R. H. Robertson
Robert Henderson Robertson | |
|---|---|
Rutgers College | |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Spouse | Charlotte Markoe |
| Buildings | Pequot Library, Hammersmith Farm, Santanoni Preserve, 150 Nassau Street, Shelburne Farms |
Camp Santanoni main lodge, for Robert C. Pruyn
(built 1892–93)St. John the Martyr Roman Catholic Church (Manhattan)
.
American Tract Society Building
at 150 Nassau Street (built 1894–1895)
Robert Henderson Robertson (April 29, 1849 – June 3, 1919) was an American architect who designed numerous houses, institutional and commercial buildings, and churches. He is known for his wide-variety of works and commissions, ranging from private residences such as Jacqueline Kennedy's childhood home Hammersmith Farm and the Adirondacks Great Camp Santanoni to some of the earliest steel skyscrapers in New York City.[2]
Robertson was one of the architects of choice for the late nineteenth century titans of industry, and designed several buildings for the extended Vanderbilt Family, including Shelburne Farms and the outbuildings at the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site.[3]
Life and career
Robertson was born in
H.H. Richardson's "Richardsonian Romanesque" a freely-handled revival style that depended for its effect on strong massing and the bold use of rustication. In 1894, he finished construction of Southport's Pequot Library Association.[7] Founded by the influential Marquand and Monroe families, Pequot Library is a special collections institution.[8] In the 1890s, in the wake of the "White City" of the World's Columbian Exposition
, Chicago, he began to work in a classical style.
He married Charlotte Markoe, and they had one son.[4]
Robertson died on June 3, 1919, at William S. Webb's
Southampton, New York.[9]
Commissions
Potter & Robertson (1875-1881)
During his New York partnership with William Appleton Potter the firm designed many summer vacation cottages in Newport, Rhode Island, and the Jersey Shore, beginning with the Bryce Gray residence in Long Branch, New Jersey (completed c. 1877; since demolished).[6] Potter & Robertson also designed:
- South Congregational Church (1871–1875) – Springfield, Massachusetts.
- Phillips Presbyterian Church (1873)[10]
- Stuart Hall (1875–77) – Princeton Theological Seminary.
- Witherspoon Hall (1875–77) – Princeton University.
- Brown University Library (1875) – Providence, Rhode Island.
- University Hotel (1875–77; demolished) – Princeton, New Jersey.[11]
- Grace Church Chapel (completed 1876; demolished) – East 14th Street; the third chapel for Grace Church, and the second on this site, replacing one that burned down in 1872.[12]
- Alpha Kappa Lodge (1876) – Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.[13]
- St. Augustine's Episcopal Church and Mission House (1876–77) – 107 East Houston Street.[14]
- Commodore Charles H. Baldwin House (1877–78) – H. H. Richardson's Newport residence for William Watts Sherman (1874–76).[6]
- "Hillside", also known as the Long Island Gold Coast is also in the Queen Anne style.[16]
- Christ Episcopal Church (1878) – Oyster Bay, Long Island; altered by Delano & Aldrich in 1925, who encased the domestic-looking church in stone.[17]
- St. James Protestant Episcopal Chapel, known as the Church of the Presidents (1879) – Long Branch, New Jersey.
Solo career (1881-1902)
Robertson's Park Row Building (completed 1899) at 15 Park Row, built for August Belmont, was, for a brief period, the world's tallest office building.[18] Among his many other commissions in New York City and elsewhere:[19]
- St. James Episcopal Church (completed 1881) – East 71st Street & Madison Avenue. Altered by Ralph Adams Cram and others. The tower collapsed and was replaced by a spire in 1950.[20]
- Church of the Holy Spirit (1881–83; demolished 1905) – 775 Madison Avenue.[21]
- Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church (1881–84; demolished) – East 60th Street & Madison Avenue.[22]
- 23 East 67th Street (1882–83) – Redesigned in the neo-Federal style and an additional storey added by Sterner and Wolfe in 1919.[23]
- Mott Haven (138th Street) Railroad Station (1885–86; demolished).
- YWCA Building (1885–87) – 7-11 East 15th Street. Now used by the Soka Gakkai International-USA Cultural Center, the Buddhist Association for Peace, Culture and Education.
