The 55,000 square foot White House has 132 rooms and measures 168 feet long by 85 feet wide. Although George Washington selected the site for the White House and even approved the winner in a contest to design it, he was the only president who didn't live there. A few years after the United States gained its independence, An Irish designer won a contest to design the new President’s House. James Hoban oversaw a team of masons who raised the impressive structure using white limestone for the facade. It survived burning during the War of 1812. It underwent major additions when Teddy Roosevelt moved in with 6 children in 1901. The entire interior was reconstructed, with basements added, in the 1950s. In the 1990s, its original 18th century stones were removed and replaced to restore centuries of water damage.
