George Oakley Totten Jr. (December 5, 1866 – February 1, 1939), was one of

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’s most prolific and skilled

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s in the

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. His international training and interest in architectural decoration led to a career of continuous experimentation and stylistic eclecticism which is clearly evident in many of his works. The mansions he designed were located primarily on or near

Dupont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

Sheridan Sheridan may refer to: People Surname *Sheridan (surname) *Philip Sheridan (1831–1888), U.S. Army general after whom the Sheridan tank is named *Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816), Irish playwright (''The Rivals''), poet and politician ...

(including

Embassy Row Embassy Row is the informal name for a section of Northwest Washington, D.C. with a high concentration of embassies, diplomatic missions, and diplomatic residences. It spans Massachusetts Avenue N.W. between 18th and 35th street, bounded by ...

), and Kalorama circles and along 16th Street, N.W., near Meridian Hill. Most now serve as embassies, chanceries, or offices for national or international organizations, their important public or semi-public functions, combined with their urbanistically integrated close-in locations, make them particularly visible exemplars of Washington's peculiar mixture of turn-of-the-century political and social life.

Biography

Totten was born in

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on December 5, 1866, a son of George Oakley and Mary Elizabeth (Styles) Totten and a descendant of John Totten, from whom

Tottenville Tottenville is a neighborhood on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City. It is the southernmost settlement in both New York City and New York State. Tottenville is bounded on three sides by water: the south side abuts New York Bight w ...

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, was named. After receiving his early education at public schools in

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

with a Ph.B in 1891 and an A.M. in 1892. He was awarded Columbia's McKim travelling fellowship in 1893, and for the next two years studied at the '' Ecole des Beaux Arts'' and '' Atelier Daumet-Esquie''. He returned to the United States and in 1896, was appointed chief designer in the

Office of the Supervising Architect The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939. The office handled some of the most important architectural commissions of the nineteenth ...

, Department of the Treasury. He continued in that position until 1898, when he established an independent architectural practice in Washington D.C., which he continued until his demise. He was the architect for many public buildings in that city and drew plans for ten legations and embassy buildings, including the Turkish, Polish, Belgian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, and Danish legations, and the former French embassy. He was an advisor when the

U.S. Capitol Building The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill at ...

was remodelled. He also designed many private city and country dwellings in Washington, including a group of houses in the 2600 block of 16th Street, N.W., representing several styles of architecture. He also designed homes in Vermont and New Jersey. He was architect for a number of government buildings including the post office at

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and the $3 million post office and federal court building at

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.H. H. Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...

Warder Mansion Warder Mansion (also known as Warder-Totten House) is an apartment complex at 2633 16th Street Northwest, in the Meridian Hill Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the only surviving building in the city designed by architect Henry Hobson ...

(1885–88), at 1515 K Street NW, from demolition. He disassembled the stonework and some of the interiors, transported them about 1.5 miles from downtown to Meridian Hill, and re-erected the building alongside his house for use as apartments. The Warder Mansion is the only surviving building by Richardson in Washington, D.C. USPS and DNJ Newark colonnade jeh

He was active in professional architecture related associations. From 1897 to 1939, he served as secretary and vice president of the American section of the permanent committee of the

International Congress of Architects International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. During

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, he served as a major with the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1926, he authored ''Maya Architecture''. On August 22, 1921, he married noted sculptor and artist

Vicken von Post-Börjesson Hedvig Erika ("Vicken") von Post Börjeson Totten (March 12, 1886 – June 21, 1950) was a Swedish ceramicist, sculptor, painter, and illustrator.Glenn B. Opitz, ed., ''Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers'', Ap ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. They had two sons: George Oakley Totten III, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, and Gilbert von Post Totten. He died at Washington, D.C., on February 1, 1939.

Selected works

* Christian Hauge House, 2349 Massachusetts Ave., NW,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

- 1906 ''(now Embassy of Cameroon)'' *

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, 2001 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., NRHP-listed *

Franklin MacVeagh Franklin MacVeagh (November 22, 1837July 6, 1934) was an American politician, lawyer, grocer and banker. He served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury under President William Howard Taft. Biography MacVeagh was born on November 2 ...

House (the " Pink Palace"), 2600 16th St., NW,

- 1906 ''(now headquarters of

Inter-American Defense Board The Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) is an international committee of nationally appointed defense officials who develop collaborative approaches on common defense and security issues facing countries in North, Central, and South America. The ...

)'' * Moran House, 2315 Massachusetts Ave., NW,

- 1908 ''(now Embassy of Pakistan)'' * Edward Hamlin Everett House, 1606 23rd St., NW,

- 1914 ''(now Residence of the Ambassador of Turkey)'' *2535 15th St., NW,

- 1922 ''(now Embassy of Ecuador)'' * Josephine Butler Parks Center, Washington, D.C., NRHP-listed * Langley Park,

Langley Park, Maryland Langley Park is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It is located inside the Capital Beltway, on the northwest edge of Prince George's County, bordering Montgomery County. ...

- 1924 ''(now

CASA of Maryland CASA (formerly ''CASA of Maryland'') is a Latino and immigration advocacy-and-assistance organization based in Maryland. It is active throughout the state, but has major foci in Prince George's County, Montgomery County and Baltimore. CASA infl ...

multicultural services building)'' * Meridian Hall, 2401 15th St., NW, Washington, D.C., NRHP-listed * Embassy Building No. 10, 3149 16th Street, NW, Washington, D.C., built 1928, Renaissance Revival, NRHP-listed

References

District of Columbia Historic Preservation Review Board, Staff Report and Recommendations regarding 2230 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Mar 27, 2008 (accessed Sep 30, 2008)

*''Who Was Who in America, 1897–1942,'' (1942, New York: A.N. Marquis, Co.), p. 1247. *''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography'', Vol. XLI, (1956, New York: James T. White Co.), p. 496.

Gallery

Image:Embassy of Cameroon - Washington, D.C.jpg, Christian Hauge House ( Embassy of Cameroon), 2349 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, D.C. Image:Pink Palace DC.JPG, Inter-American Defense Board ("The Pink Palace"), 2600 16th St., NW, Washington, D.C. Image:Ecuadorean_Embassy_in_Washington,_D.C._(15-07-2006).jpg, Embassy of Ecuador, 2535 15th Street NW, Washington, D.C. File:Langley Park Mansion Sep 10.JPG, Langley Park,

, September 2010 File:Embassy Building -10.jpg, Embassy Building No. 10, built 1928.

External links

Photograph of the Residence of the Ambassador of Turkey (Flickr website) (accessed Oct 1, 2008)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Totten, George Oakley 1866 births 1939 deaths Architects from New York City Architects from Washington, D.C. American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Preservationist architects Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni New Jersey Institute of Technology alumni 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects