William Lawrence Bottomley

HUME FRAZER, PhD, is an independ-

ent scholar, writer, and lecturer in American

architecture and the decorative arts, and president of Hume-Frazer Associates, LLC, a firm devoted to architectural history research and

FRAZER

S

USAN

consultation. She resides with her husband, Jack, and their Westie, Simon, in the Fan District of Richmond, Virginia, surrounded by buildings

ALSO

IN

THE AMERICAN ARCHITECT

SERIES:

Carrère & Hastings, Architects

Morrison, and Charles D. Warren

Mastering Tradition: The Residential Architecture of John Russell Pope

By James Garrison

Domestic Architecture of H.T. Lindeberg Introduction by Royal Cortissoz

of Horace Trumbauer

By Michael Kathrens

FORTHCOMING: Guy Lowell

WILLIAM LAWRENCE BOTTOMLEY

OF

W ILLIAM L AWRENCE B OTTOMLEY SUSAN HUME FRAZER Foreword by Calder Loth

R

E F I N E D

C O U N T R Y

H O U S E S

,

gracious urban dwellings, posh Broadway

cafés, exotic nightclubs, and a high-rise apartment building that, 80 years after its construction, is still considered the epitome of tony living in Manhattan—these are among the many achievements of William Lawrence Bottomley, one of the best American architects of the first half of the 20th century. During his 40-year career, Bottomley designed and executed 186

commissions.

An

uncompromising

perfectionist with refined taste, he oversaw virtually every facet of his projects, from interior ornamentation

and

decoration

to

the

surrounding landscape design. Recognized as a master builder of country houses, Bottomley succeeded in bringing the privileges of a suburban house to the city dweller—pleasures of open-air life, ample personal space and privacy

OF

American Splendor: The Residential Architecture

THE ARCHITECTURE

OF

TH E A R C H I T E C T U R E

By Mark A. Hewitt, Kate Lemos, William

W ILLIAM L AWRENCE B OT TOMLEY

designed by William Lawrence Bottomley.

THE ARCHITECTURE

became cutting-edge concepts for a modern metropolis.

The

Architecture

of

William

Lawrence

Bottomley is the first comprehensive study of this master architect and designer. Richly illustrated with archival photographs and floor plans, the book examines 34 of the architect’s structures nationwide and includes a catalogue of his commissions and a comprehensive bibliography.

By Arete Warren

With

new

discoveries

revealed

about

Bottomley and his work in the illuminating essays www.acanthuspress.com

of author Susan Hume Frazer, this volume represents a noteworthy addition to Acanthus Press’ distinguished series of publications documenting America’s rich architectural legacy.

S USAN H UME F RAZER Rear cover: Ashland Farm Printed in China

ACANTHUS PRESS

Front cover: Redesdale

THE ARCHITECTURE

OF

W ILLIAM L AWRENCE B OTTOMLEY

S USAN H UME F RAZER Foreword by

C ALDER L OTH

A CANTHUS P RESS NEW YORK : 2007

Acanthus Press, LLC 54 West 21st Street New York, New York 10010 www.acanthuspress.com

Copyright Š 2007, Susan Hume Frazer Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify the owners of copyright.

Errors of omission will be corrected in subsequent printings of this work.

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in any part (except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Frazer, Susan Hume.

The architecture of William Lawrence Bottomley / Susan Hume Frazer. p. cm. -- (The American architect series) Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-926494-23-7 (alk. paper) 1. Bottomley, William Lawrence, 1883-1951--Criticism and interpretation.

2. Architecture--United States--20th century. I. Bottomley, William Lawrence, 1883-1951. II. Title.

NA737.B57F73 2007 720.973--dc22 2007011553

Printed in China

CONTENTS

Author’s Note ~ 9 Acknowledgments ~ 11 Foreword ~ 13 Introduction ~ 19

S T . G E O R G E ’ S C H U R C H ~ 39 B O R A D I L F A R M ~ James M. Townsend Jr. Property ~ 44 E R N E S T P. D AV I E S R E S I D E N C E ~ 52 G L E N E L G ~ Arthur Anderson Fowler Residence ~ 57 W O L C O T T L A N E R E S I D E N C E ~ 64 COLONEL

AND

M R S . J E N N I N G S C . W I S E R E S I D E N C E ~ 70

P L A I N F I E L D C I T Y H A L L ~ 78 MR.

AND

M R S . H E N R Y L O G A N G O L S A N R E S I D E N C E ~ 84

W A LT E R G . D AV I S H O U S E , D AV I S F A M I LY M A U S O L E U M ~ 92 T U R T L E B AY G A R D E N S ~ 100 C A N O E P L A C E I N N ~ 110 MR.

AND

M R S . J . S C O T T P A R R I S H R E S I D E N C E ~ 118

O ’ D O N N E L L I S E L I N R E S I D E N C E ~ 128 O N E - M A N H O U S E ~ Benjamin Wood Residence ~ 132 R E D E S D A L E ~ Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Hartwell Reed Residence ~ 138

MR.

AND

M R S . K E N N E T H B . VA N R I P E R R E S I D E N C E ~ 150

W I L L I A M Z I E G L E R J R . R E S I D E N C E ~ 160 J . R A N D O L P H R O B I N S O N R E S I D E N C E ~ 172 D A K O TA ~ Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Wolten Winmill Residence ~ 178 C L A R E M O N T M A N O R ~ General and Mrs. William H. Cocke Residence ~ 183 P L AY W I C K Y ~ Morris Llewellyn Cooke Residence ~ 192 MR.

AND

MRS. NORMAN

DE

R. WHITEHOUSE RESIDENCES~ 196

Green Court; Halfway House A S H L A N D F A R M ~ Amory S. Carhart Jr. Residence ~ 210 MR.

AND

M R S . R O B E R T M . J E F F R E S S R E S I D E N C E ~ 218

W AV E R L E Y H I L L ~ Mr. and Mrs. Herbert McKelden Smith Residence ~ 226 Triangle Tea Room R I V E R H O U S E ~ 234 Mr. and Mrs. William Lawrence Bottomley Suite; Edson Bradley and Mrs. Herbert Shipman Maisonette; The River Club T H E P H I L L I P S I N N ~ 256 R O S E H I L L ~ Mrs. William R. Massie Residence ~ 262 BRIG. GENERAL

AND

M R S . D A N I E L B R A D F O R D D E V O R E R E S I D E N C E ~ 268

M I L B U R N E ~ Mr. and Mrs. Walter S. Robertson Residence ~ 276 W E D G E F I E L D P L A N TAT I O N ~ Robert Goelet Shooting Lodge ~ 282 T AT T O N H A L L ~ Mr. and Mrs. Norman Edward Edgerton Residence ~ 290 C H I LT O N H O U S E ~ Mr. and Mrs. William Edwin Chilton II Residence ~ 297 H O L LY H O U S E ~ Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas G. Rutgers Residence ~ 304 Catalog of Commissions ~ 308 Notes ~ 321 Bibliography ~ 333 Photography Credits ~ 339 Index ~ 341

8 ~ CONTENTS

FOREWORD

ACANTHUS PRESS’

S E R I E S on American architecture of the late 19th

and early 20th centuries is a most welcome resource for scholars and aficionados of an elegant period of our country’s architecture. However, these informative books, lusciously illustrated with vintage images of visually seductive buildings, do not encourage me to be a disciplined reader. Invariably, I leaf through the pages, heading straight to the most impressive works, and then hold my breath while sneaking a peak at the end of a write-up to see if the building I’m admiring still stands. More often than not, it doesn’t. The twinge of despair over the fact that something so beautiful was willfully destroyed or lost to fire is tempered only by knowing that at least a picture or two of it survives to show that we were once capable of making beautiful places. Such is not the case with William Lawrence Bottomley. Unlike many of his contemporaries in the golden age of American traditional architecture, Bottomley has been lucky. The majority of his buildings survive. What a delight it is to read through Susan Frazer’s informative essays, to get excited by a beautiful Bottomley house, and to discover at the end that it’s still there.

It shouldn’t be surprising that the bulk of Bottomley’s output remains standing. Bottomley worked from World War I onward, just after the era when wealthy Americans created estates on a par with the palatial country houses of England. Such lavish prewar spreads became particularly vulnerable during the Great Depression and the post–World War II era of suburban sprawl.

Bottomley’s clients, on the other hand, while well-to-do, didn’t have names 13

with the lofty status of Rockefeller, Whitney, or

for the Queen Anne and Georgian houses on

Widener. Moreover, the period in which Bottomley

England’s Salisbury Cathedral Close. Bottomley

worked was more tempered than the preceding one.

effectively wove these Salisbury motifs into several

Gentility, rather than ostentation, was a guiding

of his compositions. Many of his best later houses

principle. Hence, Bottomley’s houses (and most of

show a deep appreciation for 18th-century

his output was residential) are of fine quality but not

American architecture, especially the colonial plan-

huge; indeed, some are quite small, and nearly all

tation dwellings of Virginia. In developing these

are adaptable to today’s living standards. All of this

designs, he often referenced the same sources that

has helped keep Bottomley’s houses highly desirable

the colonial designers themselves used, such as

as real estate, a fact that has secured their preserva-

James Gibbs’ A Book of Architecture (1728) or Batty

tion for the foreseeable future.

and Thomas Langley’s The City and Country

In recent years, America has witnessed the con-

Builder’s and Workman’s Treasury of Design (1750).

struction of countless traditional-style “homes,”

These and a multitude of other historic pattern

houses larger than most of Bottomley’s. These are

books were familiar to Bottomley. His conviction

the so-called McMansions—bulky assemblages of

that architecture of the past should inspire that of

gables and brickwork laden with classical detailing.

the future was patently demonstrated through his

We might ask what sets Bottomley’s works apart

serving as chairman of the editorial committee for

from these heavy-handed attempts at prestige.

the 1933 two-volume publication Great Georgian

Fundamentally,

erudition.

Houses of America. The abundant illustrations in

Bottomley’s creations are literate works of architec-

these volumes proved to be an invaluable design

ture; McMansions rarely ever are. Bottomley was

resource for the era’s traditional architects.

it’s

architectural

brilliantly educated in building design, the building

Like the best of creative artists, Bottomley doesn’t

arts, and interior decoration. His education came

copy—he adapts. His compositions may remind us

not only from his academic training but from a life-

of Mount Airy or Carter’s Grove, but they are fun-

long dedication to observation. Bottomley sought

damentally 20th-century works, and fundamentally

ideas and inspiration from countless noteworthy

Bottomley. What is really evident in Bottomley’s

buildings in both Europe and America. He under-

architecture is the love of what he was doing. When

stood that tradition is the wisdom of experience and

we examine a Bottomley house, it is obvious that

that the architectural traditions of the past, with all

every space, every detail, and every finish was care-

their beauty and ingenuity, could inform and enrich

fully considered and based on a scholarly

the architecture of the present. In contrast, the

understanding of his sources of inspiration.

designers of McMansions, many of whom are not

Bottomley, however, didn’t develop his composi-

even trained architects, are generally clueless

tions in a vacuum. A Bottomley work is the result of

regarding the rules of classical proportioning and,

an ongoing dialogue with client, contractor, crafts-

more often than not, obtain their detailing from cat-

men, and landscape architect, overlain with a rich

alogs rather than from craftsmen.

store of historic precedents, all in an effort to

Bottomley’s works, nevertheless, are distinctly

achieve the desired effect and functionality.

his own. Much of their effectiveness derives from

One of the reasons Bottomley’s works remain

his ability to synthesize features of historic build-

both admired and sought-after is that they were

ings into fresh new designs. Some of the fun of

built for the modern era. A Bottomley house may

studying his buildings is figuring out the sources for

evoke an image from the past, but it is not a historic

his myriad forms and details. For instance, we see

structure in the sense that it belongs to a time of dif-

in some of his early dwellings a particular penchant

ferent living standards. Though many of his works

14 ~ F O R E W O R D

are now some 90 years old, they remain modern in

can satisfy our aesthetic appetite by perusing the

terms of their ability to accommodate today’s

images Susan Frazer has laboriously assembled, but

lifestyle requirements. They were constructed with

we also hope this dossier of his works will demon-

central heating, electricity, closets, and commodious

strate to present-day architects, builders, and clients

bathrooms. While they lacked central air-condition-

the gratification that comes with literate traditional

ing and modern kitchen appliances, such features

design. Bottomley’s houses are filled with creativity

are easily introduced. Even in a new millennium, it

and ingenuity, but it’s all enhanced by an encyclope-

is not difficult to acclimate ourselves to a Bottomley

dic knowledge of past architectural traditions. If

house. And over and above its practical accommo-

Frazer’s rich presentation of Bottomley’s works

dations, a Bottomley residence has so much to

helps inform both today’s traditional architecture as

delight the eye.

well as that of future generations, she will have done

Bottomley served his clients well, but we might ask what Bottomley’s work means to us today. We

a great service.

—Calder Loth

F O R E W O R D ~ 15

W I L L I A M L AW R E N C E B O T T O M L E Y

I NTRODUCTION

Build today, then strong and sure, With a firm and ample base; And ascending and secure Shall tomorrow find its place. —H ENRY WADSWORTH L ONGFELLOW 1

THE

YEARS BETWEEN

W O R L D W A R I and World War II were the

most radical of any period in American architecture. Defined by a palpable conflict between modernity and historicism, the era produced architects of diverse minds. Some pursued functional and technologically advanced aesthetics; others produced buildings considered among historicism’s finest legacy.

Until recently, architects who worked in a mode antithetical to the modernist model could garner only desultory attention. These other architects, also known as eclectic architects, who designed various types of buildings in a mixture of styles, have now become an essential focus in the balanced study of American architectural history.

William Lawrence Bottomley is regarded as one of the most proficient of the eclectic architects of the first half of the 20th century. His architecture follows in the tradition of Vitruvius, the first-century Roman architect and military engineer. Vitruvius established three defining principles for architecture: firmitas (fitness), utilitas (convenience; usefulness), and venustas (beauty), ideals embraced by Bottomley, who stated:2

19

There are certain fundamental ideas, all-too-

and different motives in a new way, so as to fuse

often neglected, which determine the real success

into a consistent whole, is constructive design.4

of a design. Any building—whether a house or any other kind—should be planned to fit its

Bottomley’s architecture withstands the test of

uses. It should be both convenient and expres-

time and changes in taste. From 1911, when he

sive artistically of its uses. It should fit its

began his career, through the 1930s, architectural

setting. It should be interesting in its mass and

and design journals published critical analyses and

be simple and restrained in the use of architec-

praise of his projects. His professional accomplish-

tural motives. Its character should reflect the

ments raised standards of architecture in Virginia,

best cultural traditions of its locality and also

where his buildings continue to be revered. After his

the taste and individuality of its occupants.

death in 1951, however, appreciation for his work

3

diminished. As late as 1972, it was said that “his repArchitecture was Bottomley’s métier for over 40

utation can hardly be called national.”5 As with all

years, during which he executed at least 186 com-

things historical, changes occur. Architects and

missions covering a geographical area extending

scholars now study and admire his work. His build-

from Maine to Florida in the eastern region of the

ings, often considered landmarks, are synonymous

United States and as far west as Texas. Typological

with the best of the period.

specialization was never his aim. In his work he

From a personal perspective, Bottomley’s life was

encompassed a wide range of building types, includ-

his work. Yet amid the enormous responsibilities and

ing private residences, apartment houses, schools,

activities of a demanding architectural practice, he

churches, hotels, inns, memorial structures, a mau-

managed to be a devoted husband, father, and grand-

soleum, a city hall, a skyscraper, an immigration

father, and even a mayor. Not only do Bottomley’s

station, a hospital, barns and stables, a tea room,

buildings deserve attention, but so do the influences

and nightclubs. As a result of his ability to synthe-

that shaped both the man and the architect.

size the old with the new, nearly a third of his commissions were for the renovations and restorations of existing buildings, many of historic

E A R LY L I F E

significance.

