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12 white house facts (West wing fire (An electrical fire broke out in the…
12 white house facts
West wing fire
An electrical fire broke out in the west wing
The fire gutted the executive offices
Congress approved emergency funds for repairs
Once Americas largest house
Pierre Charles L'Enfant called for an elaborate and enormous presidential palace
The white house was the biggest house by far for its time
Larger homes were not constructed until after the war
A twin in Ireland
The white house cornerstone was laid in 1792
The house in Ireland may may have been the model for its design
The seat of the Irish parliament likely inspired the design of the White House
A twin in France
The white house was remodeled several times
Jefferson included the East and West wing colonnades
James Hoban supervised the addition of a porch
Slaves helped
The land that became Washington D.C used to practice slavery
Many of the workers hired to help build the White House were African Americans
Some of them were free and some of them were slaves
European contributions
The White house could have not been completed without European artisans and immigrant laborers
Scottish stone workers raised the stone walls
Craftsmen from Scotland also curved the rose and garland ornaments
Washington never lived there
He felt that it was to small and simple for a president
Hoban's plan was expanded and the White house was given a grand reception room
The second president John Adams moved in
FDR made it wheel chair accessible
The first builders did't think about a president with a disability
The White house was not wheel chair accessible until President Roosevelt
President Roosevelt was disabled so the White house was remodeled for him
Truman saved it from callapse
The wooden support beams were weak
It was declared unsafe and would collapse if not repaired
Truman had the interior room gutted so that new steel beams could be installed
Torched by the British
We burned there parliament building first
The inside was destroyed and the exterior walls we charred
After the fire president James Madison lived in the octagon house
Additional Monikers
The White house had many different names
White house did't become official until 1901
Roosevelt adopted the name White house
Gingerbread version
Making a gingerbread version of the White House is what the chiefs do at christmas
They make it a challenge
In 2002 they used 80 pounds gingerbread, 50 chocolate, and 20 marzipan
It was not always white
The White House is made of grey sandstone
The North and South are red sandstone
The walls were not painted until it was reconstructed from the fire caused by the British