The White House (Washington, D.C.)

 office building, administrative building, presidential residence, federal government

The White House is the official home and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. The house is a white-painted, neoclassical mansion constructed of Aquia sandstone. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. As the office of the U.S. President, the term "White House" is used as a metonym for a president's administration. The property is owned by the National Park Service and is part of "President's Park."

The building was originally referred to variously as the "President's Palace", "Presidential Mansion," or "President's House." The earliest evidence of the public calling it the "White House" was recorded in 1811. A legend emerged that during the rebuilding of the structure white paint was applied to mask the burn damage it had suffered, giving the building its namesake hue; this is unfounded as the building had been painted white since its construction in 1798. The name "Executive Mansion" was used in official contexts until President Theodore Roosevelt established the formal name by having the de facto name "White House–Washington" engraved on the stationery in 1901. The current letterhead wording and arrangement "The White House" with the word "Washington" centered beneath goes back to the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The White House stands at the center of the 100 square miles of land originally allocated to the District of Columbia before the part southwest of the Potomac was retroceded to Virginia in 1847.

www.whitehouse.gov/