5 Rejected Designs For The White House

[left-of-center2012]

Last edited Thu Aug 12, 2021, 09:01 PM - Edit history (1)

In 1792, America’s first president George Washington held a competition for the design of the White House, which Irish-born James Hoban won. But the seat of the world’s most powerful nation could’ve looked different. Many architects offered their own versions of the White House ...

These rejected plans have lain in obscurity, until HouseFresh decided to bring them back to life again in digital form and show us what the White House could’ve looked like.

5 Rejected Designs For The White House

Jefferson’s Plan for the White House


Philip Hart’s Plan for the White House


Andrew Mayfield’s Plan


Jacob Small’s Plan


James Diamond’s Plan


More photos and info at link:
https://www.boredpanda.com/architecture-five-rejected-white-house-designs-housefresh/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Newsletter

[Merlot]

1. Cool, though a couple remind me of Tara...go figure

They made the right choice.

[sdfernando]

30. I think you may be thinking of Twelve Oaks in GTW not Tara

Tara was a rather humble plantation house.

I think Mayfield's design most closely resembles Twelve Oaks.

At any rate I don't really like any of them.

[Merlot]

33. The facade to Tara was the front of a film studio which is located

in Culver City. Still there last time I checked.

I don't remember Twelve Oaks as well as Tara, my mention was just for the southern plantation vibe in general.

[Mosby]

2. Jefferson's design was the best imo.

[SamKnause]

3. I agree.

[pandr32]

9. Me too

[ChazInAz]

14. I agree.

Strong echoes of his own Monticello.

[wnylib]

15. Jefferson's is the most original.

It seems to blend styles with eastern Europe, the Middle East, and classic Greco-Roman.

The others are very much in the style of the mansions of the British nobility and aristocracy of the times.

In the end, Washington made a good choice.

[COL Mustard]

17. I Thought That Version Looked

Like a rest area on the Interstate in Virginia.

But to each his own!

[reACTIONary]

20. +10 nt

[forgotmylogin]

24. Jefferson was into large domes!

The minute I saw it I thought "Jefferson" since the St. Louis Jefferson memorial looks almost like the White House with a dome added:

[speak easy]

27. Jefferson's design was the smallest,

with the fewest windows.

[soldierant]

35. I think, if I hadn't been told up front

that that one was Jefferson'd, just showen all five and told Jefferson's was among them, I could have picked it out. Because Monticello.

[lapucelle]

4. I like the current White House the best.

Here's what the White House looked like in 1807, so the White House as it is today, is in fact different than the original plan that was adopted.



https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/visual-documents-earliest-view-of-the-white-house-1807

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Our first president, George Washington, selected the site for the White House in 1791. The following year, the cornerstone was laid and a design submitted by Irish-born architect James Hoban was chosen. After eight years of construction, President John Adams and his wife Abigail moved into the still-unfinished residence. During the War of 1812, the British set fire to the President’s House, and James Hoban was appointed to rebuild it. James Monroe moved into the building in 1817, and during his administration, the South Portico was constructed. In 1829, Andrew Jackson oversaw the addition of the North Portico. Various proposals were put forward during the late 19th century to significantly expand the President’s House or to build an entirely new residence, but these plans were never realized.

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt began a major renovation of the White House, including the relocation of the President’s offices from the Second Floor of the Residence to the newly constructed temporary Executive Office Building (now known as the West Wing). The Roosevelt renovation was planned and carried out by the famous New York architectural firm McKim, Mead and White. Roosevelt’s successor, President William Howard Taft, had the Oval Office constructed within an enlarged office wing.

Less than fifty years after the Roosevelt renovation, the White House was already showing signs of serious structural weakness. President Harry S. Truman began a renovation of the building in which everything but the outer walls was dismantled. The reconstruction was overseen by architect Lorenzo Winslow, and in 1952, the Truman family moved back into the White House.

Every president since John Adams has occupied the White House, and the history of this building extends far beyond the construction of its walls. From the Ground Floor Corridor rooms, transformed from their early use as service areas, to the State Floor rooms, where countless leaders and dignitaries have been entertained, the White House is both the home of the President of the United States and his or her family, and a living museum of American history.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-grounds/the-white-house/

[reACTIONary]

21. +10 nt

[lastlib]

25. I like the current White House.....

'cuz it has Joe & Jill Biden in it!

[speak easy]

28. That White House was gutted in the war of 1812

[LiberalLovinLug]

29. heh heh heh

sorry about that.

[sdfernando]

31. It was also rebuilt entirely from the inside out during the Truman reconstruction 1949-1952

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Reconstruction#Changes_in_design

[SamKnause]

5. Jefferson's design was the best.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. The winner had something different

the half-round front.

[Sneederbunk]

7. Jefferson's did not allow enough room on roof

to run around with assault rifles.

[smb]

8. TFG Design

[COL Mustard]

18. Thankfully, TFG

Did not get to desecrate the White House (more than just by living in it).

[lunatica]

23. Not enough gold.

[efhmc]

32. Something very wrong with that picture. Way too many flowers.

[VGNonly]

34. TFG the RV

[link:

|

[Scrivener7]

10. They picked the right one.

[Ron Obvious]

11. They're all leaning

These would all have tipped over. Good thing we didn't go with any of them.

[left-of-center2012]

13. They are digital created pictures; not real photos

Probably tilted to show the roof better.

[MichaelSoE]

12. I noticed that Jacob Small's lacked chimneys ...perhaps he envisioned electric heating??

Or just forgot that fireplaces and stoves would be in the interior

[jaxexpat]

16. Every contractor knows.....

"The money is in the change orders." You wanted it heated? Whoa, that'll be a big change.

[pansypoo53219]

26. yeah. i was counting chimneys. no a/c either. big windows needed.

[mopinko]

19. all i can say is

wtf w the trees? sure, put it up there, but obscure 1/3 of the main elevation?
did they just not want ti do the full rendering?

[OxQQme]

22. I've always thought it ironic

https://www.businessinsider.com/american-landmarks-that-were-built-by-slaves-2019-9

[IrishEyes]

36. I like the 3rd one the best.

They are all nice but I like Andrew Mayfield's plan a lot. It is different than what I normally would like. I usually prefer small and tiny houses.