The White House ruins are located in Canyon de Chelly National Monument in northeastern Arizona. Canyon de Chelly National Monument is a group of prehistoric native ruins built into the cliff and caves of three canyons: de Chelly, del Muerto, and Monument.

The original inhabitants arrived around 2500 years ago.

The White House ruins are named for the long white wall in the ruins that is covered with white plaster. Ancestral Puebloans, who lived in the canyon valley from the 1300s to the 1600s, built the ruins in the canyon floor and the cliffs and caves above.

The Navajo people moved into the canyon in the 1700s, since then, they have lived and worked the canyon using the land for farming and grazing land.

Today, the Navajo people do not use the White House Ruins and the trail to the ruins is the only area in Canyon de Chelly where a Navajo guide is not need to visit. The White House ruins are accessible to view; however, they are no longer open to be explored because visitors took too many souvenirs damaging the ruins.