Park Row Building 1912 New York City crop

Robert Henderson Robertson (April 29, 1849 – June 3, 1919) was an American

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 ...

who designed numerous houses, institutional and commercial buildings, and churches.

Life and career

Robertson was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

of Scottish parents Archibald Robertson and Elizabeth Henderson. He was educated in Scotland, then graduated from

Rutgers College Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

in 1869. He apprenticed for several years in Philadelphia with Henry A. Sims, then moved to New York to work first for

George B. Post George Browne Post (December 15, 1837 – November 28, 1913) was an American architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition. He was recognized as a master of modern American architecture as well as being instrumental in the birth of the skyscra ...

, then in 1873-74 for

Edward Tuckerman Potter Edward Tuckerman Potter (September 25, 1831 – December 21, 1904) was an American architect best known for designing the 1871 Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut. With his half-brother William Appleton Potter, he also designed Nott M ...

. Having completed one of the first houses in America that manifested the " Queen Anne style", a cottage for Theodore Timson in Sea Bright, New Jersey (1875), he formed a partnership with Potter's half-brother, William Appleton Potter, who also trained with Post. Their partnership lasted from 1875 to 1881, during which time they worked mostly in a free

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, with Robertson, the junior partner, having responsibility for the firm's residential commissions.MacKay, Baker and Traynor, p. 165 In the 1880s, working on his own, he fell under the influence of

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 ...

's "

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

" a freely-handled revival style that depended for its effect on strong massing and the bold use of rustication. In the 1890s, in the wake of the "White City" of the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

, Chicago, he began to work in a classical style. He married Charlotte Markoe, and they had one son. Robertson died on June 3, 1919, at William S. Webb's Adirondack lodge in Nehasane, Hamilton County, New York, which he had designed. He is buried in Southampton, New York.

Commissions

Potter & Robertson (1875-1881)

During his New York partnership with William Appleton Potter the firm designed many summer vacation cottages in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, and the

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May Po ...

, beginning with the Bryce Gray residence in

Long Branch, New Jersey Long Branch is a beachside City (New Jersey), city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 30,719,< ...

(completed c. 1877; since demolished). Potter & Robertson also designed: *South Congregational Church (1871–1875)

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. *Phillips Presbyterian Church (1873) *Stuart Hall (1875–77) Princeton Theological Seminary. *Witherspoon Hall (1875–77)

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. *

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

Library (1875)

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. *University Hotel (1875–77; demolished)

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

. *Grace Church Chapel (completed 1876; demolished)East 14th Street; the third chapel for Grace Church, and the second on this site, replacing one that burned down in 1872. *Alpha Kappa Lodge (1876)

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

. *St. Augustine's Episcopal Church and Mission House (1876–77)107 East Houston Street. *Commodore Charles H. Baldwin House (1877–78)

; a multi-gabled essay in the Queen Anne style showing the influence of Norman Shaw, and

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 ...

's Newport residence for William Watts Sherman (1874–76). *"Hillside", also known as the Adam-Derby House (1878)

Oyster Bay, New York The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three towns which make up Nassau County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County to extend from the North Shore to the South Shore o ...

, for Sarah Sampson Adam. The partnership's only documented house on the Long Island Gold Coast is also in the Queen Anne style. *Christ Episcopal Church (1878)Oyster Bay, Long Island; altered by Delano & Aldrich in 1925, who encased the domestic-looking church in stone. *St. James Protestant Episcopal Chapel, known as the

Church of the Presidents United First Parish Church is a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Quincy, Massachusetts, established as the parish church of Quincy in 1639. The current building was constructed in 1828 by noted Boston stonecutter Abner Joy to designs by ...

(1879)

Solo career (1881-1902)

Robertson's

Park Row Building The Park Row Building, also known as 15 Park Row, is a luxury apartment building and early skyscraper on Park Row in the Financial District of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The , 31-story building was designed by R. H. Robertson, a p ...