Bottomley has long been considered one of the

William Lawrence Bottomley was born February 24,

preeminent neo-Georgian house designers, and it

1883, in New York City to John Bottomley and

would be difficult to identify an architect who under-

Susan Amelia Steers Bottomley. The family resided

stood or practiced the idiom with more reverence

at 254 West 132nd Street, Harlem (extant), until

and skill. However, his stylistic range covered a wide

about 1911, and thereafter at 112 East 55th Street,

spectrum, as illustrated by his buildings of Italian,

New York City (extant). His father, a lawyer, came

Spanish, and French derivation, in which his hand

to the United States from Ulster, Ireland, to repre-

was equally adroit. Neither a purist nor a copyist, the

sent the business interests of his uncle, the Scottish

architect was a master at blending elements derived

physicist and mathematician William Thomson, 1st

from various sources into a pleasing and original

Baron Kelvin. Childless and anxious to pass his title

whole. His philosophy on the topic was specific:

to a family member, Lord Kelvin wanted to adopt the young man. Bottomley’s parents adamantly

Free handling of style, instead of imitating some

declined the proposal. 6

old example and often copying it badly, is a

Bottomley was educated at the Horace Mann

sign of life. The combination of different styles

School and graduated from Columbia University

20 ~ I N T R O D U C T I O N

with a bachelor of science degree in architecture in 1906. That spring during final examinations, he was driving a horse and carriage to open the family’s summer home at Water Mill on Long Island when he met a then-rare automobile. The horse shied, broke free of the carriage, and ran over him several times, breaking his leg and collarbone. He took his examinations from the hospital bed, passing with honors. Several surgeries to reset the leg were necessary, one of which took place in 1907 while he was in London attending the funeral and burial of his uncle, Lord Kelvin, at Westminster Abbey. The accident left one leg one inch shorter than the other, resulting in a permanent limp, which he disguised by using what he referred to as a “sailor’s roll” when walking. Known to be patriotic, Bottomley purportedly regretted that he was denied entry into the armed forces in World War I because of these injuries. Consequently, he took Everett V. Meeks’

WAT E R C O L O R , 1 9 0 8 , I L D U O M O , F L O R E N C E , I TA LY,

place as a lecturer in architectural history at the Yale

W I L L I A M L AW R E N C E B O T T O M L E Y

School of Architecture so that Meeks could serve.

7

While enrolled at Columbia, Bottomley apprenticed at the firm of Heins & LaFarge in New York, and in the office of the New York State Architect in Albany. In 1907 he received the McKim Fellowship in Architecture at the American Academy in Rome.

During the summer of 1908, Bottomley traveled through northern Italy and southern France, where he documented the architecture of many of the local sites. His watercolor paintings included the Duomo in Florence, Italy; St. Nicholas Church in Paris; and an old gateway in Montmorency, France.

These surviving works demonstrate that he was a competent artist, even as a student. In 1910 his skill as a draftsman received notice for a measured drawing of the Amphitheater of Flavius, and a collaborative project in which he participated was mentioned for “architectural composition and color” by the Architectural League of New York as part of a special exhibition by the American Academy in Rome selected from the work of students resident in Rome from 1904 to 1909. Bottomley continued to

WATERCOLOR, 1908, OLD GATEWAY, MONTMORENCY,

generate superior architectural renderings through-

F R A N C E , W I L L I A M L AW R E N C E B O T T O M L E Y

I N T R O D U C T I O N ~ 21

In June 1909, having completed studies in Paris, Bottomley returned to the United States for his marriage to Harriet Townsend (1884–1975), a sculptor and writer on architectural subjects. The two had met in New York while she was studying under the painter Robert Henri (1865–1929).

Concurrently, she was being courted by the author Kenneth Roberts (1885–1957). After meeting “Laurie,” the name by which she addressed her husband, Miss Townsend disdainfully referred to Roberts as “a rosy-cheeked boy.” Bottomley was, by all accounts, handsome, romantic, charming, brilliant, playful, enthusiastic, witty, and urbane. He was six feet tall with fine brown hair and a mustache. He spoke in a clipped fashion with an unaffected English accent, likely acquired from his British father. A friend described his persona as similar to that of the actor William Powell in the “Thin Man” series of motion pictures. The same MOONSTONE AND DIAMOND NECKLACE DESIGNED

friend added that “Larry,” as close friends called

B Y W I L L I A M L AW R E N C E B O T T O M L E Y, N . D .

him, “was so well put together [in attire], he looked as if he were stepping off the pages of the New

out his career. During World War II, the Citizens

Yorker.”10

Committee for the Army and Navy selected the

Harriet Townsend was quiet, petite, and lovely;

American Academy in Rome as its agent to oversee

moreover, she was his intellectual equal. While

the production of a series of triptychs for temporary

Bottomley was at the Ecole, she traveled to Paris,

military chapels. In addition to serving in the group

chaperoned by her brother, Edward Howard

of architects who carried out the assignment,

Townsend. In a romantic gesture, as she and

Bottomley created a triptych comparable in quality

Bottomley stood under an arch at the Tuileries, he

to those produced by some of the preeminent

proposed to her with an engagement ring of his

muralists of the time.

own creation. After marriage, he continued to

8

On October 1, 1908, he entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris to continue his architectural

design jewelry for his wife, an example of which is a moonstone and diamond necklace.11

studies, having earned admission on the first

The Bottomleys were married August 26, 1909,

attempt, a unique achievement. Bottomley’s impec-

at Beech Hill, the summer home of the bride’s par-

cable education at Columbia, Rome, and Paris was

ents, located in Westport on Lake Champlain, New

described as “long, severe training: from which he

York. They remained devoted to each other for life.

learned to reduce green ideas to the precision of

The success of their union arose in part from shared

diagrams; to admire the great monumental build-

backgrounds and interests. Both were of wealthy

ings and more monumental traditions. But he had

patrician families. They were artists with a strong

an innate liking for things picturesque, which expe-

desire to make their surroundings beautiful. Garden

rience has developed against the background of

design was a dual interest, and Bottomley often

that training.”

sought his wife’s counsel on the landscaping and

9

22 ~ I N T R O D U C T I O N

S K E T C H O F P U M P H O U S E A N D M I L K R O O M , E S TAT E O F G E O R G E S L O A N E , WA R R E N T O N , V I R G I N I A , C . 1 9 2 5 , B Y W I L L I A M L AW R E N C E B O T T O M L E Y

I N T R O D U C T I O N ~ 23

COLOR RENDERING, 1934, BY WILLIAM LAWRENCE BOTTOMLEY. FACADE, HALFWAY HOUSE,” THE PLAINS, V I R G I N I A

plantings for architectural projects. Until late in life,

was a trustee and juror of the Beaux-Arts Institute

the couple enjoyed gardening together at Hickory

of Design in New York, to which architects sent

Hill, their Brookville, Long Island, home. Harriet

their student work for evaluation. He was a member

Bottomley was an informed and articulate architec-

of the alumni association of the American Academy

tural writer whose articles were published in

of Rome, in which he served as an adviser for the

Architectural Review, The Architectural Record, and

improvement of the academy’s standards.14

Arts and Decoration.12

As his children grew, so did Bottomley’s architectural practice, leaving less time for family activities. Bottomley’s profession so dominated his

FA M I LY L I F E

life that he remained an enigma to many outside the domain

of

his

family

and

closest

friends.

The Bottomleys had three daughters: Harriet

Nonetheless, the surviving daughters have poignant

(1918–2001); Susan, born in 1920; and Virginia,

memories that provide insight into their father.

born in 1924. Bottomley conveyed two strong

Mrs. Susan Bottomley Chambers remembered

beliefs to his daughters: first, “If you start some-

that “when I started going to Prescription dances,

thing, you must finish it unless it is counter-

my father wanted to make sure I was the belle of the

productive”; and second, “Never allow yourself to be

ball, and he did his best to ensure that my dresses

bored. Talk to the person who seems to be dull and

were as lovely as possible. One of them was without

persuade him or her to tell you what they do profes-

shoulder straps, but he made it sensational by adding

sionally. You will learn something, and that is your

one strap of flowers.” Mrs. Chambers spent an

Bottomley also passed to them his lifelong

extended period in Charlottesville, Virginia, where

passion for education. Harriet and Virginia gradu-

she reported, “I was feted as my father’s daughter.”

ated from Vassar and Susan from the Parsons

She was recognized by the authors William B.

School of Design with honors. He emphasized edu-

O’Neal and Christopher Weeks as “unstinting in her

cation in his service to professional associations. He

interest, her support, and her fund of knowledge

job.”

13

24 ~ I N T R O D U C T I O N

S T U D Y O F T H E R E L AT I O N S H I P O F H O U S E A N D D E P E N D E N C I E S O F “ R O C K L A N D S , ” 1 9 3 4 ( O R A N G E C O U N T Y, V I R G I N I A ) B Y W I L L I A M L AW R E N C E B O T T O M L E Y

about her father” in their preparation of The Work of

come. Disappointed, she told her father that the

William Lawrence Bottomley in Richmond.

robins had not written back, to which he replied,

15

Bottomley’s tender side is further shown in an

“The mails are slow. Check for at least a few more

event related by his youngest daughter, Mrs. Virginia

days.” On the second day of waiting, she found a

Bottomley Colyer. When she was about six years old,

crumpled brown leaf with purple writing on it, which

a robin couple built a nest on the windowsill of her

said, “Dear Missy Virginia, I read your sweet mes-

bedroom. She wrote a letter to the birds, placed it

sage to my darling babies. The eldest is very large.

under a rock, and waited for a reply that did not

She is two inches long and named after you.

I N T R O D U C T I O N ~ 25

T H E B O T T O M L E Y S AT H I C K O RY H I L L , C . 1 9 4 4

Please pardon this leaf from my bird book. Love and

lunch. This had never happened before, and I was

kisses, xx oo.” Mrs. Colyer preserved the leaf letter

pleased and curious. We set out and visited a couple

as a reminder of her father’s playful, childlike

of art galleries. After that, I was treated to a straw-

approach to his little girl’s concerns.

berry ice cream soda, which, I am sorry to say,

16

Bottomley educated his daughters, often with-

greatly enhanced my appreciation of the Manets we

out their realizing it. Mrs. Colyer reflected, “About

had seen. All through that hot stagnant summer,

1939, my father gave me an unexpected, delicious

Saturdays held the promise of an outing and one,

and delightful gift. Architectural work had slack-

maybe two sodas. What I didn’t realize at age six-

ened, and my mother, my father, and I were going to

teen was that by viewing the work of great artists, I

spend the summer in the city while Brookville

was given a lifetime interest.”17

[Hickory Hill, their summer home on Long Island]

Physically fit, Bottomley won a number of

was rented so that there was more income. One hot

awards as an accomplished sailor at Cold Spring

Saturday, when I was wondering what to do with

Harbor on Long Island, and he belonged to a walk-

myself, my father suggested we go for a walk after

ing group in Brookville called the Buckram Beagles.

26 ~ I N T R O D U C T I O N

H I C K O RY H I L L , C . 1 9 4 4

Although he enjoyed various interests beyond archi-

when amused and having a good time. When feeling

tecture, such as music, socializing with professional

prosperous, he spent lavishly; when economizing, he

colleagues, attending church services, politics, and

would wear shirts with frayed cuffs until our mother

of course art, both daughters concur that work was

caught him and got him to change.”19

“all important” and outside activities were not per-

The Bottomleys’ wealth accrued from his lucra-

mitted to interrupt any aspect of his professional

tive architectural practice and family assets. Prior to

life. It is therefore somewhat curious that he found

1930 they lived at 112 East 55th Street in New York

time to serve as the mayor of Brookville, Long

City, a portion of which was converted to architec-

18

Island, from 1928 to 1934.

tural offices. The Spanish Renaissance town house

In an effort to provide a realistic view of her

and office had a courtyard garden, paved in brick,

father’s demeanor, Mrs. Colyer wrote, “He was

that divided the house and the drafting studio. A

nervous and smoked continuously. Careless work of

series of arched doorways alternating with straight

any kind, from knitting to contracting, infuriated

French doors allowed both employees and house-

him. He was formidable when angry, delightful

guests to experience the courtyard and its splashing

I N T R O D U C T I O N ~ 27

fountain. In 1930 the family’s city residence became

paintings and etchings adorned the walls. In 1932

an elegant triplex suite at River House. In 1924,

these works were destroyed in a fire that started in

Bottomley acquired Hickory Hill (c. 1680), in

the cellar of the house and spread to the first floor.

Brookville, New York, for use as a summer house.

Little damage was done to the structure itself, but the

The architect carried out extensive restoration, reno-

loss of the artwork was estimated at $20,000. In

vation, and additions to the original saltbox structure,

1947, Bottomley added a barn to the property. The

one of the oldest houses on Long Island. Roads, ter-

Bottomley family spent many happy summers in

races, pools, and gardens were laid out, boxwood and

Brookville until 1952, when the property was sold.

borders planted, and the ancient trees pruned on the

Although a number of changes have been made over

seven-acre property. The result was judged at the time

the years, particularly to the gardens, the current

as one of the most charming and dignified small

owner has for the past 25 years faithfully restored and

country places in its section of America. The interiors

preserved many of Bottomley’s original components.

of the main house at Hickory Hill, seen in period

In 1952, Mrs. Bottomley gave the scenic French wall-

photographs, were exquisitely decorated. Numerous

paper originally in the drawing room to the

W I L L I A M L AW R E N C E B O T T O M L E Y D R A F T I N G , C . 1 9 4 4

28 ~ I N T R O D U C T I O N

FA C A D E , H I C K O RY H I L L

Goodspeed Opera House in Essex, Connecticut,

go, I go [with you],” so often that he was given the

where it was installed.

name “Igo.” The younger grandchildren, born nearer

20

Bottomley was not as financially prudent as his wife. At a point when funds were low, Mrs.

the time of his death, dimly remember their grandfather but also refer to him as “Igo.”23

Bottomley was displeased that he paid for a taxi instead of walking home from the office. In response, her husband left and returned with a bouquet of

CAREER

roses, announcing that he had purchased a new car.

