The Executive Residence is the central and most recognizable part of the White House complex, being the actual "house" part of the White House. This central building is home to the president of the United States and the first family. The Executive Residence was first constructed from 1792 to 1800. It primarily occupies four floors: the ground floor, the state floor, the second floor, and the third floor. The third floor was created in 1927 from attic space. A sub-basement with a mezzanine, created during the 1948–1952 Truman Reconstruction, is used for HVAC and mechanical systems, storage, and service areas.
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👉 Executive Residence in the context of East Wing
The East Wing of the White House complex was built in 1902 and significantly expanded in 1942. In 2025, plans for a larger wing, to include the new White House State Ballroom, were announced and the former building was demolished.
Situated on the east side of the Executive Residence, the building served as office space for the first lady and her staff, including the White House social secretary, correspondence staff, and the White House Graphics and Calligraphy Office, all of which have been relocated until the new East Wing is completed.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Executive Residence
- 👉 Executive Residence in the context of East Wing
- Executive Residence in the context of White House
- Executive Residence in the context of West Wing
- Executive Residence in the context of East Room
- Executive Residence in the context of First Family of the United States
- Executive Residence in the context of White House Reconstruction
Executive Residence in the context of White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 when the national capital was moved from Philadelphia. The White House is also a metonym for the Executive Office of the President.
The residence was designed by the Irish-born architect James Hoban in the Neoclassical style. Hoban modeled the building on Leinster House in Dublin, a building which today houses the Oireachtas, the Irish legislature. Constructed between 1792 and 1800, its exterior walls are Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he and his architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe added low colonnades on each wing to conceal what then were stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by British forces in the burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior. Reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817. Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semicircular South Portico in 1824 and the North Portico in 1829.
Executive Residence in the context of West Wing
The West Wing of the White House is the location of the office space of the president of the United States. The West Wing contains the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the Situation Room, and the Roosevelt Room.
The West Wing's three floors include offices for the vice president, the White House chief of staff, the counselor to the president, the senior advisor to the president, the White House press secretary, and their support staffs. Adjoining the press secretary's office, in the colonnade between the West Wing and the Executive Residence, is the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, along with workspace for the White House press corps.
Executive Residence in the context of East Room
The East Room is an event and reception room in the Executive Residence of the White House complex, the home of the president of the United States. The East Room is the largest room in the Executive Residence; it is used for dances, receptions, press conferences, ceremonies, concerts, and banquets. The East Room was one of the last rooms to be finished and decorated, and it has undergone substantial redecoration over the past two centuries. Since 1964, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House has, by executive order, advised the president of the United States and first lady on the decor, preservation, and conservation of the East Room and other public rooms at the White House.
Executive Residence in the context of First Family of the United States
The first family of the United States is the family of the president of the United States, who is both head of state and head of government of the United States. Members of the first family consist of the president, the first lady of the United States, and any of their children. However, other close relatives of the president and first spouse, such as parents, grandchildren, stepchildren, and in-laws, may be classified as members of the first family if they reside in the Executive Residence of the White House Complex.
The current first family is the family of the 45th and 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump since 2025.
Executive Residence in the context of White House Reconstruction
The White House Reconstruction, also known as the Truman Reconstruction, was a comprehensive dismantling and rebuilding of the interior of the White House from 1949 to 1952. In 1948, after nearly a century and a half of wartime destruction and rebuilding, hurried renovations, additions of new services, technologies, the expanded third floor, and inadequate foundations, architectural and engineering investigations found that the Executive Residence portion of the White House Complex was facing near-imminent collapse, and it was deemed unsafe for occupancy. President Harry S. Truman, his family, and the entire residence staff were relocated across the street to Blair House, and over the next three years, the White House was gutted, expanded, and rebuilt.