For the first two years of his presidency, according to White House photographer Abbie Rowe, President Truman heard "ghosts" roaming the halls of the Second Floor residence. The mansion's heaving floors and mysterious sounds had been known by staff and First Families for many years. In 1946, Congress authorized $780,000 ($11 million in 2020 dollars) for repairs. When the Trumans moved into the executive mansion in 1945, they found it badly in need of repair after twelve years of neglect during the Depression and World War II. The Blue Room in 1945, with the chandelier that swayed
Although the scope, costs, and historical authenticity of the work were criticized by some at the time, the reconstructed mansion has proved a safe, stable, well-functioning residence for First Families ever since. For over three years, the White House was gutted, expanded, and rebuilt. Truman, his family, and the entire residence staff were relocated across the street to Blair House.
In 1948, architectural and engineering investigations deemed it unsafe for occupancy. A century and a half of wartime destruction and rebuilding, hurried renovations, additions of new services, technologies, the added third floor and inadequate foundations brought the Executive Residence portion of the White House Complex to near-imminent collapse. The White House Reconstruction, also known as the Truman Reconstruction, was a comprehensive dismantling and rebuilding of the interior of the White House from 1949 to 1952.
The gutted interior of the White House, May 1950
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