To her dismay, during the Depression, when his archi-

When Bottomley began his career in New York City

tectural practice was waning, Bottomley acquired

in 1911, the academic architect was considered

luxurious new offices at 60 East 42nd Street. Mrs.

both a professional and an artist. This had not

Chambers commented, “I think he must have been

always been the case. The elevation in status was

very difficult in his odd ways. My mother was very tol-

due largely to the influence of William Morris Hunt

erant of his eccentricities.” She added, “The

(1827–1895), the first Beaux-Arts-trained architect

Depression was the end of my father professionally

and the first to operate an atelier in America. New

and led to his death, a long tragic decline. Heart dis-

York City was the epicenter for numerous promi-

ease, high blood pressure, and his own personal sense

nent architectural firms, such as McKim, Mead &

of professional loss were very depressing.” One can

White, the leader in setting comprehensive per-

only hope that during this period the architect

sonal, educational, and professional standards for

recalled his own words: “The great masters of paint-

architectural practice. Beaux-Arts influence held

ing, sculpture and architecture are remembered by

sway in schools of architecture, architectural prac-

their successes, not by their failures.”

tices, and the professional press. The role of the

21

22

The arrival of the first grandchild, Harriet Smith Chatfield, in 1943, must have brought great joy to

society architect was elevated to a near art form by firms such as Carrère & Hastings.

Bottomley, for when she visited they were insepara-

Bottomley’s impeccable education, pedigree,

ble. If he was about to leave, Harriet would cry, “I

and personality were a perfect fit for the established

I N T R O D U C T I O N ~ 29

Bottomley and Edward S. Hewitt founded the firm of Hewitt & Bottomley in 1911 with offices at 597 Fifth Avenue. Edward S. Hewitt was a respected architect who served as the chairman of the Educational Committee of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York, which encouraged competitions among schools to raise standards in architecture.25 At least 11 commissions were executed by the partnership, although Bottomley received the lion’s share of credit for the projects.

Praise for the firm’s work in architectural publications started early and continued even after the unpleasant dissolution of the partnership in 1919.

J. L. Mills and A. P. Hess were Bottomley’s associates for an apartment house at 1049 Park Avenue; Mills and Bottomley designed the Hotel Albert; and Hess and Bottomley were the architects for a hotel at 10 East 61st Street. In the early 1920s, Edward C. Dean was his partner in the renovation and restoration of Turtle Bay Gardens.

Each of these joint commissions occurred in New “ I G O” B O T T O M L E Y A N D F I R S T G R A N D C H I L D ,

York City. Bottomley also joined forces with

H A R R I E T S M I T H C H AT F E L D , C . 1 9 4 4

Laurence F. Peck on two commissions: a high school in Malvern, New York, and the Plainfield

architectural community and its patrons, and he met

City Hall in Plainfield, New Jersey.

with early success. His first known professional com-

Bottomley, Wagner & White, formed in 1928,

mission was in 1911 for the conversion and

was the last of the partnerships. Also short-lived, the

renovation of a store and residence at 890 Park

firm was dissolved in 1932 following the untimely

Avenue, designed under the auspices of the newly

death of W. Sydney Wagner. Wagner was formerly

formed firm of Hewitt & Bottomley. Over the course

with the firm of George B. Post & Sons. He com-

of his career, Bottomley formed partnerships and

pleted architectural training at the Ecole des

associations with a number of architects, most of

Beaux-Arts, having won the Paris Prize of the Beaux

whom remain obscure. According to his daughter,

Arts Institute of Design in 1907.26

Virginia, “my father had a quick temper and he was

Bottomley was known to control every facet of a

very impatient with sloppy work, whether by another

commission, his choice of collaborators, usually

architect or by a contractor. This may help to explain

among the best in their fields, was key to his profes-

why his partnerships usually ended with bad feel-

sional success. In assessing the landscape architect’s

Bottomley apparently preferred to work

qualifications and degree of involvement in a project,

ings.”

24

alone, and these associations were created strictly for

he said:

the purpose of merging expertise, connections, and assets. Lingering questions regarding the operation

The right landscape treatment is essential in

of his architectural practice may never be answered,

designing a house. By this I mean more than

because his business records were destroyed.

that landscape work that is immediately about

30 ~ I N T R O D U C T I O N

the house, such as the gardens, terraces and

Bottomley’s close association with W. J.

other landscape elements. This part of the work

Hanback was less well known. The two worked

is, of course, important, and the part that the

together from 1922 to 1945 on at least nine country-

architect should be responsible for himself. He

house commissions in Middleburg, The Plains, and

should design the lawns, terraces and roads

Warrenton, Virginia, and one in Mitchellville,

immediately about the house.

Maryland. Hanback Construction, as the building

27

enterprise came to be known, was considered the The frequency and success of his collaborations with

premier builder in Virginia’s Piedmont region from

landscape architects Charles Gillette (1886–1969)

the 1920s until the firm ceased operation in the

of Richmond, Virginia, and Umberto Innocenti

1990s. The company’s distinguished client roster

(1895–1968) of New York City indicate that they

included President John F. Kennedy and Mr. and

were two of Bottomley’s favorite collaborators.

Mrs. Averell Harriman. Renowned for its masonry

The architect was equally discriminating in his

skills,

Hanback

Construction

executed

the

choice of builders, two of whom emerge consis-

stonework for the tomb of President Kennedy at

tently: the firm of Claiborne & Taylor, Inc.,

Arlington National Cemetery. W. J. Hanback

Contractors of Richmond, and W. J. Hanback of

worked with a number of other prominent archi-

Hanback Construction of Warrenton, Virginia.

tects, including the New York firm of Delano &

An engineer, Herbert A. Claiborne Sr. of

Aldrich.30 Hanback’s proficiency was further demon-

Claiborne & Taylor, was a builder whom Bottomley

strated at Halfway House, one of Bottomley’s

held in highest esteem. Mutual interests, such as old

preeminent country houses, built for Mr. and Mrs.

brickwork and colors and the shared trait of perfec-

Norman de R. Whitehouse in The Plains, Virginia.

tionism, made them close friends. Bottomley was

What seems to have been one of the most satis-

often a guest at Claiborne’s Richmond home.

fying aspects of Bottomley’s practice was his

Claiborne spent years documenting the brickwork

oversight of craftsmen. Often frustrated by artisans’

of numerous historically significant colonial build-

inability to execute his exacting specifications, he

ings in Virginia and was recognized as the country’s

taught them the techniques required to achieve the

foremost authority on the subject. Together, the

degree of authenticity and perfection that he

architect and the builder would handpick the bricks

wanted. When the brickwork, wall surface treatment,

for their building facades. Bottomley often recom-

carving, or other details were successfully completed,

mended to clients that they obtain proposals from

both the architect and the craftsmen enjoyed a sense

Claiborne & Taylor without competition. Herbert

of accomplishment and pride.31 A testament to

Claiborne was so impressed with Bottomley’s

Bottomley’s effectiveness in this area appeared in

designs that he purchased 1800 Monument Avenue

one of his obituaries: “Many craftsmen in the allied

In

fields will sorely miss this sympathetic and gifted

Richmond, Claiborne and Taylor built Bottomley’s

confrere who sought their collaboration and wove

plans for 1800, 2301, 2320, 2601, and 2714

their work into the fabric of his designs.”32

and lived there the remainder of his life.

28

Monument Avenue, as well as the houses Nordley,

New York artists D. C. Sindona, Ernest Peixotto

Redesdale, and Milburne. They were also the

(1869–1940), and Jan Juta created the outstanding

builders of Stockton, a superior country house

murals incorporated into a number of the interiors

designed for Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Echols in

of Bottomley buildings. Nancy Vincent McClelland

Wilmington, Delaware. Echols, an executive for the

(1867–1959) stands out as another of Bottomley’s

Du Pont Company, and Claiborne were classmates

frequent collaborators from New York. McClelland

at the University of Virginia.

was an interior designer, lecturer, antiquary, and

29

I N T R O D U C T I O N ~ 31

M O M P E S S O N H O U S E , S A L I S B U RY C AT H E D R A L C L O S E , S A L I S B U RY, E N G L A N D

author. Her interests and qualifications dovetailed

it; a color sense highly developed; a sensitive and

perfectly with Bottomley’s. He purchased scenic

a keen appreciation of textures; judicious restraint

and nonscenic wallpapers from her for at least five

in composition; a capacity for scrupulous atten-

houses in Richmond and one in Charleston, West

tion to minute details when those details are going

Virginia.

to count for emphatic effect; a faculty for making

Bottomley viewed the treatment and furnish-

the most of simple things and common materials

ings of the interior as equal in importance to the

and investing them with dignity; a vivid realiza-

actual fabric of the building and its setting, as noted

tion of decorative backgrounds; catholicity of

by Harold D. Eberlein:

taste coupled with versatility in making adaptations; a direct and penetrating grasp of the

Of the several co-ordinated qualities whose com-

possibilities in a situation and steadfastness in

bination imparts the stamp of a distinctive

keeping the issues clear in their treatment; a

individuality to Mr. Bottomley’s activities in the

prompt perception of the vital requirements in the

realm of interior decoration, the following are the

movable equipment of a room and its arrange-

most conspicuous: An ability to turn his hand in

ment; and last, but by no means least, a happy

decorative craftsmanship when occasion requires

facility in analyzing the psychological makeup

32 ~ I N T R O D U C T I O N

JAMES BRANCH CABELL III HOUSE, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

of clients along with the concomitant tact necessary in dealing with them.

33

After 10 years as an architect, Bottomley came to realize that the importance he placed on interior design and decoration was not universal:

Bottomley designed in color, for his highly developed color sense is consistently apparent in his

It is curious to think that there is a great major-

architecture. He also placed major emphasis on this

ity of people who know practically nothing

aspect of the design process in his writings:

about artistic things, who never read anything but some light magazine or novel, whose houses

I also try to make as much use of color as is pos-

are bought from a speculative builder, whose

sible, both on the interior and the exterior, not

furniture, is purchased at a department store.

only in the painting but in the use of materials,

The whole setting of their lives is built up of

not only in the strict sense of color, but in the

things bought from stock and put together with-

sense of variation of values as produced by dif-

out thought.35

ferent textures, often of the same material.34 Bottomley’s client roster comprised a virtual who’s who? of New York society. Aggressive marketing

I N T R O D U C T I O N ~ 33

and networking techniques were unnecessary for

York, people are going into apartments. Outside

him to gain a loyal following, for he understood the

New York, the tendency seems to be to design

tastes and preferences of the elite as only an equal

city houses like country houses, that is, houses

could. The largest concentration of 90 commissions

that are built on very large plots of land. So the

in the state of New York derived from this group.

country house sets the whole style of domestic

New York clients also provided entrée into Virginia,

architecture today.37

resulting in the second-largest group of 51 commissions. Other than his New York patronage, the most

During these decades, the proclivity toward

significant source of new business came from posi-

romanticism in the suburbs was also expressed in

tive assessments of his buildings and competence as

American cities in the designs of theaters, movie

an architect. Moreover, it was not unusual for him

houses, and nightclubs. Bottomley was justifiably

to earn multiple commissions from a single client.

proud of his club work, which he highlighted in a

Much of Bottomley’s success was due to his

promotional piece used to pursue the commission

approach to the practice of architecture, which was

for a country club in Charleston, West Virginia. He

in line with those of contemporaries such as

also wrote in The Architectural Forum about the use

Howard Van Doren Shaw and David Adler of

of mirrors in his design for the Embassy Club, a

Chicago; Fiske Kimball of Virginia; and New

fashionable nightspot formerly located on 57th

Yorkers Mott B. Schmidt and William Adams

Street near Sutton Place in New York City. Here he

Delano. These men were substantial, educated soci-

employed colored class, awnings of silk, and glass

ety

be

flowers. Club work, one of Bottomley’s lesser-

characterized as steady, low-key, and successful.

known areas of expertise, demonstrates the

Few specific incidences are known of direct compe-

importance of interior design to his practice. It fur-

tition resulting in the loss of a commission to other

ther underscores his professional commitment to

architects.

overseas travel in order to properly interpret and fit

architects

whose

operations

may

Bottomley’s body of work was shaped in large

his designs with the finite details and nuances of

part by cultural forces. He began his practice during

foreign cultures.38 Bottomley was identified as “the

a mass urban exodus in the United States enabled

architect of the most luxurious of the great Salvin

by rail and mass-transit systems, followed by the pri-

group of cafes and the architect and decorator of

vate automobile. Seeking refuge from the volatility

virtually all the famous Broadway cafes.”39 Paul

of cities, first the rich, and later the middle class,

Salvin (also written Salvain) hired Bottomley to

created an extraordinary demand for housing situ-

design his New York City Club Royal, Club

ated in the country and in suburban developments.

Florida, and the Palais Royal, for which Salvin was

During the 1920s and 1930s, some of the most con-

lauded as having captured the essence of a success-

servative structures ever built were erected amid

ful cabaret and restaurant of the period. Salvin

picturesque landscapes for clients yearning for an

clothed his chorines in dresses costing $150 or

idealized, romanticized domestic environment.

36

more, an outrageous sum at the time, and although

Although Bottomley never ceased to design urban

the exact nature of the architect’s work for Salvin is

buildings, suburban and country-house projects

unclear, one can be sure that it was elaborate and

became a primary focus, the reason for which he

expensive.40 Bottomley was not a drinker, though he

confirmed in 1929:

did socialize occasionally and enjoyed the more circumspect aspects of the nightclub scene. These

I have a feeling that the city house is a thing of

outings allowed him to gather professional intelli-

the past, in New York City, at any rate. In New

gence, as noted in his comments:

34 ~ I N T R O D U C T I O N

The other night, sitting in the Palais Royal [for

ous Art Deco towers of the period, such as Raymond

which he was the architect], I heard a man say

Hood’s Daily News Building (1929–30) and

at an adjoining table, after looking at a deco-

Rockefeller Center (1927–35); William Van Alen’s

rative Japanese tree, trained and dwarfed until

Chrysler Building (1928–30); and the Empire State

it made an exotic but beautiful silhouette, that

Building (1929–31) by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon.

showed the skill bred from centuries of tradi-

When the opportunity to design a modern high-rise

tions, “Say, ain’t that the gosh durndest looking

apartment building was presented, Bottomley vigor-

tree?” A whole chapter of Main Street was

ously embraced it. River House (1929–32), the

summed up in a single line.

architect’s only skyscraper, was a milestone in the

41

evolution of the high-rise apartment building. The Well publicized were Bottomley’s indisputably

standards of excellence in amenity and urban design

lavish projects in Washington, D.C., for millionaire

in this Art Deco monument make it regrettable that

club owner Meyer Davis. Davis required that his clubs

Bottomley did not participate in other large-scale

be precise replications of certain exotic periods and

urban projects. He focused rather on the residential

cultures. Accordingly, Bottomley visited the ceremo-

needs of the rich, who, although their businesses and

nial rooms of the Kremlin in order to duplicate the

apartments may have been located in the city,

rooms of a Russian nobleman in Le Paradis Café at

wanted to live in the country. The architect’s strate-

number 1 Thomas Circle. In the autumn of 1924 he

gic direction proved wise. In contrast to the many

traveled to Spain to acquire the decorative objects and

rich Americans who found their extensive finances

textiles used in the Spanish interiors of the Chateau

wiped out as a consequence of the 1929 Stock

Le Paradis in Ammendale, Maryland. Bottomley was

Market crash, those whose investments were prop-

also the architect for Canoe Place Inn, Hampton Bays

erly structured went virtually unfazed by the

(1923), and Pavilion Royal, Valley Stream, New York

subsequent international financial crisis and Great

(c. 1925); the Embassy Club (c. 1927) and the River

Depression. This was the case for a number of

Club (1930) in New York City; and Club Le Paradis

Bottomley’s foremost patrons.44

42

in Miami, Florida (c. 1926).

