Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Friday, August 12
    Trending
    • This Day in History on August 12th
    • History Short: Machine Guns Beat Cavalry Every Time!
    • History Short: Aethelred was Unready for the Vikings!
    • History Short: Why is this Guy NOT in the Hall of Fame?
    • History Short: The Only Country Given Independence Unwillingly!
    • History Short: What is the Greatest Anti-War Song?
    • History Short: Does Barry Bonds Belong in the Hall of Fame?
    • Animated Map of the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine (through August 7th)
    History and Headlines
    • Arts & Entertainment
      • Cinema & TV
      • Games
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Sports
      • Video Games
    • Bizarre Bulletin
      • Misconceptions
      • The Bizarre
      • The Paranormal
      • The Unexplained
    • Lifestyle
      • Animals/Pets
      • Fashion
      • Food
      • Health/Medicine
      • Home Improvement
      • Horoscopes
      • Travel
    • Science & Tech
      • Inventions
      • Nature
      • Vehicles
    • Society
      • Business and Economics
      • Crime
      • Military
      • Politics
      • Religion
      • Society
    • About
      • Welcome to Our Site!
      • This Day in History
      • Table of Contents: A History of the World
      • Online History Textbooks
      • Advance Screenings and Movie Reviews Archive
      • Schedule of Video Adaptations of Our Articles
    • Friends
      • Armchair History TV
      • Fact Fiend
      • RealClearHistory
      • Simply Charly
      • TopTenz
      • ​Unique Interpretations
    History and Headlines
    You are at:Home»Lists»7 Iconic Homes of World Leaders
    Lists

    7 Iconic Homes of World Leaders

    Major DanBy Major DanOctober 13, 2018Updated:October 14, 2021No Comments12 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    White House

    A Brief History

    On October 13, 1792, the cornerstone for the White House was laid in the capital city of the United States, known as Washington, D.C. (the city of Washington within the District of Columbia).  While commonly referred to as “The White House” (because it is white?), the real name of the presidential residence is the United States Executive Mansion. A well known residence throughout the world, in the US the “White House” is a term often used synonymously with “the President” or “the Administration.”  Around the world there are similar iconic residences of national leaders, and today we discuss 7 of the most notable or well known.  (Note: Some of the listed residences are no longer used as the residence of the current national leader.)

    Digging Deeper

    1. White House, Washington, D.C., United States.

    Top: the northern facade with a columned portico facing Lafayette Square Bottom: the southern facade with a semi-circular portico facing The Ellipse

    Its 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. address is probably second only to #10 Downing Street in world wide fame, as this mansion built between 1792 and 1800 has housed the “most powerful person on Earth” since the ascendancy of the United States after World War II.  Home to almost all of our presidents, Harry S Truman had to reside at Blair House from 1949-1951 while much over due renovations took place.  (costing almost $6 million, the renovations included installing steel beam frame members, a bomb shelter, and 2 additional sub-basements.)  The War of 1812 was not kind to the new mansion, as the British burned the building along with much of Washington, D.C. in 1814, forcing President Madison to live elsewhere from 1814 until the end of his term.  Obviously, renovations had to take place after the 1814 fire, and over the years new sections have been added, and lesser renovations have taken place as well.  As the White House is not only the residence of the President and his family, with the President’s office and other administrative work places also housed there, certain security measures have been built in to keep the First Family and government functions safe.  These measures include a fence around the grounds and anti-vehicle barriers to prevent vehicles from plowing into the grounds.  Anti-aircraft missiles are stationed at the White House and the house and grounds are patrolled by US Park Police and the Secret Service.  White House windows have been discretely replaced with bulletproof glass.  Declared a National Museum in 1961, the White House is open for public tours (and has been open to the public for most of its existence) and its furnishings may be declared by the President to be National Artifacts.  White House statistics include 55,000 square feet of floor space and 6 floors, with 35 bathrooms as well as a bowling alley and a tennis court.  About 30,000 people per week visit the White House.  The original exterior was made of sandstone covered with a white “paint” of a mixture of lime, rice glue, casein, and lead.

    2. #10 Downing Street, Westminster, London, United Kingdom.

    Number 10 Downing Street is the headquarters and London residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Organization: ARMY Object Name: No10-2013-005-004 Category: MOD Supplemental Categories: Equipment, Locations Keywords: No10, 10 Downing Street, Number, 10, Prime, Minister Country: UK

    You may think of this most famous of street addresses as the home of the British Prime Minister, but the residence was originally purchased to be the residence of the First Lord of the Treasury.  It so happens that the Prime Minister has also usually held that particular title as well as Prime Minister since the 1700’s, and has always had the dual titles since 1905.  The 100 room Georgian mansion has real history, being over 300 years old, completed in 1684!  #10 was originally 3 houses that over the years have been joined as one and was a gift by King George II to the then First Lord of the Treasury, Sir Robert Walpole.  Walpole only agreed to the gift as a gift to the First Lord of the Treasury rather than as a gift to himself, starting the long tradition of #10 as the residence of the First Lord of the Treasury.  In its early years several Prime Ministers chose not to live in the large, hard to maintain house, and at times demolition was considered.  Like the White House, several government offices are also kept at #10.  Located in the Westminster heart of London, #10 is adjacent to Parliament and Buckingham Palace, a convenient location.

