Executive Office Building

The Executive Office Building was originally built for the State, War, and Navy Departments in four stages between 1871 and 1888 around the existing two-story public offices so those offices could continue in use as each wing was completed. In 1871, the site held the President's stables, the Old Navy Building designed in 1797 by George Hadfield, and the Old War Building designed in 1818 by James Hoban as companions to the Treasury and State Buildings on the west side of the White House. The south wing began in June 1871 and was completed in December 1875, the east wing began in July 1872 and was completed in April 1879, the north wing began in July 1879 and was completed in December 1882, and the west and central wings began in March 1884 and were completed in January 1888, for a total construction time of 17 years and 4 months. When the old War Building was demolished in 1879, six columns from its entrance portico were used at the Sheridan Gate entrance to Arlington National Cemetery. Through congressional action on July 3, 1930, the building was officially renamed the Department of State Building, and in 1949 it was officially named the Executive Office Building. The Navy left in 1918, the War Department in 1938, and the State Department in 1942, and the building is now occupied by the President's Executive Office staff. Two presidents had offices there, Herbert Hoover from December 26, 1929, to April 30, 1930, and Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1974; five future presidents also served there: Theodore Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, William Howard Taft as Secretary of War, Franklin Delano Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of Navy, Lyndon B. Johnson as Vice-President, and Gerald Ford as Vice President. Its design is generally described as second empire style, and it is one of seven structures designed by the supervising architect in that style beginning in 1869; only the Executive Office Building and the Custom House and Post Office in St. Louis have survived. The supervising architect was Alfred Bult Mullett, the chief designer was Richard Von Ezdorf, and the superintendent of construction was Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey of the Corps of Engineers, U.S.A. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States