Henry Ives Cobb (August 19, 1859 – March 27, 1931) was anarchitect from the United States. Based inChicago in the last decades of the 19th century, he was known for his designs in theRichardsonian Romanesque andVictorian Gothic styles.
Cobb was born inBrookline, Massachusetts to Albert Adams and Mary Russell Candler Cobb. Cobb studied at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology for one year then transferred toHarvard University where he graduated in 1881 with an engineering degree. After graduating, Cobb worked at theBoston architectural firmPeabody & Stearns before moving to Chicago in 1882.[1]
In Chicago, Cobb partnered withCharles Sumner Frost and formedCobb and Frost. They designed thePalmer Mansion (demolished) onLake Shore Drive; theChicago Varnish Company Building—listed on theNational Register of Historic Places and as aChicago Landmark; theEpiscopal Church of the Atonement at 5749 North Kenmore Avenue—also on the National Register of Historic Places; theChicago Federal Building (demolished); theNewberry Library; the Fisheries Building (demolished) at theWorld's Columbian Exposition; and many pre-1900 buildings atLake Forest College and theUniversity of Chicago.[2][3] Elsewhere, he designed the Sinclair Oil Building (today theLiberty Tower), a Perpendicular-styleskyscraper in downtownManhattan, that was converted to residences in 1980;[4] the Olive Building inSt. Louis and co-designed theKing Edward Hotel inToronto. Cobb moved toWashington, D.C., in 1897 to escape the Chicago grime, which damaged his cherished art collection.[5] Cobb is responsible for The University of ChicagoYerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI, constructed from 1895 to 1897, with its Greco-Roman terra-cotta architectural detail.
Henry Ives Cobb's grandmother, Augusta Adams Cobb, controversially abandoned her husband, Henry Cobb, and five of her seven children in 1843, and marriedBrigham Young as a plural wife.[6]
Cobb and wife Emma Martin Smith had 10 children, seven of whom survived into adulthood. The children were: architect and authorHenry Ives Cobb, Jr. (1883–1974), Cleveland Cobb (1884–?), Leonore Cobb (1885–?), Candler Cobb (c. 1887–?), Elliot Cobb (1888–?), Priscilla Cobb (1890–91), Alice Cobb (1892–93), Boughton Cobb (1894–1974), Russell Cobb (1897–?), and Emerson Cobb, (1902–10).[7][8]
| Building | Location | Dates | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Club of Chicago | Washington Place at Dearborn Street | 1881 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb | |
| Palmer Mansion | 1350 North Lake Shore Drive Chicago | 1885 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb | |
| Harriet F. Rees House | 2110 S. Prairie Avenue Chicago | 1888 | Designed by Cobb & Frost. | |
| Tippecanoe Place | 620 West Washington Avenue South Bend, Indiana | 1889 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb. Recognized as aNational Historic Landmark. | |
| Chicago Athletic Association | 12 South Michigan Avenue Chicago | 1893 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb | |
| Garfield Building | 1965 E. 6th Street Cleveland,Ohio | 1893 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb | |
| Newberry Library | 60 West Walton Street Chicago | 1893 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb and William Poole | |
| St. Cecilia Music Center | 24 Ransom NE Grand Rapids, Michigan | 1893 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb | |
| Chicago Varnish Company Building | 33 West Kinzie Street Chicago | 1895 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb | |
| Olive Building | 721 Olive Street St. Louis | 1896 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb; 1902 addition byMauran, Russel & Garden[9] | |
| Former Chicago Historical Society Building | 632 North Dearborn Street Chicago | 1896 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb | |
| Yerkes Observatory | 373 W. Geneva Street Williams Bay, Wisconsin | 1897 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb | |
| Woodward & Lothrop Store | 1025 F Street NW Washington, D.C. | 1897 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb; subsequent expansions 1902-1927[10] | |
| The Kip-Riker Mansion | 432 Scotland Road South Orange, New Jersey | 1903 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb for Ira A. Kip, Jr. Presently Temple Sharey Tefilo Israel[11][12] | |
| Chicago Federal Building | Dearborn and Adams Streets Chicago | 1905 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb | |
| Liberty Tower | 55 Liberty Street New York City | 1909 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb | |
| Cort Theatre | 64 Ellis Street San Francisco | 1911 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb[13] | |
| King Edward Hotel | 37 King Street East Toronto | 1920-1922 | Designed by Henry Ives Cobb: 18-story tower[4] |