Richard Sammons (born May 18, 1961, in Columbus, Ohio) is an architect, architectural theorist, visiting professor, and chief designer of Fairfax & Sammons Architects with offices in New York City, New York and Palm Beach, Florida. The firm has an international practice specializing in classical and traditional architecture, interior design and urban planning. Sammons was instrumental in the reemergence of classical design as a major movement in America through his designs as well as his work as an instructor at the Prince of Wales Institute in Britain in 1992-3 and as a founding member of the

Institute of Classical Architecture An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

in 1991. From 1996 to 2004, the Fairfax & Sammons office also served as the headquarters for the noted American architecture critic Henry Hope Reed Jr. (1915) and Classical America, the organization he founded in 1968. In 2013, Fairfax & Sammons received the Arthur Ross Award for Lifetime Achievement in Architecture, an award created to recognize and celebrate excellence in the classical tradition.

Early life and education

Sammons was born in Columbus, Ohio and received his bachelor's degree from

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

in Granville, Ohio in 1983. His duel interests in Physics and Art, and his undergraduate degree in Studio Art, presaged the later intense focus upon proportion that became a significant hallmark of his design work. He received his Master of Architecture degree at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

in 1986. His interest in classical design found support in this period of university education due to the leadership of Dean Jaquelin T. Robertson whose own work and background made him sympathetic to classicism. Sammons also developed a breadth of knowledge through his work as a teaching assistant to the internationally recognized architectural historian and Jefferson scholar, Dr. Frederick Doveton Nichols (1911-1995). Because the faculty of the

University of Virginia School of Architecture The University of Virginia School of Architecture is the graduate school of architecture at the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. The school offers master's, doctoral and limited bachelor's programme ...

focused primarily on modernism, Sammons looked to

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

as one of his principal instructors.

Career

Sammons served his internship in the Manhattan office of David Anthony Easton, a classicist specializing in residential design. At Easton's office, Sammons learned detailing from Joe Marino, an architect who acquired his practical training in the Manhattan firms of

Cross and Cross Cross & Cross (1907–1942) was a New York City-based architectural firm founded by brothers John Walter Cross and Eliot Cross. History Cross & Cross was known as Old New York City Society's architectural firm of choice. John Cross (1878–1951) ...

,Dowling, Elizabeth Meredith. New Classicism: the rebirth of traditional architecture. New York: Rizzoli, 2004. p.94 and later

Egerton Swartwout Egerton Swartwout (March 3, 1870 – February 18, 1943) was an American architect, most notably associated with his New York City architectural firm Tracy and Swartwout and McKim, Mead & White. His buildings, numbering over 100, were typical ...

and Philip Goodwin. In 1992 Sammons established the firm of Richard Sammons Architect in New York City, New York. In 1997 Sammons and his wife Anne Fairfax renamed the fir
Fairfax & Sammons Architects, PC
The firm has a second office in Palm Beach, Florida opened in 1998. Sammons is a registered architect in New York, Virginia, Connecticut, Ohio, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. In addition to architectural practice, Sammons has taught classes (on architectural design and proportion) at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

in Rome (Fall 2008); the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part ...

as the Harrison Design Associates Visiting Scholar (Fall 2005); as an instructor, The Prince of Wales Institute of Architecture London, England and the American Summer School (1993 – 1996); and Adjunct Professor of Architecture,

Pratt Institute School of Architecture The Pratt Institute School of Architecture is located in New York City with courses being taught at Brooklyn and Manhattan campuses. In 2012 the journal 'DesignIntelligence' ranked it in the ten best architecture schools in the United States. Alum ...

(1987 – 1996). Sammons also served as Associate Director, The Institute of Classical Architecture and The New York Academy of Art from 1993 to 1996. Sammons was a founder of The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America. He has served as a board member o
The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical AmericaThe Royal Oak Foundation
The Historic House Trust of New York City; The Sir John Soane's Museum Foundation
The Merchants House Museum
New York and he is a Guild Member o

a member of th
INTBAU
College of Traditional Practitioners

and a Brother o
The Art Workers Guild
in London.