(completed 1899) at 15 Park Row, built for August Belmont, was, for a brief period, the world's tallest office building. Among his many other commissions in New York City and elsewhere: *St. James Episcopal Church (completed 1881)East 71st Street & Madison Avenue. Altered by

Ralph Adams Cram Ralph Adams Cram (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partner ...

and others. The tower collapsed and was replaced by a spire in 1950.White & Willensky, p.407 *Church of the Holy Spirit (1881–83; demolished 1905)775 Madison Avenue. *

Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church is a member church of the Presbyterian Church (USA), located at 73rd Street and Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side of New York City. In 1927 George Arthur Buttrick succeeded Henry Sloane Coffin as minister. ...

(1881–84; demolished)East 60th Street & Madison Avenue. *23 East 67th Street (1882–83)Redesigned in the neo-Federal style and an additional storey added by Sterner and Wolfe in 1919. * Mott Haven (138th Street) Railroad Station (1885–86; demolished). *YWCA Building (1885–87)7-11 East 15th Street. Now used by the

Soka Gakkai is a Japanese Buddhist religious movement based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese priest Nichiren as taught by its first three presidents Tsunesaburō Makiguchi, Jōsei Toda, and Daisaku Ikeda. It is the largest of the Japanese ...

International-USA Cultural Center, the Buddhist Association for Peace, Culture and Education. * Drew Theological Seminary Library (completed 1886) Madison, New Jersey. Published in ''The American Architect and Building News'' 20 March 1886. *"Sunnymede", Dr. Francis H. Markoe house (1886–87) Southampton, Long Island. Dr Markoe was Robertson's brother-in-law.MacKay, Baker and Traynor, p. 167 *Knox Presbyterian Church (completed 1887)252

East 72nd Street 72nd Street is one of the major bi-directional crosstown streets in New York City's borough of Manhattan. The street primarily runs through the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods. It is one of the few streets to go through Cen ...

, now known as St. John the Martyr Roman Catholic Church (Manhattan). *Bushnell House (1887–88)838 East High Street,

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...

. Built for Asa Bushnell and his wife Ellen, and now a funeral home, the Bushnell House exemplifies Robertson's

style. It is part of Springfield's East High Street Historic District, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. *"Wyndcote", Robertson's residence (1887–88)Southampton, Long Island. *Phelps Stokes-J.P. Morgan, Jr. House (completed 1888)231 Madison Avenue; Robertson significantly enlarged this Italianate mansion, which was originally built in 1852-53. A

New York City landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

. *Christ Church (1887–89)

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 ...

. *" Hammersmith Farm" (1887–89)

, for John W. Auchincloss. * Jan Hus Bohemian Brethren Church (1888)347 East 74th Street. *

Rutgers Presbyterian Church Rutgers Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian house of worship in New York City. The church's origins date to 1798 in Lower Manhattan. The first church building was erected on a plot of ground donated by Colonel Henry Rutgers at the corner of wh ...

Chapel (1888)West 73rd Street; named after the same man, Col. Henry Rutgers, as

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

. *Margaret Louisa Home (1889–91)14-16 East 16th Street. *St. Luke's Episcopal Church (1889–90)73 South Fullerton Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey. *13 East 71st Street (1891–92)town house. *Church of the Messiah and Incarnation (1892)Greene Avenue, Brooklyn. Completed the design of James H. Giles. *St Luke's Church (completed 1892)Convent Avenue, Hamilton Heights (Manhattan). Within the Hamilton Heights Historic District. * Pequot Library (1893) Southport, Connecticut. Meticulously restored in 2008. *

American Tract Society Building 150 Nassau Street, also known as the Park Place Tower and the American Tract Society Building, is a 23-story, building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is located at the southeast corner of Spruce Street and N ...

(1894–95)150 Nassau Street. Combining elements of Renaissance Revival and Romanesque Revival styles, this is one of the earliest steel-framed structures. It is clad in gray Westerly granite, gray Roman brick and tan architectural terracotta. A

. *Engine Company 55 Firehouse, Fire Department of New York (completed 1895)363 Broome Street, Manhattan. The building is a

. *

New York Savings Bank The New York Savings Bank is a historic bank building in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1896 by Robert Henderson Robertson with George Provot, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 7, 2000. The ...

