Robert Henderson Robertson (April 29, 1849 – June 3, 1919) was an American
architect who designed numerous houses, institutional and commercial buildings, and churches. He is known for his wide-variety of works and commissions, ranging from private residences such as
Jacqueline Kennedy's childhood home
Hammersmith Farm and the Adirondacks
Great CampSantanoni to some of the earliest steel skyscrapers in New York City.[2]
Robertson was one of the architects of choice for the late nineteenth century titans of industry, and designed several buildings for the extended Vanderbilt Family, including
Shelburne Farms and the outbuildings at the
Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site.[3]
Life and career
Robertson was born in
Philadelphia to Scottish parents Archibald Robertson and Elizabeth Henderson.[4] He was educated in Scotland, then graduated from
Rutgers College in 1869. He apprenticed for several years in Philadelphia with
Henry A. Sims, then moved to New York to work, first for
George B. Post, then in 1873-74 for
Edward Tuckerman Potter.[4] Having completed one of the first houses in America to manifest the "
Queen Anne style", a cottage for Theodore Timson in
Sea Bright, New Jersey (1875),[5] he formed a partnership with Potter's half-brother,
William Appleton Potter, who had also trained with Post. Their partnership lasted from 1875 to 1881, during which time they worked mostly in a free
Gothic Revival style, with Robertson as the junior partner responsible for the firm's residential commissions.[6] In the 1880s, working on his own, he fell under the influence of
H.H. Richardson's "
Richardsonian Romanesque" a freely-handled revival style that depended for its effect on strong massing and the bold use of
rustication. In 1894, he finished construction of
Southport's
Pequot Library Association.[7] Founded by the influential
Marquand and Monroe families,
Pequot Library is a special collections institution.[8] In the 1890s, in the wake of the "White City" of the
World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, he began to work in a classical style.
He married Charlotte Markoe, and they had one son.[4]
Grace Church Chapel (completed 1876; demolished) – East 14th Street; the third chapel for Grace Church, and the second on this site, replacing one that burned down in 1872.[12]
Robertson's Park Row Building (completed 1899) at 15 Park Row, built for
August Belmont, was, for a brief period, the world's tallest office building.[18] Among his many other commissions in New York City and elsewhere:[19]
St. James Episcopal Church (completed 1881) – East 71st Street & Madison Avenue. Altered by
Ralph Adams Cram and others. The tower collapsed and was replaced by a spire in 1950.[20]
Church of the Holy Spirit (1881–83; demolished 1905) – 775 Madison Avenue.[21]
YWCA Building (1885–87) – 7-11 East 15th Street. Now used by the
Soka Gakkai International-USA Cultural Center, the Buddhist Association for Peace, Culture and Education.
"Wyndcote", Robertson's residence (1887–88) – Southampton, Long Island.[25]
Phelps Stokes-J.P. Morgan, Jr. House (completed 1888) – 231 Madison Avenue; Robertson significantly enlarged this Italianate mansion, which was originally built in 1852-53. A
New York City landmark.[31]
New York Savings Bank (1896–97) – Eighth Avenue at West 14th Street (northwest corner). The grand Roman banking hall was occupied for several years by a carpet merchant, and then by the upscale grocer, Balducci's (2005-2009).[45] It and its sibling across 14th Street[46] serve as New York's
gemelli churches. A
New York City landmark.[47]
Academy of Medicine (completed 1889; demolished) – 17 West 43rd Street.
Rutgers Riverside Presbyterian Church (1889–90; demolished) – Broadway and West 73rd Street. The church was replaced by the current structure.
MacIntyre Building (1890–92) – 874 Broadway, lofts, the AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.) calls refers to the building's style as "unspeakable eclectic"[1]
United Charities Building (1891–1892) – East 22nd Street and Park Avenue South, designed with Rowe & Baker.
Mendelssohn Hall (1891–92) – West 40th Street. The hall was designed for the
Mendelssohn Glee Club.[50]*...First Congregational Church of St. Albans, 27 Church St., St. Albans, Vermont 1892-1894 completed 1894.[51]
Church of St Paul and Parish House (1895–97) – 540 West End Avenue at West 86th Street. Tuscan Renaissance in tan brick and limestone, with an octagonal campanile at the corner. The AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.) calls this church, with its octagonal corner tower, "a startling work." It's now the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew and is shared with Congregation B'nai Jeshurun.[52] A
New York City landmark.[53]
Camp Santanoni Main Camp Complex –
Newcomb, New York; for Robert C. Pruyn of Albany, a Yale classmate of Robertson's. The first
Adirondack camp to be comprehensively designed as a unit by a professional architect.[58]
Robertson & Potter (1902-1919)
In 1902, Robertson took on as partner Robert Burnside Potter (1869-1934), nephew of William Potter. They designed a cottage, perhaps several, for Regis H. Post in
Bayside, Long Island.[6]
Hugh D. Auchincloss House (1903) – 33 East 67th Street.[59]
House of Relief Ambulance Annex (1907–08) – 9 Jay Street, was attached by an enclosed overhead bridge to the House of Relief, New York Hospital across Staple Street; within the Tribeca Historic District.[60][61]
^It was illustrated in The American Architect and Building News, July 22, 1876, without the client's name (
illustrationArchived 2010-06-13 at the
Wayback Machine).
^MacKay, Baker and Traynor, p. 166; the Potter & Robertson design, as first built, was illustrated in The American architect and Building News, 12 October 1878 (
illustrationArchived 2010-06-13 at the
Wayback Machine)