( Consists of 3 parts. Pt. 1 introduces General Lee and A...)
Consists of 3 parts. Pt. 1 introduces General Lee and Arlington House. Pt. 2 presents a brief historical account of the house and its occupants, the Custises and the Lees. Pt. 3 provides concise information on the house and grounds.
https://www.amazon.com/Arlington-House-Memorial-Virginia-National/dp/0912627239?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0912627239
George Hadfield was born on September 15, 1763, in Florence, Italy, the son of Charles Hadfield, an English or Irish hotelkeeper, and his wife Isabella. His sister Maria was a painter of some distinction, and in 1782 married the miniature painter Richard Cosway.
Beginning in 1781, Hadfield sent drawings of classical projects to the Royal Academy exhibitions. He studied in the schools of the Academy.
After working for a time under the architect James Wyatt, Hadfield received the traveling studentship of the Academy, and spent the years to 1794 in Rome. His drawings of the temple at Palestrina and other drawings were exhibited at the Academy in 1795 and are preserved by the Royal Institute of British Architects.
In 1795, on recommendation of the painter John Trumbull, Hadfield was invited by the commissioners of the city of Washington to act as superintendent of the Capitol, then under construction. He commenced his duties on October 15. The situation was a difficult one, for the foundations laid by Stephen Hallet, the first superintendent, were on a plan different from that originally designed, and to the original plan its author, William Thornton, just appointed one of the commissioners, was determined to return. Hadfield objected both to the part already executed and to the scheme of Thornton's design, and proposed to use the colossal order, with or without an attic, instead of having a high basement. He was overruled by the commissioners, however, and Thornton undertook to furnish drawings which should adapt his design to the existing foundations. The work on the north wing then proceeded, with considerable friction owing to Thornton's academic pedantry and Hadfield's lack of practical experience.
In 1798 Hadfield furnished the adopted design for the Treasury and Executive Offices (burned by the British in 1814), but his attempt to assert a professional right to supervise the execution, not recognized by the commissioners, brought notice of his dismissal, May 28, 1798.
In 1800 he patented the first machine for brick-making in the United States; in 1803 he served as a councilman of the city of Washington. As time went on he secured other architectural commissions. Thus in 1802 he was employed on Jefferson's recommendation to design the Washington county jail; in 1803 he designed the Arsenal; in 1816 - 1819, Commodore Porter's house; in 1820 the City Hall (finished 1849, refaced with stone 1917); in 1822 the Assembly Rooms, in 1824 the Branch Bank of the United States (demolished 1904). Two other notable works of his planning were the Van Ness mausoleum in Oak Hill Cemetery, on the model of a temple of Vesta, and "Arlington, " the house for G. W. Parke Custis, Washington's adopted son. This house, later the home of Robert E. Lee and now preserved in Arlington National Cemetery, has a Doric portico modeled on that of the great temple at Paestum and is one of the earliest and most notable houses of the Greek revival. Hadfield's story is one of unfulfilled promise.
A prize student at the Academy, the brother of Maria Cosway, and the protégé of the Queen and of Lady Chesterfield (who on her death left him a legacy of £1, 500), he was expected to achieve a prominent place in his profession. His failure was apparently due in part to the discouragements of his early years in Washington, brought on by his lack of practical experience. George Hadfield died on February 6, 1826, in Washington, District of Columbia, aged about sixty-two years.
George Hadfield was a noted architect, whose surviving commissions include the Marine Commandant's House (1801 - 1803), Washington City Hall (1820), and the John Peter Van Ness Mausoleum (Oak Hill Cemetery, 1826). He also designed the Custis-Lee Mansion (1802 - 1817) in Arlington, Virginia. George Hadfield studied in the schools of the Academy and received a gold medal in 1784.
( Consists of 3 parts. Pt. 1 introduces General Lee and A...)
book
book
Quotes from others about the person
One of his contemporaries, B. H. Latrobe, wrote of him some years before his death: "All that he proposed proved him a man of correct tastes, of perfect theoretic knowledge and of bold integrity. He loiters here, ruined in fortune, temper and reputation, nor will his irritable pride and neglected study ever permit him to take the station in the art which his elegant taste and excellent talent ought to have obtained".
George Hadfield never married.