- Drew Theological Seminary Library (completed 1886) – Madison, New Jersey. Published in The American Architect and Building News 20 March 1886.[24]
- "Sunnymede", Dr. Francis H. Markoe house (1886–87) – Southampton, Long Island. Dr Markoe was Robertson's brother-in-law.[25]
- Knox Presbyterian Church (completed 1887) – 252
- Bushnell House (1887–88) – 838 East High Street, Asa Bushnell and his wife Ellen, and now a funeral home, the Bushnell House exemplifies Robertson's Richardsonian Romanesque style.[28] It is part of Springfield's East High Street Historic District,[29] which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[30]
- "Wyndcote", Robertson's residence (1887–88) – Southampton, Long Island.[25]
- Phelps Stokes-J.P. Morgan, Jr. House (completed 1888) – 231 Madison Avenue; Robertson significantly enlarged this Italianate mansion, which was originally built in 1852-53. A New York City landmark.[31]
- Christ Church (1887–89) – Poughkeepsie, New York.
- "Hammersmith Farm" (1887–89) – Newport, Rhode Island, for John W. Auchincloss.
- East 74th Street.[32]
- Rutgers Presbyterian Church Chapel (1888) – West 73rd Street; named after the same man, Col. Henry Rutgers, as Rutgers University.[33]
- Margaret Louisa Home (1889–91) – 14-16 East 16th Street.
- St. Luke's Episcopal Church (1889–90) – 73 South Fullerton Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey.[34]
- 13 East 71st Street (1891–92) – town house.[20]
- Church of the Messiah and Incarnation (1892) – Greene Avenue, Brooklyn. Completed the design of James H. Giles.[35]
- St Luke's Church (completed 1892) – Convent Avenue,
- Southport, Connecticut. Meticulously restored in 2008.[38]
- New York City landmark.[41]
- Engine Company 55 Firehouse, New York City landmark.[44]
- New York City landmark.[47]
- Academy of Medicine (completed 1889; demolished) – 17 West 43rd Street.
- Rutgers Riverside Presbyterian Church (1889–90; demolished) – Broadway and West 73rd Street. The church was replaced by the current structure.
- New York City landmark.[48]
- MacIntyre Building (1890–92) – 874 Broadway, lofts, the AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.) calls refers to the building's style as "unspeakable eclectic"[1]
- United Charities Building (1891–1892) – East 22nd Street and Park Avenue South, designed with Rowe & Baker.
- Mohawk Building (1891–92) – 160 Fifth Avenue.[49]
- Mendelssohn Hall (1891–92) – West 40th Street. The hall was designed for the Mendelssohn Glee Club.[50]*...First Congregational Church of St. Albans, 27 Church St., St. Albans, Vermont 1892-1894 completed 1894.[51]
- New York City landmark.[53]
- First Reformed Dutch Church (1896–1897) – Somerville, New Jersey.
- Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York (1898) – Central Park West and 76th Street. Mosaic in interior.
- New York City landmark.[54]
- Bedford Park Presbyterian Church (1900) – Bedford Park Boulevard, the Bronx.[55]
- Lying-in Hospital (1902) – 305 Second Avenue between East 17th and 18th Streets, now "Rutherford Place", apartments and offices.[56]
- Corn Exchange Bank Building
- Shelburne Farms – Shelburne, Vermont. Shelburne House, the Breeding Barn, the Farm Barn and the Coach Barn make up Robertson's most ambitious farm complex. Robertson designed the adjacent Shelburne Railroad Station (1890).[57]
- Camp Santanoni Main Camp Complex – Newcomb, New York; for Robert C. Pruyn of Albany, a Yale classmate of Robertson's. The first Adirondack camp to be comprehensively designed as a unit by a professional architect.[58]
Robertson & Potter (1902-1919)
In 1902, Robertson took on as partner Robert Burnside Potter (1869-1934), nephew of William Potter. They designed a cottage, perhaps several, for Regis H. Post in
Bayside, Long Island.[6]
- Hugh D. Auchincloss House (1903) – 33 East 67th Street.[59]
- House of Relief Ambulance Annex (1907–08) – 9 Jay Street, was attached by an enclosed overhead bridge to the House of Relief, New York Hospital across Staple Street; within the Tribeca Historic District.[60][61]
References
Notes
- ^ a b White & Willensky, p.195
- ^ "Robert Henderson Robertson (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- ^ Musso, Anthony P. "From horse and carriage to automobiles, Vanderbilt coach house served many uses". Poughkeepsie Journal. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- ^ a b c The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. VI. James T. White & Company. 1896. p. 98. Retrieved November 26, 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ It was illustrated in The American Architect and Building News, July 22, 1876, without the client's name (illustration Archived 2010-06-13 at the Wayback Machine).
