Biographical Dictionary of Cincinnati Architects, 1788-1940
Author: Walter E. Langsam
Contemporary photographs: Alice Weston
Historical photographs:
Editors: Susannah Sachdeva and Sue Ann Painter
Publisher: Architectural Foundation of
A
(St. Louis, Mo., 1872-1931)
Educated and trained in St. Louis; worked for George I. Barnett of St.
Louis, and in the St. Louis branch offices of Shepley, Rutan &
Coolidge, and Peabody & Stearns, both superior Boston firms
(probably worked on buildings for the World's Columbian Exposition,
Chicago, 1893). Moved to Cincinnati in 1893. Usually worked as a
designer with partners, including Samuel Hannaford & Sons, George
S. Werner (1900), Frank M. Andrews, H.E. Kennedy, the Weber Bros. of N.
Ky. (Weber, Werner & Adkins), Matthew H. Burton, and Hugh M.
Garriott (later Garriott & Becker; Becker, incidentally, was from
St. Louis).
Adkins was a specialist in refined Beaux-Arts or Traditional design,
based on a variety of historic styles, usually handled with
authenticity, restraint, and craftsmanship of quietly high
quality. The editors of the 1920 Memoirs of the Miami River Valley (Chicago, Ill.: Robert O. Law Co.) supply a sensitive portrait of the
architect: "It does not need the name of the artist on a painting to
determine who the artist was, and so it is with the really talented
architect. His work bears the imprint of his genius and can
everywhere be distinguished from that of others. So with the
pretentious [sic] buildings planned by Mr. Adkins. He has an
original manner of so designing a building that its location, material
and design all blend into one complete and harmonious whole. In
fact the genius he displays in creating buildings that harmonize with
their surroundings, the material of which they are constructed and the
purpose for which they are intended, prove that he is an architect and
not merely a draughtsman or a drawer of tasteful designs.... In 1900,
Mr. Adkins formed a partnership with George S. Werner, and engaged in
business for himself. Mr. Adkins does the designing and planning
of the buildings, while Mr. Werner supervises the building of
them. Since the formation of the partnership, the firm has
continued with unabated success, until at the present time they are
known throughout the whole southeastern part of the United States."
Adkins' works, on his own or in partnership, include the Governor's
Mansion, Frankfort, Ky.; Second National Bank Bldg, SEC Ninth and Main
streets (1908; E.J. Schulte in his autobiography, “The Lord Was My
Client” (ca. 1970), p. 5-8, provides an intimate glimpse into the life
of the Werner & Adkins office at this period, and claims that an
architect from a large firm in Chicago, named Putnam, was responsible
for the professional completion of this uncharacteristically large
commission for a small firm); Cincinnati Gymnasium & Athletic Club,
Shillito-Rikes Alley; City Hall, Library, First National and Norwood
National Banks, Norwood; Brighton German Bank, Colerain and Harrison
avenues; Courthouse, Portsmouth, Oh.; Grace Episcopal Church, College
Hill; First Baptist Church, Lexington, Ky.; Kanawha National Bank,
Charleston, W.Va.; Audubon (Store, Arcade, and Office) Bldg, Canal and
Burgundy streets, New Orleans, La. (1909). His obituary lists him
as architect or consultant for the Scioto County Court House,
Portsmouth, Oh.; the Court House and the Nurses' Home, Muncie, Ind.;
the Court House and Hotel General Denver, Wilmington, Oh. Aside
from many fine houses in the Cincinnati area, residences by Adkins and
his associated firms include those on Rural Lane, Clifton, where Adkins
himself lived in his later years, as well as houses in Muncie, Ind.;
Dallas, Tex.; and New Orleans, La.
Withey (1956, 1970), 8-9;
Painter, AIC (2006), 211;
Langsam (1997), 91, 113;
Cincinnati Business Proclamation (ca.1900);
Fetter (1903), 159;
Goss (1912), IV, 331-32;
Memoirs of the Miami Valley (1920), III, 390-91;
Obituary, Cincinnati Enquirer (7/27/1931), 10:1.
Ahlschlager, Walter W.
