James Hoban
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James Hoban (c. 1758 – December 8, 1831) was an Irish architect, best known for designing the White House in Washington, D.C..
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[edit] Life
James Hoban was born in Desart, near Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland.[1] Hoban was raised at Cuffesgrange, Co Kilkenny where he learned carpentry skills. He studied architecture at the Royal Dublin Society.
Following the American Revolutionary War, Hoban emigrated to the United States, and established himself as an architect in Philadelphia in 1781.[1] Hoban went to South Carolina in 1792, where he designed numerous buildings including the South Carolina statehouse in Columbia.[1][2]
In 1792, Hoban won the competition to design the presidential mansion, later known as the White House.[3]
Hoban was also one of the supervising architects who served on the Capitol, carrying out the design of Dr. William Thornton.
Hoban lived the rest of his life in Washington, D.C., where he worked on other public buildings and government projects, including roads and bridges.[4] He also designed Rossenarra House near the village of Kilmoganny in Kilkenny, Ireland in 1824.
Hoban's wife Susanna Sewall was the daughter of the prominet Georgetown "City Tavern" proprietor.[5][6]
Hoban was also involved in the development of Catholic institutions in the city, including Georgetown University (where his son was a member of the Jesuit community), St. Patrick's Parish, and the Visitation Convent founded by another Kilkenny native, Alice Lalor of Ballyragget.
Hoban died in Washington, D.C. on December 8, 1831. He is buried at historic Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C. One of his many descendents, Mark Patrick Hoban, is a distinguished Westfordologist in southern New Hampshire.
[edit] Selected Work
Little information has been published, heretofore, listing the catalogue of Hoban's architectural work. Considering his stature as the architect of the White House, the number of his landmark buildings that have been lost is surprising.
- Blodget's Union Public Hotel (AKA Blodget's Lottery Hotel), site of the first General Post Office of the United States, northeast corner of 8th and E Streets, Washington, D.C. - 1783 (Demolished in 1856)[7]
- Wye Hall (John Paca mansion), Wye Island directly opposite Wye Plantation, Maryland - circa 1787 (Demolished 1789)[8]
- "Prospect Hill" (Ephraim Bayard mansion), Prospect Hill Plantation, 2695 Laurel Hill Road, Edisto Island, SC 29438 - circa 1790[9]
- The William Seabrook House, Edisto Island, SC[10]
- The First South Carolina State House, Columbia, S.C. - 1790[11][12]
- The Charleston Theatre, New and Broad Streets, Charleston, S.C. - 1792 (Demolished)[13]
- Executive Mansion (The White House), 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. - 1792 (Southern Portico for President James Monroe, 1824; Northern Portico for President Andrew Jackson, 1829)
- First Bank of the United States, Third Street, between Chestnut and Walnut Streets, Philadelphia, PA - 1795 (Samuel Blodget is often incorrectly credited but he only served as contractor, hiring James Hoban as designer).[14][15]
- Northeast Executive Building, Fifteenth Street, near The White House (Demolished)
- Georgetown Residence, circa l800 (With many fine significant interior details, reputedly designed by James Hoban).[16]
- Market House (AKA "Marsh Market"), Pennsylvania Avenue and Seventh Street, Washington, D.C. - 1801 (Demolished)
- St. Patrick’s Church, Corner of 14th and H Streets, NW, Washington, D.C. (Demolished. Now the site of the old Grand Lodge building)
- St Mary's Chapel (AKA Barry's Chapel), Roman Catholic parish church, 10th and F Streets, Washington, D.C. - 1806 (Demolished; its cornerstone was saved, and is now inserted in the outer wall of the Holy Name Chapel, the Church of St. Dominic.)
- "Baum-Taft House (AKA Martin Baum House, later Nicholas Longworth House, later Sinton House, later the Charles P. Taft residence), 316 Pike Street, Cincinnati, OH - 1820[17]
- "Oak Hill" (President James Monroe mansion), Leesburg, VA - 1820 (In conjunction with Thomas Jefferson)[18]
- Rossenarra House, near the village of Kilmoganny, Ireland - 1824
[edit] Commemorations
Numerous events were held around 2008 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of his birth.
In 2008, a memorial arbor to honor James Hoban was completed near his birth place, and a major exhibition on his life took take place at the White House Visitor Center.[19]
Dublin Made Him..., a one day colloquium in honour of Hoban, took place on October 3, 2008, at the (RDS) in Dublin, Ireland.[20] It was presented by the RDS in association with the White House Historical Association, the U.S. Embassy in Ireland, and the James Hoban Societies of the U.S. and Ireland.
The Irish-American group Solas have a song "John Riordan's Heels/The Bath Jig/Hoban's White House" on their album For Love and Laughter. Group member Mick McAuley, like Hoban, is from Kilkenny, and named the song in Hoban's honor: but sadly hes dead.
[edit] See also
[edit] Additional reading
- Bryan, Wilhelmus Bogart (1914), A History of the National Capital, The Macmillan company, http://books.google.com/books?id=EkoOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA194&lpg=PA194&dq=%22james+hoban%22+superintendent&source=web&ots=62c4xQxFab&sig=Eu8wkRSei-ghurXgMI9xxS11R3Y, retrieved 2008-01-17
- Bergin, Denis (2008), The James Hoban Commemoration 2008, http://web.mac.com/avergeen/iWeb/JamesHobanUpdate/Hoban%20Home.html, retrieved 2008-05-06
- Frary, Ihna Thayer (1969). They Built the Capitol. Ayer Publishing. ISBN 0836950895.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Frary, page 27
- ^ Bryan, page 194.
- ^ Bryan, page 194–195.
- ^ Frary, page 28.
- ^ http://72.32.212.225/$sitepreview/citytavernclubdcguests.org/main.cfm?sid=ginformation&pid=hclub
- ^ http://ren-flora.livejournal.com/23554.html
- ^ Keim's Illustrated Hand-book: Washington and Its Environs, De Benneville Randolph Keim, p. 153
- ^ Maryland: A Guide to the Old Line State, Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Maryland. p. 418
- ^ Edisto Island 1663 to 1860: Wild Eden to Cotton Aristocracy, Charles Spencer; p. 159
- ^ Edisto: A Guide to Life on the Island, Cantey Wright; p. 35-37 (with photographs)
- ^ The Encyclopedia Americana: The International Reference Work, Volume 7; p. 336
- ^ Columbia: History of a Southern Capital, Lynn Salsi, Margaret Sims; p, 27
- ^ The Buildings of Charleston: A Guide to the City's Architecture, Jonathan H. Poston, p. 321
- ^ “ James Hoban and the First Bank of the United States”, Matthew Baigell, The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 28, No. 2 (May, 1969), pp. 135-136.
- ^ American architecture 1607-1976, Marcus Whiffen, Frederick Koeper, p. 125
- ^ Georgetown Architecture: The Waterfront: Northwest Washington, United States. Commission of Fine Arts, Historic American Buildings Survey; p. 39
- ^ TR and Will; A Friendship that Split the Republican Party, by William Manners; p. 335
- ^ http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/journey/oak.htm
- ^ "The James Hoban Colloquium and Official Opening of the James Hoban Memorial Arbor, October 3–5 2008". The James Hoban Commemoration. http://web.mac.com/avergeen/iWeb/JamesHobanUpdate/Hoban%20October%202008.html.
- ^ Royal Dublin Society
