Who designed the White House?

The US president's address at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. was originally designed by architect James Hoban. Hoban used a Neoclassical style in his designs that began to come to life in 1792 with the first Aquia Creek sandstone blocks that would become the exterior walls. Completed in 1800, it has been every president's address since John Adams administration.

The designs of the White House were chosen during a "design competition" while Charles L'Enfant was designing the layout of the city of Washington D.C. George Washington liked the design of the Charleston County Courthouse in South Carolina and invited the designer, James Hoban to submit a design. Hoban, of Irish heritage, was quickly selected as the "winner" of the competition.

At the request of Thomas Jefferson in 1801, Benjamin Latrobe added low colonnades on the east and west wings that concealed storage and stable areas. Today these serve as the offices and private residence of the First Family.

In 1814, the British set the White House on fire, which destroyed the interior and charred the exterior. After the War of 1812, the residence was reconstructed with the addition of the semi-circular south portico and the north entrance.

Frederick Law Olmsted is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, but was not born until 1822 and had no association with the original White House design.