George Washington is the only U.S. president who never lived in the White House.

Construction of the White House began on October 13, 1792. George Washington chose the location at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. An architect named James Hoban won a contest to design the building. He based his plan on a house in Dublin, Ireland. The project took eight years to complete and cost about $232,372.John Adams became the first president to live there on November 1, 1800. The building was still unfinished when he moved in. The walls were damp and the East Room was used to dry laundry. Adams only lived in the house for four months before his term ended.Washington lived in the Samuel Osgood House in New York from 1789 to 1790. He then moved to the Robert Morris House in Philadelphia until 1797. He died in December 1799, just eleven months before the White House was ready. Even though he never lived there, he helped oversee the entire design and construction process.The building was not always called the White House. People originally called it the President's Palace or the President's House. President Theodore Roosevelt made the name White House official in 1901. A famous painting of Washington is the only object that has been in the building since it first opened.