Benjamin Henry Latrobe
Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe was a British-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,. 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., 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". He was the uncle of Charles La Trobe, who was the first lieutenant-governor of Victoria in Australia.
Biography
Latrobe was born on May 1, 1764, at the Fulneck Moravian Settlement, near Pudsey in the city of Leeds, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. His parents were Benjamin Latrobe, a leader of the Moravian Church who was of Huguenot ancestry, and Anna Margaretta Antes whose father was German and whose maternal line was Dutch. Antes was born in the American colony of Pennsylvania, but was sent to England by her father, a wealthy landowner, to attend a Moravian school at Fulneck.Latrobe's father, who was responsible for all Moravian schools and establishments in Britain, had an extensive circle of friends in the higher ranks of society. He stressed the importance of education, scholarship, and the value of social exchange; while Latrobe's mother instilled in her son a curiosity and interest in America. From a young age, Benjamin Henry Latrobe enjoyed drawing landscapes and buildings. He was a brother of Moravian leader and musical composer Christian Ignatius Latrobe.
In 1776, at the age of 12, Latrobe was sent away to the Moravian School at Niesky in Silesia near the border of Saxony and Prussia. At age eighteen, he spent several months traveling around Germany, and then joined the Royal Prussian Army, becoming close friends with a distinguished officer in the United States Army. Latrobe also may have served briefly in the Austrian Imperial Army, and suffered some injuries or illness. After recovering, he embarked on a continental "Grand Tour", visiting eastern Saxony, Paris, Italy, and other places. Through his education and travels, Latrobe mastered German, French, ancient and modern Greek, and Latin. He had advanced ability in Italian and Spanish and some knowledge of Hebrew. Latrobe was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815.
His son, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, II,, also worked as a civil engineer. In 1827, he joined the newly organized Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and designed the longest, most challenging bridge on its initial route: the curving Thomas Viaduct,.
Another son, John Hazlehurst Boneval Latrobe, was a noted civic leader, lawyer, author, historian, artist, inventor, sometime architect, intellectual, and social activist in Maryland While Park Commissioner for the City of Baltimore he co-founded the Baltimore Zoo. Among his inventions and patents, he invented the Latrobe Stove, also known as the "Baltimore Heater", a cast iron coal fired parlor heater.
A grandson, Charles Hazlehurst Latrobe, Benjamin Henry Latrobe II's son, continued the tradition of architect and engineer building bridges for the city of Baltimore and for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Charles Hazlehurst fought on the side of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
Another grandson, Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe, was a seven-term mayor of Baltimore.
Latrobe Park in south Baltimore is named for the family, as is Latrobe Park, New Orleans, in the French Quarter.
Travels
England
Latrobe returned to England in 1784, and was apprenticed to John Smeaton, an engineer known for designing Eddystone Lighthouse. Then in 1787 or 1788, he worked in the office of neoclassical architect Samuel Pepys Cockerell for a brief time. In 1790, Latrobe was appointed Surveyor of the Public Offices in London, and established his own private practice in 1791. Latrobe was commissioned in 1792 to design Hammerwood Lodge, near East Grinstead in Sussex, his first independent work, and he designed nearby Ashdown House in 1793. Latrobe was involved in construction of the Basingstoke Canal in Surrey, together with engineers John Smeaton and William Jessop. In spring 1793, Latrobe was hired to plan improvements to the River Blackwater from Maldon to Beeleigh, so that the port of Maldon could compete with the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation, which bypassed the town. The project lasted until early 1795, when Parliament denied approval of his plan. Latrobe had problems getting payment for his work on the project, and faced bankruptcy.In February 1790, Latrobe married Lydia Sellon, and they lived a busy social life in London. The couple had a daughter and a son, before she died giving birth during November 1793. Lydia had inherited her father's wealth, which in turn was to be left to the children through a trust with the children's uncles, but never ended up going to the children. In 1795, Latrobe suffered a breakdown and decided to immigrate to America, departing on November 25 aboard the Eliza.
