charles-louis clerisseau, who had drawn the ruins at nimes in the south of france. with clerisseau's assistance, jefferson worked out the modifications that would turn a roman temple, the maison carree, into a modern public building. it would be the first american building designed to accommodate the 3 branches of a democratic government. their plaster of paris model was shipped across the atlantic, along with jefferson's plans, to guide the builders on the banks of the james river in virginia. jefferson's inspiration was to give the fledgling state government a symbolic structure, thus launching the classic revival in the united states.