where does the road to the white house start
White House
Decades of poor maintenance , the construction of a fourth story attic during the Coolidge administration , and the addition of a second - floor balcony over the south portico for Harry S. Truman took a great toll on the brick and sandstone structure built around a timber frame . By 1948 , the house was declared to be in imminent danger of collapse , forcing President Truman to commission a reconstruction and to live across the street at Blair House from 1949 to 1951 . The work , done by the firm of Philadelphia contractor John McShain , required the complete dismantling of the interior spaces , construction of a new load - bearing internal steel frame and the reconstruction of the original rooms within the new structure . The total cost of the renovations was about $5.7 million ( US $ 54 million in 2018 ) . Some modifications to the floor plan were made , the largest being the repositioning of the grand staircase to open into the Entrance Hall , rather than the Cross Hall . Central air conditioning was added , as well as two additional sub-basements providing space for workrooms , storage , and a bomb shelter . The Trumans moved back into the White House on March 27 , 1952 . While the house 's structure was kept intact by the Truman reconstruction , much of the new interior finishes were generic , and of little historic value . Much of the original plasterwork , some dating back to the 1814 -- 1816 rebuilding , was too damaged to reinstall , as was the original robust Beaux Arts paneling in the East Room . President Truman had the original timber frame sawed into paneling ; the walls of the Vermeil Room , Library , China Room , and Map Room on the ground floor of the main residence were paneled in wood from the timbers .
Decades of poor maintenance , the construction of a fourth story attic during the Coolidge administration , and the addition of a second - floor balcony over the south portico for Harry S. Truman took a great toll on the brick and sandstone structure built around a timber frame . By 1948 , the house was declared to be in imminent danger of collapse , forcing President Truman to commission a reconstruction and to live across the street at Blair House from 1949 to 1951 . The work , done by the firm of Philadelphia contractor John McShain , required the complete dismantling of the interior spaces , construction of a new load - bearing internal steel frame and the reconstruction of the original rooms within the new structure . The total cost of the renovations was about $5.7 million ( US $ 54 million in 2018 ) . Some modifications to the floor plan were made , the largest being the repositioning of the grand staircase to open into the Entrance Hall , rather than the Cross Hall . Central air conditioning was added , as well as two additional sub-basements providing space for workrooms , storage , and a bomb shelter . The Trumans moved back into the White House on March 27 , 1952 . While the house 's structure was kept intact by the Truman reconstruction , much of the new interior finishes were generic , and of little historic value . Much of the original plasterwork , some dating back to the 1814 -- 1816 rebuilding , was too damaged to reinstall , as was the original robust Beaux Arts paneling in the East Room . President Truman had the original timber frame sawed into paneling ; the walls of the Vermeil Room , Library , China Room , and Map Room on the ground floor of the main residence were paneled in wood from the timbers .