The preservation movement, which culminated

In the 1920s, wealthy Americans, particularly

in the restoration and rebuilding of Colonial

Bottomley’s clientele, traveled abroad, often several

Williamsburg, Virginia (1928–36), had a potent

times a year. Consequently, they became familiar

effect on the course of Bottomley’s practice from the

with the architecture of foreign cultures. After a trip

beginning through the early 1940s. At least one-third

to Spain in 1923, Bottomley authored Spanish

of his projects involved restorations, renovations,

Details (1924), which served as a leading source of

and additions to existing structures. Many, particu-

inspiration to decorators and architects, and wrote

larly those in Virginia and on Long Island, were of

extensively on Spanish interiors in professional jour-

historic significance. One of the most successful of

nals, as did his wife. Bottomley was also a proponent

these projects took place from 1939 to 1941 for the

of the Mediterranean style, which was popular on

distinguished physicist Marion Eppley. Desiring to

both coasts at the time. His buildings designed in

be undisturbed, Eppley commissioned Bottomley to

this idiom represent some of his finest work.

design a cottage complete with a fully equipped

43

The economic boom of the 1920s doubled the

basement laboratory on a pristine parcel of land

volume of office space in New York City, a phenom-

located on Oyster Bay Harbor in Oyster Bay, New

enon that coupled with the shift to apartment living,

York. The existing frame structure (c. 1790) was

caused the skyscraper to grow at an inconceivable

moved from its site nearer the shoreline to a new

speed. Skyscraper construction produced the glori-

location, where it was preserved and faced in brick to

I N T R O D U C T I O N ~ 35

match two separate two-story houses attached as

(1937), a monumental accomplishment produced

wings. The pleasing result was a Long Island Dutch

during the Depression when his own affairs were in

Colonial vernacular composition, which appears as if

a state of upheaval.47

it was built in stages over centuries.45

Bottomley was intimately familiar with many of

The preservation movement also motivated

the historic buildings illustrated in both volumes;

architects to focus on American architecture as

and he was the architect for the restoration and ren-

descending from Colonial vernacular components

ovation of a number of them. The architect used

and Georgian Palladianism, rather than from

several of these structures as precedents for his new

European precedents. The establishment of these

buildings designed as reinterpretations of Georgian

precepts, inherent in Bottomley, encouraged his

architecture.

comment in 1921:

Theoretically, when Bottomley chose a particular building as a model, he recognized its attributes

It is a great achievement to take our own

in fitness, utility, and beauty, and viewed his own

American style and design a house that con-

variation thereof as the perpetuation of a classic for-

forms to all our best traditions, to fit it perfectly

mula. The residence for Mr. and Mrs. James Branch

to its setting, to give it the look of belonging so

Cabell III on Monument Avenue in Richmond

well in its place that it appears to have always

serves as a prime example. Bottomley’s probable

been there, and in addition to have it both orig-

source was Mompesson House (c. 1701), in the

inal and beautiful. I should say that the most

close of Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury, England.

difficult thing but at the same time the best

There are remarkable similarities between the

thing to do is to follow the idiom of the country

houses, as well as dramatic differences. The Cabell

where a building is to be placed and to do it in

house is five bays long rather than seven, and it was

a fresh, new way.

executed in brick with stone trim, instead of stone in

46

its entirety. The roof of Mompesson House is steeper and the dormers are set wider apart than

LEGACY

those of the Cabell house. The buildings bear no comparison beyond the resemblance of the facades,

Although Bottomley is considered an eclectic archi-

for they were separated by over 200 years of build-

tect, his methods were drastically different than the

ing progress. In the early 20th century, significant

chaotic and random employments of Victorian

advances in plumbing, electricity, central heat,

eclectics. His buildings and extensive body of pub-

water and sewer systems, mail delivery, telephones,

lished work display a brand of historicism grounded

and the automobile placed demands on the archi-

in scholarly inquiry. As previously mentioned, he

tect that would have been inconceivable to previous

authored Spanish Details (1924), a leading source

generations. Bottomley was required to devise an

for decorators and architects of the period. In the

infrastructure to support modern conveniences, yet

introduction, “Methods of Design and Construction

concurrently retain the historic character of both

of Our Early Days,” to John Mead Howells’ The

the exterior and interior of the house. The archi-

Architectural Heritage of the Piscataqua, (1937),

tect’s formula for doing so was empirical:48

Bottomley demonstrated comprehensive knowledge of the history and technology of colonial houses and

When a thing has been well done a number of

gardens in the Portsmouth District of Maine and

times and tried out over and over again in every

New Hampshire. He was the editor of Great

possible way, it is easy to do it again, and the

Georgian Houses of America, Volumes I (1933) and II

result with careful study is sure to be good.49

36 ~ I N T R O D U C T I O N

M A R I O N E P P L E Y H O U S E , O Y S T E R B AY, N E W Y O R K

William Lawrence Bottomley wrote and was

Bottomley died on February 1, 1951, after a

written about. In 1934 he received the Apartment

series of small strokes, with the sense that he had

House Medal of the New York Chapter of the

been typed as an eclectic, hence irrelevant in the

American Institute of Architects and the Silver

modernist world of architecture. The day after his

Medal of Honor of the Architectural League of

death, a tribute to him that appeared in the New

New York for “masterly accomplishments in the

York Herald Tribune said:

preservation of a precious phase of our architectural heritage and the skillful keeping alive of this

If architecture be the mother of the arts, then, in

noble style in the solutions of modern problems,” in

the passing of William Lawrence Bottomley, she

his restorations of historic Virginia houses and as

has lost one of her true sons; for, to him, archi-

the editor of Great Georgian Houses of America.

50

tecture was truly an art . . . All who know him

He was one of 19 architects in the United States to

will sorely miss this gallant, gifted, loyal and

be elevated to a fellowship in the American

inspiring friend.52

Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1944 “for his achievements in the field of residential architec-

Now, over half a century later, Bottomley con-

ture.” The AIA stated that “many examples of

tinues to be recognized as a great architect. His

buildings designed by him and carried out under

buildings are cherished by those who live and work

his direction show uncommon understanding of the

in them, not only in Virginia, but also from Maine to

problems of planning, selection of materials and

Florida to Texas, a fact established by the degree of

relation to surroundings, which has resulted in work

care taken by owners and institutions to respect,

of high merit.”

preserve, and honor his work. It is rare to see

51

I N T R O D U C T I O N ~ 37

B O T T O M L E Y A N D S C O T T I E “ L O R D R O B E RT S , ” N . D .

Bottomley’s name omitted as the architect in cur-

And, though the warrior’s sun has set

rent real-estate advertisements for his buildings,

Its light shall linger round us yet,

which speaks volumes about his enduring prestige.

Bright, radiant, blest.

But perhaps the most eloquent summation of Bottomley is a statement by Louis Kahn, who, after spending an afternoon taking in the house and gardens at Milburne, said, “Ah, yes, this was a man who loved and understood building; this was truly an architect, this Bottomley.’”53

38 ~ I N T R O D U C T I O N

— HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW54

THE ARCHITECTURE

OF

W ILLIAM L AWRENCE B OTTOMLEY

TURTLE BAY GARDENS New York City, 1920

T U R T L E B AY , an East Midtown section of Manhattan, dates to the 17th century. At that time, it was part of Deutal Bay Farm, a tract bounded by East 40th and East 48th streets, and Third Avenue to the East River. The name is said to have derived from a turtle-filled cove on what is now the grounds of the United Nations compound. In the mid-19th century, Horace Greeley owned a country estate in Turtle Bay, and Edgar Allan Poe briefly lived in that section of the city. Post–Civil War industrialization glutted the area with factories, slaughterhouses, and breweries, which generated a flood of immigrant workers who moved into the nearby brownstones and tenements erected in the 1860s and 1870s. By the 1920s, prosperous New Yorkers began purchasing the worn buildings and renovating them into modern residences.1 In 1918 the Turtle Bay Holding Company acquired the 23-story buildings with old-fashioned basement dwellings at 227–47 East 48th Street and 242–46 East 49th Street between Second and Third avenues for “reimprovement [sic] of the property with modern apartment houses.” Local residents immediately opposed the idea of apartments. Mrs. C. H. Sorchan, a prominent socialite and resident of Turtle Bay Gardens, successfully led an aggressive movement to retain private ownership and to renovate the existing structures. In August 1919 the holding company announced that it would instead institute “a novel improvement in the form of American basement dwellings with gardens” and “start work immediately upon altering them into four-story private residences.

The facades of the houses will be changed and the interiors entirely remodeled.

100

4 8 T H S T R E E T FA C A D E S

The back yards will be replaced with gardens and

on this side of the enclave, interspersed with facades

trees, and the old fences at the rear replaced with

painted in soft cerulean blue, cream, buff, or mossy

walls over which vines will trail.�

gray-green. Roof tiles varied in color from terra-cotta

2

The design for the buildings and gardens by

to dark brown to bright green. Several houses had

Edward C. Dean and William Lawrence Bottomley

black cast-iron balconies accented with golden

was a momentous change from the prevailing archi-

yellow and brilliant orange vermillion details. Iron

tectural standards in New York at that time. They

turtles placed on fence posts, downspouts terminat-

replaced the dark and dingy exteriors of the old

ing in duckbill spouts, and numerous water features

Victorian town houses with restrained and formal

whimsically recalled the natural beauty of 17th-

street facades of warm limestone with black window

century Turtle Bay.3

frames and light cream-colored sashes. The garden

Dean and Bottomley also made major changes

elevations, where architectural detail was most con-

to the typical floor plans. Kitchen and service areas

centrated, were made picturesque and informal.

that had previously opened to back yards with

Rosy pink salmon was the predominant color used

clotheslines and unkempt wooden fences were

T U R T L E B A Y G A R D E N S ~ 101

4 8 T H S T R E E T FA C A D E S D E TA I L

102 ~ T U R T L E B A Y G A R D E N S

4 9 T H S T R E E T FA C A D E S D E TA I L

moved to the street side of the buildings. New wide

between the joints connected individual gardens that

lead casement and bay windows transformed these

were fenced in low brick walls and iron fences.

formerly dark rooms into sunny dining areas with

Toward one end of the common area, a willow tree

garden views. Principal living rooms were also placed

was planted adjacent to a fountain, and on the oppo-

on the garden side of the upper floors. Some houses

site end wall, a jet of water flowed down from a

offered an additional story with an attached loggia

grotesque mask. A fountain of water, sprayed out of

for use as a studio or extra living area.

decorative frogs, highlighted another low, long pool

4

The interior central compound consisted of

filled with water cypress. High walls with grilled win-

back-to-back houses enclosing a large garden meas-

dows rose above the loggias and terraces, on which

uring 200 feet long by 100 feet wide. A central path

sat pots of different designs containing small shrubs,

of irregularly laid stone with grass growing in

vines, and flowers. Mature ailanthus trees contrasted

T U R T L E B A Y G A R D E N S ~ 103

G A R D E N FA C A D E S D E TA I L

104 ~ T U R T L E B A Y G A R D E N S

REAR LOGGIA

T U R T L E B A Y G A R D E N S ~ 105

LOGGIA INTERIOR

with the feathery limbs of willows and heavy leaves

Often the climate or an unusual site suggests

of polonias. Steep winding flights built over arches

some foreign treatment; but when an exotic style

created the feeling of a Mediterranean garden. It is

is chosen solely on account of some personal

interesting to note that no specific style could be

whim either by the owner or the architect, the

applied to either the enclave or the garden. The

result is apt to be an artistic failure.5

architects had fulfilled Bottomley’s expressed views on the issue of style:

106 ~ T U R T L E B A Y G A R D E N S

Upon completion, Bottomley pointed out how

G A R D E N S TA I R S

projects such as Turtle Bay Gardens fit the new

terraces are being used in a way never seen

architectural paradigm:

before in this country.6

The pleasures of open air life and informal treat-

Turtle Bay Gardens, as an enclave of old town

ments of the interior have had an effect on the

houses renovated around a lush, quiet garden cooled

planning and interior decoration of city houses,

by water, became a leading-edge concept in New

and we find now that roof gardens, loggias and

York and on the national scene at the time. In this

T U R T L E B A Y G A R D E N S ~ 107

G A R D E N G AT E

W I L L O W F O U N TA I N

project, Dean and Bottomley created a residential

composer Stephen Sondheim, author E. B. White,

environment that has continuously attracted promi-

and Bottomley’s associate in the project, Edward C.

nent individuals from diverse occupations, including

Dean. Immaculately preserved, today Turtle Bay

the actors Katharine Hepburn and Tyrone Power,

Gardens is a historic district designated as such in

symphony conductor Leopold Stokowski, Maria

1966 by the New York Landmarks Preservation

Bowen Chapin (founder of the Chapin School for

Commission.7

Girls), British Prime Minister Winston Churchill,

108 ~ T U R T L E B A Y G A R D E N S

SITE PLAN

T U R T L E B A Y G A R D E N S ~ 109

MR.

AND

MRS. J. SCOTT PARRISH RESIDENCE

Richmond, Virginia, 1924

WILLIAM LAWRENCE BOTTOMLEY was an adroit practitioner of a variety of architectural styles, including the Mediterranean style. During the 1920s, when the idiom became popular on both coasts, he designed a number of Mediterranean residential buildings in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, and Virginia. He was also responsible for the design of the “Spanish Room” for R. H. Macy and Company in New York City (1921). In Richmond, three of his buildings were erected in the Mediterranean style: the Stuart Court Apartments, the Hammond Building, and the residence of Mr. and Mrs. J. Scott Parrish. The architect was particularly proud of the Parrish house, which received widespread, enthusiastic coverage in the professional journals of the day. Built by Beazley Company at an approximate cost of $50,000, it was the most expensive house designed by Bottomley on Monument Avenue. Although much of the Parrish family’s time was spent at their estate in Chesterfield County, Virginia, Mr. Parrish was reported to have enjoyed nothing more than entertaining friends at the Monument Avenue residence.

1

J. Scott Parrish was the son of William H. Parrish (the founder of Richmond Cedar Works) and Nannie Kirkpatrick Parrish. He received a degree in engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1892.

