H. Neill Wilson
Henry Neill Wilson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 1, 1855[1] |
| Died | 1926 |
| Occupation | Architect |
Shadowbrook, built in 1893 for Anson Phelps Stokes who hired Frederick Law Olmsted
to design the 900 acre groundsH. (Henry) Neill Wilson (1855 in
Berkshire County
, Massachusetts.
Career
H. Neill Wilson started his career working for his father, a prominent Cincinnati architect, in 1873.[1] He moved on after seven years and established himself in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1879 where a building boom was under way.[2]
Wilson moved to
Berkshire County.[1] He worked in the Northeast until his death in 1926.[3] He was elected as Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in February 1887.[2]
Noted works
In Ohio, Wilson's
Rookwood Pottery building remains, although it was expanded after initial construction, as well as the Glendale Lyceum
(ca. 1891) building.
His "splendid" Berkshire, County "cottages" were featured in an illustrated book by
Shadowbrook residence where Andrew Carnegie also lived and died was particularly massive. It was destroyed by a fire in 1956. It was rebuilt, but the newer structure is not considered[by whom?] up to par with the original.[1][4]
Of his work in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the William Russell Allen House and Pilgrim Memorial Church and Parish House are still standing and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Berkshire County Home for Aged Women building (1888) and Red Lion Inn, Pittsfield, Massachusetts also remain.
In redesigning the 1773 Red Lion Inn building in 1897 following "a devastating fire" that started in the pastry kitchen, Wilson designed an 80-room building with a separate kitchen building.[5]
Chicago lawyer Wirt Dexter Walker hired him in 1890 to design his cottage.[6]
Personal life
Wilson married Olivia Lovell.[3]
Projects
Glendale Town Hall and Police Station
(now Glendale Police Station)- Glendale Town Hall and Police Station of 1871, an Italianate architecture building, is his earliest credited work. It is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.[7] It was replaced as town hall by Samuel Hannaford’s building that remains in use.[1]
- Red Lion Inn, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1897) in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a rebuilding project after the 1773 building was destroyed by fire.[1]
- Elzner & Anderson.[1]
- Leonard Beckwith House, acquired and occupied late in the 20th Century as the DeSisto School (1892) in Stockbridge, MA[1]
- Plan for Wirt Dexter Walker summer residence on West Shore of Lake Onota[6]
- The Orchard in Berkshire County (1899) [1]
- historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.[7]
- Lakeside in Berkshire County (1894) [1]
- Blythewood (Massachusetts), a 450-acre (1.8 km2) estate that included outbuildings, laundry facilities, servants quarters, superintendent's residence, two barns, two farm houses, dairy, coach house, wood house, gate house, greenhouse, and gardener's residence. The cottage had 12 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, electric lights and internal and a contemporary modern style.[6]
- Omni Hotels took over the property which later became a Crowne Plazahotel.
- Interlaken (Massachusetts) (1894) design in Lenox, Massachusetts for D. W. Bishop [8][9]
- Wilson is believed to have "delineated" Mt. Auburn, Ohio. It was demolished in 2006[1]
- W.P. Burbank House (1887) in Pittsfield[1] It was included in American Architect and Building News VOLUME XXII JULY-DECEMBER, 1887 (615).[11]
- D.W. Bishop House (1888) in Lenox, Massachusetts [1]
- [[William C. [Cooper] Procter House]] (1889) in Pittsfield [1]
- Richardsonian Romanesque style brick building on Congress Avenue in Glendale, Ohio that remains "largely intact".[1][12]
- Plans for Brightwood Hall at 334 Bristol, Connecticut[13][14]
- Richardsonian Romanesque style, it is one of the oldest continually operating nursing homes in Massachusetts.[15]
- Pilgrim Memorial Church and Parish House at 249 Wahconah Street in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places[7]
- Wollison-Shipton Building, Pittsfield, Massachusetts.[7]
- Hoosac Savings Bank Building (ca. 1893), which includes "intricate terra cotta detailing" North Adams, Massachusetts[16] and cost $60,000 to build.[17] The bank remains in business and was recently renovated and restored.[18]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Walter E. Langsam H. Neill Wilson Archived 2010-09-17 at the Wayback Machine Biographical Dictionary of Cincinnati Architects, 1788-1940, Architectural Foundation of Cincinnati
- ^ a b c ROLLIN HILLYER COOKE (1906). "Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Berkshire County, Massachusetts". THE LEWIS PUBLISHING CO. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ a b c d "H. Neill Wilson". The New York Times. 7 July 1926. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ Phil Bilzor Shadowbrook Castle (includes aerial photo)
- ^ Bernard A. Drew The Springfield gas machine May 5, 2007 The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts)
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59629-408-0. 117 pages, page 31,32
- ^ a b c d e "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Interlaken for D. W. Bishop American Architect and Building News February 18, 1888
- ^ IN THE BERKSHIRE HILLS; THE MAGNIFICENT SUMMER RESIDENCE OF D.W. BISHOP AT LENOX June 10, 1888, Page 13, 1291 words New York Times
- ^ Scott Stafford Volunteers to refurbish Pittsfield's Allen House Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine September 24 ???? Berkshire Eagle
- ^ https://archive.org/stream/americanarchitec22newyuoft/americanarchitec22newyuoft_djvu.txt [bare URL plain text file]
- ^ Lyceum history, Glendale, Ohio
- ^ "The architect who drew the plans was H. Neil Wilson of Pittsfield, Mass., but Mrs. Atkins-McKay's was the real planning mind of the whole structure." [1] May 17, 1904 Hartford Courant
- ^ Glendale lyceum website
- ^ "Places Where History was Made: Berkshire County Home for Aged Women". (includes photo). National Park Service.
- ^ A Walk Through History Archived 2010-06-16 at the Wayback Machine North Adams, Massachusetts
- ^ Hoosac Savings Bank website
- ^ New England Design description of renovation project and photographs of Hoosac savings Bank interior
Further reading
- Jackson and Gilder (2006)
- Painter, AIC (2006), 122, 123;
- Nuxhall, SGC, 49, 1.