(died 1965)
Chicago architect; listed in New York City 1928-1936. Ahlschlager
was the principal architect of John J. Emery’s Carew-Netherland complex
in Cincinnati. Although there is a lack of sources on Ahlschlager’s
firm and career, Wolner states “Walter W. Ahlschlager of Chicago had
designed hotels, theaters, and mixed-use facilities in New York,
Chicago, and other Midwestern cities. Ahlschlager’s firm designed and
built numerous apartment hotels in Chicago. His skyscraper work
included a never-built Chicago project of 1929, the Crane Tower, which
was to have been both the tallest and the largest office building in
the world” (p. 36). He also specialized in theaters. Wolner
illustrates a cross-section of the firm’s famous Roxy Theater in New
York of 1926-1927 in relation to the intricate interior spaces and
circulation of the Carew-Netherland
complex.
With some participation from William Delano of the N.Y. firm of Delano
& Aldrich, Ahlschlager designed the Carew Tower Complex, including
Netherland Plaza Hotel (1930); constructed by the Starrett Investing
Co./Investment Corporation for the Emery family.
Wolner (1985), 35-47;
Painter, AIC (2006), 168;
Langsam (1997), 118;
NYCOPAR (1900-1940), 2.
W.W. Ahlschlager & Associates with Delano & Aldrich, Carew Tower and Netherland Plaza Hotel, 1929-1932, Fifth and Vine streets. For more than 75 years, the Carew Tower was the tallest building in Cincinnati and in southwest Ohio.
Aiken, William Martin
(Charleston, S.C., 1855-1908)
Trained at the University of the South and M.I.T. (1879); AIA (1886);
FAIA (1889); worked for H.H. Richardson at Brookline, Mass.; Ware &
Van Brunt and W.R. Emerson, Boston; for James W. McLaughlin,
Cincinnati, in early 1880s, then on own ca. 1886; to N.Y. ca. 1886,
although listed in Cincinnati directories until 1895 (Aiken &
Ketcham) and apparently listed in N.Y. only in 1899 and 1908;
Supervising Architect of the Treasury, 1895-1897 (one of the few
appointments to this Federal post generally approved by the
architectural profession); returned to N.Y.; noted for early
"restoration" in old New York City Hall.
While in Cincinnati Aiken designed many residences, including a
remarkably early and compatible addition to “Belmont,” the
Federal-style Martin Baum-Nicholas Longworth mansion on Pike and Fourth
streets in downtown Cincinnati (now the Taft Museum), for David Sinton
in 1887; also buildings in Glendale and Dayton, Oh.; Chattanooga,
Tenn.; and Mass.; Fla.; and Colo.
Centennial Review(1888), 71;
Withey (1956, 1970), 11-12;
Wodehouse (1976), 21;
NYCOPAR (1840-1900), 11;
NYCOPAR (1900-1940), 2;
Lee (2000), 191-97;
Langsam (1997), 19, 86;
Inland Architect (10/1887), 39.
Allan, James E., Jr.
(Cincinnati, 1894-1969)
Graduate of University of Cincinnati College of Engineering 1919;
listed with (Rowland E.) Hunt & Allan 1926-1932; on own
1946-1969. Taught architecture in UC Evening College 1932-1963.
Designed UC Field-House; original Alms Memorial Building, home of
College of Design, Architecture & Art (now DAAP); also Millett
Hall, Miami University, Oxford, Oh.; and field-houses at Ohio State
University and Bowling Green State University.
Obituary, Cincinnati Enquirer (4/17/1969), 16:1;
Sullebarger, AIC (2006), 229-230.
James E. Allan, Alms Building, 1952; DAAP Building, 1958, University of Cincinnati.
Allyn Company, The
Little known but apparently prolific, large-scale architecture and engineering firm before World War I (ca. 1912-1914).
Brunk (1986), 115: “Harry Allyn, President. The Allyn Company,
offices in the Second National Bank Building [SEC Main and Ninth
streets], is one of the foremost firms of architecture, not only in
Cincinnati but also in the United States. The Allyn Company has
been a distinct leader in this line for a very long period and its
business is nation-wide in character. Harry Allyn is President;
Morris U. Bernheim, Vice-President; Bernheim, treasurer; J.K. Browning,
Secretary.”
Painter (2006), 174: “The Allyn Company developed a plan for the
Garfield Place that would have produced an enclave of towers wearing
historicist Gothic Revival facades in the manner of the company’s lone
prototype for the complex, the Doctor’s Building.”
