Like many other aspects of metropolitan culture, Neoclassicism began to gain in popularity in the second half of the eighteenth century in the American colonies. Scholars have long noted the popularity of republicanism, itself identified with classical origins, among American intellectuals, and the architecture of the period began to reflect this trend. Perhaps the most famous surviving example of neoclassical architecture in eighteenth-century America is Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Jefferson consciously modeled the portico and other parts of the house after the works of Andrea Palladio, a popular inspiration among neoclassical architects. Similarly, he based his design for another Neoclassical building, the Virginia state capitol, on the Maison Carrée, a well-preserved Roman temple he had admired while in France. The new Federal architecture that emerged after independence also reflected a strong classical influence.