{"id":2501543,"date":"2025-10-21T16:46:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T20:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/east-wing-demolition-continues-history-of-white-house-renovations\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T16:49:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T20:49:36","slug":"east-wing-demolition-continues-history-of-white-house-renovations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/east-wing-demolition-continues-history-of-white-house-renovations\/","title":{"rendered":"East Wing demolition continues history of White House renovations"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Feast-wing-demolition-continues-history-of-white-house-renovations%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2501543&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the ongoing demolition of the White House East Wing facade under President Donald Trump, which has sparked criticism. However, this renovation is part of a long history of notable changes and expansions to the White House that date back over a century. Many past presidents have altered or rebuilt major parts of the residence.Notable renovations include Theodore Roosevelt&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >early 20th-century expansion adding<\/a> the West Wing to separate offices from living quarters, William howard Taft&#8217;s creation of the first Oval Office, and Franklin D. Roosevelt&#8217;s construction of the modern East Wing during World War II. The most extensive reconstruction happened under harry Truman between 1948 and 1952, when the entire interior was gutted and rebuilt with modern materials.Since then,othre presidents have made smaller additions,such as the Rose Garden,a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-we-cant-guarantee-covid-19-relief-by-march\/\" title=\"...: We can\u2019t guarantee COVID-19 relief by March\">press briefing room<\/a>,a bowling alley,and recreational facilities. The current project involves building a large, privately funded ballroom, continuing this tradition of White House renovations designed to preserve and enhance the executive residence&#8217;s past and functional legacy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">East Wing demolition continues long line of White House renovations<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2378533\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump&rsquo;<\/a>s tearing down of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/white-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">White House<\/a> East Wing&rsquo;s facade has faced criticism, but the renovation is only the latest of over a century of redesigns.<\/p>\n<p>Several of these involved tearing down or gutting significant parts of the White House, to a greater extent than the most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3857506\/white-house-east-wing-ballroom-construction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent ballroom renovation<\/a>. The White House itself was quick to respond to outrage over pictures of the East Wing facade being torn down by a backhoe, arguing it was the continuation of a &ldquo;proud presidential legacy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3858620\/rand-paul-thomas-massie-white-house-lunch\/\">Rand Paul dines with Thomas Massie after White House lunch snub<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3858224\/hillary-clinton-says-trump-destroying-white-house-ballroom-construction\/\">Hillary Clinton says Trump is &#8216;destroying&#8217; White House with ballroom construction<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3858279\/watch-live-trump-holds-lunch-with-gop-senators-in-rose-garden\/\">WATCH LIVE: Trump holds lunch with GOP senators in Rose Garden<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;In the latest instance of manufactured outrage, unhinged leftists and their Fake News allies are clutching their pearls over President Donald J. Trump&rsquo;s visionary addition of a grand, privately funded ballroom to the White House &mdash; a bold, necessary addition that echoes the storied history of improvements and additions from commanders-in-chief to keep the executive residence as a beacon of American excellence,&rdquo; the White House said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/articles\/2025\/10\/white-house-ballroom-proud-presidential-legacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The iconic external structure has remained largely the same since its reconstruction following its burning at the hands of British forces in 1814. It experienced a wave of modernization throughout the 19th century, such as the introduction of gas lighting, electricity, indoor plumbing, and heating. President Chester Arthur carried out one of its most extensive redesigns, auctioning off most furniture and installing a giant&nbsp;Louis Comfort Tiffany screen, <em>Architectural Digest<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.architecturaldigest.com\/story\/white-house-renovations-timeline#1902-a-classical-renovation-courtesy-of-roosevelt:~:text=Two%20decades%20later,of%20modern%20times.%E2%80%9D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The first major reconstruction of the White House since 1814 was carried out by President Theodore Roosevelt, beginning in 1902. Acknowledging the residence was overcrowded, Roosevelt enlisted the assistance of the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White to build additions to the residence. Greenhouses installed by President Thomas Jefferson were torn down, and in their place, the famous West Wing was constructed, today&rsquo;s executive office wing. Roosevelt&rsquo;s reconstruction was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/articles\/white-house-renovations-history-photos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">driven by his large family<\/a> of six children, a familial size the White House couldn&rsquo;t accommodate. The solution was to separate the diplomatic and executive offices from the residence itself in a building attached by a colonnade-flanked walkway.<\/p>\n<p>Roosevelt also installed a colonial garden and built an East Terrace, which would eventually become the East Wing.<\/p>\n<p>Roosevelt&rsquo;s successor, President William Howard Taft, remodeled and expanded the West Wing in 1909, a reconstruction which included the creation of the first Oval Office.<\/p>\n<p>In 1913, first lady Ellen Axson Wilson, wife of President Woodrow Wilson, demolished Roosevelt&rsquo;s colonial garden to create a rose garden.<\/p>\n<p>Buoyed by worries that the White House roof could collapse due to its overencumbered roof becoming a storage for records and old machinery, President Calvin Coolidge ordered reconstruction in 1927 to create a new roof, attic, and even an entire third floor. The main building&rsquo;s new addition included a solarium with floor-to-ceiling windows.<\/p>\n<p>President Franklin Delano Roosevelt carried out two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trouble-in-belgrade-serbias-embattled-president-looks-to-trump-for-a-lifeline-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Trouble in Belgrade: Serbia\u2019s embattled ... looks to ... for a lifeline - Washington Examiner\">major renovations<\/a>, one in 1934 and one in 1942. In the first, he added a second floor, a swimming pool, and a larger basement to the West Wing. The latter renovation constructed the modern East Wing. The new structure was originally intended to cover an underground bunker meant to protect the president from enemy attacks during World War II.<\/p>\n<p>The most extensive redesign to the main White House building took place in 1948 under President Harry Truman. The president gutted the entire 150-year-old building, keeping only its exterior walls. The residence was given a new, 22-foot-deep foundation, steel frame walls, and concrete floors. It gained two sub-basements and expanded from 48 rooms to 54. The Trumans would spend 1948-1952 in the Blair House while construction was carried out.<\/p>\n<p>The White House has maintained largely the same outline and structure since Truman, minus some relatively small adjustments. The Rose Garden was constructed in 1962 under President John F. Kennedy. In 1970, President Richard Nixon converted the first swimming pool into the modern press briefing room &mdash; the first of its kind, spurred by the growing importance of broadcast media &mdash; and in 1973, he added an indoor bowling alley.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3857506\/white-house-east-wing-ballroom-construction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CONSTRUCTION CREWS DEMOLISH WALL OF WHITE HOUSE EAST WING FOR BALLROOM CONSTRUCTION<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>President Gerald Ford installed a swimming pool on the White House grounds in 1975, and President Bill Clinton renovated the main building in 1993. President Barack Obama added a basketball court in 2009.<\/p>\n<p>The newest and biggest addition since Truman was announced in August &mdash; a 90,000-square-foot ballroom, slated to cost roughly $200 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>East Wing demolition follows century of White House renovations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2501544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25294693911093.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[28635,65585,50439,32127],"class_list":["post-2501543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-demolition","tag-east-wing","tag-renovations","tag-white-house"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25294693911093.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2501543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2501543"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2501543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2501547,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2501543\/revisions\/2501547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2501544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2501543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2501543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2501543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}