George Oakley Totten Jr. (December 5, 1866 – February 1, 1939),[1] was one of
Washington D.C.’s most prolific and skilled
architects in the
Gilded Age. His international training and interest in architectural decoration led to a career of continuous experimentation and stylistic eclecticism which is clearly evident in many of his works. The mansions he designed were located primarily on or near
Dupont,
Sheridan (including
Embassy Row), and
Kalorama circles and along
16th Street, N.W., near
Meridian Hill. Most now serve as embassies, chanceries, or offices for national or international organizations, their important public or semi-public functions, combined with their urbanistically integrated close-in locations, make them particularly visible exemplars of Washington's peculiar mixture of turn-of-the-century political and social life.
Biography
Totten was born in
New York City on December 5, 1866, a son of George Oakley and Mary Elizabeth (Styles) Totten and a descendant of John Totten, from whom
Tottenville,
Staten Island, was named.[2] After receiving his early education at public schools in
Newark, New Jersey and the
Newark Technical School, he graduated from
Columbia University with a Ph.B in 1891 and an A.M. in 1892.[3] 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,
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 demise.
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 and the $3 million
post office and federal court building at
Newark, New Jersey, that opened in 1934.
In 1923, he rescued architect
H. H. Richardson's
Warder Mansion (1885–88), at 1515
K Street NW, from demolition. He disassembled the stonework and some of the interiors, transported them about 1.5 miles from downtown to
Meridian Hill, and re-erected the building alongside his house for use as apartments.[4] The Warder Mansion is the only surviving building by Richardson in Washington, D.C.[5]
He was active in professional architecture related 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, he served as a major with the
Army Corps of Engineers. In 1926, he authored Maya Architecture.
^H. H. Richardson designed four houses in D.C.: the N. L. Anderson House, at 16th & K Streets NW (1881-83, demolished 1925); adjoining houses for Henry Adams and John Hay, at 16th & H Streets NW, (1884-86, demolished 1927); and the Warder House (1885-88). G. Martin Moeller Jr., AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, D.C. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006), pp. 284-85.
^"MAJ. G.O. TOTTEN MARRIES: Weds Mrs. Vicken von Post, a Sculptress of Sweden," The New York Times, August 23, 1921, P. 11.