Which architects and designers were responsible for major East Wing renovations and expansions?
Executive summary
The East Wing of the White House has been reshaped by different architects across three major moments: the early 20th‑century Roosevelt renovation led by McKim, Mead & White (Charles Follen McKim), mid‑century work associated with Lorenzo Winslow and the Truman reconstruction, and a recent 2025–2026 expansion led by McCrery Architects under James (Jim) McCrery II; contemporary reporting also records controversy over demolition, permitting and historic‑preservation objections [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. The Roosevelt-era entry: McKim, Mead & White establishes the first East Wing
The first small East Wing — built in 1902 during President Theodore Roosevelt’s renovation — was designed by the prominent New York firm McKim, Mead & White, with Charles Follen McKim credited for the East and West Wing additions that formalized visitor circulation and cloakroom functions [2] [1].
2. Mid‑century crisis and Lorenzo Winslow’s interventions
By mid‑century the White House required more extensive structural work; Lorenzo Winslow, the White House architect, is credited in the historical record with designing the two‑story East Wing that was added in the early 1940s and later overseeing reconstruction tied to the Truman renovation, work that left the building’s exterior walls intact while the interior was largely rebuilt [2] [1].
3. The 1940s/1950s overlap and what the sources show
Contemporary summaries show an overlap in how Winslow’s role is described: some accounts emphasize a 1942 two‑story East Wing addition (partly to conceal the Presidential Emergency Operations Center) while other official histories place Winslow in supervisory roles during the post‑Truman reconstruction completed in 1952 — the sources document both phases but don’t fully reconcile every timing nuance in a single narrative [2] [1].
4. The 2025 expansion: McCrery Architects and the White House State Ballroom project
In 2025 the Administration selected McCrery Architects (James McCrery II / Jim McCrery as principal) to design a large neoclassical extension on the East Wing site — described as the White House State Ballroom and a 90,000‑square‑foot addition — with the firm presented publicly as a lead classical‑design practice for the project [4] [3] [1].
5. Public reaction, process and preservation objections
Reporting and preservation groups flagged process and scale concerns: sources note that demolition of the existing East Wing began amid criticism that permitting and National Capital Planning Commission review were bypassed and that the new, much larger wing (and ballroom) would overwhelm the historic balance of the Executive Residence — concerns formally voiced by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and covered in contemporaneous reporting [2] [3].
6. Beware of similarly named local firms: EastWing Architects (Baltimore) is not the White House designer
Several listings and press items reference a Baltimore firm called EastWing (or East Wing) Architects, led by Evan Wivell, which provides residential and commercial design services; these local firms are unrelated to the White House East Wing projects and appear in search results for the name but not in sources tying them to White House renovations [5] [6] [7] [8].
7. Conclusion and limits of the record
Synthesis of available reporting points clearly to McKim, Mead & White (Charles Follen McKim) for the 1902 work, Lorenzo Winslow for mid‑century additions and reconstruction phases, and McCrery Architects/Jim McCrery II as the firm selected for the 2025 East Wing/State Ballroom expansion; the record also documents contemporaneous controversy about demolition, review processes and historic‑preservation objections, and the sources do not provide a single unified chronology reconciling every technical date and role beyond these headline assignments [1] [2] [4] [3].