Eisenhower Executive Office Building

This ornate granite building beside the White House once housed the State, War, and Navy departments and now provides offices for the executive branch. Completed in 1888 in an exuberant French Second Empire style, it contrasts sharply with the classical buildings around it, with mansard roofs, columned porticoes, and cast-iron detailing. Its interior boasts grand staircases and stenciled ceilings. Long controversial, it is now regarded as an architectural landmark.