In 1792, George Washington held a competition to design a home for the president. Irishman James Hoban was the lucky winner after designing the neoclassical mansion that would soon become known as the White House.
But as in any competition, many entries were rejected. For the first time ever, we can see what the White House might have looked like had a different competition project been selected. For this project HouseFresh collaborated with the Maryland Center for History and Culture to digitize a series of previously unseen competition projects that have not been cut.
The competition to design the White House reflects how democracy in America would evolve: the opportunity was open to everyone, but the award went to a man the president already knew. However, Hoban’s architectural proposal responded to Washington’s needs and today, despite additions and refinements over the years, it’s hard to imagine the president’s house any other way.
Indeed, Hoban’s neoclassical structure would come to characterize the American federal architectural style. But HouseFresh’s digital renders of these archival projects are designed to help you imagine how things could have been. On Saturday November 1, 1800, John Adams became the first president to reside in the building.

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