The White House: The History of an American Idea
by By Seale, William
Category: History , United States , General

For two centuries the White House has served not only as the official residence of the president of the United States, but as the symbolic home of its owners, the American people. The White House: The History of an American Idea celebrates the mansion's 200 years in a readable, richly illustrated volume that brings together, for the first time, the story of the architecture of the White House and the story of the first families and designers who shaped it.Highlighted by little known details about official and domestic life, The White House reveals the numerous changes the building has undergone and the paradox of its survival. Designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban, the house required preservation efforts fewer than 25 years after its construction. Burned to a smoke-blackened shell by the British in 1814, the house was rebuilt, later to be threatened with replacement but retained, condemned to destruction but made new. Many of the resident presidents hired architects and made changes, small and large. This volume offers rare glimpses of long-vanished interiors and the discarded contributions of such giants of American architecture and design as Benjamin Latrobe, Thomas U. Walter, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Charles McKim. Illustrations include drawings and photographs from the Historic American Buildings Survey as well as a large selection of historical plans, prints, and photographs, many never before brought together in one volume.Although built in the experimental years of the new nation and altered over its 200-year history, the White House remains the natural symbol of the American presidency and perhaps the best-known residence in the world. The White House tells the story of constant change-architectural, social, and political. The history of the house is a story of survival and growth that parallels that of the nation it has come to symbolize.