Allen & Collens | |
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![]() The towers of Riverside Church (1930, left) and the Union Theological Seminary (1910, right) in New York City, two of Allen & Collens' most recognizable works. | |
Practice information | |
Founders | Francis R. Allen |
Founded | 1879 |
Dissolved | 1962 |
Location | Boston |
Allen & Collens was an American architectural firm based in Boston. It was initially established by architect Francis R. Allen in 1879. After two early partnerships he formed Allen & Collens in 1903 with Charles Collens. The firm was best known as the designers of Gothic Revival buildings, including the Union Theological Seminary campus and Riverside Church in New York City. Allen and Collens died in 1931 and 1956, respectively, and the firm was continued by Collens' partner, Harold Buckley Willis , until his own death in 1962.
Architect Francis R. Allen established his Boston practice in 1879. [1] Circa 1880 he formed the partnership of Allen & Kenway with Welsh-born architect Herbert P. Kenway. Kenway had been trained in Manchester and immigrated to the United States in 1874. Before joining Allen, he had worked for city architect George A. Clough after briefly practicing in Auburn, Maine, where his works included the William A. Robinson House. [2] Their work included Sonnenberg, the Canandaigua, New York, country house of Frederick Ferris Thompson and Mary Clark Thompson. The Thompsons attended the First Congregational Church in Canandaigua, where Allen's brother, Frederick Baylies Allen, was pastor. Mrs. Thompson would become a major client of the Allen firm. [3] In the late 1880s Kenway's health declined and he died in July 1890 while visiting Wales. [2] Allen continued independently until January 1897, when he formed the partnership of Allen & Vance with Joseph McArthur Vance, a former employee then practicing in Pittsfield. [4] They designed Lathrop House and Davison House at Vassar College and in 1899 won a competition to design Woman's Hospital in New York City. Mrs. Thompson was a prominent supporter of the hospital. A change of site meant that their design was not built, but Allen was retained as architect and completed the project on a new site in 1906. [3]
In the meantime the Allen & Vance partnership had been dissolved, and in January 1903 Allen formed Allen & Collens with Charles Collens, an employee recently returned from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. [5] In 1925 Allen retired from the partnership. [1] About the same time J. Lawrence Berry and Harold Buckley Willis became partners, though the firm continued as Allen & Collens. Berry had worked for Allen at the turn of the century before opening his own office, though he frequently associated with the firm on individual projects, such as the Marlborough City Hall. His independent works included the North Hampton Library and St. Luke's and St. Margaret's Church, the latter as a member of the firm of Berry & Davidson. He rejoined the firm sometime after World War I. [6] Willis, a decorated veteran of the war, joined the firm in 1920. [7] Berry died in January 1931 followed by Allen in November. [8] [1] The firm was renamed Allen, Collens & Willis c. 1934 when they were joined by architect Edward A. Hubbard, a former partner of Henry Forbes Bigelow. In 1940 Willis, who had served with the American Field Service during World War I, returned to service with that organization. [9] In his absence the firm was renamed Collens, Willis & Hubbard. After the war Willis returned and Hubbard was replaced by Carl A. Beckonert, the firm being renamed a final time to Collens, Willis & Beckonert. Collens died in September 1956, [10] followed by Willis in April 1962. [11] The firm was thereafter dissolved.
The work of Allen & Collens was greatly influenced by Collens' Beaux-Arts education. The École des Beaux-Arts curriculum centered plan and composition, with a strong emphasis on architectural history, as the foundational elements of design. The prevailing style of the Beaux-Arts was Neoclassical, but in practice American students adapted Beaux-Arts principles to the Gothic Revival style and regional vernacular styles, such as the Colonial Revival style. [12]
Allen & Collens' major work in the Neoclassical style was the monumental William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library of Ohio State University. They won this commission in a limited competition. [13] They developed a national reputation for their Gothic Revival work, which included the Thompson Memorial Library (1905) of Vassar College and the Union Theological Seminary campus (1910) and Riverside Church (1930) in New York City. They admired Gothic architecture for its adaptibility. Like other Beaux-Arts architects they were stylistically flexible and often adapted to the genius loci of a site, such as at Bowdoin College, where Collens found that only the Colonial style was appropriate, [14] or in the First Parish Church (1933) of Waltham, where they channeled the Greek Revival style of the church's 1838 building. [15] Later monumental works included the Christopher Wren-inspired Newton City Hall and War Memorial (1932), winner of the Harleston Parker Medal for 1936, [16] and The Cloisters (1938) in New York City.
Employees of the Allen firm include:
Francis Richmond Allen FAIA (November 22, 1843 – November 7, 1931) was born in Boston to Frederick Deane Allen, a dry goods merchant, and Mary Richmond Allen, née Baylies. He was educated at the Boston Latin School and at Amherst College, graduating from the latter in 1865. He then entered his father's dry goods business, Allen, Lane & Company. [1] In 1875, Allen married and bought a house lot on Fairfield Street in the Back Bay. He hired architect W. Whitney Lewis to design the house, which was completed in 1876. [22] This experience apparently triggered a career shift, and that year he left his father's business to enter the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) architecture school. [1] After a year at MIT he spent another in Paris, studying in the Beaux-Arts atelier of Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer. Also studying in the Vaudremer atelier at the time was fellow Bostonian Arthur Rotch. [23] He returned to Boston in 1878 and worked for Peabody & Stearns before opening an office of his own in 1879. [1]
Allen was married to Elizabeth Bradlee Wood. They had two children, both daughters, only one of whom, Dorothy, survived to adulthood. She married yachtsman and Kidder, Peabody & Company partner Chandler Hovey. Allen was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and from 1904 to 1925 he was vice president of the Comité permanent international des Architectes, a predecessor to the International Union of Architects. He was a member of the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, the Boston Society of Architects, the Bostonian Society, the General Society of Colonial Wars, the Country Club, the Mayflower Society and the St. Botolph Club. He died in Boston at the age of 87. [1]
Charles CollensFAIA ANA (October 14, 1873 – September 18, 1956) was born in New York City to Charles Terry Collins and Mary Abby Collins, née Wood. Collens and his siblings used the "Collens" spelling of their surname. His father was a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and was Yale-educated pastor. In 1875 he was called to Plymouth Church in Cleveland. His mother was a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Collins died in 1883 and Mrs. Collins raised their children in New Haven. Collens was educated at Yale University, graduating in 1896. For the next year he worked as a private tutor, accompanying a family in Europe and Egypt. In 1897 he joined the Boston office of Peabody & Stearns as a drafter. In 1900 he traveled to Paris and joined the atelier of Jean-Louis Pascal, and he was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in September. He returned to Boston in April 1902 and joined Allen's office, and became Allen's partner in January 1903. [5] [24]
Collens was married in 1903 to Margaret Winsor. They had three children, one son and two daughters. [24] Like Allen he was a Fellow of the AIA and was additionally an associate National Academician of the National Academy of Design. [25] He was a member of the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, the Boston Society of Architects, the Country Club, the St. Botolph Club, the Union Club and the Yale Club. He died in Boston at the age of 82. [24] [10]
Allen & Collens works. Held by the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.