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This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Irish architect who designed the original White House. Tom Deignan takes a look at his extraordinary life. COURTESY JAMES HOBAN SOCIETY
KILKENNY NATIVE
WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION (WHITE HOUSE COLLECTION)
Hoban’s many accomplishments. This was no easy task. Many of Hoban’s personal belongings – including his personal papers – were destroyed in a fire 50 years after Hoban died in 1831. The White House Historical Association had to use creative methods to assemble his life story, and explain how Hoban came to design the White House and earn the title of “First Federal Architect.” As a recent reviewer of the Hoban exhibit noted, “The show conveys enough facts and images to form an
intriguing portrait of this designer, builder and developer, who wasn’t the most creative talent of his day but nevertheless devised a lasting symbol of the presidency.” All in all, it is easy to see Hoban as the ultimate Irish immigrant success story in young America. So, who was James Hoban? How did he come to design the most important building for a young America? And what famous building in Dublin is the White House based upon?
Hoban was born near Callan, Kilkenny in 1758, to a tenant farming family. A locally prominent family, the Cuffes, offered tutoring services on their estate in skills such as carpentry. Hoban took advantage of these services, and later attended the Dublin Society’s Drawing School, where his work caught the eye of Thomas Ivory, the school’s principal. Ivory also had a private design practice. It is believed that Hoban, working with Ivory, worked on the construction of notable Irish buildings such as Dublin’s City Hall and the Custom House. Though Hoban was making a name for himself in Ireland, he decided to relocate to America in 1785. Hoban first went to Philadelphia, where he took out newspaper ads offering his services, but he ended up settling in Charleston, South Carolina. Though a seemingly odd choice, moving to Charleston proved to be a fateful decision for Hoban. Hoban teamed up with fellow Irish designer Pierce Purcell and went on to design some private residences and worked on two of Charleston’s most prominent public buildings – a 1200-seat theater and the refurbishing of the old colonial state house as a courthouse. Still in use, a portrait of Hoban hangs there to this day. While most of Hoban’s and Purcell’s architectural accomplishments in Charleston have been lost, it was while he was working in Charleston that Hoban was introduced to General George Washington. This certainly gave Hoban an advantage in 1792, when he entered the competition to design the new home for America’s president. JUNE / JULY 2008 IRISH AMERICA 55