hoban was also part of the white house again in 1815, having stayed in washington, he was given the job of reconstructing the burnt out white house after the war of 1812 when the british marched into the city and set fire to the public buildings, including the president's house. he was still in washington in 1823 when he added the south portico to the white house and 1829 when he started adding the north portico to the white house and it was completed in 1830 and he pass add away. he left an enormous architectural footprint both in terms of the original house, it's rebuilding and addition of two enormous porches on the north and south side. the basic form is late 18th century federal style furniture with the simple tapered legs, inlays used as cuffs, inlays used as decorative element across the bottom, a fold out writing board and little slides to support it. in fact, it also has hidden section behind the top that can be locked. so in many cases a desk would have been a little bit bigger and perhaps had book shelves above it, but this one was a small and relatively comfortable piece. no