The following year he married Edith Winch, a member of an influential Brookline, Massachusetts, family. The newlyweds settled in Richmond, where he began a long and active business career.2

118

M O N U M E N T AV E N U E FA C A D E

When the Parrishes decided to build on a lot at 2315 Monument Avenue, they initially hired

house in Santa Barbara in addressing the issues associated with a restricted lot:

Bottomley to design a Georgian Revival house, similar to the residences he had earlier executed for the

The gardens are closely related to the house by

Golsans, next door at number 2309, and the

the terrace and walks and a straight path leads

Worthams, two doors east at number 2301. After a

directly from the windows of the living room out

trip to the Mediterranean, however, the couple

to a pool and thence across the gardens. The

changed their minds and asked the architect to

garden is pratically an extension of the plan of

redesign the house. It was a decision that perhaps

the house and forms a great outdoor living

received encouragement from Bottomley, who with

space, as useful and as much used as are the

his wife, Harriet, had also just returned from both

interior rooms.�5

Italy and Spain.3 The resulting structure was described as more like “the home of a silent screen

At 65 feet wide and with a depth of 130 feet,

star than a Richmond businessman and his wife.�

4

the lot was indeed restrictive for its conceived pur-

Bottomley did refer to a California Mediterranean

poses. Bottomley met that challenge by placing the

P A R R I S H R E S I D E N C E ~ 119

V I E W O F P E D E S T R I A N G AT E ( R I G H T ) T H R O U G H D R I V E WAY G AT E

120 ~ P A R R I S H R E S I D E N C E

MAIN ENTRANCE

P A R R I S H R E S I D E N C E ~ 121

G A R D E N E L E VAT I O N

122 ~ P A R R I S H R E S I D E N C E

WAT E R G A R D E N

main entrance on the side rather than at the street

display strongly marked characteristics and

front of the house. As a consequence, pedestrians

individuality, and nearly all of them leave very

approached the front door from the sidewalk

distinct picturesque value as well. In other

through a small gate adjacent to a large antique

words, they are outwardly prepossessing to a

wooden gate that opened to a paved driveway run-

degree, and then engaging exteriors stimulate

ning the length of the property and terminating at

curiosity as to what their interiors may reveal.”7

the rear garage. Although most of the Parrishes’ gardening was done at their country estate, Bottomley

The essence of this description was captured in

wanted to create the “perfect city garden” for Mrs.

the Parrish house in proportion, details, materials,

Parrish, who was an active member of the Garden

and color. The shell of the three-story structure was

Club of America. A miniature formal garden with a

finished in soft salmon pink stucco, and the roof was

reflecting pool was planted in a small section bound

laid in Spanish red tiles. Window frames and cor-

by the house, the garage, the driveway, and the serv-

nices and corner quoins were made of limestone;

ice wing. The architect’s landscape solution created

shutters were painted gray-green and the sashes

a nearly perfect setting for an urban villa.

cerulean blue. The gates were stained in a soft pea-

6

In an article addressing small houses of Italy and Spain, Bottomley wrote:

cock color and the iron furniture was emerald green.

Ornamental ironwork was used in the grill of the fan light above the entrance door, its two small flanking

The small houses of both Italy and Spain pos-

windows, and above on the second-floor balcony.8

sess a powerful attraction to which the average

The interiors were equally captivating. Painted

American is usually quick to succmb. They all

in a delicate apricot color, the entrance hall held a

P A R R I S H R E S I D E N C E ~ 123

ENTRANCE HALL

124 ~ P A R R I S H R E S I D E N C E

D R AW I N G R O O M

P A R R I S H R E S I D E N C E ~ 125

DINING ROOM

curved stone staircase with a red velvet rail. The

pine ceiling in the drawing room was executed in

floor was laid in concentric squares of limestone and

panels of blackish blue and terra-cotta red with gold

black. Behind the hall was the library, and to the left

highlights. The blue-green walls of the dining room

was the dining room, which opened to the water

ascended to carved walnut corbels mounted

garden. The drawing room occupied the area across

beneath a ceiling of heavy pine beams. Floors were

the street side, where doors provided access to a

laid in reddish brown hexagonal tiles, reputedly the

diminuative garden with stone balustrades separat-

same as those used in the Palace of the Popes at

ing the house from the sidewalk. The owners’

Avignon, France. Painted blue and gold, the carved

separate apartments, guest suites, and servants’

ceiling of the library was allegedly designed after

quarters occupied the upper floors.

that of the Academia di Belle Arti in Rome.10

9

The interior decoration appeared more Spanish

The villa remains exceptionally well preserved.

than Italian in character. An old Spanish lantern

A number of interior changes were made over sev-

hung in the stair hall. The hall was also furnished

eral decades, when the building was used as an

with a chest in the Mudéjar style that supported

office. The house has since been sensitively recon-

antique Talavera pottery. The walls throughout the

verted to domestic use.11

house were treated to simulate old parchment. The

126 ~ P A R R I S H R E S I D E N C E

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

P A R R I S H R E S I D E N C E ~ 127

E N T R A N C E FA C A D E

W E S T O V E R , C H A R L E S C I T Y C O U N T Y, V I R G I N I A ( M I D - 1 8 T H C E N T U RY )

R E D E S D A L E ~ 139

G A R D E N E L E VAT I O N

140 ~ R E D E S D A L E

ENTRANCE HALL

R E D E S D A L E ~ 141

D R AW I N G R O O M

would have to accommodate an active sport- and

stretch south toward the James River and east

dog-loving family yet serve Mr. Reed’s requirements

toward the pool and tennis courts. At the western

to entertain what became a constant stream of

end of the estate is a formal five-acre walled garden

international business acquaintances.

with a wheel-like arrangement of eight planting

2

One approaches Redesdale along a tree-lined

beds divided by brick walkways leading to a central

road leading into a circular forecourt. The walls of

circular bed. The entrance road runs past the fore-

the five-part structure were built of hand-molded

court and turns south, cutting in between the main

and hard-burnt bricks laid in the English bond and

structure and a detached garage complex and serv-

marked by a soldier-belt course. An apron of steps

ice yard, an area composed of brick outbuildings

leads up to the front entrance. Designed in the

and a connecting serpentine fence, all painted

composite order, the door surround features wood

white.3 In 1920, Bottomley wrote in Architectural

pilasters and engaged columns supporting a fluted

Record:

entablature with paterae that is crowned with a broken pediment centered by a carved pinecone.

Free handling of style, instead of imitating some

The entrance of the less formal garden elevation

old example and often copying it badly, is a

echoes that of the front but is executed in brick.

sign of life. The combination of different styles

Views from the rear of the house are breathtaking

and different motives in a new way, so as to fuse

in every direction. Rolling meadows with old trees

into a consistent whole, is constructive design.4

142 ~ R E D E S D A L E

MR.

AND

MRS. KENNETH B. VAN RIPER

RESIDENCE Palm Beach, Florida, 1926

B Y 1 9 2 6 , P A L M B E A C H was the winter destination for many of America’s most affluent and socially prominent families, whose wealth provided the means to build elaborate “cottages” suitable for lavish entertaining.

Architectural standards for society residences in Palm Beach were formalized by the time Bottomley entered the picture around 1925. Looking through gates across manicured lawns, he would have seen Addison Mizner’s Venetian, Romanesque, and Spanish-inspired villas rendered in pink, yellow, and pale orange stucco. Many of the houses were one room deep with loggias, terraces, and semi-enclosed garden courts that faced the Atlantic Ocean to capture the cool breezes and scenic vistas.1 Bottomley’s skill for designing in the Mediterranean mode had previously been established in the Parrish Residence (1922) and Stuart Court Apartments (1924) on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, and in the country houses (c. 1925–27) for Fred J. Miller and Morris Llewellyn Cooke in Central Bridge, Pennsylvania. The architect acknowledged five Florida commissions: Club Le Paradis and the Hotel Fleetwood in Miami; the Terrace Apartments in Tampa; and Almeda Court (building type unknown) and the Van Riper residence in Palm Beach. Four of these buildings remain unsubstantiated as Bottomley designs. The Van Riper residence alone can be identified as Bottomley’s work, and is arguably his masterpiece in the Mediterranean style.2

150

C O RT I L E A N D T O W E R L O O K I N G T O WA R D D R AW I N G R O O M C . 1 9 2 6

V A N R I P E R R E S I D E N C E ~ 151

ENTRANCE HALL, C. 1926

154 ~ V A N R I P E R R E S I D E N C E

G R E AT D R AW I N G R O O M , C . 1 9 2 6

In March 1926, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth B. Van

Beach’s most beautiful homes and its architect,

Riper opened their new Palm Beach villa for “the

Mr. William Lawrence Bottomley, of New York,

largest and most brilliant ball of the season.” The

may well take pride in his achievement for he

ladies among the 300 guests were wrapped in

has created something of sheer beauty and such

ermine and sable stoles to keep warm on the chilly

exquisite proportions and such artistic design it

evening as they were served supper on the deeply

promises to be heralded as one of the finest

arched loggia and terrace. An orchestra played

homes in America.3

dance music in the great drawing room, augmented by “Miss Lambkin and the Little Picaninnies,” who

The pages of The New York Times contain numer-

performed the Charleston, and Miss Marion Kerby,

ous accounts of the social life of the Van Ripers,

who sang spirituals. In a glowing article on the

from their marriage in 1916 until the late 1930s.

event, the Palm Beach Post reported:

During those years, the couple attended and hosted some of the most brilliant parties and events given

It is impossible to give more than a fleeting sug-

in New York and Palm Beach. Mr. Van Riper also

gestion of the beauty and charm of this

spent time on his yacht, Rambler, and Mrs. Van

mansion for it will take its place among Palm

Riper was an opera enthusiast. Their daughter,

V A N R I P E R R E S I D E N C E ~ 155

DINING ROOM, C. 1926

Gloria, received substantial press notice about her

and Kenneth. From this point forward, the Van

various activities, including socializing with the

Ripers vanished from the social scene. It may be

young John F. Kennedy and his sisters, Rosemary

construed that their ability to maintain what had

and Kathleen, at the Joseph Kennedy compound in

been an extraordinarily opulent lifestyle was dimin-

Palm Beach. Prior to 1926, the Van Ripers main-

ished by the devastating effects of the 1929 stock

tained residences in both New York City and

market crash and subsequent Great Depression.4

Greenwich, Connecticut. The Greenwich country

Sited only steps from the ocean and Lake

estate in Field Point Park on Long Island Sound was

Worth, the Van Ripers’ villa in Palm Beach was exe-

sold in 1925 around the time that the Palm Beach

cuted in salmon-pink stucco with stone cornices and

residence was under construction. Although the

columns. Window sashes were painted a gentle

source of the Van Ripers’ wealth is unclear, Mr. Van

turquoise and shutters a shade of blue-green.

Riper’s associations with various prominent brokers

Bottomley designed the structure around a square

and businessmen suggest that he was involved in the

cloister surrounding a central garden patio with

stock market. When Mrs. Van Riper died in 1936,

fountain. The arcades were emphasized with gener-

she left a relatively modest estate of approximately

ous plantings of mature oleander, hibiscus, azaleas,

$150,000 to her husband and two children, Gloria

and orange trees. The deep blue loggia ceilings were

156 ~ V A N R I P E R R E S I D E N C E

S T U D Y, C . 1 9 2 6

painted with stars and medallions containing zodiac

Massachusetts. The palace-size great drawing room

signs in gold tempera. Iron gates, designed by

measured 50 feet long and 20 feet wide. The 18-foot

Bottomley, were wrought with cartouches, in the

ceiling contained small square coffers with alternat-

center of which appeared a “K� for Kenneth Van

ing rosettes of various patterns plated in gold

Riper and a flight of bees for Beatrice Van Riper.

against dull blue. The hood of the fireplace bore a

5

Nineteen rooms were arranged in four separate

hand-painted wreath. Bottomley designed the rugs,

sections to provide privacy for guests, children, the

which were woven in Spain. Medieval in character,

master quarters, and the service wing. Major rooms

the stone fireplace in the dining room ascended to a

opened to the cloister and patios on the west. The

ceiling built of old worm-eaten, walnut-colored

Italian gardens and pool were on the east side of the

wood with stone brackets supporting the beams.

house. Located on the south elevation, the main

Floors were executed in a highly polished small

entrance led to a magnificent entrance hall.

hexagonal tile, and the walls were in Gothic blue

Bottomley and Clara Fargo Thomas designed the

tempera. Seated on 17th-century Italian chairs,

decoration of the vaulted ceiling, painted by the

guests dined around a 16th-century walnut table

Italian artist D. C. Sindona, with whom Bottomley

from the Duke of Alba’s collection. Mr. Van Riper

worked later at the Phillips Inn, in Andover,

had a study located in the tower with a southern

V A N R I P E R R E S I D E N C E ~ 157

S T R E E T FA C A D E A F T E R R E N O VAT I O N

R E A R G A R D E N A N D P O O L A F T E R R E N O VAT I O N

158 ~ V A N R I P E R R E S I D E N C E

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

view toward the gardens provided by round-headed

Annenberg Haupt, of the Annenberg publishing

windows that opened onto a small intimate deck.

dynasty; and Prince Khalid bin Sultan, Saudi

On the walls between the windows, painted a deli-

Arabia’s former minister of defense. Major renova-

cate green, the artist Ernest Peixotto created a

tions in 1948 and in 1970 altered the structure

series of architectural murals in varied tones of red

considerably. In 1995, investor Robert G. Fessler

over gray.

bought the property and hired Smith and Moore

6

Since the Van Ripers’ tenure, this exquisite

Architects of Palm Beach. By using old photographs

Mediterranean villa has been the residence of

and plans, the firm brought Bottomley’s master-

Andrew Jergens, of the hand lotion empire; Enid

piece back to its glory in an impeccable renovation.7

V A N R I P E R R E S I D E N C E ~ 159

MR.

AND

MRS. ROBERT M. JEFFRESS

RESIDENCE Richmond, Virginia, 1929

BOTTOMLEY’S

BIOGRAPHERS

maintain that his townhouses on

Monument Avenue in Richmond “set a standard to which many have aspired but none has reached.”1 His last commission on the great boulevard was for Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Jeffress in 1929.

Robert M. Jeffress (1887–1967) parlayed the assets inherited from his father, Thomas F. Jeffress, into business interests involving real estate, tobacco, and paper production. He became head of one of the largest manufacturers of paper products in the country, the Union Camp Corporation. His wife, Elizabeth Talbott Gwathmey Jeffress (1901–1981), was a philanthropist and enthusiastically involved in preservation efforts in Virginia. The Work of William Lawrence Bottomley in Richmond was dedicated to Mrs. Jeffress, “whose very great interest in and enthusiasm for the work of William Lawrence Bottomley in Richmond led to the publication of this book.”2 When the couple decided to build their Monument Avenue residence, Bottomley was selected as the architect and Claiborne & Taylor as the builder. Both the architect and the builder were good friends of the Jeffresses. Charles Gillette was the landscape architect.3 The Jeffress residence is situated on the circle dominated by the famous statue of Robert E. Lee, which was created by another alumnus of the École des Beaux-Arts, the esteemed French sculptor Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercié (1845–1916). The pie-shaped lot, measuring 135.78 feet wide at the street front and diminishing back 125 feet to the apex, presented major challenges.