- ^ a b c d MacKay, Baker and Traynor, p. 165
- ^ "Our Story". Pequot Library. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
- ^ "Our Story". Pequot Library. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
- ^ "Robert H. Robertson Dead". The New York Times. June 5, 1919. p. 13. Retrieved November 26, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Dunlap, p.135
- ^ illustration from The American Architect and Building News, 5 February 1876.
- ^ Dunlap, p.89
- ^ The design was illustrated in The American architect and Building News 27 May 1876 (illustration Archived 2010-06-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Dunlap, p.193
- ^ Illustration
- ^ MacKay, Baker and Traynor, pp. 165–67
- ^ MacKay, Baker and Traynor, p. 166; the Potter & Robertson design, as first built, was illustrated in The American architect and Building News, 12 October 1878 (illustration Archived 2010-06-13 at the Wayback Machine)
- ^ White & Willensky pp.67–68
- ^ Noted in obituary, "Robert H. Robertson Dead", The New York Times, June 5, 1919 and in McKay, Baker & Traynor
- ^ a b White & Willensky, p.407
- ^ Dunlap, p.11
- ^ Dunlap, p.44
- ^ Landmark permit 23 March 2007 Archived 8 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Illustration.
- ^ a b MacKay, Baker and Traynor, p. 167
- ^ Dunlap, p.219
- ^ "A Starter Sanctuary", New York Times, 4 June 2009. Accessed 5 June 2009
- ^ Elwin Robison, and Kevin Rose, "East High Street: An Open Museum of Architecture and Enterprise" Archived 2008-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
- Ohio Historical Society, 2013. Accessed 2013-01-18.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ NYCLPC, p.98
- ^ Dunlap, p.116
- ^ Dunlap, p.186
- ^ St. Luke's Episcopal Church Archived 2010-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Published in American Architect & Building News 3 April 1886 (illustration).
- ^ White & Willensky, p.483
- ^ NYCLPC, p.189
- ^ "Pequot Library, Southport CT"
- ^ NYCLPC, p.27, gives the dates 1894-95; White & Willensky, p.68, gives the date as 1896
- ^ Landmarks Preservation Committee Designation List (pdf file)
- ^ NYCLPC, p.27
- ^ The Landmarks Preservation Committee Designation List for the American Tract Society Building says 1898–99.
- ^ White & Willensky, p.85
- ^ NYCLPC, p.47
- ^ "In Rough Market, a Slow Market (Balducci's) Suffers", New York Times, 6 April 2009. Accessed 6 April 2009: images.
- ^ New York County Savings Bank
- ^ NYCLPC, p.59
- ^ NYCLPC, p.76
- ^ White & Willensky, p. 196
- New York Times. December 7, 1892. p. 4.
- ^ http://www.firstcongregationalstalbans.org
- ^ White & Willensky, p.332
- ^ NYCLPC, p.148
- ^ NYLPC, p.116
- ^ White & Willensky, p.601
- ^ White & Willensky, p.210
- ISBN 978-0471143895.
- ^ "Camp Santanoni Historic Area" on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website
- ^ White & Willensky, p. 397
- ^ NYCLPC, p.22
- ^ White & Willensky, p.63
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-231-12543-7.
- MacKay, Robert B.; Baker, Anthony B. and Traynor, Carol A. Long Island Country Houses and Their Architects, 1860-1940 (1997)
- ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1.
- ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5.
External links
Media related to R. H. Robertson at Wikimedia Commons- Media related to Potter & Robertson at Wikimedia Commons
- Multimedia slide show of Robertson's career
- R. H. Robertson at Find a Grave
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