Horace Trumbauer

Horace Trumbauer

c. 1901
Born (1868-12-28)December 28, 1868
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died September 18, 1938(1938-09-18) (aged 69)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality American
Occupation Architect

Horace Trumbauer (December 28, 1868 – September 18, 1938) was a prominent American architect of the Gilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, and much of the campus of Duke University. Trumbauer's massive palaces flattered the egos of his "robber baron" clients, but were dismissed by his professional peers. His work made him a wealthy man, but his buildings rarely received positive critical recognition. Today, however, he is hailed as one of America's premier architects, with his buildings drawing critical acclaim even to this day.

Career

Trumbauer was born in Philadelphia, the son of a salesman.[1] He completed a 6-year apprenticeship with G. W. and W. D. Hewitt, and opened his own architectural office at age 21. He did some work for developers Wendell and Smith, designing homes for middle-class planned communities, including the Overbrook Farms and Wayne Estate developments.

Trumbauer's first major commission was Grey Towers Castle (1893), designed for the sugar magnate William Welsh Harrison. Its exterior was based on Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England, although its interiors were French, ranging in style from Renaissance to Louis XV.

Grey Towers Castle, Glenside, PA (1893). Now Arcadia University.

Harrison introduced him to the streetcar tycoon and real-estate developer Peter A. B. Widener, whose 110-room Georgian-revival palace, Lynnewood Hall (1897–1900), launched Trumbauer's successful career.[1] For the Wideners, the Elkinses, and their circle, he designed mansions in Philadelphia, New York, and Newport, RI, office buildings, hospitals, and the main library at Harvard University: The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library. Built with a gift from Eleanor Elkins Widener, the library is a memorial to her son, Harry, Class of 1907, an enthusiastic young bibliophile who died on the RMS Titanic.

In 1903, he married Sara Thomson Williams and became stepfather to Agnes Helena. Architectural Record published a survey of his work in 1904.

Philadelphia Museum of Art (1916–28). This was a collaboration between Trumbauer's firm and Zantzinger, Borie and Medary.

In 1906, Trumbauer hired Julian Abele, the first African-American graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Architecture Department, and promoted him to chief designer in 1909. Trumbauer's later buildings are sometimes attributed to Abele, but this is speculation. With the exception of the chapel at Duke University (1934), Abele never claimed credit for any of the firm's buildings designed during Trumbauer's lifetime.

The commission for the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1916–28) was shared between Trumbauer's firm and Zantzinger, Borie and Medary. Trumbauer architect Howell Lewis Shay is credited with the building's plan and massing, although the perspective drawings appear to be in Abele's hand.[2] When it opened in 1928, the building was criticized as being vastly overscaled and nicknamed "the great Greek garage". But, perched on Fairmount Hill and terminating the axis of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, it is now considered to be the most magnificently situated museum in the United States.

In 1933, Trumbauer was commissioned to build an ornate Anti-Regime French style mansion for Herbert Nathan Straus, the youngest son of Macy's founder Isidor Straus. Built in limestone with intricate carvings on the façade, the mansion is now the largest private residence in Manhattan. It is currently owned by financier Jeffrey Epstein and the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation. The mansion exemplifies the classic but opulent style requested of industry barons of that time.

Despite tremendous success and his apparent ability to impress wealthy clients, Trumbauer suffered from overwhelming shyness and a sense of inferiority about his lack of formal education. He had a number of commissions until the Great Depression, but began to drink heavily to help bear his burdens. He died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1938,[1] and is buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Selected buildings

Philadelphia and its suburbs

Residences

John H. Watt house, Wayne, PA (1893).
Lynnewood Hall (Peter A. B. Widener mansion), Elkins Park, PA (1897–1900).

Commercial

Public Ledger Building, Philadelphia (1921).

Cultural, medical and educational

Keswick Theatre.

Buildings elsewhere

Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham, NC (1934). Julian Abele is credited with the design.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Baltzell, Edward Digby. Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia (Transaction Publishers, 1996), pp. 332–33. ISBN 1-56000-830-X
  2. ↑ David B. Brownlee, Making a Modern Classic: The Architecture of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1997), pp. 60–61, 72–73.
  3. ↑ Ronaele Manor, Elkins Park, PA from Library of Congress
  4. ↑ Ronaele Manor 2, Elkins Park, PA from Library of Congress
  5. ↑ Ronaele Manor 3, Elkins Park, PA from Library of Congress
  6. ↑ Nugent, Robert C. (1974). A House Lives and Dies: The Story of Anselm Hall. Abington, PA: Cassidy Printing.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Beneficial Savings Fund Society from Flickr
  9. ↑ Whelan, Frank (May 29, 2005), "West Park the iconic home for Allentown bands.", The Morning Call, pp. E.1
  10. ↑ Elkins Memorial YMCA from Free Library of Philadelphia
  11. ↑ Rose Terrace from Grosse Pointe Historical Society

Bibliography

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