Architecture: 1790s-1840s
1790sThe Presidents House was a major feature of Pierre Charles L'Enfant's 1791 plan for the city of Washington. He envisioned a...
Tudor Place
Two grand houses were under construction in the young Federal City in 1816: one the President’s House, reconstructed after it was burned by the British in 1814, and the other Tudor Place, an elegant mansion rising on the heights above Georgetown. The connection between these two houses is more than temporal, as they were connected through lineage and politics for generations. The builders of Tudor Place were Thomas Peter and Martha Parke Custis Peter, Martha Washington’s granddaughter. The reconstruction of the White House was finished around the time the Peters were completing their own grand home. The White House and Tudor Place each represent the spirit and aspirations of the early republic. Little more than two miles apart, each survives as an architectural landmark for our nation.
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Collection An Artist Visits the White House Past
From its construction in 1792, until the 1902 renovation that shaped the modern identity and functions of the interior of the White...
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Collection The President's Neighborhood
Since the White House was first occupied by President John Adams in 1800, influential people and organizations—or those who hoped to...
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Collection President Truman's Renovation
During the administration of President Harry S. Truman, the White House underwent a renovation and expansion so extensive, it changed...
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Architecture: 1950s-2000s
1950sSoon after moving into the White House in 1945, President Truman noticed large areas of cracking in the plaster throughout the...
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Architecture: 1900s-1940s
1900sOne of Theodore Roosevelts earliest acts as President was to issue an order establishing the "White House" as the buildings...
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Architecture: 1850s-1890s
1850sJames Buchanan, at the urging of his niece and White House hostess Harriet Lane, added a wooden greenhouse on the...
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"A Communication Between These Offices"
When David Baillie Warden remarked in 1816 that “it was originally proposed to form a communication between the [executive departmental] offices an...
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Unbuilt White Houses of the 19th Century
Throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century, several major proposals were made to alleviate crowding at the White House...
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In a White House Passageway
Arches and vaults are techniques of construction that serve to divert the support of heavy masses that would otherwise require...
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The President's Park
A recent magazine article described the garden of the White House, “known as the President’s Park,” as covering 82 acres and en...
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Restoring the Original White House Stone
The restoration of the exterior of the White House, which I performed from 1989 to 1996, was an exciting and challenging task....
