Right around the time I closed on my first house, a neat brick townhome in York, Pennsylvania, the sellers disclosed that they’d installed soundproof windows without consulting the Historical Architectural Review Board, which was a no-no.

That body had to approve any changes to the house facade that would be visible from the street. Whoops. I lived in fear that someone was gonna discover the verboten windows and make me take them out. I didn’t like that, but it was the price of living in a historic home.

Another historic home? The White House. It has been truly shocking and heartbreaking to see photos of the East Wing bulldozed like an abandoned shopping mall to make room for the construction of a $300 million ballroom.

I understand that this is not the first time the People’s House has undergone big physical changes, including the colonnades, the Rose Garden and even the East Wing itself. But before you come at me with false equivalency: don’t.

It bothers me that “the people” were straight-up lied to about the nature of the changes. The president himself said over the summer that plans for the ballroom ”won’t interfere with the current building. It’ll be near it but not touching it.” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “Nothing will be torn down.”

The fact is that either that was never true, or further investigation proved that the entire East Wing would have to go in order to build the ballroom. The point is that no one ever admitted that publicly until it was very clear the whole thing was already toast.

My displeasure is not political. I would be just as mad and disturbed by the visuals if this process was happening under any other president, especially if that person hadn’t been honest about the extent of the project. Yes, President Obama constructed a basketball court on an existing tennis court. Nothing was knocked down. First lady Michelle Obama put in a vegetable garden on the lawn. Not one bulldozer. So knock it off.

According to a very detailed story in Fast Company published Wednesday, the White House, Supreme Court building, the Capitol and a few other historic Washington structures are exempt from the National Historic Preservation Act that requires strict oversight of such projects. Although there are several entities that would normally be consulted, “none can fully override a project like the demolition and ballroom addition due to the building’s Section 106 exemption,” writer Nate Berg explained.

To me, it’s not just the fact that it was razed that is upsetting — although knocking down an entire historic wing that is used as an entrance for public visitors to replace it with a ballroom the public won’t be able to access is certainly something. What’s more baffling is that it’s the “People’s House,” but neither the people, nor any of the organizations that would normally represent them in drastic changes to it — like the National Park Service, the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission — seemed to have a say.

I know the president says he and other donors are the ones paying for construction, but it seems weird to make that decision, without going through any of the usual channels, on a building you’re supposed to be leaving in three years. The official talking point now is that the space will be beneficial for future presidents, too.

Real quick: Let me ask my editors at The Banner if it’s OK for me to build a tiny soundproof drywall office around my desk so I can watch “Survivor” at work without my headphones. Whoever sits there next is gonna love it!

I cannot get over the startling optics of the demolition, which is being done by Silver Spring company ACECO. Every time I look at the crushed beams and plaster I’m reminded of that iconic movie scene of aliens exploding the White House in “Independence Day,” or when racist terrorists, aided by a disgruntled Secret Service agent, shoot up the place in “White House Down.” This time, the call literally came from inside the house.

There was a beautiful and now sadly canceled Netflix series released earlier this year called “The Residence,” in which an unusual detective is called to investigate the murder of the White House’s chief usher, a man who deeply loved the place and what it stood for. His murderer turned out to be someone who hated its history and everyone who valued the house — the killer wanted to do something new with it, to leave their own mark.

I am not saying that anyone in this administration hates the White House, but it’s obvious they want to recreate at least part of it in their preferred image. Yes, they can do it. Yes, they apparently can do it without permission.

It’s the blatant lying, accompanied by the lack of an attempt to even look like they were going along with protocol, that’s galling.

It’s not their house, just like it wasn’t any other president’s house.

It’s ours.