Will Obama back White House restoration?

Barack Obama is being asked to authorise the reconstruction of the White House – but not the one which serves as the presidential residence in Washington. The call has come from custodians of an exact replica in a remote area of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian White House is a school, and its pupils are increasingly worried about its deteriorating state.

It was commissioned about one hundred years ago by the countess Sofia Potskaya, who requested the Italian architect Francesco Boffa to design an exact replica of the American presidential residence. Located in the Vinnitskaya region in central Ukraine, it contains all the architectural idiosyncrasies of its American twin, including an Oval Office.

After having served as an aristocratic residence, Ukraine’s White House was reconstructed into a school and fell into decline. And, although lessons still continue, the local administration is actively expressing concern over the building’s safety and functionality. The columns are chipped and the walls have been covered in scaffolding in order to prevent bits of plaster from falling.

The pupils have previously written to both Bill Clinton and George Bush, but to no avail – the presidents didn’t seem to care about the Ukrainian White House’s fate and remained silent on the subject. The 200 Ukrainian children are now hoping that the new U.S. president, who gained popularity with his slogans calling for change and concern, will hear their call.

The Ukrainian government has provided the school with some $66,000 to reconstruct the boiler house on the school’s territory. However, even according to the most optimistic estimates, around $2m are required for the full reconstruction of this unusual architectural ensemble.

Meanwhile, President-elect Obama is busy with making plans to reconstruct the White House in Washington DC. Amongst other plans for the residence’s renovation, one of the most unusual ones was Obama’s promise to build a basketball court on its territory. Although the complex already includes a bowling alley, Obama is not believed to be a fan.

Fact box

The White House in Washington DC acquired the name during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, which started in 1901. Before that time, it went by rather banal names, such as the ‘presidential palace’ or ‘president’s residence’. Roosevelt issued a decree stating that from now on it should be known as the White House and nothing else.

Nearly every presidential family which moved to the White House conducted some sort of expansion and reconstruction. The Roosevelts extended the residence by building the West Wing to prevent overcrowding, while Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of John F. Kennedy, directed a very extensive historic reconstruction of the White House, collecting numerous artifacts for the interior design.

The White House has been wheel-chair accessible ever since the modernisations undertaken by the Roosevelt administration. The president needed to use a wheelchair due to his paraplegia.

The White House includes: six stories and 55,000 ft² (5,100 m²) of floor space, 132 rooms and 35 bathrooms, 412 doors, 147 windows, twenty-eight fireplaces, eight staircases, three elevators, five full-time chefs, a tennis court, a (single-lane) bowling alley, a movie theatre, a jogging track, a swimming pool, and a putting green. It receives about 5,000 visitors a day.