The President's House
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
In the early years of the United States, the nation's capital was in Philadelphia, and the Presidents lived in The President's House, a three-story brick home in the heart of downtown. George Washington stayed there for seven years, John Adams for three, before The White House was built in late 1800.
The President's House was torn down in 1832, and its address was forgotten until excavation for a proposed Liberty Bell Center uncovered its foundation. The House was reopened on its original footprint in 2010 -- as a high-concept open-air museum with half-built walls, no roof, and empty window frames and doorways. A visual testament to open government... and much more surreal than The White House.