Born in Boston, Charles Bulfinch graduated from Harvard College in 1781. He is considered one of the greatest architects New England has produced.  He was influenced toward classical simplicity and restraint and helped introduce the Federal style which dominated American architecture until 1820.

Bulfinch was a third generation American and a member of a wealthy family. After Harvard, he took a grand tour of Europe and was deeply influenced by the architecture he saw there. As a result, he remade Boston into an elegant Federal city.  His most influential works were the houses he designed on Beacon Hill. Elements include Palladian windows, columns, and temple fronts. One of the most elegant homes built during this time was for Harrison Guy Otis on Beacon Street with an oval salon facing the garden.

He also designed at least 40 public buildings and churches, including the state houses of Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts capitol was patterned after Somerset House in England and the Senate chamber is a backward Palladian palace. Many state capitols were patterned after this one. It's corner stone was laid by Sam Adams and Paul Revere.

Bulfinch was the architect of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. from  1817 to 1827  at the request of President Monroe who had seen his work during a visit to Boston.
 
 

Faneuil Hall, Boston's Market, above, was redesigned and expanded by Charles Bulfinch -- After the Revolution, Massachusetts needed a State Capitol building. Charles Bulfinch was the architect, right.