Statement of Significance (as of designation - November 13, 1966):
From 1821 to 1844, this was the residence of Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844), head of the Second Bank of the United States (1823-1836), and famous as Andrew Jackson's opponent in the so-called "Bank Wars". Biddle's defeat in the epic political-economic struggle paved the way for Jacksonian democracy. To the original house, designed for the Craig family in 1806 by Benjamin H. Latrobe in the English Regency Style, Biddle added to the south or river side double drawing rooms, kitchen and library wings and a giant wooden Doric style portico copied from the Hephaesteum in the Agora at Athens. Designed by Thomas U. Walter and built 1834-1836, Andalusia is one of the earliest and most pristine examples of the Greek Revival style in the country.