In America, Latrobe was known for his series of topological and landscape watercolors; the series started with a view of the White Cliffs of the south coast of England viewed from the Eliza. The series was preceded by a watercolor of East Grinstead, dated September 8, 1795.
Virginia
Latrobe arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, in mid-March 1796 after a harrowing four-month journey aboard the ship, which was plagued with food shortages under near-starvation conditions. Latrobe initially spent time in Norfolk, where he designed the "William Pennock House," then set out for Richmond in April 1796. Soon after arriving in Virginia, Latrobe became friends with Bushrod Washington, nephew of President George Washington, along with Edmund Randolph and other notable figures. Through Bushrod Washington, Latrobe was able to pay a visit to Mount Vernon to meet with the President in the summer of 1796.Latrobe's first major project in the United States was the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond, commissioned in 1797. The penitentiary included many innovative ideas in penal reform, then being espoused by Thomas Jefferson and various other figures, including cells arranged in a semicircle, that allowed for easy surveillance, as well as improved living conditions for sanitation and ventilation. He also pioneered the use of solitary confinement in the Richmond penitentiary. While in Virginia, Latrobe worked on the Green Spring mansion near Williamsburg, which had been built by Governor Sir William Berkeley in the seventeenth century but fell into disrepair after the American Revolutionary War. Latrobe created designs for Fort Nelson in Virginia in 1798. He also made drawings for a number of houses that were not built, including the "Mill Hill" plantation house near Richmond.
After spending a year in Virginia, the novelty of being in a new place wore off, and Latrobe was lonely and restless in Virginia. Giambattista Scandella, a friend, suggested Philadelphia as an ideal location for him. In April 1798, Latrobe visited Philadelphia for the first time, meeting with Bank of Pennsylvania president Samuel J. Fox, and presented to him a design for a new bank building. At the time, the political climate in Philadelphia was quite different than Virginia, with a strong division between the Federalists and Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans, along with anti-French sentiment, thus the city was not entirely welcoming for Latrobe. On his way to Philadelphia, Latrobe passed through the national capital city of Washington, D.C., then under construction, where he met with the first architect of the capitol, William Thornton, and viewed the United States Capitol for the first time. He stopped by Washington again on his way back to Richmond. Latrobe remained in Richmond, Virginia, until November 1798, when his design was selected for the Bank of Pennsylvania. He moved to Philadelphia, so that he could supervise the construction, although he continued to do occasional projects for clients in Virginia.
Philadelphia
By the time he arrived in Philadelphia, Latrobe's two friends, Scandella and Volney, had left due to concerns regarding the Alien and Sedition Acts, but Latrobe made friends with some of their acquaintances at the American Philosophical Society. Latrobe submitted several papers to the society, on his geology and natural history observations, and became a member of the society in 1799. With his charming personality, Latrobe quickly made other friends among the influential financial and business families in Philadelphia, and became close friends with Nicholas Roosevelt, a talented steam-engine builder who would help Latrobe in his waterworks projects.Latrobe's first major project in Philadelphia was to design the Bank of Pennsylvania, which was the first example of Greek Revival architecture in the United States. It was demolished in 1870. This commission is what convinced him to set up his practice in Philadelphia, where he developed his reputation.
Latrobe also was hired to design the Center Square Water Works in Philadelphia. The Pump House, located on the common at Broad and Market Streets, was designed by Latrobe in a Greek Revival style. It drew water from the Schuylkill River, away, and contained two steam engines that pumped it into wooden tanks in its tower. Gravity then fed the water by wooden mains into houses and businesses. Following his work on the Philadelphia water works project, Latrobe worked as an engineer of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
In addition to Greek Revival designs, Latrobe also used Gothic Revival designs in many of his works, including the 1799 design of Sedgeley, a country mansion in Philadelphia. The Gothic Revival style was used in Latrobe's design of the Philadelphia Bank building as well, which was built in 1807 and demolished in 1836. As a young architect, Robert Mills worked as an assistant with Latrobe from 1803 until 1808 when he set up his own practice.
While in Philadelphia, Latrobe married Mary Elizabeth Hazlehurst, in 1800. The couple had several children together.