218

O R I G I N A L FA C A D E A N D N O RT H E N D

Bottomley’s solutions were to use the alley north of

The border of the grills was cast in a Greek fret and

the lot as the driveway into the garage and to place

anthemia motif, taken from the design of the cast-

the structure slightly off center, an ingenious strat-

iron porches flanking the structure. The architect

egy

impressive

employed both Georgian and Federal elements in

cobblestone entrance drive and a diminutive pri-

the two-and-a-half-story brick residence with a

vate garden. The architect’s great ability to

hipped roof and dormers. Originally, a balustraded

maximize the positive and minimize the negative

parapet wrapped the base of the roof above the cor-

characteristics of a site resulted in a finished

nice. The focal point of the facade is the central

ensemble described by William B. O’Neal and

entrance, composed of two columns, in the Tower

Christopher Weeks as having “all the air of seclu-

of Winds order. These columns support a shallow

sion of a house on a large, independent lot rather

projecting pediment marked at the corners by

than a town house on a badly shaped lot on a circle

anthemia. Triple-hung windows with iron guards

[Lee Circle on Monument Avenue].”

appear on the ground floor; the design of the

that

allowed

room

for

an

4

Stone-capped brick piers with urns connected

guards imitates the fret of the ironwork of the

by iron grills separate the house from Lee Circle.

porches. Absent a stringcourse, the second floor is

J E F F R E S S R E S I D E N C E ~ 219

P R E S E N T D AY FA C A D E

delineated by five double-hung windows with flat

Nancy McClelland. The color scheme comple-

cast-stone sills and lintels decorated in a fret pat-

mented

tern with rosette ends. Louvered shutters with

Wedgwood-inspired plaque at the center of its

small top panels out of which a star pattern was cut

frieze. The dining room was covered in “Chinese

appear on all of the windows.

Chippendale” paper imported by the Lloyd firm of

5

In plan, the center hall runs between the drawing room and the library and continues straight into

the

Adamesque

mantel

with

a

New York, and its windows were dressed in red brocade draperies.6

the dining room, which is situated directly behind

The footprint of the first floor was repeated in

the library to incorporate the width of the hall.

the hall and major rooms upstairs. A deep blue

Single doors provided access from the dining room

Empire-style paper covered the walls of the small

into the drawing room and the service ell. As com-

morning room at the end of the hall over the

pared to the Georgian interiors of most of

entrance hall. In the master bedroom, the center-

Bottomley’s Richmond houses, the interior details

piece of the carved mantel was a relief plaque with

of the Jeffress residence were generally lighter and

human figures flanked by anthemia. Here the walls

more delicate in character. Originally, the drawing

were gray and the draperies rose-colored.7

room walls were apricot pink and papered above

As the last of Bottomley’s executed commis-

the chair rail with a partridge and lily pattern in

sions on Monument Avenue, the Jeffress house

blues and pastels provided by wallpaper designer

stands as a tribute to his genius for siting a struc-

220 ~ J E F F R E S S R E S I D E N C E

L I B R A RY

DINING ROOM

J E F F R E S S R E S I D E N C E ~ 221

D R AW I N G R O O M D E TA I L

222 ~ J E F F R E S S R E S I D E N C E

SECOND FLOOR SITTING ROOM

ture to achieve maximum aesthetic and functional

craftsmanship of the builders, Claiborne & Taylor.

advantage and to his skill in fusing various tradi-

Notably, Herbert Claiborne made the house his

tional stylistic elements into a pleasing whole. The

residence from the 1950s to the 1960s. It seems

structure also continues to exemplify the character-

unbelievable today that it was built for an approxi-

istic excellence in the use of materials and

mate cost of only $38,000.8

J E F F R E S S R E S I D E N C E ~ 223

D R AW I N G R O O M P O R C H

GARDEN

224 ~ J E F F R E S S R E S I D E N C E

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

J E F F R E S S R E S I D E N C E ~ 225

C ATALOG

OF

C OMMISSIONS

The catalog of 186 commissions by William Lawrence Bottomley is organized chronologically.

The physical status of a commission is excluded if the building or supportive documentation was not found. Sources appear after the catalog.

c. 1912 BORADIL FARM Residence of James M. Townsend Jr. Mill Neck, New York, alterations and additions, First residence (Hewitt & Bottomley), extant

1902 HEAD OF PONDS Residence of Mrs. John Bottomley Water Mill, New York, alterations

1913 BERKSHIRE APARTMENT HOUSE New York City (Hewitt & Bottomley)

1911 STORE AND RESIDENCE OF DAVID KEPPELL New York City, conversion and renovation (Hewitt & Bottomley) 1912 HIGH SCHOOL Southampton, New York (Hewitt & Bottomley), extant

1915 BORADIL FARM Residence of Robert C. Winmill Mill Neck, New York, alterations and additions, extant SECOND RESIDENCE OF JAMES M. TOWNSEND, JR. Mill Neck, New York, alterations and additions, extant MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN TO WIRELESS OPERATORS Battery Park, New York City.

RESIDENCE OF COLONEL AND MRS. JENNINGS C. WISE Richmond, Virginia (Hewitt & Bottomley), extant RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. H. L. GOLSAN Richmond, Virginia (plans), extant c. 1915 GLENELG Residence of Arthur A. Fowler Peapack, New Jersey (Hewitt & Bottomley), extant

HIGH SCHOOL, SOUTHAMPTON, NEW YORK

HOUSE AT RED BANK Red Bank, New Jersey, client unknown SAINT GEORGE’S CHURCH Shrub Oak, New York (Hewitt & Bottomley), extant

308

S OURCES

FOR

T HE C ATALOG

OF

C OMMISSIONS

Many sources were used in an effort to make this catalog as comprehensive as possible. The starting point was a list of executed commissions attached to a letter from William Lawrence Bottomley to Mr. William E. Chilton II, January 28, 1936, the purpose of which was to pursue a commission in Charleston, West Virginia. It is a fair index because it shows the level of importance that the architect himself placed on specific projects and clients.

The list cited the name, type, city, state, and client of the commission but omitted specific addresses and dates of the buildings. If a date for a building on this list could not be documented, it is marked “before 1936,” the date of the list. The author welcomes additional information and encourages further scholarship in the architecture of William Lawrence Bottomley.

Palm Beach Post Richmond Times-Dispatch Town & Country Washington Post

SECONDARY SOURCES Hood, Davyd Foard. “William Lawrence Bottomley in Virginia: The ‘Neo-Georgian’ Houses in Richmond.”

M.A. thesis, University of Virginia, 1975.

Mackay, Robert B., Anthony K. Baker, and Carol A. Traynor, eds. Long Island Country Houses and Their Architects, 1860–1940. New York: Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities with W. W. Norton, 1997.

O’Neal, William B., and Christopher Weeks. The Work of William Lawrence Bottomley in Richmond.

Charlottesville, Virginia: The University Press of Virginia, 1985.

INSTITUTIONAL COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS, PLANS, AND IMAGES Avery Library, Columbia University Delaware State Historic Preservation Office Galveston [Texas] County Historical Museum Library of Congress Library of Virginia Maine Historical Society Maine Historic Preservation Commission Morris County [New Jersey] Parks Commission Phillips Academy Archive Plainfield [New Jersey] City Hall Archive Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish Archive Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities Southampton [New York] Town Hall Archive Valentine Richmond [Virginia] History Center Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Historical Society

Architectural Forum Architectural Record Arts & Decoration Country Life The New York Times

320

PRIMARY SOURCES The author wishes to express gratitude to the individuals and organizations that shared their properties, archives and pertinent information. Their names are not mentioned for security purposes.

Site visits Interviews with current property owners Interviews with Bottomley family members Private collections of documents, plans, and images

NOTES

INTRODUCTION 1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Builders,” Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1901), 132.

2. Ingrid D. Rowland and Thomas Noble Howe, eds., Vitruvius: Ten Books on Architecture (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 14, and further reading in Book 1 and commentary to Book 1.

3. John Taylor Boyd Jr., “The Country House and the Developed Landscape,” Arts & Decoration (November 1929): 54, 98.

4. William Lawrence Bottomley, “The American Country House,” Architectural Record (October 1920): 261.

5. H. Stafford Bryant Jr., “Two Twentieth-Century Domestic Architects in the South: Neel Reid and William L. Bottomley,” Classical America 1, no. 2 (1972): 30.

6. Who’s Who in New York City and Environs: A Biographical Dictionary. 5th biennial ed. (New York: W. F. Brainard, 1911); John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, eds., American National Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 234. On the Lord Kelvin’s proposal for adoption: letter, Susan Bottomley Chambers to Susan Hume Frazer, May 21, 2006.

7. Ibid.; regarding Lord Kelvin’s funeral and Bottomley’s attendance, Chambers letter; and Melanie Perry, ed., “Kelvin (of Largs), William Thomson, 1st Baron,” Chambers Biographical Dictionary (Edinburgh, Scotland: Larousse, 1997), 1028.

8. Garraty and Carnes, American National Biography, 234. The information on the surviving paintings and the images shown was obtained from Virginia Bottomley Colyer, July 10, 2006. Regarding the mention by the Architectural League of New York, see Yearbook of the Architectural League of New York: Catalogue of the Twenty-fifth Annual Exhibition (New York: Architectural League of New York, 1910), 70, 75–76. On the triptych, see William B. O’Neal and Christopher Weeks, The Work of William Lawrence

Bottomley in Richmond (Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1985), 4.

9. Garraty and Carnes, American National Biography, 234. On the rigors of his education, see Arthur Willis Colton, “The Work of William Lawrence Bottomley,” Architectural Record (November 1921): 339.

10. “Bottomley–Townsend Wedding Plans,” The New York Times (June 26, 1909): 7; “Bottomley–Townsend,” The New York Times (August 27, 1909): 7. The information on Mrs. Bottomley’s perception of Kenneth Roberts was obtained from an interview with Harriet Smith Chatfield, granddaughter, April 22, 2006. The descriptions of Bottomley were provided by Chambers letter; letter, Virginia Bottomley Colyer, daughter, to Susan Hume Frazer, May 3, 2006; interview, Mrs. Verser Todd, friend, September 17, 2003; letter, Charles P. Wilson, engineer who worked with Bottomley at Milburne, to Susan Hume Frazer, February 5, 2005; interview, Dr. Herbert Claiborne, son of the builder Herbert A. Claiborne Sr., who was a close friend, September 27, 2005.

11. Chatfield interview, April 22, 2006.

12. “Bottomley–Townsend,” The New York Times (June 26, 1909): 7. The information on the Bottomleys’ relationship came from letter, Virginia Bottomley Colyer to Susan Hume Frazer, May 26, 2006, and the Chambers letter. On Harriet Bottomley’s architectural writing, see Harriet T. Bottomley, “The Pompeiian Dwelling: Its Decoration and Furniture,” Part I, Architectural Review (April 1913): 25–29; “The Pompeiian Dwelling: Its Decoration and Furniture,” Part II, Architectural Review (May 1913): 183–89; “The Story of St. Thomas’ Church: Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, Architects,” Architectural Record (February 1914): 100–132; “The Residence of G. D. Pratt, Esq.: Trowbridge and Ackerman, Architects,” Architectural Record (June 1914): 558–73; “An Architect’s Country House: Residence of Electus Litchfield, New Canaan, Connecticut,” Architectural Record (January 1915):

321

I NDEX

1 Gracie Square, 314 1 Thomas Circle. See Le Paradis Café 10 East 61st Street, 30 104 East 71st Street. See Iselin Residence 1049 Park Avenue, 30 112 and 123 East 55th Street, 27, 160 15 East 74th Street, 67 155 West Promenade, 92, 97 1929 Stock Market crash, 35, 70, 156 2315 Monument Avenue. See Parrish Residence 60 East 42nd Street, 29 61 East 52nd Street. See One-Man House 715 Providence Road, 292 733 and 890 Park Avenue, 131 A Book of Architecture, 14 Academia di Belle Arti, 126 Adler, David, 34 Agnew, Residence of Cornelius, 313 Alba, Duke of, 157 Albemarle County Garden Club, 264 Albro & Lindeberg, 160 Alcott, Louisa M., 259 Almeda Court, 150, 312 American Academy, Rome, 21, 22, 24, 130 American Colonial style, 195 American Commission to Negotiate Peace, 94 American Expeditionary Forces, 128 American Institute of Architects, Apartment House Medal, 37 American Revolution, 94, 252, 256 American style, 36, 162 American University Club, 315 Amphitheater of Flavius, 21 Angelico, Fra, 43 Anne, Queen of England, 110 Apartment Building, 318 Apartment House, 309 Apartment House Medal, 37 Apartments at East 80th Street, 316

Architect’s Emergency Committee, Editorial Committee, 292–293 Architectural Forum, 169 Architectural League of New York, 21, 214 Silver Medal of Honor, 37 Architectural Record, 24, 44, 57, 62, 75, 81, 142 Architectural Review, 24, 64 Arlington National Cemetery, 31 Arris, John, 302 Art Deco style, 35, 240 Arts and Decoration, 24 Ashland Farm, 210–217, 314 Association of Roslyn Estates, 52 Astor, Mrs. Vincent, 250 Atlantic Rural Exposition, 319 Balcarres, 313 Balcom, Millicent Rogers, 188 Balcom, Residence of Mrs. Millicent Rogers, 318 Barnes, Grace E., 303 Bartlett, Residence of Edward E., 309 Battle Abbey, 319 Beaux, Ernesta, 214, 238 Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, 24, 30 Educational Committee and Paris Prize, 30 Beaux-Arts style, 29 Beazley Company, 118 Beech Hill, Westport, 22 Beeckman House, 166 Bellows, George, 242 Benjamin, Asher, 302 Berkshire Apartment House, 308 Biedermeier, 238 Biltmore, 290 bin Sultan, Prince Khalid, 159 Blow, Residence of George Preston, 310 Blue Ridge Farm, 262, 264, 310 Blum, Residence of Robert C., 318 Boarman, Vira, 196, 197, 204, 205, 206, 209 Bogart, Humphrey, 256

341

Bonbright, Elisabeth, 57, 62, 63, 250 Boncompagni of Italy, Prince and Princess of, 69 Boradil Farm, 44–51, 178, 308, 309, 314 Bottomley, Apartment of Mr. and Mrs. William Lawrence, 315 Bottomley, Apartment of William Lawrence, 316 Bottomley, Harriet (daughter), 24 Bottomley, Harriet Townsend, 22, 28, 44, 119, 242, 283 Bottomley, John, 20, 160 Bottomley, Mrs. John, 308 Bottomley, Residence and Architectural Office of William Lawrence, 309 Bottomley, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. William Lawrence, 311, 319 Bottomley, Suite of Mr. and Mrs. William Lawrence, 242–245 Bottomley, Susan (daughter to W. L.), 24, 29, 245 Bottomley, Susan Amelia Steers (mother to W. L.), 20 Bottomley, Susan Meredith (sister to W. L.), 88 Bottomley, Virginia, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30 Bottomley, Wagner & White, 30, 196, 197, 210, 214, 226, 234, 240, 250, 256, 257, 313, 314, 315 Bottomley, William Lawrence, 13–15, 19–38, 310 Boykin, Residence of Misses Anna B. and Ellen T., 313 Bradley, Edson, 242, 245, 248 Bradley, Julia Fay, 242, 245, 246, 248 Bradley, Maisonette of Edson and Julia Fay, 245–248, 315 Bradley, Residence of Edson, 317 Brady, Residence of Mrs. Elinor Ryan, 317 Branch, E. K., 92 Branch, Residence of Miss E. K., 311, 314 Brandon, 144 Bremo, 277, 314 Brookman, Marion P., 210 Brookshot, 44, 315 Brookville, NY, 27, 172 Brownell, Charles, 88 Bryce, Edith Parker, 303 Buckland, William, 229 Buckram Beagles, 26 Burchard, Residence of Anson W., 312, 317 Burden, Chester Griswold, 62 Burnt Mill Farm, 317 Burrland, 160, 313 Bush, George W. and George H. W., 256 Bush-Brown Hall, 177 Cabell, Mr. and Mrs. James Branch, III, 36 Cabell, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gamble, III, 36, 310 Cabell, Robert Gamble, 204 Calkins, Leighton, 78, 79 Callaway, Residence of Trowbridge, 317 Campbell, Residence of Mrs. Frederick S. (Eleanor Delos), 314 Candela, Rosario, 314

