The White House is one of the most iconic buildings in the United States, its Neoclassical columned facade instantly recognizable to most Americans. But the design that was ultimately chosen by George Washington in 1792 was just one of six serious contenders, and three of those alternate concepts have been unavailable for viewing by the public — until now. HouseFresh worked with the Maryland Center for History and Culture to access the original drawings and plans and transform them into realistic digital renderings, giving us a look at what might have been if a different White House design had been selected.

Washington and his Secretary of State at the time, Thomas Jefferson, held a competition to design the White House and Capitol. Though all proposals for the Capitol building were rejected, they selected a preliminary drawing for the White House that was ultimately built, crafted by Irish architect James Hoban. The design was based on Hoban’s own Charleston County Courthouse in Charleston, South Carolina, which Washington had admired during his “Southern Tour” the year before. Among the other submissions were taller, grander, and in some cases, simpler designs, including one secretly submitted by Jefferson himself. Thomas Jefferson’s White House

An architect in his own right, Jefferson was a fan of classical European design, and out of all the entries, his anonymous proposal is perhaps the most strikingly different from the White House we...