Brunk (1986), 115;
Langsam (1997), 93-94, 116;
Painter, AIC (2006), 174.
American Institue of Architects (AIA), Cincinnati chapter
Painter, Architecture in Cincinnati, p. 69: "The 1860s and 1870s were good times for local architects, who united in 1870 to form the second American Institute of Architects (AIA) chapter in the nation. The local members were an exceptionally talented group. James Keys Wilson, the first president, was as accomplished as any of his counterparts in the East. James McLaughlin, Samuel Hannaford, and Charles Crapsey had already demonstrated great promise. This was the last generation to be trained through the apprentice system. Formal schooling was the way of the future.
The introduction of professional schools and societies created a distinction between academically trained architects and designer-builders who called themselves architects. Since the 1830s, the Ohio Mechanics Institute (OMI) had conducted intermittent classes in architecture. By the 1860s, OMI had acquired a permanent home in Greenwood Hall, classes had become more regular, and the school's prestige had increased. Cincinnati College opened the School of Design in 1869, which in its early years offered an occasional course in architectural drawing.
In 1866, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) became the first college to establish a school of architecture. By the 1880s, it was a favorite of young men from Cincinnati, most of whom had studied first at OMI."
Cincinnati chapter of the American Institute of Architects, 1870.
Standing: Samuel Hannaford, James W. McLaughlin, and Henry Bevis. Seated: Solomon W. Rogers, Albert C. Nash, James Keys Wilson (president), Edwin Anderson, and Arthur Bates. This photo, which documents the founding of the local chapter, was taken in McLaughlin’s office. Other charter members were Charles Crapsey and George W. Rapp. The chapter periodically sponsored exhibitions of architectural drawings and models, and in 1887 Cincinnati hosted the simultaneous conventions of the Chicago-based Western Association of Architects and the New York-based AIA. At that meeting, the two associations merged.
Anderson, Edwin (Long)
(Clermont Co., Oh., 1834-1916)
Educated in Cincinnati as a civil engineer; engaged in railroad
construction in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois; studied architecture with
Hamilton & Rankin of Cincinnati; practiced in partnership with
Samuel Hannaford, 1857-1871, as Anderson & Hannaford (works said to
have aggregated over $80,000,000); practiced on own, 1871-1893.
One of the founders in 1870 of the Cincinnati Chapter of the American
Institute of Architects, of which he was made a Fellow in that
year. Contributed architectural design(s) to the 1883 Cincinnati
Exposition.
This fine architect’s career has been subsumed under that of his early
partner, Samuel Hannaford, and also often confused with a later
(unrelated) architect with the same last name, George Mendenhall
Anderson (1869-1916), who was a partner of A.O. Elzner in the firm of
Elzner & Anderson. Edwin Anderson’s work was published in
national architectural periodicals. He was active in the
architectural profession and trained a number of significant younger
local architects.
Anderson & Hannaford works include the Cincinnati Workhouse
(demolished 1990-1991); Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad
Depot; St. John German Lutheran Church (vacant), NWC 12th and Elm
streets; Mound St. Synagogue, 8th and Mound streets (also attributed to
Hannaford and A.C. Nash).
Among Anderson’s most important works on his own were the Pappenheimer
Hardware Co. Bldg (until 2008, Contemporary Galleries), at 221 W.
Fourth St.; Farmers' National Bank, Ripley, Oh.; Bank of Maysville and
A.J. Cox (Hord) House, Maysville, Ky.; Niles Tool Works, Hamilton, Oh.;
Congregational Church, Ironton, Oh.; Claypool Bldg, Indianapolis; and
the Kanawha Presbyterian Church, Charleston, W.Va.
Irish-trained architect William Tinsley worked with Anderson &
Hannaford in 1857; the important architect Leroy S. Buffington in the
mid-1860s, before he went on to a career based in Chicago and
Minneapolis; S.S. Godley was trained by Anderson 1875-1878; H.E. Siter
got his start in Cincinnati working for Anderson after arriving here
from Boston in 1884; that same year the talented but short-lived James
S. Trowbridge served as Anderson's delineator, before joining
Buddemeyer, Plympton & Trowbridge.
