Why is it called the White House?

White paint has nothing to do with covering the burning of the house by the British in 1814, although every schoolchild is likely to have heard the story that way. The building was first made white with lime-based whitewash in 1798, when its walls were finished, simply as a means of protecting the porous stone from freezing. read more

Interestingly enough the White House was designed by James Hoban, an Irish architect, after he won the contest for best design. They began building the White House in 1792 and the first president to live in it was President John Adams and his wife. read more

In the early days the white house was formally called the "President's Palace"; although this title soon changed over to "Executive Mansion" in 1810 to avoid connections with royalty. Even with all these name changes, the majority of society referred the building as the white house. read more