164 architects to the nation
Resurgence of American Classicism
The picturesque style had gripped the imagination of the American
architect for nearly half a century, and the earlier interest in classicism
had been virtually eclipsed. Classical styles had not died out entirely,
however, as witnessed by Alfred B. Mullett s heavily classical San
Francisco Mint. Interest in classicism was also evident in the 1881 de-
sign for the custom house and post office at Jackson, Mississippi, pro-
duced under the administration of James G. Hill. By the 1880s, how-
ever, picturesqueness had produced such an cacophony of towers,
turrets, polychromatic images, and irregular massing that the urban
streets looked untidy. Progressive architects looked elsewhere for an
appropriate architectural style for the nation s industrial cities.
Feeding this search for an alternative design spirit was the emer-
gence of the United States as a world leader with an enlarged sense
of national destiny. After a century, the nation stood ready to reap the
benefits of its industrial might. This consciousness of national unity
spurred business leaders, as well as architects and artists, to look to
Europe as the source for artistic traditions that might benefit
America s own search for a cultural legitimacy.
The Old World provided the artistic prototypes and offered the
most desirable educational institutions for aspiring architects and
artists. A grand tour through Europe had been de rigeur for U.S. ar-
chitects since the early nineteenth century. Now the École des Beaux
Arts and, to a lesser extent, other European schools beckoned to
American architects. Richard Morris Hunt is generally recognized as
one of the first U.S. architects to study at the École. A steady stream
of Americans followed in his footsteps. An education at the École
provided an aspiring architect with a mastery of architectural history
and the architectural elements that were essential to each historical
style. In these studies, the  classicism of the Roman, French, or Italian
variety dominated. Classicism possessed not only the required cul-
tural connections, but it also had an academic heritage it was
 codified in books. 1 A European architectural education provided
American architects with new sources of design inspiration.
Attendance at these European schools served as a common bond and
provided a sense of unity in outlook among the leaders in the pro-
fession.
One of the earliest buildings executed according to this new ar-
chitectural spirit was the Villard House complex in New York City,
designed by the New York firm of McKim, Mead & White and com-