Gilbert Stanley Underwood (June 5, 1890 – August 3, 1961) was an American
architect best known for his
National Park lodges.
Biography
Born in 1890, Underwood received his B.A. from
Yale in 1920 and a M.A. from
Harvard in 1923. After opening an office in
Los Angeles that year, he became associated with
Daniel Ray Hull, a
landscape architect, of the
National Park Service. This led to a commission with the Utah Parks Company of the
Union Pacific Railroad which was developing the parks in hopes of producing destinations for travelers. During this time Underwood designed lodges for
Cedar Breaks National Monument (now demolished),
Zion National Park,
Bryce Canyon National Park, and the North Rim of the
Grand Canyon National Park. His surviving Utah Parks Company buildings are considered exceptional examples of the
Rustic style of architecture, and are all listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. In addition, Underwood was contracted to design
Yosemite National Park's
The Ahwahnee, also on the National Register and probably his greatest triumph in the Rustic style.
Underwood also designed stations for the Union Pacific, culminating in the magnificent
Art Deco style
station in Omaha in 1931. Then Underwood joined the
Federal Architects Project in 1932. While working for the federal government, Underwood produced the preliminary designs for the
Timberline Lodge,
Mount Hood, Oregon, and went on to design more than 20 post offices, two major federal buildings, and the U.S. State Department Building. From 1947 to 1949, he was appointed as federal supervisory architect.