Latrobe, c. 1804. Portrait by Charles Willson Peale.
Architect of the Capitol
In office March 6, 1803 – July 1, 1811
President
Thomas Jefferson James Madison
In office April 6, 1815 – November 20, 1817
President
James Madison James Monroe
Preceded by
William Thornton
Succeeded by
Charles Bulfinch
Personal details
Born
(1764-05-01)May 1, 1764 Fulneck, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died
September 3, 1820(1820-09-03) (aged 56) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Nationality
British-American
Spouses
Lydia Sellon
(m. 1790; died 1793)
Mary Elizabeth Hazlehurst
(m. 1800)
Relations
Christian Ignatius Latrobe (brother) Charles Hazlehurst Latrobe (grandson) Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe (grandson) Charles La Trobe (nephew)
Children
Henry
Benjamin II
John
Known for
Hammerwood Park, Ashdown House, East Sussex, Decatur House, Pope Villa, Old West, Dickinson College, Adena Mansion, Baltimore Basilica, United States Capitol, White House porticos
Signature
Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who immigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, drawing on influences from his travels in Italy, as well as British and French Neoclassical architects such as Claude Nicolas Ledoux. In his thirties, he immigrated to the new United States and designed the United States Capitol, on "Capitol Hill" in Washington, D.C., as well as the Old Baltimore Cathedral or The Baltimore Basilica, (later renamed the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary). It is the first Cathedral constructed in the United States for any Christian denomination. Latrobe also designed the largest structure in America at the time, the "Merchants' Exchange" in Baltimore. With extensive balconied atriums through the wings and a large central rotunda under a low dome which dominated the city, it was completed in 1820 after five years of work and endured into the early twentieth century.
Latrobe immigrated to America from England in 1796, initially settling in Virginia where he worked on the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond. Latrobe then moved to Philadelphia where he established his practice. In 1803, he was hired as Surveyor of the Public Buildings of the United States, and spent much of the next fourteen years working on projects in the new national capital of Washington, D.C., (in the newly-laid out Federal capital of the District of Columbia) where he served as the second Architect of the Capitol. He also was responsible for the design of the White House porticos. Latrobe spent the later years of his life in New Orleans, Louisiana working on a waterworks project, and died there in 1820 from yellow fever.
Latrobe has been called the "father of American architecture".[1] He was the uncle of Charles La Trobe, who was the first Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria in Australia.[citation needed]
^Ravetz, Alison. "Benjamin Henry Latrobe: "Father of American Architecture"". C-SPAN. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
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Thornton was later modified by the British-American architects BenjaminHenryLatrobe Sr., and then Charles Bulfinch. The current cast-iron dome and the...
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completed for John Peter Van Ness and Marcia Van Ness in 1816 by BenjaminHenryLatrobe on 17th Street, Washington, D.C. They entertained the Madisons,...
by BenjaminHenryLatrobe in 1811 for Senator John Pope. It is one of only three extant Latrobe residences in the United States. As one of Latrobe's most...
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the rotten borough of Queenborough – to a design attributed to BenjaminHenryLatrobe. The more famous neoclassical architects Robert Adam and his brother...
architectural style, it was built in 1792 as the first independent work of BenjaminHenryLatrobe. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as a 'demonstration of primeval force'...
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portraits: Rembrandt Peale's George Washington, Charles Willson Peale's BenjaminHenryLatrobe, and Thomas Sully's Andrew Jackson. President Bill Clinton chose...
for many legislators buried elsewhere. The cenotaphs, designed by BenjaminLatrobe, each have a large square block with recessed panels set on a wider...
brick home with an east wing. Burwell consulted with architect, BenjaminHenryLatrobe during construction. After the start of construction of the plantation...
building was subsequently remodeled by notable American architects BenjaminLatrobe, after the 1802 fire, and John Notman, after the 1855 fire. In the...
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