The Gilded age was known for it’s over the top ornate mansions, but to whom can we attribute
these magnificent structures?
Hi everyone, ken here, welcome to this house.
Today we are exploring the impact of architect Richard Morris Hunt in our series, designing
the USA.
As we go through his story, we will look at pictures of many of the buildings he designed.
Make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of this
house.
Richard Morris Hunt was born on October 31st , 1827 in Brattleboro, Vermont to the influential
Hunt Family.
His grandfather was the lieutenant governor of Vermont and his father was a us congressman.
His family was considered old money as he had ancestral ties to Gouverneur Morris, one
of the founding fathers who had written much of the US constitution.
While Richard was still a young child, his father passed away in 1832.
His mother, Jane, tried to find a fresh start by moving the family around to several cities
on the east coast before deciding to settle down in Boston in 1838.
There, Richard attended the Boston Latin School for a short time before his mother sent him
off to school in Sandwich, Massachusetts.
By 1843, Richard’s brother William had fallen into poor health, so Jane sought out the best
physicians in the world to help her son.
She uprooted the family again and moved to Rome, Italy where the young mind of Richard
Morris Hunt would be shaped into the masterful architect we know him as today.
Richard was immediately enamored by the statues, fountains, mosaics, and all other forms of
art in the old world.
He declared that he would become an artist and began studying the masters.
His family and instructors noticed his keen attention to geometry and influenced him to
pursue architecture instead of art.
Hunt did just that.
He moved to Geneva, Switzerland to study under the architect Samual Darier, and just 2 years
later, in 1846, he moved to paris, France to study under architect Hector Lefuel who
coached Richard through his entrance exams while he applied to Ecole Des Beaux Arts in
Paris.
Historian David McCullough is quoted as saying "Hunt was the first American to be admitted
to the school of architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts – the finest school of architecture
in the world – and the subsequent importance of his influence on the architecture of his
own country can hardly be overstated."
In 1853, the Louvre’s project architect died unexpectedly and Hector Lefuel was tasked
with completing it’s design.
This event would become Richard’s breakout moment.
Hector began assembling a team of people to help him with the massive undertaking.
He viewed Richard as a protégé and brought him onboard for inspiration giving him the
task of site supervisor.
Richard continued to impress Hector with every step of the project, so Hector allowed Richard
the honor of aiding in the design of the Pavillon De La Bibliotheque atop the Palais Royale.
The newly completed buildings were beautiful, timeless pieces of architecture that Richard
could now proudly boast on his resume.
In 1856, back in the united states, arc hitect Thomas Walter was tasked with expanding the
united states capitol.
He had greatly admired the work being done in Paris and sought out a member of Hector
Lefuel’s design team to aid in the captiol’s expansion.
Richard Morris Hunt was highly recommended by Lefuel, so Walter hired him to return stateside
to Washington DC.
He completed his portion of the project in just one year, and reflected on his young
career, having aided in the design of the 2 most monumental buildings of his time.
He visited New York City and found the city to be rapidly changing.
He began dreaming of leaving his mark on the city, shaping it to rival the magnificence
of Rome.
Full of new ideas, he took his life savings and established his own practice in new York
city.
His first commission was to design a space for artists, the tenth street studio building.
He rented a space in the building where, in 1858, he founded the first architectural school
in America.
Among his first students was William Robert Ware who would later go on to found the first
2 american university level architecture programs at both MIT and Columbia.
Richard pioneered the architecture industry in the united states, setting precedents for
education and practice.
Richard was commissioned by Thomas P Rossiter to design a pair of houses, but refused to
pay Richard after it’s construction was finished.
Richard sued for payment and was awarded 2 and a half percent commission from the project
as payment.
The Engineering Magazine reported that this event “helped to establish a uniform system
of charges by percentage.”
Around this time, the name Richard Morris Hunt was synonymous with great architecture.
The Vanderbilt family began hiring him to design their houses, one by one.
Each one more extravagant than the last, palaces began popping up around central park, giving
Manhattan a reputation for exquisite beauty, rivaling the likeness of paris.
Richard’s brother William bought a house in Newport, Rhode Island where he would meet
the love of his life, Catherine Clinton Howland, the daughter of shipping barron Samuel S.
Howland.
In 1861, the couple married and the howlands gifted the marriage a dowry of 400,000 dollars,
or the modern day equivalent of about 13 million dollars.
With this new influx in cash, Richard was able to expand his practices, hire more architects,
and build larger mansions outside of Manhattan.
He began designing homes in Newport, including the vanderbilt’s vacation house, the Breakers.
By 1870, he had designed homes for some of the wealthiest americans along with commercial
buildings, including the New York Tribune Building.
In 1881, he was given the honor of designing the pedestal upon which stands the statue
of liberty.
Other works from this time period included the Fogg Museum of Art at Harvard, the Theological
Library and Marquand Chapel at Princeton, and the Scroll and Key Clubhouse at Yale.
Now, in the later part of his life, he began to experiment with new design ideas, bringing
the Beaux Arts style to the forefront of the American design world.
In 1877 he premiered his take on the style by introducing the design for the Lenox Library
on 5th avenue.
It was at this time that overwhelming demand for the style came from the upperclass.
He began designing mansions in the beax arts style both in Manhattan and in Newport, even
Later on, he was commissioned to plan the site of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition
in Chicago which went on to win a gold medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects.
This was a great end to his career as he passed away just a couple years later in 1895, having
achieved the highest honors for architecture in his late life and leaving what he thought
would be a lasting impression on the united states.
Only one of his buildings currently survives in Manhattan, the charity hospital which today
serves as a youth hostel.
His influence would carry on for many more years beyond his death as his son Richard
Howland Hunt would continue his father’s practice in designing beaux arts style buildings
for both residential and commercial use.
One of his employees, who had also attended Ecole des Beaux Arts, architect Emmanuel Louis
Masqueray, went on to become the chief designer of the 1904 World’s Fair, also known as
the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri.
You can view the entire repaired film clip of this exposition on our other channel, That
Happened linked in the video description below and pinned as the top comment in the comments
section.
That Happened is our brand new channel devoted repairing vintage film, commercials, cartoons,
and public domain movies.
Go check it out and hit that subscribe button if you enjoy everything vintage.
I’d like to thank you all for watching, please make sure to hit that subscribe button
so you never miss an exciting episode of this house.
I’d also like to say a special thankyou to our this house supporters whose names you
can see on screen right now.
If you would like to see your name on this screen, please consider joining our membership
program today.
I’ll see you next time on this house!