The White House is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States. The White House and grounds occupy just over 18 acres at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.. Our first president, George Washington, selected the site for the White House in 1791.

The White House is a grand mansion in the neo-classical Federal style, with details that echo classical Greek Ionic architecture. The presidential mansion is situated on the angled Pennsylvania Avenue at the 1600 block, down the street from the Capitol building, and so is given the address 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC.

It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he added low colonnades on each wing that concealed stables and storage.

In 1814, during the War of 1812, 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.

Because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. The White House didn’t get its official current name until 1901. Teddy Roosevelt gave the house its name after reading it in a newspaper article. Before that most people referred to it as the "President’s Palace" or the "President’s House."

Eight years later in 1909, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office, which was eventually moved as the section was expanded.

In the main mansion, the third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as a reception area for social events.

In 1948 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 and a new internal load-bearing steel frame constructed inside the walls. Once this work was completed, the interior rooms were rebuilt.

As of 2019, the White House also features 6 levels, 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, 3 elevators and 35 bathrooms.