The White House
Easily one of the most recognizable buildings in all of history, the White House is the current home and workplace of the US president, the highest office in the land. It has held this highly-esteemed role since 1800, starting with President John Adams. An Irish architect named James Hoban crafted the original design for the building.
(Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)
Construction took place beginning in 1792 and ending in 1800. What many don’t know, however, is that since that time, this historic building has been in a state of constant change. With nearly every successive president, new additions and alterations have been made, including in 1814 when much of the building exterior (and almost all of the interior) was charred to a crisp by British forces as part of the War of 1812. Despite these many and varied changes, the building has never lost its initial stately charm and continues to serve our highest office to this day.