Major White House Renovations Through History: Photos

During the War of 1812, British troops captured Washington, D.C., and tried to burn down the White House along with the Capitol building. President James Madison and first lady Dolley Madison fled the building before its capture on August 24, 1814. They were able to save a few historic items, such as a 1797 portrait of George Washington.

For maximum damage, British soldiers inside the White House piled up furniture and bedding soaked with lamp oil. The roaring blaze consumed the entire interior of the home, leaving only a soot-stained shell. Hoban, the original architect, was charged with restoring the White House to its former glory.

Photo: East Room of the White House, Washington DC, circa 1900.

President James Monroe moved back in 1817 while it was still under construction. The White House was fully reopened to the public in 1818.

In addition to rebuilding the interior, Hoban designed two porticoes—roof extensions supported by columns—on the north and south faces of the building.

When the north portico was completed in 1830, the White House took on its trademark look.

Photo: South Front of the White House, Fountain in the foreground, Washington, D.C., 1860.

When Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901, he and first lady Edith Roosevelt had six young children, but the residential quarters of the White House didn’t accommodate such a large family. Architect Charles McKim recommended a full-scale renovation that would both enlarge the private areas of the White House and separate them from diplomatic and office spaces.

The biggest change during Roosevelt’s renovation was the addition of the West Wing, a separate building accessible by a colonnade-flanked walkway. Originally called the Temporary Executive Office, the one-story structure housed the offices of the presidential staff and secretaries, and a dedicated meeting room for the Cabinet.

Photo: President Theodore Roosevelt signs a Thanksgiving proclamation in his office, 1902.

Roosevelt had his own office built in the main residence, but it was rectangular. President William Howard Taft remodeled and expanded the West Wing in 1909 to create the Oval Office, now an iconic symbol of presidential power.

The East Wing wasn’t built until 1942 and was originally constructed to cover up an underground bunker that would protect the president and his staff from an enemy attack during World War II.

In 1977, Rosalynn Carter established the Office of the First Lady in the East Wing.

Photo: President Taft in the Oval Office, 1909.

Twenty-five years after Roosevelt’s renovation, President Calvin Coolidge received a worrying report that the White House roof was in danger of collapsing.

Not only were the trusses old, but they were being weighed down by an overstuffed attic. Over decades, the attic had become a repository for tons of paper records and discarded machinery.

Photo: President Coolidge supervises the progress of the work being done on the White House, March 15, 1927.

With $375,000 from Congress, the White House got a new attic and roof, and also a third floor! The rooftop addition included offices for servants and secretaries, and a solarium with floor-to-ceiling windows and panoramic views of the city.

Just two years later, a fire ripped through the West Wing on Christmas Eve 1929. Sparked by faulty electrical wiring, the fire ignited a cache of 200,000 old documents in the attic of the West Wing and badly damaged the White House press room. Luckily no one was hurt, but the attic and roof of the West Wing had to be replaced.

Photo: Several men pose amid partially demolished walls, rubble and steel girders in the lower corridor of the White House, photographed during President Truman's White House Reconstruction, February 14, 1950.

When Harry Truman took office in 1945, the White House was nearly 150 years old. The historic home survived the catastrophic fire of 1814, endured major renovations and was updated over the decades with indoor plumbing, electricity, gas lighting and heating systems. While Truman complained about creaking floors and drafty rooms, his engineers marveled that the structure was even standing.

The White House needed more than another cosmetic renovation—it needed a complete overhaul. Truman’s architects made the bold decision to gut the entire building, leaving only the exterior walls. The Trumans moved across the street to the Blair House, where they lived from 1948 to 1952 while the White House was demolished and rebuilt.

[Photo: The White House lobby, photographed during President Truman's White House Reconstruction, December 27, 1949.]

During the Truman renovation, The White House received a new, 22-foot-deep foundation, interior walls made from sturdy steel frames and solid concrete floors. The new White House expanded from 48 rooms to 54, and boasted two new sub-basements. President Truman gave a televised tour of the fully renovated White House in 1952.

Every president since 1952 has made their own small changes and additions—Richard Nixon installed a one-lane bowling alley in 1973, for example, and Michelle Obama created the White House Kitchen Garden.

Photo: Underpinning pit of the White House, 30 feet below, photographed during President Truman's White House Reconstruction, Washington, D.C., February 6, 1950.