342 ~ I N D E X

Canoe Place Inn, 35, 110–117, 310 Canterbury, 314 Carhart, Amory S., Jr., 210, 214, 217 Carhart, Residence of Amory S., Jr., 210–217, 314 Carrère & Hastings, 29, 210 Carter’s Grove, 144, 184, 226 Carter, Mr. and Mrs. James W., 188 Cary, Residence of Mrs. T. Archibald, 312 Casa Maria, 262, 264, 315 Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, 39 Cellini, Benvenuto, 43 Centre Bridge, PA, 192, 195 Chambers, Residence of Dr. and Mrs. William Nesbit, 319 Chambers, Susan Bottomley, 24, 29, 245 Chapel of Saint George. See Saint George’s Church Chapin School for Girls, 108 Chapin, Maria Bowen, 108 Charity, 82 Charleston Daily Gazette, 297 Charleston, WV, 297 Chateau Le Paradis, 35, 268, 311 Chatfield, Harriet Smith, 29 Chatham, 269 Chesterfield County, VA, 118 Children’s Aid Society, 64 Chilton House, 192, 198, 297–303, 315 Chilton, Nancy Maxwell Ruffner, 297, 299, 301, 303 Chilton, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. William Edwin, II, 297–303, 317 Chilton, William E., 297 Chilton, William E. II, 297, 301, 302, 303 China, 276 “Chinese Chippendale” wallpaper, 220 Chrysler Building, 35 Chuckswood, 192, 318 Churchill, Winston, 108 Citizens Committee for the Army and the Navy, 22 City Beautiful movement, 81 Civil War, 100 Claiborne & Taylor, Inc. Contractors of Richmond, 31, 138, 218, 223 Claiborne, Herbert A., Sr., 31, 223, 277, 279 Claremont Manor, 183–191, 318 Claremont, VA, 183 Classical Revival style, 262 Clovelly, 178, 210, 312 Club Florida, 34, 312 Club Le Paradis, 35, 150, 312 Club Royal, 34, 312 Cochran, Thomas, 257 Cocke Hall, 183 Cocke, John H., 278 Cocke, Residence of General and Mrs. William H., 183–191 Cocke, Residence of Mrs. William H., 318 Cocke, William Horner and Ann O., 183, 188

Codman, Ogden 62, 160 Col Alto, 315 Cold Spring Harbor, 26 Colonial Dames of America, 67 Colonial Revival style, 195 Colonial style, 36, 51, 92 Colonial Williamsburg, VA, 35 Colony Club, 67 Colton, Arthur Willis, 50, 64, 81, 94 Columbia Law School, 64 Columbia University, 20, 60, 160 Colyer, Virginia Bottomley, 24, 25, 26, 27 Commercial/Residential Building, 310 Congress Hall, Philadelphia, 162 Cook, Captain, 266 Cooke, Morris Llewellyn, 150, 192 Cooke, Residence of Morris Llewellyn, 192–195, 312 Coolidge, Calvin, 257 Cooper, Gary, 116 Country Club of Virginia, 70 Country Life, 49 Couple Descending a Staircase, 253 Court of Saint James, England, 85 Cram, Ralph Adams, 73 Currier & Ives, 286 Daily News Building, 35 Dakota, 178–182, 313 Danielson, John, 295 Davies, Ernest P., 52 Davies, Residence of Ernest P., 52–56, 309 Davis Family Mausoleum, 97–100, 309 Davis, Eddie, 114 Davis, Mary Howard, 92 Davis, Meyer, 35, 268 Davis, Residence of Walter Goodwin, Jr., 92–97, 309 Davis, Walter Goodwin, Jr., 92, 94, 97, 99 Davis, Walter Goodwin, Sr., 92, 99 de Forbin, Louis Nicolas Philippe Auguste, 162 de Lauzun, Prince, 164 de Stael, Madame, 137 de Wolfe, Elsie, 160 Dean, Edward C., 30, 101, 108, 310 Delano & Aldrich, 31, 188 Delano, Factory of Richard, 319 Delano, William Adams, 34 Delaware and Lackawanna Railway, 132 Depression, the, 29, 35, 156 Deutal Bay Farm, 100 Devore, Daniel Bradford and Mary S., 269 Devore, Residence of Brigadier General and Mrs. Daniel Bradford, 268–275, 315 Directoire, 238 Dormer House, 314 Drake, Francis, 132 Du Pont Company, 31 Duke University, 290

Duomo, Italy, 21 Dutch Colonial style, 36 East 48th and 49th Street, 100 East 55th Street, 160 East 80th Street Apartments, 316 Eberlein, Harold D., 32 Echols, Mr. and Mrs. A. B., 31 Echols, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. A. B., 317 Ecole des Beaux-Arts, 22, 30, 218 Eddie Davis and His Orchestra, 114 Edgerton, Mishew Ellen (daughter), 293 Edgerton, Mishew Rogers, 291, 292, 295 Edgerton, Norman Edward, 290, 291, 294, 295 Edgerton, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Edward, 290–296, 316 Ednaston Manor, 144 Edson Hill Manor, 318 Egyptomania, 234 Einstein, Albert, 116 Eisenhower, Dwight D., 276 Elliot, William, 164 Elmwood Farm, 318 Eltham, 144 Emanuel Episcopal Church, 292, 313 Embassy Club, 34, 35, 313 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 257 Empire State Building, 35 Emslie & McWilliams, Cabinetmakers, 209 England, 85 English Domestic Architecture, 87 Eppley, Residence of Marion, 35, 318 Evergreen Cemetery, 94, 97 Fahys, Residence of George Ernest, 313 Far Hill Farm, 317 Far Hills, 317 Farley, Cardinal, 39, 40 Fatio, Maurice, 242 Fauquier County, VA, 160, 178, 204, 205, 210, 268 FDR Drive, 238 Federal style, 219 Felician Sisters, 188 Fessler, Robert G., 159 Févret de Saint-Mémin, Charles Balthazar, 287 Field, Marshall, 250 “Flower Garden” wallpaper, 302 Fowler Brothers Limited, 60 Fowler, Anderson (son of Arthur Anderson), 60, 63 Fowler, Arthur Anderson, 57, 60, 62, 63, 308 Fowler, Elisabeth Bonbright, 57, 62, 63, 250 Fowler, Residence of Arthur Anderson, 57–63 Franklin Estate, 316 Fremont, John C., 248 Gable, Lowell, 299 Gainsborough, Thomas, 164

I N D E X ~ 343

Garden Club of America, 123 Garden Club of Virginia, 264 Gates, Residence of Charles O., 315 Geggie, W. M., 149 Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, 94 George B. Post & Sons, 30 Georgetown, SC, 282 Georgian Palladianism, 36, 299 Georgian Revival style, 82, 230, 269, 295, 303 Georgian style, 169, 172, 219, 262, 297 Gibbs, James, 14, 264 Gillette, Charles F., 31, 73, 87, 138, 149, 187, 214, 218, 262, 277, 291, 292 Glenelg, 57–63, 308 Goelet, Francis, 282 Goelet, Robert, 282, 287, 289 Goelet, Roberta Willard, 282, 286, 289 Goelet, Shooting Lodge of Robert, 282–289, 316 Golsan, Florence Elizabeth (Betty), 85 Golsan, Frances Evelyn Ramage, 85, 87 Golsan, Golsan & Nash, 85 Golsan, Henry Logan, 85 Golsan, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Logan, 84, 308 Goodground, Long Island, 110 Goodspeed Opera House, 29 Goodwin, William H., Jr., 77 Graham, Residence of Donald L., 317 Grantlands, 138 Gray Towers, 192, 317 Graymar, 315 Great Georgian Houses of America, 14, 36, 37, 183, 293 Greek Revival style, 185 Greeley, Horace, 100 Green Court, 196–204, 313 Green, DeLeon F., 291 Green, Residence of DeLeon F., 316 Greenway, Residence of Isabella, 318 Gregory, Eve S., 183 Grosvenor, Residence of Graham Bethune, 315 Gude, Residence of Edward C., 309 H&B, 70 Haefeli, Walter, 318 Halfway House, 31, 196, 204–209, 316 Hammond Building, 118, 310 Hammond-Harwood House, 229 Hampton Bays, NY, 35, 110 Hanback Construction of Warrenton, Virginia, 31 Hanback, W. J., 31, 205, 206 Hancock, John, 256 Harbor Scene, 88 Hardinge, Residence of H. W., 310 Hardison, Walker & Company, 172 Harewood, 302 Harriman, Mr. and Mrs. Averell, 31 Harriman, Residence of Mrs. E. H., 317

344 ~ I N D E X

Harrison, Mrs. Charles C., 192 Harrison, Residence of Charles C., 316 Harrison, Residence of Mrs. Charles C., Jr., 318 Harvard, 94, 128, 160 Haupt, Enid Annenberg, 159 Havemeyer, Residence of Charles F., 312 Head of Ponds, 308 Heins & LaFarge, 21, 40, 42 Heins, Mrs. George Lewis, 39, 40 Henri, Robert, 22 Henrico County, VA, 138 Hepburn, Katharine, 108 Hercules, 110 Hess, A. P., 30, 309, 316 Hewitt & Bottomley, 30, 39, 40, 44, 46, 57, 60, 63, 67, 69, 308, 309 Hewitt, Edward Shepherd, 30, 39, 43, 57, 67, 78 Hickory Hill, 24, 28, 200, 311, 319 High School, 30, 308, 309 High School and Grade School, 316 Hill Farm, 316 Hines, Residence of Walker D., 312 Hinrich, Ruth, 56 Holleyman, William C., Jr., 291 Holly House, 304–307 Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 256 Holter, Apartment of Mrs. E. O., 310 Holtzclaw, Mrs. Charles, 210 Homes and Gardens in Old Virginia, 264 Hood, Raymond, 35 Hope, Bob, 301 Horace Mann School, 20 Horse Show Grounds, 178 Hotel, 316 Hotel Albert, 30, 316 Hotel Fleetwood, 150, 312 House at Red Bank, 308 Howe, Charles H., 97 Howells, John Mead, 36, 92 Hunt, William Morris, 29 Hutcheson, Residence of W. A. and Martha Brookes, 313 Hylan, Thomas F., 78 Immigration Station, 316 Imperial Tobacco Company, 138 Incorporated Village of Roslyn Estates, 56 Innocenti, Umberto, 31, 198, 283, 289, 302 Iselin, Margaret Urling Sibley, 69, 128 Iselin, O’Donnell, 69, 128, 130 Iselin, Residence of O’Donnell, 128–131, 310 Italian Renaissance Revival style, 128 Italian Renaissance style, 130 Italianate style, 52 Italy, 123 Jackson, Andrew, 257

Jackson, Aubrey, 78 Jackson, Residence of Howell, 317, 318 James River, 184 Jazz Age, 114 Jefferson, Thomas, 262 Jeffress, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Miller, 218–225, 314 Jeffress, Robert Miller and Elizabeth Talbott Gwathmey, 218 Jeffress, Thomas F., 218 Jenrette, Richard Hampton, 290 Jepson Alumni Center, 77 Jergens, Andrew, 159 Jerman, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. William Borden, 316 Johnston, Residences of Joseph Forney, 314 Jones, Inigo, 302 Juta, Jan, 31, 238 Kahn, Louis, 38 Kalorama Hill, 269 Kanawha Banking and Trust Company, 297 Kanawha Hunt, 303 Keller, Julius, 110, 310 Kelvin, 1st Baron of (William Thomson), 20, 21 Kennedy, John F., 31, 156 Kennedy, Rosemary and Kathleen, 156 Keppell, Store and Residence of David, 308 Kerby, Marion, 155 Kimball, Fiske, 34 Kremlin, 35 Lachaise, Gaston, 131 “La Course de Chevaux,” 148 LaFarge, John F., 39, 40, 42 Lafayette, Marquis de, 257, 294 Lane, Edith Perkins, 64 Lane, Residence of Wolcott Griswold, 64–69, 309 Lane, Wolcott Griswold, 64, 69 Langley, Batty and Thomas, 14 Lasker, Edward, 318 Later Renaissance Architecture in England, 87 Lay, Charles Downing, 57 Le Paradis Café, 35, 268, 311 Lee Circle, 219 Lee, Robert E., 218 LeHigh University, 192 Lemmon, Jack, 256 Lenape Indian village, 195 Lenni Lenape Indians, 304 Levi, Belle, 297 Lewis, Wadsworth, 252 Leyendecker, J. C., 253 Libby, Charles Thornton, 94 Lie, Jonas, 82 Livingston, Belle, 137 Lloyd wallpaper firm, 220 Lloyds of London, 94

Loew, Residence of William Goadby, 315 Long Island, NY, 44, 110 Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 19, 38, 259 Loo, Eileen, 245 Lord & Hewlett, 160 Lorrain, Claude, 88 Loth, Calder, 85 Louis XV style, 275 Luckenbach, Residence of Lewis V., 314 Lutyens, Edwin L., 144 Lynrose, 248, 315 Maldarelli, L., 81 Manhattan Bureau of Buildings, 234 Manhattan, NY, 128, 282 Marbury, Elisabeth, 160 Marmion Room, 144, 148 Marshall Truce Commission, 276 Marshall, Ben, 166 Martin Millwork, 295 Mason, Residence of Mrs. Rosa Tucker, 315 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 118 Massie, Residence of Mrs. William R., 262–267, 315 Massie, Susan Williams, 264 Maxim’s, 110 McClelland, Nancy Vincent, 31–32, 220, 302 McKim Fellowship in Architecture, 21 McKim, Mead & White, 29, 128 McKown, Suzanne M., 182 McMansions, 14 Mediterranean style, 35, 118, 150, 193 Meeks, Everett V., 21, 57, 62 Memorial Fountain to Wireless Operators, 308 Memorial to the Eighth Air Force, 319 Mercié, Marius-Jean-Antonin, 218 “Methods of Design and Construction of Our Early Days,” 36, 92 Metropolitan Museum of Art, 246, 144, 146, 148, 149 Middleburg Hunt, 210 Midtown, NYC, 132 Milburne, 31, 38, 276–281, 293, 316 Miller, Residence of Fred J., 150, 193, 311 Mills, Drake, 132 Mills, J. L., 30, 309, 316 Mills, Residence of Ogden, 317 Miner’s Cottages at Watkins, 310 Mirador, 264 Miss Lambkin and the Little Picaninnies, 155 Mizner, Addison, 150 Mohegan Lake, 39 Mompesson House, 36, 87 Monticello, 262 Montmorency, France, 21 Monument Avenue, 31, 36, 84, 118, 150, 204, 218, 220 Moore, Benjamin, 250 Morgan, J. P., 257 Morse, Samuel F. B., 257

