The White House: Center of Power, Home for Families

11/04/2013

Actor Richard Roundtree was a famous move star in the 1970s. Now, few people recognize him.

Welcome to This Is America from VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember.

And I'm Kelly Jean Kelly. This week on our program, we look at the history of the White House, the president’s home in Washington, DC.

When America’s first president, George Washington, entered office in 1789, the nation’s capital was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. But Washington and other lawmakers agreed to move the capital south.

In 1790, Washington signed an act of Congress to establish the federal government in the District of Columbia. The states of Virginia and Maryland donated the areas. George Washington and French urban planner Pierre L’Enfant chose the site for the new presidential home.

A competition took place to find a designer. An architect named James Hoban from Ireland won the competition. He proposed a building modeled on a wealthy man’s house in Dublin. Today, that building—called Leinster House—is where the Irish Parliament meets.

James Hoban originally suggested the house be three stories. But George Washington changed the design to two stories. He was worried the government quarry would not have enough stone for both the president’s house and a building for Congress.