The correspondence and papers of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Pierre L'Enfant are clear 
that although L'Enfant had been hired by Washington, it was with Jefferson that he discussed the 
details. "The L'Enfant Plan in 1791 was not a complete architectural concept. Jefferson, who had 
sketched out a very preliminary plan that year, established the fundamental relationship between 
the executive and legislative headquarters and the public spaces connecting them." 3."Jefferson 
took an intense interest.... He even sketched out street sections for guidance of the city 
commissioners."4. It wasn't until September 9, 1791 that L'Enfant received his first letter from 
Commissioners Daniel Carroll, Dr. David Stuart and Thomas Johnson5.


The geometric plans of L'Enfant's radial city, influenced by André LeNotre's design of Versailles6. 
and Christopher Wren's unexecuted plans for London..." featured two focal points: the Capitol, and 
the President's House. About them as hubs, broad avenues radiate outward like spokes of a wheel, 
superimposed over the regular north and south grid pattern."7. The expansive axial boulevards and 
Gregorian/Paladian architecture was intended as a monument to the "Virtuous Citizen in the New 
Republic." L'Enfant's sense of grandeur and Ellicott's goal of monumentality aside, the deciding 
factor in the positioning of major buildings was the topography.8.