I N D E X ~ 345

Mount Airy, 264 Mount Auburn Cemetery, Massachusetts, 97 Mount Vernon, 172 Murphy, Edward, Jr., 162 Murphy, Helen Martin, 162, 169 Nash, Residence of Warren B., 317 National Register of Historic Places, 182, 232, 303 Naumann, Residence of Spencer G., 315 Naumann, Spencer G., 192 Navesink River, 304 Neale, Residence of Charles T., 316 Neo-Georgian style, 178, 180, 251 New Hope Artists’ Colony, 192 New Jersey Historic Trust and Historic Preservation Award, 83 New York Architectural League, 130 New York Bank for Savings, 128 New York City, 29, 35, 64, 100, 128, 132, 160, 234 New York City Landmark Preservation Commission, 169 New York Daily News, 132 New York Herald Tribune, 37, 279 New York Institute of Technology at Westbury/Old Brookville, 177 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission, 108 New York State, 34, 116 Architect office, 21 New Yorker, 22 Nichols, Residence of Mrs. Mary White, 316 Nordley, 31, 138, 310 Novitiate of the Society of Mary (Marianists) of the Province of New York, 266 Noyes, Sybil, 94 O’Conner, James W., 315 O’Neal, William B., 24, 219, 267 Oakendale, 318 Ochre Court, 282, 283 Old Dominion Building, 319 Olmsted, Frederick Law, 256 Oman, Sultanate of and Ambassador of, 275 One-Man House, 132–137, 312 Orange County Hunt, 210 Ortman, Randolph, 262 Ortman, Residence of Randolph, 310 Oyster Bay Harbor, 35 P. F. Kenney Company, 78 Palace of the Popes, Avignon, France, 126 Palais Royal Club, 34, 35, 312 Palladian style, 277, 290, 293 Palm Beach Post, 155 Palm Beach, FL, 150 Paris Prize of the Beaux Arts Institute of Design, 30 Park Avenue, 30, 131, 248 Parrish, Edith Winch, 118, 119, 123, 310

346 ~ I N D E X

Parrish, J. Scott, 118, 119, 310 Parrish, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. J. Scott, 118–127, 150, 310 Parrish, William H. and Nannie Kirkpatrick, 118 Parsons School of Design, 24 Pavilion Royal Club, 35, 312 Peabody, George, 257 Peale, Rembrandt, 259 Peapack, NJ, 57 Peck, Laurence F., 30, 78, 79, 82, 83 Pei, I. M., 245 Peixotto, Ernest, 31, 51 Pelican Farm, 318 Penn, William, 132 Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Company, 192 Housing of, 309 People’s Trust Company, 210 Pershing, John J., 128 Peyton, Residence of Mrs. Lawrence, 314 Philipse Manor, 200 Phillips Academy (now Andover Academy), 256, 314 Phillips Exeter Academy, 94 Phillips Inn (now Andover Inn), 157, 252, 256–261 Phillips, Phoebe Foxcroft, 257 Phillips, Samuel, Jr., 256, 257 Pickering & Walder, 160 Picket Mill, 318 Pin Oaks Farm, 63 Pinchot, Gifford, 192 Pinchot, Residence of Governor Gifford, 317, 318 Piping Rock Club, 198 Plainfield City Hall, NJ, 30, 78–83, 309 Platt, Charles, 257 Playwicky, 192–195, 312 Poe, Edgar Allan, 100 Pool, Residence of W. Henry, 309 Pope, John Russell, 85, 172 Portland Packing Company, 94 Portland, Maine, 92, 94 “Ports of France,” 200 Post Office, 315 Powel House, 144, 148 Powell, William, 22 Power, Tyrone, 108 Prince de Malice, 246 Prince George County, VA, 188 Protestant Episcopal Diocese of New York, 245 Prudence-Bonds Corporation, 234 Public Library, 316 Queen Anne style, 178 Queensborough Bridge, 242 R. H. Macy & Company, 118, 313 Raleigh Bonded Warehouse, 291 Raleigh, NC, 290 Ramage, Frances Evelyn, 85, 87

Rambler, 155 Randolph, William, III, 278 Rathborne, Residence of J. Cornelius, 318 Recamier, Madame, 137 Red Cross, 133 Redesdale, 31, 138–149, 311 Reed Land and Development Company, 138 Reed, Leslie Hartwell, 138, 142, 149 Reed, Mrs. Leslie Hartwell, 138, 148, 149 Reed, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Hartwell, 138–149, 311 Regency Park, London, 92 Regency style, 286 Restaurant, 309 Revere, Paul, 256 Reynolds, Mrs. William A., 292 Reynolds, Residence of William A., 312 Richardson, Anna, 132 Richmond College (now University of Richmond), 70 Richmond, VA, 70, 84, 138, 218, 276 Riker, Samuel, 304 River Club, 35, 234, 248–254, 314 Building Committee, 252 River House, 28, 35, 234–248, 315, 316 Apartment Conversions, 318 River Road, 77 Riverside, 304 Roberts, Kenneth, 22 Robertson, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Walter S., 276–281, 316 Robinson, J. Randolph, 172 Robinson, Residence of J. Randolph, 172–177, 314 Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company, 128 Rockefeller Center, 35 Rockefeller, John D., 116 Rocklands Farm, 316 Rogers, Brown & Company, 60 Rogers, Mishew, 291, 294, 295 Rohland, Louis, 56 Romanesque style, 42, 150 Romeyn, Emma, 307 Roosevelt Memorial Park, Recreational Facilities of, 315 Roosevelt, Franklin D., 192, 276 Roosevelt, Kermit, 250 Roosevelt, Theodore, 257 Rose Hill, 262–267, 315 Roslyn Estates, NY, 52, 56 Roth, Leland, 234 Royal Baking Powder Company, 160 Ruffner, Nancy Maxwell, 297, 299, 301, 303 Rumson (Middletown), NJ, 304 Rural Electrification Administration, 192 Russell, Faris, 44, 49, 50, 51 Russell, Residence of Faris, 309, 314 Rutgers College and Rutgers Preparatory School, 304 Rutgers, Alice N., 304, 307 Rutgers, Helen “Holly” J., 304

Rutgers, Henry, 304 Rutgers, Nicholas G., Jr., 304 Rutgers, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas G,, 304–307 Rutgers, Residence of Nicholas G., Jr., 304, 307, 317, 318 Sabine Hall, 192, 266 Saint Catherine’s School for Girls, 70 Saint Christopher’s School for Boys, 70 Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, 43 Saint George’s Church, 39–43, 308 Saint George’s Episcopal Church, 67 Saint John the Evangelist, 39 Saint John’s Church, 317 Saint Nicholas Church, Paris, 21 Saint Paul’s, 39 Saint Peter’s (now Saint Patrick’s), 39 Salisbury Cathedral, England, 14, 36 Salisbury Close, England, 87 Salvin (also Salvain), Paul, 34 Santini, Residence of Mrs. Randolph, 317 Saunders, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. E. A., 319 Schmidt, Mott B., 34 Scott and Stringfellow, 276 Sea Edge, 196 Seaview Terrace, 245 Serapis, 252 Seven Oaks, 264 Shaw, Howard Van Doren, 34 Shearman and Sterling, 94 Shepherd Place, 264 Sheraton, Thomas, 88 Sheridan Circle, 269 Sherwood, Cynthia, 44, 49 Sherwood, Robert, 44 Shinnecock Indian tribe, 116 Shipman, Ellen Biddle, 63 Shipman, Herbert, 245 Shipman, Julia Fay Bradley, 242, 245, 246, 248 Shipman, Maisonette of Mrs. Herbert, 245–248, 315 Shipman, Residence of Mrs. Herbert, 315 Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, 35 Shrub Oak, New York, 39 Shurtcliff, Arthur, 230 Sibley, Hiram W., 128 Sibley, Margaret Urling, 128, 131 Silver Medal of Honor, 37 Sindona, D. C., 31, 157, 175, 177, 252, 258 “Sir Romeo,” 217 Sloane, Residence of George, 312, 314 Smith and Moore Architects, 159 Smith, Alfred E., 116 Smith, Emily Pancake, 226, 230, 232 Smith, James Gordon, 262 Smith, Mishew Ellen, 293

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Smith, Mrs. James Gordon, 262, 266 Smith, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Hodges, 310 Smith, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert McKelden, 226–233, 314 Triangle Tea Room, 314 Smith, Residence of Mrs. Ella Gordon Massie, 315 Society of Colonial Wars, 94 Somerset Hills, NJ, 57, 60, 63 Sondheim, Stephen, 108 Sons of the Revolution, 132 Sorchan, Mrs. C. H., 100 South Hills, 299 Southern Acid & Sulphur Company, 183 Spain, 123 Spanish Details, 35, 36 Spanish Renaissance style, 27 Spanish Room, 118, 312 Spanish style, 150 Spanish-American War, 269 Spanish-Mediterranean style, 262 Spock, Benjamin, 256 Standard Oil, 188 Stations of the Cross, 43 Staunton, VA, 226 Stearns, Al, 256, 257 Stewart, Alexander and Mary (daughter), 269 Stewart, Residence of Plunkett, 317 Stockton, 31, 317 Stokowski, Leopold, 108 Stone Residence, 310 Stowe, Harriet Beecher and House of, 257 Strawbridge, Residence of Mrs. Robert E., 317 Stuart Court Apartments, 118, 150, 311 Suffragan Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of New York, 245 Sweet Briar College, 297

Thomas, Clara Fargo, 157 Thomas, John B., 97, 164 Thomson, William, 1st Baron Kelvin, 20, 21 Tiffany, Residence of Mrs. A. C., 312 Tiverton, 264 Tower of Winds, 219 Town & Country, 242 Townsend, Cynthia Sherwood, 44, 49 Townsend, Edward Howard, 22 Townsend, Harriet, 22 Townsend, James M., 44, 49 Townsend, Property of James M., 44–51 Townsend, Residences of James M., Jr., 308, 315 Travers Wood & Company, 87 Triangle Tea Room, 232, 314 Trimble, Residence of Richard, Jr., 317 Trinity College (now Duke University), 290 Trumbauer, Horace, 210 Tryon Palace, 290 Tuileries, 22 Turtle Bay Gardens, 30, 100–109, 310 Turtle Bay Holding Company, 100 Tutankhamen, King, 234 Twain, Mark, 257

T. C. Williams and Company, 264 Taft, William Howard, 257 Talbott, Residence of Harold E., 317 Taliferro, Residence of Mrs. Eugene, 317 Tatton Hall, 200, 290–296, 316 Taylor, Jacquelin P., 276 Taylor, Residence of Myron, 317 Taylor, Zachary, 276 Terrace Apartments, 150, 313 The Architectural Forum, 34 The Architectural Heritage of the Piscataqua, 36, 92 The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing-Book, 88 The Grove, 309 The New York Times, 155, 234 The Phillips Inn (now Andover Inn), 314 The Work of William Lawrence Bottomley in Richmond, 25, 218, 267 “The Wreck of the Hesperus,” 259 “Thin Man,” 22

Valentine Richmond History Center, 87 Valley Stream, 35 Valley View, 317 Van Alen, William, 35 Van Buren, Martin, 257 Van Riper, Apartment of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth D., 315 Van Riper, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth B., 150–159, 312 Vanderbilt Clinic Auxiliary, 64 Vanderbilt, Residence of Mrs. Graham Fair, 317 Vanderbilt, Stirling, 250 Vassar, 24 Venetian style, 150 Villard House, 128 Virginia, 31, 268 Virginia Commonwealth University, 88 Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 85 Virginia Gold Cup, 178, 217 Virginia Historic Landmarks Register, 182, 217, 232

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Union Camp Corporation, 218 Union Trust Company, 210 United Nations, 100, 276 Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organizations World Heritage List, 262 United States Army, 94, 183 United States Embassy, China, 276 United States Military Academy at West Point, 269 University of Richmond, 70, 73, 77 University of Virginia, 31, 262 Board of Visitors, 226 Law School, 73

Virginia House, 318 Virginia Military Institute (VMI), 73, 183 Vitruvius, 19 Wagner, W. Sydney, 30 Wall Street, 242, 304 Warburg, Residence of James P., 314, 316 Warfield, Florence M., 187 Warren, Residence of Harvey, 317 Warrenton Hunt, 217 Washington and Lee College, 298 Washington University, 183 Washington, DC, 268 Washington, George, 172, 257, 294 Washington, House of Samuel, 302 Washington, Martha, 259 Wasp, 252 Water Mill, Long Island, 21 Waties, John, 282 Watson, Gladys, 162 Waverley Hill, 226–233, 314 Webster, Daniel, 257 Weddell, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Wilbourne, 318 Wedgefield Plantation, 282–289, 316 Wedgwood, 69 Weeks, Christopher, 24, 219 Weller, Michael A., 310, 311 West End, Richmond, 70, 138 West Point, United States Military Academy, 269 Western Promenade, Portland, 94 Westminster Abbey, 21 Westover, 144, 184, 301 White, E. B., 108 White, Residence, Cottage and Tennis Shelter of Captain and Mrs. Newton H., 318 Whitehall, 312 Whitehouse & Company, 196 Whitehouse, Residences of Mr. and Mrs. Norman de R., 31, 196–209, 313, 316 Whitehouse, Vira Boarman, 196, 197, 204, 205, 206, 209 Whitewood, 317 “William and Mary” idiom, 94 William Lawrence Bottomley & Edward C. Dean, Associate Architects, 310

Williams, Nicholas, Moran & Rutgers, 304 Williams, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. E. Randolph, 313 Williams, T. C., 264 Williams, Wheeler, 279 Willow Hill Plantation, 188, 318 Wilson, Richard Guy, 87 Wilton, 278 Winch, Edith, 118, 119, 123 Windsor Farms, 138 Windsor Plantation, 282, 283 Windsor, Duke and Duchess of, 301 Winmill, Bertha, 178 Winmill, Edgar Wolten “Bunny,” 178 Winmill, Gude, 178 Winmill, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Wolten, 178–182, 313 Winmill, Residence of Mrs. Bassford, 318 Winmill, Residence of Robert C., 312 Winmill, Residence of sister of Robert C., 313 Winmill, Robert C., 44, 49, 178, 210, 308 Winmill, Viola Townsend, 49, 178 Wise, Jennings C., 70, 73, 77 Wise, Lucy Smith, 70, 73 Wise, Residence of Colonel and Mrs. Jennings C., 70–77, 308 Wise, Residence of Henry A., 310 Wise, Residence of Mrs. E., 318 Wood Flong Corporation, 132–133 Wood, Benjamin (nephew), 132, 133, 134, 137 Wood, Benjamin (uncle), 132 Wood, Fernando, 132 Wood, Residence of Benjamin, 132–137, 312 World War I, 73, 94, 128 Wortham, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Coleman, 312 Wragg, Samuel, 282 Wren, Christopher, 88 Wright, Frank Lloyd, 192 Yale University, 64, 94 School of Architecture, 21 Yardley, Residence of Farnham, 314 York Hall, 310 Young, Susan Meredith Bottomley, 88 Ziegler, Residences of William, Jr., 160–171, 313

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