Garfield received a
Bachelor of Arts from
Williams College in 1893 and a
Bachelor of Science in architecture from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology three years later. Beginning his architectural practice in 1897, in 1898 he formed Meade & Garfield with Frank Meade to form the architectural firm Meade & Garfield in
Cleveland, Ohio; the firm was noted for its premier residential designs. When the partnership ended in 1905, Garfield opened his own firm until 1926 when he along with Rudolph Stanley-Brown, George R. Harris, and Alexander Robinson started an architectural practice. In 1935 it was renamed Garfield, Harris, Robinson and Schafer until Garfield’s death in 1958. The firm, which still exists, was known as Westlake, Reed, Leskosky Architects until 2016 when purchased by DLR group. Garfield specialized in residential architecture, designing large houses in
Shaker Heights and other Cleveland suburbs, but his work also included more modest houses for the
Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority and institutional projects such as schools and a hospital. Garfield served as chairman of the Cleveland Planning Commission from 1930 to 1942 and was a founder and first president of the Cleveland School of Architecture, which became part of
Western Reserve University in 1941.[1] He was named a trustee of the university that year and two years later was made an honorary lifetime member of the board; he received an honorary doctorate from Western Reserve University in 1945. Garfield was also a director of the
American Institute of Architects from 1919 to 1922 and served on the
U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1925 to 1930, including as vice chairman from 1929 to 1930.[2] In 1949 he was elected into the
National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician. He lived in
Bratenahl, Ohio.[3] Garfield married Helen Matthews and together they had two children, Edward W. and Mrs. William R. Hallaran. Garfield died on October 16, 1958, at his home in Cleveland. He was buried at
Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.[4]
W.H. Warner House. 2689 East Overlook Rd, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Built 1898. Notable for French Chateaux-inspired Circular Staircase and ornate chimneys.
^"Abram Garfield". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. July 16, 1997. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
^Thomas E. Luebke, ed., Civic Art: A Centennial History of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013): Appendix B, p. 544.