(1896–97)Eighth Avenue at West 14th Street (northwest corner). The grand Roman banking hall was occupied for several years by a carpet merchant, and then by the upscale grocer, Balducci's (2005-2009). It and its sibling across 14th Street serve as New York's ''gemelli'' churches. A

. *Academy of Medicine (completed 1889; demolished)17 West 43rd Street. *Rutgers Riverside Presbyterian Church (1889–90; demolished)Broadway and West 73rd Street. The church was replaced by the current structure. * Lincoln Building (1889–90)1-3

Union Square West University Place is a short north-south thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City, United States, which runs from Washington Square Park in the south as a continuation of Washington Square East, taking the position of Madison Avenue uptown, and ...

. A

. *MacIntyre Building (1890–92)874 Broadway, lofts, the ''AIA Guide to New York City'' (4th ed.) calls refers to the building's style as "unspeakable eclectic"White & Willensky, p.195 *

United Charities Building The United Charities Building, also known as United Charities Building Complex, is at 105 East 22nd Street or 287 Park Avenue South, in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, near the border of the Flatiron District. It was b ...

(1891–1892)East 22nd Street and Park Avenue South, designed with Rowe & Baker. *Mohawk Building (1891–92)160 Fifth Avenue. *Mendelssohn Hall (1891–92)West 40th Street. The hall was designed for the

Mendelssohn Glee Club The Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York City, founded in 1866, is the oldest surviving independent musical group in the United States after the New York Philharmonic. Their concerts, given in very high-society settings, featured the new (to America ...

.*...First Congregational Church of St. Albans, 27 Church St., St. Albans, Vermont 1892-1894 completed 1894. * Church of St Paul and Parish House (1895–97)540 West End Avenue at West 86th Street. Tuscan Renaissance in tan brick and limestone, with an octagonal campanile at the corner. The ''AIA Guide to New York City'' (4th ed.) calls this church, with its octagonal corner tower, "a startling work." It's now the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew and is shared with Congregation B'nai Jeshurun. A

. *First Reformed Dutch Church (1896–1897)

Somerville, New Jersey Somerville is a borough and the county seat of Somerset County, New Jersey, United States.New Je ...

. *

Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York The Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York is a congregation within the Unitarian Universalist Association located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It is the last surviving of seven Universalist congregations in the city, founded ...

(1898)Central Park West and 76th Street. Mosaic in interior. * Moses Allen and Alice Dunning Starr House (1897–99)5 West 54th Street; a

. *Bedford Park Presbyterian Church (1900)Bedford Park Boulevard, the Bronx. *Lying-in Hospital (1902)305 Second Avenue between East 17th and 18th Streets, now "Rutherford Place", apartments and offices. *Corn Exchange Bank Building *

Shelburne Farms Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit education center for sustainability, working farm, and National Historic Landmark on the shores of Lake Champlain in Shelburne, Vermont. The property is nationally significant as a well-preserved example of a Gilde ...

Shelburne, Vermont Shelburne is a New England town, town in Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Located along the shores of Lake Champlain, Shelburne's town center lies approximately south of the city center of Burlington, Vermont, ...

. Shelburne House, the Breeding Barn, the Farm Barn and the Coach Barn make up Robertson's most ambitious farm complex. Robertson designed the adjacent Shelburne Railroad Station (1890). *Camp Santanoni Main Camp Complex

Newcomb, New York Newcomb is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 436 at the 2010 census. The town is on the western border of the county. It is by road southwest of Plattsburgh, southwest of Burlington, Vermont, northeast of ...

; for Robert C. Pruyn of Albany, a Yale classmate of Robertson's. The first Adirondack camp to be comprehensively designed as a unit by a professional architect.

Robertson & Potter (1902-1919)

In 1902, Robertson took on as partner Robert Burnside Potter (1869-1934), nephew of William Potter. They designed a cottage, perhaps several, for Regis H. Post in Bayside, Long Island. *Hugh D. Auchincloss House (1903)33 East 67th Street. *House of Relief Ambulance Annex (1907–08)9 Jay Street, was attached by an enclosed overhead bridge to the House of Relief, New York Hospital across Staple Street; within the Tribeca Historic District.White & Willensky, p.63

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *MacKay, Robert B.; Baker, Anthony B. and Traynor, Carol A. ''Long Island Country Houses and Their Architects, 1860-1940'' (1997) * *

External links

* *
Multimedia slide show of Robertson's career
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, R. H. 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects Architects from Philadelphia 1849 births 1919 deaths