steel framework and the reassembly of the interior rooms. Today, the White House Complex includes the Executive Residence (in which the First Family resides), the West Wing (the location of the Oval Office, Cabinet Room, and Roosevelt Room), and the East Wing (the location of the office of the First Lady and White House Social Secretary), as well as the Old Executive Office Building, which houses the executive offices of the President and Vice President. The White House is made up of six stories—the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, and Third Floor, as well as a two-story basement. The term White House is regularly used as a metonym for the Executive Office of the President of the United States and for the president's administration and advisors in general. The property is owned by the National Park Service and is part of the President's Park. In 2007 (5 years ago), it was ranked second on the American Institute of Architects's List of America's Favorite Architecture.

Navigation Previous picture Back to gallery Next picture View in fullscreen Rate this picture Click on the star to vote Download 1024x768 1152x864 - widescreen 1280x960 1440x1080 - 1080i HD 1600x1200 Use this wallpaper Set this wallpaper as homepage Comments

Users who have seen this wallpaper have also seen:

Colosseum in Rome, Italy

Machu Picchu

St. Petersburg At Sunset

Trakai Peninsula Castle, Lake Galve, Trakai, Lithuania

Rialto Bridge, Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

Random Known places pictures

Dining Alfresco, Venice, Italy

Granville Bridge

Uluru Ayres Rock, NT, Australia

Odawara Castle, Japan

Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

Request deletion of this wallpaper

Claim ownership of this picture