The following list names, in order of preference, those ten buildings which received the highest number of votes after the first ten named in the list given on page 3.

In 1885, fourteen years ago, the readers of The American Architect (Boston) were invited to name, by a consensus of votes, their choice of the then most beautiful buildings in America. The voting resulted in a list of the following ten buildings:—

The Capitol at Washington is 751 feet in length and 121 to 324 feet wide, consisting of a main edifice of sandstone, painted white, and of two wings of white marble, and covers an area of 3-1/2 acres. The site was selected by a French engineer, Peter Charles L'Enfant in 1791, and the design for the first building—a compromise between the plans of Stephen Hallet and Dr. William Thornton,—was chosen by competition in 1792. In 1795 George Hadfield was placed in charge of the work, and was succeeded in 1798 by James Hoban, neither of whom made important changes in Thornton's designs. In 1814 the building consisted of two small wings connected by a wooden bridge; and in that year the structure was damaged by fire set by the British. Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who was appointed in 1803, continued in charge until 1817, when he resigned, turning over his post and plans to Charles Bulfinch of Boston,—the first American-born architect of the Capitol. Bulfinch completed the central structure, and crowned it with the original low dome. In 1828 the old capitol was substantially completed, and the office of architect abolished. In 1843, it being necessary to enlarge the former structure, plans were advertised for, and in 1850 those of T. U. Walter of Philadelphia were accepted. The additions made the old dome look insignificant, and Walter designed the present one, which was completed in 1863. The terraces and the approaches, begun in 1882, are the work of Edward Clark.

The Boston Public Library, begun in 1888, was completed in 1895. The building is 225 feet long, 227 feet deep, and 70 feet in height from the sidewalk to the top of the cornice. The material of which the exterior is constructed is grayish-white Milford granite. Although the architects of this building were officially the firm of Messrs. McKim, Mead & White of New York City, the senior member, Mr. McKim, was the actual architect.

Charles Follen McKim was born in Pennsylvania in 1847. He studied at the Harvard Scientific School, in a New York architect's office, and in a Parisian atelier connected with the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

William Rutherford Mead was born in Brattleboro, Vt., in 1846, and graduated from Amherst College in 1867. For some years he studied in an architect's office in New York, and then went to Paris, studying there and elsewhere in Europe.

Stanford White was born in New York City in 1853. He grew up in the office of Gambrill & Richardson, and between 1878 and 1880 studied in Europe. The present firm of McKim, Mead & White was formed in 1880.

Trinity Church, Boston, Henry Hobson Richardson, architect, was completed in 1877. It is in the shape of a Latin Cross with a semi-circular apse added to the eastern arm. A central tower, 211 feet high, rises from piers at the crossing of the nave and transepts. The chapel is connected with the main structure by an open cloister. The extreme width of the church is 121 feet; the extreme length, 160. The material employed in the body of the structure is Dedham granite, with brown freestone trimmings, and it is roofed with red tiles. The porch, shown in the small view on page 9, was contemplated in Mr. Richardson's original design, and was added in 1897-8 from his sketches, by his successors, Messrs. Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge of Boston.

Henry Hobson Richardson was born in Louisiana in 1838. He was educated at Harvard, and matriculated in 1859, and immediately after his graduation went to Paris to study architecture. A year later he was admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, studying in the atelier of André. During the war his father lost his property, and Richardson was forced to support himself by working as a draughtsman in the offices of French architects; and it was only in 1865 that he returned, and chose New York as the place in which to try his fortunes. His first commission, won in competition for the design of a church in Springfield, Mass., came to him only after he had been a year at home, but this brought other work; and by 1866 he was fairly launched in professional life. In 1867 he entered partnership with Charles Gambrill in New York. After the dissolution of this partnership in 1878, he removed to Brookline, Mass., and there he remained until his death in 1886.

The Congressional Library, Washington. In 1873 Congress passed a bill inviting plans in competition for the proposed building, and those of Messrs. John L. Smithmeyer and Paul J. Peltz, both of Washington, were selected. But between the years 1874, when they were officially recognized as architects of the building, and 1886, when Congress finally appropriated money to begin it, they had to endure great political pressure, and their plans underwent many modifications and improvements. Finally in 1886, after a bitter fight, they were installed as architects of the new building. Before the structure had risen above the foundations, however, a new act of Congress repealed all that had previously been legislated about the building, and put its construction under the sole control of the chief engineer of the army, General Casey. Mr. Smithmeyer was discharged as architect, but his partner, the artistic member of the firm, Mr. Peltz, was retained. In the spring of 1892, when the structure had reached little more than half its intended height, Mr. Peltz's connection with the work ceased; and he was succeeded by Mr. Edward P. Casey of New York, who continued as architect of the building until its completion in February, 1897. The library is 470 feet long and 340 deep, and occupies, exclusive of approaches, three and three-fourths acres.