Geometric proportioning in practice: examples from the work of Fairfax and Sammons

File:GEOMETRIC PROPORTIONING FS 01.jpg File:GEOMETRIC PROPORTIONING FS 02.jpg File:GEOMETRIC PROPORTIONING FS 03.jpg File:GEOMETRIC PROPORTIONING FS 04.jpg File:GEOMETRIC PROPORTIONING FS 06.jpg

Awards

Projects

Richard Sammons' projects include the following:
(For images and a description of each project refer to the firm's website: https://fairfaxandsammons.com/portfolio/)

Town

* Renovations to an Upper West Side Apartment, New York * Renovation of a Greenwich Village Townhouse, New York * Carriage House & Studio, Greenwich Village, New York * Upper East Side Apartment, New York * Upper East Side Townhouse, New York * Upper West Side Artist Residence, New York * Rustic French Maisonette, Greenwich Village * Breakers Row Apartment, Palm Beach * Central Park South Apartment, New York * Park Avenue Residence, New York * Central Park West Apartment at The Prasada, New York * Italianate Townhouse, Greenwich Village, New York

Country

* Gothic Revival Restoration, Bedford, New York * New Federal House, Cooperstown, New York * New Palladian Villa, The Peak, Hong Kong * New Georgian Residence, Washington, Connecticut * English Arts & Crafts, Lake Waccabuc, New York * Georgian Revival Addition, Lexington, Kentucky * New Jeffersonian Residence, Southport, Connecticut * Arts & Crafts Stone Cottage, Snedens Landing, New York * Georgian Arts & Crafts, Greenwich, Connecticut * Shingle Style Restoration, Greenwich, Connecticut * House in Caesarea, Israel

Seaside

* Il Cortile, A New House in Palm Beach, Florida * New House in Lost Tree Village, Palm Beach, Florida * New British Colonial, Jupiter, Florida * Regency House Renovation, Palm Beach, Florida * New House and Outbuildings on Gin Lane, Southampton, NY * New House in the Hamptons, Southampton, NY * The Restoration and Addition to an Anglo-Caribbean House, Palm Beach, Florida * New Anglo-Caribbean, Gulfstream, Florida * Renaissance Revival Estate, Palm Beach, Florida * Setai Penthouse, Miami, Florida

Neighborhood

* New Townhouses in Brooklyn, NY * New Urban Marina, Albany, Bahamas * University in Andorra, Spain * The Crescent, Poundbury, Dorset, England * New Urban Project, I'On Development, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina * Urban Design, Charleston, South Carolina

Books

Mary Miers (Author); Adele Chatfield-Taylor (Introduction); Rizzoli International Publications (November 2006);

Francois Gabriel (Author); W. W. Norton & Company (April 2005);

Richard Guy Wilson (Author); Harry N. Abrams (December 2004);

Marianne Cusato (Author), Ben Pentreath (Author), Leon Krier (Author), Richard Sammons (Author); H.R.H. The Prince of Wales (foreword); Sterling (January 1, 2008);

Branko Mitrovic (Author); W. W. Norton & Company (May 2004);

Elizabeth M. Dowling (Author); Rizzoli (October 29, 2004);

Don Metz (Author); Storey Publishing, LLC (January 8, 1991);

Alireza Sagharchi (Author), Lucien Steil (Author); Artmedia Press (May 31, 2010);

Dom Metz (Author), Catherine Tredway (Author), Kenneth Tremblay (Author), Lawrence Von Bamford (Author); Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers Inc (September 16, 2004);

Georges Gromort (Author); Richard Sammons (Introductory Essay); W. W. Norton & Co. (June 20, 2001);

C Howard Walker (Author); Richard Sammons (Foreword); W. W. Norton & Co. (July 31, 2007);

Steven Semes (Author); W. W. Norton & Company (November 9, 2009);

HRH The Prince of Wales (Foreword, Author), Robert Adam (Author), Steven Semes (Author), A. G. K. Menon (Author), Samir Younés (Author), Susan Parham (Author), Gabriele Tagliaventi (Author), Paolo Marconi (Author), Matthew Hardy (Editor); Cambridge Scholars Publishing (November 1, 2009);

