Lego the white house - 21006 Instruction Manual

President Washington sought out Hoban, conferred with 
him, and quickly selected the architect’s proposed design 
for the President’s House in July 1792. 

 

Thomas Jefferson, himself of Irish descent, must have 

gained particular pleasure as the second occupant of the 
White House in Washington, which was doubtless inspired 

by Irish Palladianism. Both Castle Coole and Leinster 
House in Dublin claim to have inspired James Hoban. 

The Palladianism of the White House is interesting as it 

is almost an early form of neoclassicism, especially the 
South facade, which closely resembles James Wyatt’s 

design for Castle Coole of 1790, also in Ireland. Ironically, 

the North facade lacks one of the floors from Leinster 
House, while the Southern facade is given one floor more 
than Castle Coole, and has an external staircase more in 
the Palladian manner.

 

Time, and occupants, have altered the White 

House  in many ways. However, the White House image is 
Hoban’s entirely. It is a handsome residence, embellished 
with unquestionably the finest architectural stone carving 
produced in America at that time. And when Hoban rebuilt 
it, following the fire in 1814, he was ordered to make it as it 
had been, which he did, perpetuating the image and his 

own claim to a place in history.
 

Hoban died on December 8, 1831. He is buried at 

Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

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