George Oakley Totten Jr. (December 5, 1866 – February 1, 1939) was an American architecht who was one of the most prolific architects in the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He designed many mansions that were located primarily on or near

Dupont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

, Sheridan (including

Embassy Row Embassy Row is the informal name for a section of Northwest Washington, D.C., with a high concentration of embassies, diplomatic missions, and diplomatic residences. It spans Massachusetts Avenue N.W. between 18th and 35th street, bounded ...

), and Kalorama circles and along 16th Street, N.W., near

Meridian Hill Meridian Hill is a small urban Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. Meridian Hill is often considered to be a part of the larger neighborhoods of Adams Morgan ...

. Most now serve as embassies, chanceries, or offices for national or international organizations.

Biography

Totten was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on December 5, 1866, a son of George Oakley and Mary Elizabeth (Styles) Totten and a descendant of John Totten, from whom

Tottenville Tottenville is a neighborhood on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City. It is the southernmost neighborhood and settlement in both New York City and New York State, as well as the westernmost neighborhood in New York City. Tottenvill ...

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, was named. After receiving his early education at public schools in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

and the Newark Technical School, he graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

with a Ph.B in 1891 and an A.M. in 1892. He was awarded Columbia's McKim travelling fellowship in 1893, and for the next two years studied at the '' Ecole des Beaux Arts'' and '' Atelier Daumet-Esquie''. He returned to the United States and in 1896, was appointed chief designer in the

Office of the Supervising Architect The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939. About The office handled some of the most important architectural commissions of ...

, Department of the Treasury. He continued in that position until 1898, when he established an independent architectural practice in Washington D.C., which he continued until his death. He was the architect for many public buildings in that city and drew plans for ten legations and embassy buildings, including the Turkish, Polish, Belgian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, and Danish legations, and the former French embassy. He was an advisor when the U.S. Capitol Building was remodelled. He also designed many private city and country dwellings in Washington, including a group of houses in the 2600 block of 16th Street, N.W., representing several styles of architecture. He also designed homes in Vermont and New Jersey. He was architect for a number of government buildings including the post office at

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...

and the $3 million post office and federal court building at

, that opened in 1934. USPS and DNJ Newark colonnade jeh

In 1923, he rescued architect H. H. Richardson's

Warder Mansion Warder Mansion (also known as Warder-Totten House) is an apartment complex at 2633 16th Street Northwest, in the Meridian Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the only surviving building in the city designed by architect Henry Hobson Ric ...

(1885–88), at 1515 K Street NW, from demolition. He had the stonework and some of the interiors dissassembled, transported them about from downtown to

, and re-erected the building alongside his house for use as apartments. The Warder Mansion is the only surviving building by Richardson in Washington, D.C. He was active in professional architectural associations. From 1897 to 1939, he served as secretary and vice president of the American section of the permanent committee of the International Congress of Architects. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served as a major with the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1926, he authored ''Maya Architecture''. On August 22, 1921, he married noted sculptor and artist Vicken von Post-Börjesson of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

."MAJ. G.O. TOTTEN MARRIES: Weds Mrs. Vicken von Post, a Sculptress of Sweden," ''The New York Times,'' August 23, 1921, P. 11. They had two sons: George Oakley Totten III, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, and Gilbert von Post Totten. Totten died at Washington, D.C., on February 1, 1939.

Selected works

References

District of Columbia Historic Preservation Review Board, Staff Report and Recommendations regarding 2230 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Mar 27, 2008 (accessed Sep 30, 2008)

*''Who Was Who in America, 1897–1942,'' (1942, New York: A.N. Marquis, Co.), p. 1247. *''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography'', Vol. XLI, (1956, New York: James T. White Co.), p. 496.

External links

*
Photograph of the Residence of the Ambassador of Turkey (Flickr website) (accessed Oct 1, 2008)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Totten, George Oakley 1866 births 1939 deaths Architects from New York City Architects from Washington, D.C. American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Preservationist architects Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni New Jersey Institute of Technology alumni 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects