Charles Bulfinch's Design

The self-taught architect Charles Bulfinch, who also built state houses for Connecticut (1796) and Maine (1832) based his design for the state house on the Somerset House in London.

The building's front features an elevated portico with a series of Corinthian columns. The red brick facade was painted white in 1825 and remained painted until 1928 when the bricks were exposed again. The bricks' red color contrasts nicely with the white columns.

http://www.aviewoncities.com/boston/statehouse.htm