File:Lanier Mansion Madison Indiana National Historic Landmark.jpg

English: The following is from the NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION of the Lanier Mansion by Carolyn Pitts, Architectural Historian, NPS, History Division (418)

http://focus.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NHLS/Text/94001191.pdf'

The Lanier House is one of the finest Greek Revival structures in America. This was a new architectural vision for a young, democratic nation. The Greek Temple form was philosophically, as well as visually, suited to this optimistic age in the first half of the 19th century. The geometric purity of the Doric-Greek style was tempered by the hands of America's first architects to fit regional demands, and this is vividly illustrated by the commission to build an estate on the Ohio River for one of the most successful bankers in Indiana, James F.D. Lanier. This elegant, Midwestern Greek "temple" was designed by an architect-builder, a combination of architect and carpenter who depended on pattern books published by established eastern architects such as Minard Lafever and Asher Benjamin. Francis Costigan was an obscure craftsman who appeared in the Ohio Valley early in the 19th century. The commission to design and build a house for James Lanier (completed 1840-1844) became one of his masterpieces.