Charles Hercules Rutan (March 28, 1851 – December 17, 1914) was an American architect best known as a partner in the firm of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge of Boston and Chicago, successors to the firm of architect Henry Hobson Richardson.

Life and career

Charles Hercules Rutan was born in Newark, New Jersey to Nicholas Warren Rutan and Sarah Elizabeth (Marsh) Rutan. He was educated in the Newark public schools. In 1870 he joined the New York City office of Gambrill &

Richardson Richardson may refer to: People * Richardson (surname), an English and Scottish surname * Richardson Gang, a London crime gang in the 1960s * Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962) Places Australia * Richardson, Australian Cap ...

as an office boy, gradually moving up to engineer and construction superintendent. When Richardson moved to

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

in 1874, so did Rutan, and stayed with him when he dissolved his partnership with Gambrill in 1878."In Memoriam" in
Journal of the American Institute of Architects
' 3, no. 2 (February, 1915): 88. When Richardson died in April of 1886 Rutan and two other senior employees, George Foster Shepley and Charles Allerton Coolidge, took charge of the studio and its uncompleted work. In June of 1886 the three formed a formal partnership, Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, to succeed to Richardson's practice, and in 1887 moved the office to Boston."Shepley, George F." in
Boston of To-day: A Glance at its History and Characteristics
', ed. Richard Herndon (Boston: Post Publishing Company, 1892): 389. Rutan withdrew from active practice later in life, but remained a partner in the firm until December 1, 1914, shortly before his death."Sarah E. Rutan, executrix, ''vs.'' Charles A. Coolidge" in
Massachusetts Reports
' 241 (Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1923): 584-600. Rutan was a member of the Boston Society of Architects and joined the American Institute of Architects in 1889 as a Fellow. He was a member of the Congregational Club. At different times he was also treasurer and trustee of the

American College for Girls The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a highly selective, independent, co-educational high school in Turkey.The Turkish education system divides schools i ...

in Istanbul, for which Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge designed buildings, and trustee of

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Personal life

Rutan was married in 1874 to Sarah Ellen Brower of Bloomfield, New Jersey, with whom he had one son and two daughters. Rutan suffered two debilitating strokes in 1912, after which he was unable to work. He died December 17, 1914 in

. Rutan's second daughter, Elsie Rutan, was married in 1905 to Sidney T. Strickland, an employee of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge. After Rutan's death, Strickland went on to form the firm of Strickland & Law, later Strickland, Blodget & Law, architects of the former

Ritz-Carlton Boston The Newbury Boston is a historic luxury hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. It opened in 1927 as The Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The property is a Boston landmark and anchors fashionable Newbury Street and the picturesque Boston Public Garden, located in t ...

in 1927. In 1889 Rutan designed and had built a large home at 111 Davis Avenue in Brookline for his family. He lived there until his disability, when he and his wife moved to a

Boylston Street Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common, runs through Back Bay, and e ...

apartment. After Rutan's death his widow believed that the partnership had been unfairly dissolved, and sued for compensation. It was found that several months before the official dissolution the Chicago office had ceased to pay Rutan his share of the profits, and Mrs. Rutan was awarded part of this sum. There had, however, been a breakdown in the relationship between Mrs. Rutan and Coolidge, and when she built a new home in 1916, at 37 Hedge Road in Brookline, it was designed by her son-in-law.Historic Building Detail: BKL.1203
Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System. Mrs. Rutan died in 1933.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutan, Charles H. 1851 births 1914 deaths Architects from New Jersey Architects from Boston Fellows of the American Institute of Architects People from Newark, New Jersey 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects Burials at Walnut Hills Cemetery (Brookline, Massachusetts)

Life and career

Personal life

See also

References