Walter Mellor Who's Who in Philadelphia 1920 p

Walter Mellor (1880–1940) was an American architect.

Biography

Early life

He was born on April 25, 1880, 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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

.Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
/ref>Pacific Coast Architecture Database
/ref> His father was Alfred Mellor and his mother, Isabella (Latham) Mellor. He graduated from

The Haverford School , motto_translation = , address = 450 Lancaster Avenue , location = , region = , city = Haverford , county = , state = Pennsylvania , ...

Haverford, Pennsylvania Haverford is an unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, approximately west of Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) open ...

in 1897 and received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

in 1901.'Six Architects Who Are Designing Notable Country Residences', '' Country Life'', Volume 40, page 4

/ref> He then earned a Bachelor of Science in architecture from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1904. He was a member of the

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Phi ...

fraternity.

Career

Shortly after graduation, he worked for Theophilus P. Chandler, Jr. (1845-1928), where he met Arthur Ingersoll Meigs (1882-1956). In 1906, they started their own architectural firm, with offices in the Lafayette Building. They worked on alterations of the Pickering Hunt Club in

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Phoenixville is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek (Schuylkill River tributary), French Creek and ...

in 1911 and the

Princeton Charter Club The Princeton Charter Club is one of Princeton University's eleven active undergraduate eating clubs located on or near Prospect Avenue in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Club history The Princeton Charter Club was organized in the fall of ...

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 ...

in 1913. They also designed fraternity houses for Phi Gamma Delta and Haverford College. In 1916, George Howe (1886–1955) joined their practice, which became

Mellor Meigs & Howe Mellor, Meigs & Howe (1916–28) was a Philadelphia architectural firm best remembered for its Neo-Norman residential designs. Mellor & Meigs (1906–17 & 1928–40) Mellor & Meigs, its predecessor and successor firm, was founded i ...

. Together, they designed a branch office building for the

Philadelphia Savings Fund Society The Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS), originally called the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, was a savings bank headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. PSFS was founded in December 1816, the first savings bank to organ ...

. They also designed

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

house at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

located at 5404 17th Avenue NE University District in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

.Pacific Coast Architectural Database: University of Washington, Seattle, Phi Gamma Delta House
/ref> In 1922, the firm won an award from the Philadelphia chapter of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

for the McCracken residence in

Germantown, Philadelphia Germantown (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Deitscheschteddel'') is an area in Northwest Philadelphia. Founded by German, Quaker, and Mennonite families in 1683 as an independent borough, it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. The area, which is about ...

, and in 1925, the Gold Medal of the

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines". The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club for ...

for the Newbold Estate development. In 1928, Howe left the practice. He was a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a member of the

Philadelphia Art Alliance The Philadelphia Art Alliance at University of the Arts is a multidisciplinary arts center located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. It is the oldest multidisciplinary arts center in the United States for visua ...

, the

Union League of Philadelphia The Union League of Philadelphia is a private club founded in 1862 by the Old Philadelphians as a patriotic society to support the policies of Abraham Lincoln. As of 2022, the club has over 4,000 members. Its main building was built in 1865 and ...

, the

Philadelphia Zoological Society Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, the

Germantown Cricket Club The Germantown Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was one of the four principal cricket clubs in the city and was one of the clubs contributing members to the Philadelphian cricket ...

, the

T-Square Club A T-square is a technical drawing instrument used by draftsmen primarily as a guide for drawing horizontal lines on a drafting table. The instrument is named after its resemblance to the letter T, with a long shaft called the "blade" and a sho ...

and the

Mask and Wig The Mask and Wig Club, a private club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1889, is a historic collegiate musical comedy troupe. Created as an alternative to the existing theatrical and dramatic outlets at the University of Pennsylvania, Mask ...

Club. He served on the board of directors of the Kestner Evaporating Co. and on the board of trustees of the Cummington School in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Personal life

He died on January 1, 1940.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellor, Walter 1880 births 1940 deaths Architects from Philadelphia Haverford College alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni 20th-century American architects Haverford School alumni