Rosie on the House: Historic renovations of the White House – Arizona Daily Star

The current White House has 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, eight staircases and three elevators.

Question: Do you know about the history of the White House and its many updates and remodels?

Answer: Yes! This is a favorite topic of mine. The White House on Pennsylvania Avenue belongs to every tax-paying American.

Note: Much of this information is provided by the official White House Museum and my friend, David Dean, assistant history professor at Grand Canyon University.

George Washington arranged the building of the first White House and construction began in 1792. The neo-classical design of the executive residence was modeled after a palace in Dublin by an Irish architect, James Hoban, hired by Washington.

Washingtons successor, John Adams, was the first president to actually live there, even though it was still unfinished when he arrived in 1800. The cost of that first building was $232,372. Its pretty tricky to calculate what that might be today. Some estimates online say it could range from $4.4 million to as much as $8 billion in modern money. And that doesnt even include buying a lot on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Q: When was the first remodel?

A: The house was set ablaze in 1814. 4,000 British soldiers invaded Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812 and torched the interior in retaliation for the American attack on the city of York in Ontario, Canada, that occurred during the American Revolutionary War. President James Madison recalled Hoban to direct a reconstruction of the house.

Link:
Rosie on the House: Historic renovations of the White House - Arizona Daily Star