Downing Vaux

Downing Vaux
Born	(1856-11-14)November 14, 1856 New York City, New York, U,S.
Died	May 15, 1926(1926-05-15) (aged 69) Kingston, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Landscape architect
Spouse	Lillian Baker Andrews (m. 1893)
Children	Priscilla (1899)
Parent(s)	Calvert Vaux Mary Swan McEntee
Practice	Vaux and Company
Projects	Downing Park Hackley School Riverside Drive Wilderstein

Downing Vaux (November 14, 1856 – May 15, 1926) was an American landscape architect.

He was one of the eleven founding members of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) in 1899. ^[1]

Early life and education

A sketch by Vaux in 1891 for Wilderstein.

Born to architect Calvert Vaux (1824–1895), and Mary Swan McEntee (1830–1892), Vaux was named after his father's mentor, Andrew Jackson Downing. ^[2] He had one brother, Calvert Bowyer, and three sisters: Helen, Julia, and Marian. Vaux's uncle was the painter Jervis McEntee.

Vaux was an early associate of two other founding members of the ASLA: he attended boarding school in Plymouth, Massachusetts, with John Charles Olmsted, and worked with Samuel Parsons at Calvert's firm in the 1880s. In 1874, Vaux attended the Columbia School of Mines, but dropped out.

Career

In the late 1880s, he assisted his father with the design for Riverside Drive in Manhattan in New York City and the Wilderstein estate's grounds in Rhinebeck, New York.

He was a member of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, the Architectural League of New York, and the National Arts Club.

Death

In 1926, Vaux committed suicide by jumping from the roof of a YMCA building in Kingston, New York. ^[3] He was buried at Brookside Cemetery in Englewood, New Jersey. ^[4]

Personal life

In 1881, Vaux was engaged to Edwina Booth, daughter of the actor Edwin Booth, but the marriage was called off. On May 8, 1883, Vaux's father, Calvert, reported his son as missing to Inspector George W. Dilks and the New York Police Department.

In 1893, Vaux married Lillian Baker Andrews and they had one daughter, Priscilla, who was born on December 28, 1899, but lived only hours.

References

1. "American Society of Landscape Architects".
2. "Downing Vaux | the Cultural Landscape Foundation".
3. "Landscape Architect Dies in Fall off Roof; Downing Vaux, Son of Central Park Designer and Creator of Riverside Drive, Was Ill". The New York Times . May 16, 1926.
4. "Grave Thursday: Downing Vaux | BoothieBarn". boothiebarn.com. Archived from the original on May 3, 2019.

External links

• Cultural Landscape Foundation profile