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When President Harry S. Truman moved his family into the White House in 1945, he was annoyed by the draftiness, creaking floors and mysterious sounds which seemed to permeate the old building.

Structural investigations revealed that the White House, which had been burned down in the War of 1812 and rebuilt, expanded and retrofitted in a haphazard manner over the decades, was only standing, in the words of the Public Buildings Administration commissioner, “by force of habit.”

The Trumans moved across Pennsylvania Avenue to the Blair House, and in 1949 Congress authorized a $5.4 million project to replace the interior of the building while preserving the historic exterior facade.

Jan. 3, 1950 - A second floor corridor.

Jan. 19, 1950 - The East Room.

Over the next 22 months, the interior of the White House was utterly gutted, as engineers and architects tried to remove unstable structural elements while somehow keeping the exterior intact.

Construction equipment was disassembled, carried inside the building and reassembled so as not to damage the exterior.

Feb 06, 1950View from the servants' dining room.

Feb 10, 1950Workers disassemble a bath tub.

Feb. 14, 1950 - Workers gut a lower corridor.

Feb. 20, 1950 - The Blue Room.

Feb. 23, 1950 - Workers remove the main staircase.

Feb. 27, 1950 - A crane lifts a 40-foot beam towards a second- floor window while workers load debris onto a truck.

March 01, 1950The east wall of the state dining room.

March 09, 1950Men stand in the second floor Oval Study above The Blue Room.

May 17, 1950Bulldozers move earth around inside the gutted shell of the White House.

Nov. 6, 1950 - Workers lay concrete ceilings for basement rooms below the northeast corner of the White House.

Jan. 23, 1951 - The Lincoln Room.

June. 21, 1951 - The East Room.

July 19, 1951 - Workers inside massive ventilation ducts in the basement of the White House.

Nov. 21, 1951 - The State Dining Room.

Dec. 4, 1951 - A third floor corridor.

Jan. 4, 1952 - Workers install new steps on the South Portico.

Jan. 23, 1952 - The state dining room.

Feb. 16, 1952 - The South Portico with scaffolding removed.

March 24, 1952 - Library of Congress employees place books on the shelves of the West Sitting Room.

March 27, 1952 - President Harry S. Truman and First Lady Bess Truman return to the White House after the renovation.