# White House floor plans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538 "2004-12-07T14:13:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/1 "2004-12-07T14:13:34Z")
Are there any current (up to date) floor plans of the White House? I’m thinking of building a home that has six floors, seven staircases, 132 rooms, 32 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, 147 windows, 412 doors and 3 elevators. The tricky part is building a home that has six floors but _appears_ to only have three. How can I accomplish this? Really though, I was wondering what the biggest home (residence) in the country was and I stumbled across the White House (55,000 sq ft!!). The original [floor plans](http://architecture.about.com/library/weekly/aa011501c.htm) called for less than 30 rooms. How did they keep the exterior roughly the same yet add 4 floors and 100 rooms without extensive outside work? Did they dig down and add three basement levels? Finally, is this information confidential or can someone locate an online floor plan of the White House? ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/2 "2004-12-07T14:50:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Really though, I was wondering what the biggest home (residence) in the country was and I stumbled across the White House (55,000 sq ft!!). I believe Biltmore is the biggest home in the US, although it is no longer a residence. It has 175,000 feet of floor space. > **[Home](https://www.biltmore.com/)** > > Visit Biltmore, America's Largest Home, built by George Vanderbilt. Explore the 8,000-acre estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, NC. [http://www.biltmore.com/cubclub/funfacts.asp](http://www.biltmore.com/cubclub/funfacts.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/3 "2004-12-07T14:53:46Z")
> [@](#): > > How did they keep the exterior roughly the same yet add 4 floors and 100 rooms without extensive outside work? It was rebuilt and enlarged after the British burned it. They also added the East Wing and the West wing. ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/4 "2004-12-07T14:59:31Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#): > > It was rebuilt and enlarged after the British burned it. They also added the East Wing and the West wing. That’s true, but I think the question is more, how does it have 6 floors when from the outside it appears to have, at most, 3? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/5 "2004-12-07T15:12:21Z")
My guess is that there’s more than one basement level. I believe the building was almost totally rebuilt during the Truman administration so the additional floors might have been added then. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/6 "2004-12-07T15:54:14Z")
You can clearly see the extent of the renovations to the White House in [this](http://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs/displayimage.php?pointer=22&people=&listid=3) photo; only the shell of the original building is left. So it’s entirely possible that several basement levels were added then. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/7 "2004-12-07T16:00:05Z")
OK, \*\*Uncommon Sense \*\* …what are you planning? :dubious: 😉😛 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/8 "2004-12-07T16:02:20Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > OK, \*\*Uncommon Sense \*\* …what are you planning? :dubious: 😉😛 _His_ shadow government won’t be confined to some dirty old bunker! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/9 "2004-12-07T16:46:45Z")
If you’re thinking of doing it out of gingerbread, it’s already been done: [http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=57285](http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=57285) > [@](#): > > The new pastry chef, Thaddeus DuBois, baked 24,000 cookies and constructed a replica White House out of 100 pounds of gingerbread, 150 pounds of chocolate and 50 pounds of marzipan. > > ``` > DuBois included images of first dog Barney and first kitty Willie in his creation five times, variously singing with carolers, building a snowman, riding in a sleigh and in Santa's pack. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/10 "2004-12-07T16:50:13Z")
> [@caphis](#): > > That’s true, but I think the question is more, how does it have 6 floors when from the outside it appears to have, at most, 3? Just a note from my experiences with the floor plans of Georgian manor houses–it is possible that they don’t mean six floors piled one on top of another, but six floors at various heights. Perhaps some are a split-level apart from each other, or perhaps some of the levels one sees from the outside are 16 feet tall, and include some 16 foot tall rooms but also some 8 foot tall rooms stacked on top of each other. ---
**Author:** ![hammos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hammos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammos1)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/11 "2004-12-07T17:01:27Z")
There is a floorplan of the West Wing [here](http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/facility/white-house-imagery.htm)- albeit of low quality and questionable accuracy. Alternatively, you could go for an 1860s style White House with [this plan.](http://www.geocities.com/~newgeneration/wh1860.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/12 "2004-12-07T17:21:18Z")
I’ve heard that the floorplans for the top floor (where the First Family lives) are kept secret for security reasons. Thus, you’ll probably have to guess about how that’s laid out. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/13 "2004-12-07T17:36:02Z")
So, **Uncommon Sense** , how’s that plan for brainwashing a teleporting mutant to infiltrate the White House going? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/14 "2004-12-07T18:15:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Really though, I was wondering what the biggest home (residence) in the country was and I stumbled across the White House (55,000 sq ft!!). Probably less than 1/3 of that is actual residence. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/15 "2004-12-07T20:03:28Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > So, **Uncommon Sense** , how’s that plan for brainwashing a teleporting mutant to infiltrate the White House going? Not so good. I can’t seem to find the exact GPS co-ordinates for the Master Bedroom. So, is it a forgone conclusion that even a general layout of the White House aint gonna happen? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/16 "2004-12-07T20:08:08Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > So, is it a forgone conclusion that even a general layout of the White House aint gonna happen? Wait! I recall that my old, 70’s vintage encyclopedia has a shoody floorplan. Try the library. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/17 "2004-12-07T20:11:21Z")
Perhaps [THIS?](http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/whtour/) ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/18 "2004-12-07T21:17:38Z")
Ding!! Ding!! Ding!! - We have a winner. Not exactly a floor plan but even better, a picture gallery and virtual tour of most of the White House. Thanks **Bosda** , I may now commence with my super devious plot to \ **Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/19 "2004-12-07T21:31:26Z") Check out the panoramic tour of the Press Briefing room. Pretty cool. after you start the tour you can place your curser anywhere on the screen and scroll in any direction at any speed. Even zoom. Mrs Rice is sitting on the right side of the room. [Tour](http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/life/pressbriefingroom.html#) ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538/20 "2004-12-07T21:41:46Z")
The original whitehouse had walls that were several feet thick and completely of brick, interior and exterior, per the history channel they gained DOZENS of rooms just be redoing the house with a steel fram and saving precious sq. feet. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-floor-plans/278538.md?page=2)