Pilcher and Tachau was an American architectural firm in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and was the predecessor firm of

Tachau and Vought Tachau and Vought was an American architectural firm active in the mid-twentieth-century New York City that specialized in mental hygiene hospitals. It was established in 1919 as the successor to the architectural firm of Pilcher and Tachau by Will ...

.Nancy L. Tod

“New York's Historic Armories: An Illustrated History” (Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 2006), p.268 It was formed by

Lewis Pilcher Lewis F. Pilcher, AIA (1871–1941), was an American academic and architect active in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century New York City. With William G. Tachau, he was a partner of Pilcher and Tachau, the predecessor firm of ...

and

William G. Tachau William Gabriel Tachau, American Institute of Architects, AIA, (April 1875 – January 1969), was an American architect active in early- to mid-twentieth-century New York City. With Lewis Pilcher, he was a partner in the architectural firm of Pitc ...

. Lewis Pilcher was a professor of art at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

. He subsequently was a state architect of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Through his connections at Vassar, Pilcher designed the nine-story North Residence (1907), renamed in 1915 as Jewett House. The structure is composed of a four-story U-shaped arms framing an quad-side court with the rear nine-story tower incorporating a 30,000 gallon water tank. The structure extensively used steel and concrete structural components faced with red brick and

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

ornamentation. The high level of decorative work, including crenellations, grotesque terracotta faces and animals was incongruous to Vassar's restrained Quad dormitories and was nicknamed “Pilcher’s Crime.” The structure failed to attract donors who would attach their name and it was renamed in honor of the college's first president,

Milo P. Jewett Milo Parker Jewett (27 April 1808 – 9 June 1882) was the first president of Vassar College and first president of Judson College, holding the office from 1861 to 1864, and 1838 to 1855, respectively. Biography Born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont ...

, instead.Karen Van Lengen and Lisa Reilly. “Vassar College: An Architectural Tour.” The Campus Guide Series. (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2004), p.80 Vassar7

Works

* Louisville Free Public Library (1906) *

Jewett House Jewett House (formally Milo Jewett House and formerly North Hall) is a nine-story Tudor-style dormitory on the campus of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. Built in 1907 to accommodate increasing demand for residential space, ...

(1907, formerly North Residence before 1915) *

Troop C Armory A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Roy ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

*The

Kingsbridge Armory The Kingsbridge Armory, also known as the Eighth Regiment Armory, is a decommissioned armory at Jerome Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road in the Kingsbridge neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. It was built in the 1910s, from a design by the f ...

in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state, state of New York (state), New York. It is south of Westchester County, New York, Westchester County; north and east of the ...

References

Companies based in Manhattan Defunct architecture firms based in New York City {{US-architect-stub