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 land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

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, then in 1873-74 for Edward Tuckerman Potter. 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 Sea Bright is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was reflecting a decline of 406 (−22.3%) from the 1,818 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increa ...

(1875), he formed a partnership with Potter's half-brother,

William Appleton Potter William Appleton Potter (December 10, 1842 – February 19, 1909) was an American architect who designed numerous buildings for Princeton University, as well as municipal offices and churches. He served as a Supervising Architect of the Treasur ...

, 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 Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stret ...

Commissions

Potter & Robertson (1875-1881)

During his New York partnership with

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 Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

. *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 Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

, and H. H. Richardson's Newport residence for William Watts Sherman (1874–76). *"Hillside", also known as the

Adam-Derby House The Adam-Derby House is a notable 19th-century house, designed in the Queen Anne style, located at 166 Lexington Avenue in Oyster Bay, Nassau County, New York. Description and history It was built in 1878 and designed by architects William Ap ...

(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 Delano & Aldrich was an American Beaux-Arts architectural firm based in New York City. Many of its clients were among the wealthiest and most powerful families in the state. Founded in 1903, the firm operated as a partnership until 1935, when Ald ...

in 1925, who encased the domestic-looking church in stone. *St. James Protestant Episcopal Chapel, known as the Church of the Presidents (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 ...

(completed 1899) at 15 Park Row, built for

August Belmont August Belmont Sr. (born August Schönberg; December 8, 1813November 24, 1890) was a German-American financier, diplomat, politician and party chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and also a horse-breeder and racehorse owner. He was ...

, 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 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 Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...

Library (completed 1886)

Madison, New Jersey Madison is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 16,937. Located along the Morris & Essex Lines, it is noted for Madison's historic railroad station becoming one ...

. 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) The Church of St. John the Martyr was a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 250 East 72nd Street, Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York. History The parish was established in 190 ...

. *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 Hammersmith Farm is a Victorian mansion and estate located at 225 Harrison Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was the childhood home of First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, and the site of the reception for her wedding to U.S. Sen ...

" (1887–89)

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

East 74th Street 74th Street is an east–west street carrying pedestrian traffic and eastbound automotive/bicycle traffic in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs through the Upper East Side neighborhood (in ZIP code 10021, where it is known as East ...

. *

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 Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

. *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 The Pequot Library is an association library, association and :Rare book libraries in the United States, special collections library in Southport, Connecticut. It was founded in 1887, and opened in 1894. The library is known for its robust speci ...

(1893)

Southport, Connecticut Southport is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut. It is located along Long Island Sound between Mill River and Sasco Brook, where it borders Westport. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,710. Settle ...

. 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, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is located at the southeast ...

(1894–95)150 Nassau Street. Combining elements of

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

and

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

styles, this is one of the earliest steel-framed structures. It is clad in gray Westerly granite, gray

Roman brick Roman brick can refer either to a type of brick used in Ancient Roman architecture and spread by the Romans to the lands they conquered; or to a modern type inspired by the ancient prototypes. In both cases, it characteristically has longer and f ...

and tan

architectural terracotta Architectural terracotta refers to a fired mixture of clay and water that can be used in a non-structural, semi-structural, or structural capacity on the exterior or interior of a building. Terracotta pottery, as earthenware is called when not us ...

. A

. *Engine Company 55 Firehouse,

Fire Department of New York The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...

(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. 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 ...

(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, founde ...

(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