Print Size: 14" x 18" (Frame: 18" x 24") Architect: Benjamin Latrobe
In this painterly watercolor, Latrobe presented his ideas for rebuilding the south front of the White House following its destruction by the British in the War of 1812. Latrobe had originally worked up the scheme 10 years earlier when, during Thomas Jefferson's administration, he also designed the East and West colonnades to conceal stables, laundry and other domestic operations. Despite Latrobe's recommendation for an axial stair and approach, President James Madison pledged to restore the White House according to the original plans of James Hoban.
