Who built the White House?

A decade earlier, there had been no such place as Washington DC on the Potomac River. Founded by the Residence Act of 1790, the new capital would be a modern metropolis laid out in a grid system and with grand boulevards and public spaces everywhere. In the short term, though, it was not a promising place to live: if not hectic with the constant building works, there was nothing around but forests and some wetlands, where sanitation was poor and conditions were cold to freezing.

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Still, this would be the home of the president. George Washington, the first man elected to the office, personally chose the site for what would be the White House along with city planner Pierre Charles L’Enfant, and launched a competition for the building’s design.

Who was the architect who built the White House?

Thomas Jefferson – Washington’s fellow Founding Father, and Secretary of State – submitted his own proposal, entered the competition under the initials “AZ”. However the eventual winner was Irish-born architect, James Hoban.

Having made a name for himself designing buildings in Charleston, South Carolina, Hoban’s vision, which bagged him a $500 prize, was of a neoclassical mansion in the Palladian style.

Based on the highly influential 16th-century Venetian architect, Andrea Palladio, the focus was on symmetry, proportion and paying homage to ancient Greek and Roman architecture. Hoban had been inspired by Leinster House, now home of the Irish parliament.

When was the White House Built?

Construction of the so-called ‘Presidential Palace’ got underway with the laying of the cornerstone on 13 October 1792. But the building would not be finished until after Washington had left office.

It took eight years of labour, mostly done by hundreds of enslaved people hired by the government from local slaveowners. They quarried stone, cut down trees, produced bricks, and carried out the heavy lifting. Freed black men worked on the project too, paid miniscule amounts, alongside skilled craftsmen from Europe, notably Scotland and Ireland.

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Without slaves, however, the White House could not have been made – and nor could another Washington DC icon, the US Capitol. Their owners collected a wage to provide clothing, while the city commissioners provided housing (huts on the land) and meals.

Why is the White House called the White House?

By 1800, when Adams moved in, the building was far from complete. Becoming known as the White House – in reference to its covering with lime-based whitewash to protect the sandstone – it would be added to, repaired and extended many times throughout the years.

When it had to be reconstructed following the War of 1812, after the British torched the city, the job again fell to Hoban. He lived in Washington DC, and witnessed the growth of the city first-hand until his death in 1831.

As for the White House, the photogenic South Portico was added in 1824, followed by the North Portico completed in 1830. Today, it boasts a total of 132 rooms.

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