    3. Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London, United Kingdom.

    The principal façade of Buckingham Palace, the East Front, was originally constructed by Edward Blore and completed in 1850. It was remodelled by Sir Aston Webb in 1913.

    The official residence of the British Monarch and the headquarters for the Crown, the Palace was originally a private residence built by the Duke of Buckingham in 1703.  The grounds with the main house was purchased by King George III for his wife, Queen Charlotte, in 1761, getting the name “Queen’s House.”   Renovations started almost immediately. The Palace was enlarged in the 19th Century and in 1837 Queen Victoria made it the official residence and headquarters of the British Crown.  With a whopping 775 rooms, the Palace is used for a variety of meetings and entertainments and is open to the public.  The grounds boast a large (40 acre) and magnificent garden.  The Palace was unscathed during World War I, but suffered a single bomb strike during World War II.

    4. Palace of Versailles, Île-de-France, France.

    The sculpture, Le Seine, designed by Girardon, modeled by Le Hongre, and cast by the Marsy brothers between 1685 and 1694, was one of a set of 16 allegorical figures placed around the Parterre d’Eau (Water Terrace) on the west side of the Palace of Versailles.

    From 1682 to 1789 the Palace of Versailles was the residence of the monarch of France and the epitome of royal excess.  First the home of Louis XIV, by the time of the French Revolution in 1789 the occupants, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, had become reviled symbols of oppression of the hungry masses while they lived in opulent luxury.  Located about a dozen miles from downtown Paris, the Palace is renowned for its glittering Hall of Mirrors, bejeweled Royal Opera, and magnificent grounds, fountains and gardens.  Lovingly restored, this former symbol of oppression now belongs to all French citizens as a public park and museum, and gets over 7.7 million visitors per year, second only to the Louvre as a Parisian tourist attraction.  The site was originally a small village, purchased by King Louis XIII where he built a hunting lodge in 1623-1624.  Louis XIII then converted the lodge into a chateau several years later, and his son, Louis XIV rebuilt the site as his palace after his marriage in 1660.  Building and expanding continued, and the features kept coming as well, including installation of a zoo for exotic animals!  Several thousand officials and courtiers worked at Versailles for the King.  King Louis XV assumed the throne on the death of his father in 1715, but only 5 years old at the time lived in Paris under a regency.  Louis XV moved to Versailles as his main residence in 1722, and continued adding buildings, rooms, and opulence to the complex.  The unfortunate King Louis XVI reigned during a period of financial reverses, precluding him from major additions to the Palace, but he and his bride, Marie Antoinette, managed to remodel many of the interior rooms in high style.  In a fascinating bit of irony, part of the complex was made up as a peasant hamlet for Queen Marie Antoinette and her pals to play at being peasants!   When the royal family was ousted in 1792, the revolutionary government ordered all works of art at Versailles to be moved to the Louvre, while the rest of the furnishings were sold at auction to refill government coffers.  Subsequent French monarchs, starting with Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte I decided to forgo using Versailles as a residence because of the bad appearance such a move would give.  Some renovations did take place, and certain ceremonial events were held there throughout the ensuing decades.

    5. Grand Kremlin Palace, Moscow, Russia.

    View from across the Moskva River

    Kremlin in Russian means fortress or citadel, and there are of course many places in Russia called a “Kremlin.”  The place we think of when we hear the word is the big one in Moscow, which was adapted as the Moscow residence of the Czar and the center of Russian, and then Soviet, government.  First referred to in 1331, serious building started around 1366 with the replacing of timber walls with walls of limestone.  During the 15th Century reign of Grand Prince Ivan III more ambitious building took place, with top notch architects from around Europe contracted to build impressive churches, buildings, and towers.  Russian rulers used the Kremlin Palace as their residence until Peter the Great moved the national capital to St. Petersburg in 1713.  The Kremlin once again became the center of Russian royalty in 1773 with the ascension of Catherine the Great who had the complex renovated.  Napoleon’s French invasion in 1812 saw a failed attempt to destroy the complex, though the French did manage to blow up some of the buildings and walls.  Later when the Soviet Union was established, Lenin and then Stalin chose to make the Kremlin their own residence.  (“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?”)  The complex remains the center of Russian rulers (home of the President), with 20 towers, 4 cathedrals, and 5 palaces among its structures.  The complex covers about 28 hectares and receives about 2.8 million visitors per year.

    6. Tokyo Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan.

    Main gate to the Imperial Palace

    In 1868 the Japanese Emperor moved his residence from Kyoto to the site of Edo Castle, formerly the residence of a Shogun.  The Emperor renamed it Tōkei Castle only to rename it Imperial Castle a year later.  After a fire destroyed the building, a new Imperial residence was built in 1888, named Palace Castle.  Much of the complex was destroyed by American bombing in May of 1945, and a new Palace complex was built on the site during the 1960’s, gaining the new name Imperial Residence.  The new Imperial Palace is more modest than the old style, and various other buildings on the grounds are used for ceremonial purposes.  Part of the grounds are maintained as a public park.  Part of the surrender agreement at the end of World War II was the removal of any divinity of the Emperor of Japan, though the Emperor was permitted to remain.  Under the new democratic constitutional government imposed after World War II, the Emperor has become an anachronistic ceremonial post without the gravitas the office once held.

