Читать книгу First Ladies For Dummies - Marcus A. Stadelmann, Marcus A. Stadelmann PhD - Страница 61

The story of the presidential mansions is an interesting one. The first president and his wife, George and Martha Washington, lived in two private houses consecutively in New York City, the country’s first capital. The two buildings they lived in were just called the Executive Mansion. George and Martha Washington lived in these two houses from 1789 until December of 1790, when the capital was temporarily moved to Philadelphia. Martha and her husband now rented a mansion owned by the wealthy merchant Robert Morris until 1797. This new residence was referred to as the President’s House. The residence in Philadelphia was supposed to be temporary until a new executive mansion could be built in the new capital of Washington, D.C. The new executive building was ready to be occupied by 1800 and then President John Adams moved in. After the building was finished, the sandstone walls were whitewashed giving the house its familiar white color. Quickly, people started calling the building informally the white house.

However, the name Executive Mansion became the official name until President Theodore Roosevelt changed the name to the White House in 1901.