BEO (1876), 61;
Painter, AIC (2006), 67, 69;
Langsam (1997), 34, 48, 52, 65;
AIA College (2000), 6;
SGC, 74.
Samuel Hannaford and Edwin Anderson, Cincinnati Workhouse, 1869, Colerain Avenue.
Anderson, George M. (Mendenhall)
(Cincinnati, 1869-1916)
Educated in Cincinnati, the Department of Architecture at Columbia University (graduated with honor, 1891), and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris (in the atelier of Godefroy & Frenyet, 1894-1896)—the first Cincinnatian known to receive a diploma from the Ecole.
Before sailing for Europe, he had decided to become an architect, and
"with this end in view he studied under Louis [Comfort] Tiffany, the
eminent decorator, in New York City."
Anderson is said to have
worked with Hannaford & Sons on return to Cincinnati; but he then
became the partner of A.O. Elzner as Elzner & Anderson from 1897
until his death 20 years later (the firm retained his name until its
dissolution ca. 1940).
He was a son of Larz Anderson, Jr. (1845-1902) and the talented artist
Emma Mendenhall, and connected to the Longworth family, and other
prominent Cincinnati and Eastern families. George M. Anderson was
perhaps responsible for the firm's relatively authentic Colonial
Revival work at the turn of century, especially in East Walnut Hills
and Hyde Park. Anderson's brother Robert (1874-1913) became a
vice-president of the Ferro Concrete Construction Co. (since absorbed
by the Turner Construction Co.), which built Elzner & Anderson's
pioneering 1902 reinforced-concrete Ingalls Bldg (NEC Fourth and Vine
streets), as well as numerous other important structures in Cincinnati
and elsewhere. Another brother, Richard Clough Anderson
(1872-1916), was associated with a Cincinnati plaster decorative relief
manufacturer.
George Anderson served as president of the Cincinnati Chapter of the
AIA, and was active in several important Cincinnati clubs and
institutions, such as Spring Grove Cemetery (which has a rare
photographic portrait of him) and the Cincinnati Country Club. Both
awarded Elzner & Anderson several commissions. In 1904, he
was a delegate to the International Convention of Architects in London.
Obituary, Cincinnati Enquirer (10/5/1916), 8:6;
Obituary, Cincinnati Times-Star (10/14/1916), 2:1;
Langsam (1997), 2, 4, 73, 89-90, 156;
Painter, AIC (2006), 147, 155, 156;
Representative Men of Ohio (1926), 119.
Elzner & Anderson, Procter & Collier Advertising Co. Building (Beau Brummell Ties), 1921, 440 East McMillan Street, Walnut Hills.
Andrews, Frank M. (Mills)
(Des Moines, Iowa, 1867-1948)
One of the most prolific early 20th-century architects and developers,
especially of hotels, Andrews has not yet been studied
extensively. He studied civil engineering at Iowa State College
and Cornell University (B.S. 1888); was trained in the office of
William Miller, Ithaca, N.Y.; worked for George B. Post, N.Y.; Jenney
& Mundie, Chicago, 1891-1893, including work on the World's
Columbian Exposition; to Dayton, Oh., 1894; worked for National Cash
Register Co., Dayton, 1893-1907; with Charles I. Williams, then on own;
office in Cincinnati, 1905-1908, partner of H.E. Kennedy (also
associated with J.S. Adkins); in N.Y. 1910-1914 and 1924-1925; after
1914 had fascinating career in England, road-building throughout the
world; resumed career in architecture 1929, aggregating about
$22,000,000. Married the once-renowned actress Pauline Frederick.
Works in the area include the Hotel Sinton (1907) and renovation of the
Gidding-Jenny Store (ca. 1910), at 18 W. Fourth St., both including
Rookwood tiles; his firm also employed Rookwood Architectural Faience
in the Seelbach Hotel, Louisville, Ky., Hotel McAlpin, N.Y., Hotel
Taft, N. Haven, Conn.; Andrews was associated with Charles P. Taft of
Cincinnati in these and other hotel developments. Other works
include the Arcade Building, Dayton, Oh.; and the handsome Kentucky
State Capitol, Frankfort (1905-1909).
See also H.E. Kennedy, H.H. Hiestand, and William F. Behrens.
