Catholic Classical Architect James McCrery To Lead White House Ballroom Construction

WASHINGTON—Construction on the new White House ballroom will soon begin, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared on Thursday, led by Washington, D.C., architect James McCrery.

Leavitt announced the news during Thursday’s White House press briefing, where she shared that the new ballroom will be “a much needed and exquisite addition of approximately 90,000 total square feet” able to seat 650 guests. Leavitt stressed that the new addition will be carefully crafted and beautifully designed.

The White House says that previous presidential administrations have wanted to add a large event space at the White House complex that could hold a much larger number of guests than the current space allows.

Mock-up of the new ballroom. Photo courtesy of the White House.

Mock-up of the new ballroom. Photo courtesy of the White House.

In a release, the White House notes that though the building is one of the most beautiful and historic in the world, it is “currently unable to host major functions honoring world leaders and other countries without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building entrance.”

“Presidents in the modern era have faced challenges hosting major events at the White House because it has been untouched since President Harry Truman,” McCrery said in a statement shared by the White House.

“I am honored that President Trump has entrusted me to help bring this beautiful and necessary renovation to The People’s House,” he added, “while preserving the elegance of its classical design and historical importance.”

McCrery, who practices classical and traditional architecture, is the founder of McCrery Architects and a professor of architecture at the Catholic University of America. Some of his past work includes the Knoxville, Tennessee based Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our Lady of the Mountains Church in North Carolina, and St. Mary Help of Christians church, based in Aiken, South Carolina.

St Mary Help of Christians sanctuary. Photos courtesy of McCrery Architects.

Our Lady of the Mountains. Photos courtesy of McCrery Architects.

Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Photos courtesy of McCrery Architects.

The president himself, along with other donors, has committed to funding the project, which will cost about $200 million, according to the White House. The United States Secret Service will provide security enhancements and modifications.

The White House says  that the ballroom’s theme and architectural heritage will be “almost identical” to the White House itself, though it will be “substantially separated from the main building.” The new ballroom will be located where the East Wing — which has been renovated repeatedly — is currently located.

“President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail,” White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles shared in a statement. “The President and the Trump White House are fully committed to working with the appropriate organizations to preserving the special history of the White House while building a beautiful ballroom that can be enjoyed by future Administrations and generations of Americans to come.”

McCrery has long been lauded as a classical architect, particularly when it comes to his work on Catholic Churches.

The beautiful church for the Newman Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was designed by McCrery Architects, led by James McCrery, who has been appointed by US President Donald Trump to oversee the renovation of the White House.

Image: Michael Donlan pic.twitter.com/U6FBrNLlel

— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) July 31, 2025

The D.C.-based architect has deplored modernistic church architecture of the late 19th century and 20th century, arguing that modern church architecture often fails to truly glorify God or inspire those attending mass or praying in the church.

In 2013, he pointed out to the National Catholic Register that some modern churches lack statues and instead include “nondescript altars, stained-glass nature scenes and rounded pews that focus Catholics on one another instead of the altar and the Eucharist.”

“We don’t have a big of a problem as in Europe, especially France and Italy, because our culture has not drifted as far toward modernism, theologically or architecturally,” McCrery said in 2013. “But we do suffer substantially from this problem.”

Arguing in favor of traditional church architecture, he told the National Catholic Register: “Tradition didn’t just all of the sudden happen. It has been in the works for thousands of years. A chemist would not come to the elements with a fresh look every time, deciding the elemental chart is of no use or interest whatsoever in the modern era and that his personal creativity is something more valuable.”

“That would be absurd,” he added. “But it’s exactly where we’ve arrived after a century and a half of architectural lunacy.”