The White HouseStop on Washington DC National Mall Walking Tour, a free self-guided tour.The White House has been the home and office of every president since John Adams moved in on November 1, 1800. Irish-born architect James Hoban won the 1792 design competition, and the cornerstone was laid that October.British troops burned the house on August 24, 1814. Before she fled, First Lady Dolley Madison made sure Gilbert Stuart's full-length portrait of George Washington was saved, and it hangs in the East Room today. Hoban rebuilt the house by 1817.The building has changed many times since. The West Wing was added in 1902 and the Oval Office in 1909. By 1948 the structure was so weak that a leg of Margaret Truman's piano broke through a floor; the Trumans moved out, and the interior was gutted and rebuilt inside the original walls. In October 2025 the East Wing was demolished to make way for a planned ballroom.Public tours are free but must be requested in advance through a member of Congress, or through your embassy if you are not a U.S. citizen. Since the East Wing came down, tours follow an updated route.Stops on this tourWashington MonumentNational Museum of African American History and CuNational Museum of American HistorySmithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryNational Gallery of ArtUnited States CapitolUnited States Botanic GardenNational Museum of the American IndianNational Air and Space MuseumHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenThe Smithsonian Institution Building - The CastleFreer Gallery of ArtJefferson MemorialWorld War II MemorialMartin Luther King Jr. MemorialKorean War MemorialLincoln MemorialVietnam Veterans MemorialWhite House EllipseWhite HouseLafayette Square