Grosvenor Atterbury (July 7, 1869 in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, MI – October 18, 1956 in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, NY) was an American architect, urban planner and writer. He studied at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, where he was an editor of campus humor magazine ''

The Yale Record ''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it became the oldest humor magazine in the world when ''Punch'' folded in 2002."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/histo ...

'' After travelling in Europe, he studied architecture at

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 ...

and worked in the offices of

McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), Wil ...

. Much of Atterbury's early work consisted of weekend houses for wealthy industrialists. Atterbury was given the commission for the model housing community of

Forest Hills Gardens Forest Hills is a mostly residential neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeast ...

which began in 1909 under the sponsorship of the

Russell Sage Foundation The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her recently deceased husband, rail ...

. For Forest Hills, Atterbury developed an innovative construction method: each house was built from approximately 170 standardized precast concrete panels, fabricated off-site and assembled by crane. The system was sophisticated even by modern standards: panels were cast with integral hollow insulation chambers; casting formwork incorporated an internal sleeve, allowing molds to be "broken" before concrete had completely set; and panels were moved to the site in only two operations (formwork to truck and truck to crane). Atterbury's system influenced the work of mid-1920s European modern architects like

Ernst May Ernst May (27 July 1886 – 11 September 1970) was a German architect and city planner. May successfully applied urban design techniques to the city of Frankfurt am Main during the Weimar Republic period, and in 1930 less successfully expor ...

, who used panelized prefab concrete systems in a number of celebrated experimental housing projects in Frankfurt. In this way Atterbury can be considered a progenitor of the Modern Movement. Atterbury was elected to the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

in 1918 as an Associate member, and became a full member in 1940. Atterbury worked on various projects with John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in the 1930s, including what today is Stone Barns Food and Agriculture Center, and the Gatehouse and Entrance Wall to Kykuit Estate, as well as the six stucco houses built for estate employees. The six houses were designed as the core of Pocantico Village that Rockefeller was building as Kykuit was being completed, and to complement the style of the Union Church and Pocantico Hills Central School, which he had completed.Pennoyer, Peter (2009). The Architecture of Grosvenor Atterbury. 500 Fifth Avenue, N.Y., N.Y. 10110: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., p. 230, 266

Works

* Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Pocantico Hills, New York, 1930-33 * Six cottages commissioned by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., for estate employees, Kykuit, Pocantico Hills, New York, 1930-33 * Kykuit Gate House and Entrance Wall, and Administrative Building, Pocantico Hills, New York, 1930 *

Connecticut Hall Connecticut Hall (formerly South Middle College) is a Georgian building on the Old Campus of Yale University. Completed in 1752, it was originally a student dormitory, a function it retained for 200 years. Part of the first floor became home to th ...

restoration, New Haven, Connecticut, 1905 * Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel (formerly

Fulton Building The Fulton Building is an historic structure in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Named after inventor Robert Fulton, the building was designed by architect Grosvenor Atterbury and completed in 1906. Construction was funded by industrialist Henry Phipps. ...

), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1906 * Tenney Memorial Chapel, Walnut Grove Cemetery, Methuen, Massachusetts, 1906 * The Boulders, 99 Shore Ave.

Greenwood Lake, New York Greenwood Lake is a village in Orange County, New York, United States, in the southern part of the town of Warwick. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 3,154. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middl ...

, 1911 *

The Church-in-the-Gardens The Church-in-the-Gardens, also known as Community Congregational Christian Church, is a historic Congregational church complex located in Forest Hills, Queens, New York. The complex includes the church (1915), Community House (1926), and Parish H ...

, New York City, 1915 * Surprise Valley Farm, Newport, Rhode Island, 1914-1916 * Industrial village (the pottery houses) for Holston Corporation, 1915-1916 * House of the Redeemer, New York City, 1916 * Wereholme,

Islip, New York Islip ( ) is a town in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the south shore of Long Island. The population was 335,543 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous city or town in the state. The Town of Islip also contains a ...

, 1917 * Carriage Paths, Bridges and Gatehouses,

Acadia National Park Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park preserves about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, and ...

and vicinity

Acadia National Park, Maine Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor, Maine, Bar Harbor. The park preserves about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoo ...

, 1919 * Aldus Chapin Higgins House, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1921 * Sage House (formerly

Russell Sage Foundation Building The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her recently deceased husband, rail ...

), New York City, 1922 to 1926 * Holy Trinity Rectory, a four-storey brick rectory at 341 East 87th Street, Manhattan, 1927 (for $50,000).Office for Metropolitan History
, "Manhattan NB Database 1900-1986," (Accessed 25 Dec 2010). * Pond Mansion, Tucson, Arizona, 1930 * Rockefeller Hall,

Winter Harbor, Maine Winter Harbor is a town on the Schoodic Peninsula in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 461 at the 2020 census. The town is located just outside the Schoodic Peninsula portion of Acadia National Park, and is due east of th ...

, 1933, commissioned by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and built by the National Park Service to house Navy personnel in the French Norman Revival-style. *

Children's Village of the Hartford Orphan Asylum The Village is a social service agency providing community services and resources for at-risk families and children in Hartford, Connecticut. With an organizational history dating to the early 19th century, it is one of the oldest such institution ...

, 1680 Albany Ave.

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

* Shore Road Historic District, Shore Rd.

Cold Spring Harbor, New York Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island in New York. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population was 5,070. History Cold Spri ...

References

External links

Grosvenor Atterbury papers and photographs, circa 1900-1994
* Designing for High and Low, by Christopher Gray, Oct. 22, 2009, New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/realestate/25scapes.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Atterbury, Grosvenor 1869 births 1956 deaths Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni Architects from Detroit Artists from Detroit American ecclesiastical architects Yale University alumni Russell Sage Foundation

Works

See also

References

External links