    7. ʻIolani Palace, Honolulu, Hawaii.

    ʻIolani Palace is the hallmark of Hawaiian renaissance architecture

    The only state capital to house a royal palace, Honolulu is home to the official residence of the King or Queen of Hawaii from 1845 until Americans took over the islands in 1893.  The Palace was used as the Capitol Building of Hawaii until 1969, and in 1978 became a museum.  First occupied by King Kamehameha III in 1845, the last royal resident was Queen Liliʻuokalani in 1893 who was ousted in a coup by mostly American residents of Hawaii that created the Republic of Hawaii until the islands were annexed by the US in 1898.  The current Palace was built in 1879 on the site of the previous palace that was razed to make way for the new Palace.  Situated on 10.6 acres, the Palace is a stone and concrete structure 140 feet by 100 feet and rises 2 stories above a raised basement.  Towers rise 76 feet high.  The Palace is architecturally unique, of the American Florentine Style, and is nothing like any other building, featuring European, American and Hawaiian touches.    Native Hawaiians seized the Palace in 2008 to protest what they believe is the illegal US occupation of Hawaii.  The insurrection failed and Hawaii remains part of the United States, but now with increased security at ʻIolani Palace.

    Question for students (and subscribers): Which executive mansions, palaces, castles or homes would you add to the list?  Please let us know in the comments section below this article.

    If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!

    Your readership is much appreciated!

    Historical Evidence

    For more information, please see…

    Klara, Robert. The Hidden White House: Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America’s Most Famous Residence.  St. Martin’s Griffin, 2014.

    Merridale, Catherine. Red Fortress: History and Illusion in the Kremlin. Metropolitan Books, 2013.

    The featured image in this list, an aerial view of the White House complex, from north, by Carol M. Highsmith from 30 April 2007, is available from the United States Library of Congress‘s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID highsm.04919.  This work is from the Carol M. Highsmith Archive collection at the Library of Congress. According to the library, there are no known copyright restrictions on the use of this work.  Carol M. Highsmith has stipulated that her photographs are in the public domain. Photographs of sculpture or other works of art may be restricted by the copyright of the artist.  In the foreground is Pennsylvania Avenue, closed to traffic. Center: Executive Residence (1792–1800) with North Portico (1829) facing; left: East Wing (1942); right: West Wing (1901), with the Oval Office (1909) at its southeast corner.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous ArticleOctober 12, 1810: When Did Oktoberfest Originate? (The First Oktoberfest)
    Next Article October 14, 1982: War on Drugs Declared, 36 Years Later No Progress?
    Major Dan

    Major Dan is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.

    Related Posts

    History Short: The Only Country Given Independence Unwillingly!

    August 9, 2022

    History Short: The Other Mayflower

    August 1, 2022

    10 Great Airplane Flights

    July 25, 2022
    Follow Us!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Patreon
    Sign Up For Our Newsletter!
    Most Recent

    This Day in History on August 12th

    August 12, 2022

    History Short: Machine Guns Beat Cavalry Every Time!

    August 12, 2022

    History Short: Aethelred was Unready for the Vikings!

    August 11, 2022

    History Short: Why is this Guy NOT in the Hall of Fame?

    August 10, 2022

    History Short: The Only Country Given Independence Unwillingly!

    August 9, 2022
    This Day in History Video

    Advertisements




    Amazon Affiliate Disclosure Statement

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases via links in the “Historical Evidence” sections of articles.

    About HistoryAndHeadlines.com

    Thanks for visiting History and Headlines!  This site exists primarily for educational purposes and is intended as a resource for Dr. Zar’s students.  Articles are mostly written by either Dr. Zar or his dad (Major Dan).  To any guest readers, please keep that in mind when commenting on articles.   Thank you!

    We try to present our students with historical topics that are both diverse and a bit out of the ordinary.  Our motto is “We try until we succeed!”

    Contact us at admin@historyandheadlines.com

    Guidelines and Policies for Images used on This Site, as well as for Guest and Sponsored Articles, and Other Terms of Use

    Privacy Statement

    © 2022 History and Headlines

    All-Time Most Commented

    July 28, 1866: 18 Year Old Girl Wins Commission to Sculpt Statue of Lincoln (A Truly Great American Woman)

    July 28, 2014

    December 24, 1865: Birth of the Ku Klux Klan

    December 24, 2015

    December 25, 1868: President Johnson Pardons all Confederate Veterans

    December 25, 2015

    February 5, 1909: First Plastic Invented was called Bakelite!

    February 5, 2014

    November 23, 1876: “Boss” Tweed Turned Over to Authorities

    November 23, 2013
    Recommended Book
    © 2022 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

    You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

    History and Headlines
    Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

    Strictly Necessary Cookies

    Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

    If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.