I was always taught it was the British that burnt down the Presidents house, and that rebuilt and repainted in white wash house hence became known as the White house.
Wayne.
It was pre-fire......
[h=3]"Construction[/h] Construction of the White House began with the laying of the cornerstone on October 13, 1792, although there was no formal ceremony.[SUP]
[11][/SUP] The main residence, as well as foundations of the house, were built largely by
enslaved and free African-American laborers, as well as employed Europeans.[SUP]
[12][/SUP] Much of the other work on the house was performed by immigrants, many not yet with citizenship. The sandstone walls were erected by
Scottish immigrants, employed by Hoban,[SUP]
[13][/SUP] as were the high-relief rose and garland decorations above the north entrance and the "fish scale" pattern beneath the pediments of the window hoods. The initial construction took place over a period of eight years, at a reported cost of $232,371.83 (equal to $3,182,127 today). Although not yet completed, the White House was ready for occupancy on or circa November 1, 1800.[SUP]
[14][/SUP]
Shortages, including material and labor, forced alterations to the earlier plan developed by French engineer
Pierre Charles L'Enfant for a "palace" that was five times larger than the house that was eventually built.[SUP]
[13][/SUP] The finished structure contained only two main floors instead of the planned three, and a less costly brick served as a lining for the stone façades.
When construction was finished, the porous sandstone walls were coated with a mixture of lime, rice glue, casein, and lead, giving the house its familiar color and name.[SUP][13]"[/SUP]
The old joke was the American claiming the British burned Washington and the Englishman saying "I thought the old boy died in his bed."
