Originally published on National Catholic Register, on August 5, 2025
President Donald Trump has commissioned architect James McCrery — a prominent figure in the revival of classical architecture and a designer of some of the most beautiful “new traditional” Catholic churches in the United States — to design a new White House ballroom.
The White House announced plans last week for the construction of a 90,000-square-foot building, with a seating capacity of 650 people. The current East Room can only accommodate 200 guests.
The selection of McCrery Architects as lead designers for the project and the accompanying architectural renderings offers a clear signal of the project’s stylistic direction. The firm is “well-known for their classical architectural design,” the release noted.
James McCrery, founder and principal of McCrery Architects, based in Washington, D.C., has helped reshape the landscape of sacred architecture across the country, rejecting modernist trends in favor of a “new traditional” aesthetic. The firm’s portfolio also includes civic and institutional projects.
In a statement released by the White House, McCrery noted that the White House has been “untouched” since the East Wing was built during the Truman administration.
“I am honored that President Trump has entrusted me to help bring this beautiful and necessary renovation to The People’s House, while preserving the elegance of its classical design and historical importance,” McCrery said.
One of McCrery’s most notable projects is Sacred Heart Cathedral in Knoxville, Tennessee, distinguished by its Brunelleschi-inspired dome and cruciform layout. The cathedral exemplifies the grandeur of classical architecture and reflects a commitment to sacred design rooted in tradition.
Across the country, McCrery has designed Catholic churches and student centers on campuses, offering countless young people a glimpse of the divine through the beauty of their surroundings.
Earlier this year, the Register spoke with McCrery about classical architecture projects that he thought might be worth highlighting in our pages. Among others, he pointed to St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel and Newman Center at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, which his firm designed. For McCrery, who is a convert to the Catholic faith, the beauty of a church is inseparable from its mission.
“It’s really, really beautiful,” McCrery said. “It’s always been a powerhouse but now a more beautiful powerhouse.”
Bishop James Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln dedicated the church in 2015 and told the Register that the building itself has been a great evangelizer.
“James McCrery’s architectural work is superb,” Bishop Conley told the Register. “The incredible beauty and magnificence of the building is like a magnet for our university students, drawing them into the sacred interior.”
Trump took notice of McCrery and fellow architect Duncan Stroik during his first term as president, when he appointed the pair, both known for their traditionalist churches and sacred buildings, to serve on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in Washington.
Construction of the ballroom will begin this September and is expected to be completed before Trump’s term ends. The project is expected to cost $200 million and will be funded through private donations.
McCrery, 60, a professor of architecture at The Catholic University of America, studied architecture at The Ohio State University and began his career in the New York offices of his former professor Peter Eisenman, a leader in modernist architectural design. McCrery would later reject modernist design in favor of Classical architecture.
“Rethinking his modernist education, and the philosophical foundations of Post-Modern thought and its implications for architecture led Mr. McCrery to investigate and ultimately commit to Classical Architecture,” his biography on The Catholic University of America’s website reads.
Before starting his own firm, McCrery joined the Washington offices of Allan Greenberg, a leading Classical architect known for his traditionalist designs of university and government buildings and private residences.
Mark Ferguson, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at Catholic University, shared his appreciation for the White House’s selection of McCrery to design the new ballroom.
“James is one of the most qualified architects in the world to design a sensitive, dignified, welcoming, fully integrated addition to The People’s House. The school is privileged to have him on our faculty. He has tutored and launched the careers of some of the most gifted architects of the next generation,” Ferguson said.
In an interview with the Register in 2013, as this renaissance of Classical architecture was just underway, McCrery explained his design philosophy.
“Tradition didn’t just happen all of a sudden,” he said. “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,” McCrery added. “But it’s exactly where we’ve arrived after a century and a half of architectural lunacy.”
Twelve years later, thanks in large part to McCrery, architectural sanity — and beauty — seem to be here to stay.