Columbia University Library was completed in 1898. The architects are Messrs. McKim, Mead & White, who have been referred to above.

Trinity Church, New York City, was finished in 1848. Richard Upjohn, its architect, born at Shaftsbury, Eng., in 1802, was given a common-school education, and afterwards apprenticed to a builder, and engaged in this occupation until 1829, when he emigrated to America, settling in New Bedford, Mass. Here he pursued his trade until 1833, when he went to Boston, and made some architectural drawings for a city court-house. He thereafter continued the practice of architecture with increasing reputation, until, in 1839, he was called upon to rebuild Trinity Church, New York, which work gained him a national reputation as a church architect.

Madison Square Garden, New York City, McKim, Meade & White, architects, is 465 feet long and 200 feet wide, and its walls are 65 feet high. The roof is nearly flat, but the sky-lines are broken by a colonnade which rises above the roof at the Madison Square Avenue end, and extends along either side for 100 feet, by six open cupolas with semi-spherical domes, which rise above the colonnade, by two towers at the Fifth Avenue corner, and by a great square tower which rises from the Twenty-sixth Street side with its lines unbroken for 249 feet, and then in a series of open cupolas. Along the Madison Avenue end, and extending along either side for a distance of 150 feet is an open arcade, which covers the sidewalk, and the roof of which rests upon pillars of polished granite and piers of brick. The top of the arcade is laid out as a promenade. On the top of the tower is poised a heroic figure of Diana, 332 feet from the sidewalk, designed by St. Gaudens. The materials of the building are buff brick and terra-cotta. It was completed in 1890.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City, was opened in 1879, although the spires were not finished until 1887. Built of white marble, its main dimensions are: length 306 feet, breadth, including chapels 120 feet, length of transepts 140 feet, height of nave 108 feet. The principal front on Fifth Avenue consists of a gable, 156 feet in height, flanked by twin spires, 330 feet high. James Renwick, the architect, was born in New York City in 1818. At the age of sixteen he graduated from Columbia College, and, following an inherited taste, entered the engineering department of the Croton Aqueduct. His training in architecture was entirely self-acquired. He early manifested a fondness for the Gothic style, and as there were then no Gothic buildings of merit in America, his knowledge of it was derived entirely from books. With such scanty preparation he designed Grace Church in New York. Later, Mr. Renwick travelled in Europe, and became still more impressed with the beauty of Gothic architecture. In 1858 the corner-stone of St. Patrick's Cathedral was laid, and it was mainly through this church that his reputation as an architect was established. It was his life work; he regarded it as his favorite child, and never ceased to grieve that his original plan, which contemplated a central lantern and a chevet, and which would have covered the entire block between Fifth and Madison Avenues, had been cut down for reasons of economy. Mr. Renwick died in 1895.

"Biltmore House," at Biltmore, N.C., the residence of Mr. George Vanderbilt, was completed in 1897. Its main general dimensions are, 152 by 373 feet. Indiana limestone was used in its construction.

Richard M. Hunt, its architect, was born in Brattleboro, Vt., in 1827. He graduated from the Boston High School in 1843, and in the same year, having already chosen his profession, he went to Europe. In 1845 he entered the atelier of Hector Lefuel in Paris, and for nine years pursued his studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1854 his patron having been put in charge of the new work on the Louvre, Hunt was appointed inspector, and under Lefuel designed the Pavillion de la Bibliothèque. In 1855 he returned to New York, and began his American career, toward 1870 taking up the class of work by which he is best known. He died at Newport in 1895.

The third and present City Hall of New York City was projected in 1802, when a premium was publicly offered for the best design. The award was given to Messrs. Mangin (a Frenchman) and Macomb,—architects concerning whom very little authentic information is obtainable. It was finished in 1812. The corner-stone of the building was laid by Mayor Edward Livingstone.

The building consists of a central structure of two stories and an attic, surmounted by a cupola, and two wings of two stories each. The architects' original design provided a pediment for the base of the cupola, showing the city arms and bas-reliefs. The City Hall, when cross-sectioned, north and south, resembles the Register office in Edinburgh, designed by the Brothers Adam. The front and sides are of white marble, with brown freestone basement. Freestone was used for the rear because the building then stood so far out of town that it was thought not worth while to build it of marble. A broad flight of steps leads from the south to an Ionic colonnade. The cupola is surmounted by a statue of Justice.