Press

* ''Spanish Colonial Revival Restoration''
Traditional Building
June 2020 * ''Decorating Legend François Catroux Breathes New Life Into Crown Princess Marie-Chantal's Manhattan Townhome''
Architectural Digest
August 2019 * ''Inside Liv Tyler's Dreamy West Village Townhouse''
Architectural Digest
August 2019 * ''At Hotel Bennett, a Midcentury Library Becomes an Historically Minded Hotel''
Architectural Digest
January 2019 * '' A Classic Georgian Home with a Modernist Twist in Palm Beach''
Architectural Digest
May 2017 * ''The Reader's Room, Gainsborough Studios''; New York Spaces; April 2012 * ''Size Effects - Renovation of Carriage Houses in New York City''; House & Garden; June 2014 * ''Master Architects''
Palm Beach Society Magazine
Sept. - Oct. 2009 * ''Rooms - Stay Awhile''
Palm Beach Illustrated
Habitat; March 2009 * ''Above the Fray'' by Gregory Cerio
Elle Decor
January 2009 * ''Side-by-Side'' by Kimberly Goad
Southern Accents Magazine
January 2009 * ''Tradition and Innovation'' by Erika Alexia Tsoukanelis; Fairfield County Homes; January 2009 *

' by Richard S. Chang
The New York Times
February 3, 2008 * ''Married Architects Reinterpret Classicism in Palm Beach'' by Jami Supsic; Palm Beach Cottages & Gardens; March 2008 * ''The Transformers'' by Mitchell Owens
Elle Decor
December 2007 *
Positively West Fourth Street: Cozy Architect Couple Says Pshaw to Postmodernism
' by

Toni Schlesinger Toni Schlesinger is a journalist, theater artist, and fiction writer. She was the author of "Shelter", a long-running column in '' The Village Voice'' between 1997 and 2006, and in ''New York Observer'' between 2006 and 2007. A selection of her ...

New York Observer
September 25, 2007 *
Anne Fairfax & Richard Sammons House Profile
'
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August 17, 2007 *
Even a Master Needs Help SometimesThe New York Times
Real Estate Sketch Pad - Bernards Township, N.J; August 5, 2007 * ''Residential Splendor'' Book Review by Eve M. Kahn
Period Homes
March, 2007 *

' by Fred A. Bernstein
The New York Times
January 4, 2007 *

' by Richard Sammons
Period Homes
March 2006 *

' by David Colman; [https://www.nytimes.com/ The New York Times]; February 10, 2005 *
Reimagining the Far West Side
' by Alexander Stoddart, Thomas Gordon Smith, John Simpson, Richard Sammons, Peter Pennoyer, Franck Lohsen McCrery, Robert Adam
City Journal
Autumm 2004 * ''Britain Can Build It''
Country Life
October 28, 2004 *
The Vision for Marion Square
' by Jack Simmons; The Charleston City Guardian; December 2003 * ''Great American Home Award Winner - Old House Journal''
Old House Journal
December, 2003 * ''Group Proposes Plan to Change the Look of Marion Square'' by Robert Behre
The Charleston Post & Courier
November 27, 2003 * ''Lyrical Compositions''
Period Homes
Volume 4 Number 1; Spring 2003 * ''Perfect Proportions'' by Nancy Staab
Southern Accents Magazine
May 2003 * ''A Decade of Classical Design''; The Prince's Foundation Alumni Newsletter; No. 4; Summer 2002 * ''New England's Home of the Brave''
Country Life
October 11, 2001 * ''The College of Charleston Library''; The Charleston City Guardian; Volume 3, Issue 2; April 2000 * ''Classic Ideals'' by Robert J. Hughes
The Wall Street Journal
House of the Week; March 10, 2000 * ''On The Waterfront'' by Steven M. I.Aroson
Architectural Digest
1998

References

External links

Fairfax and Sammons Architects

The Royal Oak Foundation

INTBAU - International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture and Urbanism

Historic House Trust of New York City

Sir John Soane's Museum

Merchant's House Museum

The Art Workers Guild
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sammons, Richard American neoclassical architects New Classical architects 21st-century American architects 20th-century American architects Architects from New York City Architects from Florida 1961 births Living people Denison University alumni University of Virginia School of Architecture alumni