The White House (Russian: Белый дом), also known as the Russian White House, is a government building in Moscow. It was designed by the architects Dmitry Chechulin and P. Shteller. Construction started in 1965 and ended in 1981. Overall design follows Chechulin's 1934 draft of the Aeroflot building.
The building stood damaged for some time after the coup was overthrown, and the black burns became famous, so much so that it became tradition for newlyweds to be photographed in front of its damaged facade. It was shown in an episode of the American television show "Police Academy." It was also pictured on a 50 kopeck stamp from 1991.
More than 300 million dollars (US) was spent renovating the building, more than the entire academic research and development budget of the entire nation.
The reformed parliament, known thereafter by its Tsarist era title of Duma, was elected in 1994 and moved to another building on Moscow's Okhotny Ryad.
The renovated White House now houses the Russian government. An inscription at the base of the tower reads, "House of the Government of the Russian Federation.
