The Restoration of the IVhite House 
latrobe’s plan, 1803 
historic building’s growth. We do not, how¬ 
ever, possess the original plans. The earli¬ 
est in the archives is Latrobe’s “ Plan of 
the Principal Storev in 1803.” There is a 
plan by Latrobe, 1807, “as proposed to be 
altered,” which fixes the origin of the north 
and south porticoes, the latter a verv beauti¬ 
ful addition, the former considered some¬ 
thing of a mistake. This drawing sketches 
a treatment of the grounds and approaches 
1807 . 
THE NORTH FRONT IN 1 807 
and shows the “platforms” to the east and 
west. 
The corner stone of the White House was 
laid by George Washington, in 1792, upon 
a part of David Burns’ Old Fields, then 
sloping, a not unlovely wilderness, to the 
Potomac’s edge. The design was by James 
Hoban, a young Dublin architect, then set¬ 
tled in Charleston. His inspiration is traced 
to the house of the Duke of Leinster, in 
THE BLUE ROOM 
OK THE WHITE HOUSE 
I36 
