Horace Trumbauer (December 28, 1868 – September 18, 1938) was a prominent Americanarchitect of theGilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, and much of the campus ofDuke University.
His work made him a wealthy man, but his buildings rarely received positive critical recognition. Today, however, he is hailed as one of America's premier architects, with his buildings drawing critical acclaim even to this day.
Trumbauer was born inPhiladelphia, the son of Josiah Blyler Trumbauer, a salesman, and Mary Malvina (Fable) Trumbauer.[1]Jenkintown was the home of Trumbauer from 1881 until his marriage in 1903. He attended Jenkintown schools and completed a six-year apprenticeship withG. W. and W. D. Hewitt, and opened his own architectural office at age 21 in 1891. He did some work for developers Wendell and Smith, designing houses for middle-class planned communities, including theOverbrook Farms andWayne Estate developments.
Trumbauer's first major commission wasGrey Towers Castle, constructed in 1893, and designed for sugar magnate William Welsh Harrison; its exterior was based onAlnwick Castle inNorthumberland, England, but its interiors were French, ranging in style from the Renaissance toLouis XV eras.Harrison introduced him to the streetcar tycoon and real-estate developerPeter A. B. Widener, whose 110-room Georgian-revival palace,Lynnewood Hall (1897–1900), launched Trumbauer's successful career.[1]
On April 25, 1903, Trumbauer married Sara Thomson Williams and became stepfather to her daughter, Agnes Helena Smith, from her previous marriage to iron dealer C. Comly Smith.Architectural Record published a survey of his work in 1904, less than a decade after his first major commission.
In 1906, Trumbauer hiredJulian Abele, the first African-American graduate of theUniversity of Pennsylvania Architecture Department, promoting him to chief designer in 1909. Many of Trumbauer's later buildings are largely attributed to Abele. He contributed to the design of more than 400 buildings, including the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University (1912–15), Philadelphia's Central Library (1917–27), and thePhiladelphia Museum of Art (1914–28). He was also the primary designer of the west campus of Duke University (1924–54). With the exception of thechapel at Duke University (1934), Abele never claimed credit for any of the firm's buildings designed during Trumbauer's lifetime.
The commission for the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1916–28) was shared between Trumbauer's firm andZantzinger, Borie and Medary. Trumbauer's architect Howell Lewis Shay is credited with the building's plan and massing, although the perspective drawings appear to be in Abele's hand.[2] When it opened in 1928, the building was criticized as being vastly overscaled and nicknamed "the great Greek garage". But, perched on Fairmount Hill and terminating the axis of theBenjamin Franklin Parkway, it is now considered to be the most magnificently situated museum in the United States.
In 1933, Trumbauer was commissioned to build an ornateAncien-Regime French style mansion for Herbert Nathan Straus, the youngest son of Macy's founderIsidor Straus. Built in limestone with intricate carvings on the façade, theHerbert N. Straus House is now the largest private residence in Manhattan. The mansion exemplifies the classic but opulent style requested of industry barons of that time.
Despite tremendous success and his apparent ability to impress wealthy clients, Trumbauer suffered from overwhelming shyness and a sense of inferiority about his lack of formal education. He had a number of commissions until theGreat Depression, but began to drink heavily, and died ofcirrhosis of the liver in 1938.[1] He is buried inWest Laurel Hill Cemetery inBala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
Ronaele Manor (Fitz Eugene Dixon mansion), Elkins Park, Pennsylvania (1923–26, demolished 1974).[7][8][9] Mrs. Dixon was Eleanor Widener; the mansion's name is hers spelled backward.La Salle College Christian Brothers owned the mansion from 1950 to 1974, renaming it Anselm Hall.[10]
Public Ledger Building inPhiladelphia (1921)The formerJenkintown Bank & Trust building erected between 1924 and 1925 at the northeast corner of (Old) York Road and West Avenue
St. James Apartment House, 13th & Walnut Sts., Philadelphia (1901)[12]
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