Exterior view
by LATROBE, Benjamin Henry, Photo
The commission to build the White House was awarded to the Irishman James Hoban. His project borrowed heavily from a design for a country house by the English architect James Gibbs. The office of the president of the United States was therefore built in a very traditional, even old-fashioned manner - and, of course, in the style of the country’s former colonial masters.
The White House owes its characteristic portico to Benjamin Latrobe. The photo shows the south side of the building.