Painter, AIC (2006), 123, 155;
Cincinnati Times-Star (9/20/1938);
Langsam (1997), 113;
Withey (1956, 1970), 20-21;
NYCOPAR (1900-1940), 3;
Macmillan Encyclopedia (1982), I, 80 (entry by Donald Martin Reynolds);
Marquis (1916);
Obituaries, N.Y. Herald Tribune (9/3/1948), NYT (9/3/1948);
Schulte, (ca. 1970), 7-8, 10-1;
SGC, 9, Lot 472.
Art Joinery, The
Cincinnati Arts & Crafts firm. Exhibited at the second CAIA/CAM
(1902), including a library interior for the residence of Charles P.
Taft (Taft House now Taft Museum). Also exhibited 16 photos of
woodwork and furniture by C. Dannenfelser at the third CAIA/CAM (1903).
Leading Manufacturers and Merchants of Cincinnati and Environs,115:
"Art-Joinery, Dannenfelser, Timmich & Biemann, Hand-Made Furniture,
No. 312 Main St. Messrs. Dannenfelser, Timmich & Biemann, all of
whom are skilled wood-carvers and cabinet-makers of year' experience,
united their energies and ability during the past year and founded one
of the few art-joinery establishments in Cincinnati. The firm make to
order all kinds of carved antique and modern furniture, and also
carving for decorative purposes, make designs and execute them in the
most artistic manner, and their genius and skill have been abundantly
attested in every kind of work in their line. Their carving is all made
by hand, and evidences the touch of the artist in accuracy, beauty of
detail, and general excellence, and the encouragement the firm has
received and the patronage they have enjoyed is a just tribute to their
ability, energy, and business integrity. Messrs. Dannenfelser and
Timmich are Germans by birth, and Mr. Biemann was born in Cincinnati."
Leading Manufacturers (1886), 115.
Atterbury, Grosvenor
(Detroit, Mich., 1869-1956)
Educated at Yale (1891) and in Columbia University Architecture School;
NYCAIA (1897); worked in the office of McKim, Mead & White, N.Y.;
in 1895 at Atelier Blondel of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts,
Paris. In New York, he established a reputation as a restoration
architect, particularly at the New York City Hall (1902-1920); he also
designed the original American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(1924). Among important country house estates by Atterbury were
"Old Westbury," the John S. Phipps house and gardens (with Englishman
George Crawley), Long Island, N.Y.; and the Arthur B. Claflin house at
Shinnecock Hills in eastern Long Island (1896-1897), where Atterbury
also designed the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton; and designed a
house for himself (his father was a developer of the area).
Atterbury designed at least three mansions in Cincinnati, two for the
daughters of Lawrence Maxwell and their husbands; the Mrs. William
Horace Schmidlapp (Jean Maxwell) House, "Ca' Sole," off Grandin Rd.,
Hyde Park; and "Cobble Court," the Mrs. Joseph S. Graydon (Marjorie
Maxwell) House, Indian Hill. His firm designed another house,
with similar distinctive use of red brick trim against rough
stonewalls, and picturesque accents of tile, ironwork, and carving. It
was designed for Harry L. Linch (the house was later identified with
his daughter, Dr. Adele Goldstein), in N. Avondale. An elevation study
drawing for it by John Tompkins was published in 1929.
Related in concept and/or appearance to Forest Gardens may be the
Atterbury Group, called Sheldon Close, in the much-admired planned
community of Mariemont in eastern Hamilton County (1924-1926).
In 1903 Atterbury exhibited a view of a number of residences including
his own at Shinnecock Hills, L.I., N.Y., and the H.O. Havemeyer houses
(sic), Islip, N.Y., 1897, listed in Macmillan Encyclopedia, as well as the New Haven Country Club at the third CAIA/CAM (1903).
NYCOPAR (1840-1900), 12;
NYCOPAR (1900-1940), 4;
Macmillan Encyclopedia, (1982), I, 113-14 (entry by Donald Harris Dwyer);
Hewitt, (1990), 267-68, 285;
MacKay, (1997), 49-57;
Klaus, (2002), 49-50, pp. 179-80;
Langsam (1997), 77, 96, 125;
Painter, AIC (2006);
Rogers (2001).