The fire of 1855 was just as disastrous as the fire of 1802, and once more only the walls of Nassau Hall were left standing. Again the trustees called on a Philadelphia architect, this time John Notman, who had designed three residences in the village ("Prospect" and those later named Lowrie House and Guernsey Hall). Notman's modifications were far more extensive than Latrobe's and reflected his predeliction for the Italian Renaissance style, then much in vogue.

Source: Leitch p. 328ff