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The White House took 8 years to build and the first tenants were John and Abigail Adams in 1800, so it was started in 1792. When Adams and his wife moved in it still wasn't finished and had only 6 rooms finished. Mrs. Adams hung her laundry in the East Room that is now used for concerts, functions, weddings, and funerals.

For the first 78 years the White House was without plumbing and many first ladies complained about it. Mrs. Benjamin Harrison said it was filled with cockroaches. The cost of construction of the White House was 400,000 and was designed by James Hoban an Irishman from North Carolina. He won 500.00 for his design. Thomas Jefferson did the landscaping and Andrew Jackson changed the main entrance so it faces north instead of south. President Polk installed gas lights and Fillmore added central heating. President Buchanan added a greenhouse. In 1889 President Harrison installed a hot water heating system.

There are special rooms for arranging flowers, an upholstery shop and a special squad room. There is a theater and bowling alley. The swimming pool has been filled in. There are 20 bathrooms, 29 fireplaces, 147 windows, a TV studio and a huge kitchen. There are 2,000 electrical outlets, and 450 light fixtures, eight TV antennae and 500,000 feet of electrical wiring. The White House is dusted every day and there is a special person who does nothing but set and service all the clocks in the 25 bedrooms and other rooms of the house.

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14y ago
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13y ago

October of 1792

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13y ago

1792

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13y ago

1801

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Q: When did work on the White House begin?
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