Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge

Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge was a successful architecture firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, operating between 1886 and 1915, with extensive commissions in monumental civic, religious, and collegiate architecture in the spirit and style of Henry Hobson Richardson.

History

George Foster Shepley

Charles Hercules Rutan

Charles Allerton Coolidge

The firm grew out of Richardson's architectural practice. After Richardson's death at age 47 in 1886, a trio consisting of George Foster Shepley (1860–1903), Charles Hercules Rutan (1851–1914), and Charles Allerton Coolidge (1858–1936) gained control of the firm and completed all of its nearly two dozen pending projects, including the John J. Glessner House in Chicago. Many of Richardson's projects were completed and modified in stages over years, making exact attribution difficult for such buildings as the Ames Gate Lodge in North Easton, Massachusetts, and even Richardson's masterwork Trinity Church, Boston.

Two of the principals had been educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Shepley (class of 1882) and Coolidge (class of 1883). Shepley married Richardson's daughter; and Coolidge later married Shepley's sister.

In 1888, the firm was commissioned by Senator and Mrs. Leland Stanford to join landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in planning the campus for Stanford University. For major commissions in Chicago and the World's Columbian Exposition, Coolidge moved to Chicago and the firm opened its branch office there in 1893, in which many Prairie School architects received their early professional training, notably Hermann V. von Holst who was head draughtsman. A St. Louis branch office began the career of John Mauran; a Pittsburgh branch office developed into several firms, including Rutan & Russell formed by Frank E. Rutan, the younger brother of Charles. Other Pittsburgh firms developed by branch office employees include Longfellow, Alden & Harlow and Frank Irving Cooper; Pasadena architect Myron Hunt spent three years with them in Boston as draftsman.

Stylistically, the firm continued to work mainly in the architectural vocabulary of Richardsonian Romanesque, although with less imagination—for instance, Richardson's asymmetry disappears. The firm continued as Shepley Rutan and Coolidge through 1915, then became Coolidge and Shattuck (Boston) and Coolidge and Hodgdon (Chicago) concurrently from 1915 through 1924, then Coolidge Shepley Bulfinch and Abbott from 1924 through 1952, Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott from 1952, and is still in operation as Shepley Bulfinch.

Work

Building	Location	Year	Notes	Ref
Franklin MacVeagh Residence	Chicago, Illinois	1885–1887	Completed work started by Richardson. Razed in 1922.
Stanford University Main Quad	Stanford, California	1887–1906	Also designed Encina Hall and the Leland Stanford Residence.
Bell Telephone Building	St. Louis, Missouri	1889
Hartford Union Station	Hartford, Connecticut		Executed a design by George Keller	^[1]
New London Public Library	New London, Connecticut	1889
Shadyside Presbyterian Church	Shadyside, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	1890
Williams Memorial Institute	New London, Connecticut	1891
Chicago Public Library	Chicago, Illinois	1892	Now the Chicago Cultural Center
Flour and Grain Exchange Building	Boston, Massachusetts	1892
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Station	Sandusky, Ohio	1892		^[1]
Medfield State Hospital	Medfield, Massachusetts	1892
Montreal Board of Trade Building	Montreal, Quebec	1892	Destroyed in 1902.
Ames Building	Boston, Massachusetts	1893
Art Institute of Chicago			Built as the "World's Congress Auxiliary Building" for the World's Columbian Exposition.
North Union Station		1893	Razed in 1927.
Conant Hall	Cambridge, Massachusetts	1894	Built on the Harvard University campus
Trinity Church	Boston, Massachusetts	1894–1897	Completed work started by Richardson.
Tilden-Thurber Building	Providence, Rhode Island	1895
Coraopolis Station	Coraopolis, Pennsylvania	1896		^[1]
Guardian Bank Building	Cleveland, Ohio	1896
Glassport P&LE Railroad Station	Glassport, Pennsylvania	c. 1896
Medill/McCormick Residence	Cantigny Park, Illinois	1896
New Castle Junction P&LE Railroad Station	New Castle, Pennsylvania	c. 1896	Destroyed
Third St. Joseph County Courthouse	South Bend, Indiana	1897
Congregational Library & Archives	Boston, Massachusetts	1898
South Station	Boston, Massachusetts	1898		^[1]
Albany Union Station	Albany, New York	1899		^[1]^[2]
Chestnut Hill Pump Station	Boston, Massachusetts	1900	Built for the Metropolitan Water Board.
Sedalia Public Library	Sedalia, Missouri	1900
Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building and Agriculture Building	Buffalo, New York	1901	For the Pan-American Exposition,
University of Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	1901–1915	Master plan and designs for more than fifteen buildings.
Bartlett Gymnasium	Chicago, Illinois	1904	Built for the University of Chicago.
John Carter Brown Library	Providence, Rhode Island	1904	Built for Brown University.
All Saints Episcopal Church	Appleton, Wisconsin	1905
Hildene	Manchester Center, Vermont	1905	Mansion built for Robert Todd Lincoln.
Harvard Medical School		1906
Langdell Hall		1907	Commissioned by James Barr Ames of the Harvard Law School.
Corn Exchange Bank Building	Chicago, Illinois	1908	Also known as National Republican Bank. Razed c. 1985.
Boston Safe Deposit Building	Boston, Massachusetts	1908–1911
Hampden County Courthouse	Springfield, Massachusetts	1908–1912	Additions to building designed by Richardson.
John Hay Library	Providence, Rhode Island	1910	Brown University library.	^[3]
Union Station	Springfield, Massachusetts	1910
Harper Memorial Library	Chicago, Illinois	1910–1912	University of Chicago library.
YMCA Boston	Boston, Massachusetts	1911
First Congregational Church of Fall River	Fall River, Massachusetts	1912
Dallas Hall	University Park, Texas	1915	On the campus of Southern Methodist University.
Ida Noyes Hall	Chicago, Illinois	1916	Located on the University of Chicago campus.
Rockland Station	Rockland, Maine	1917	As Coolidge and Shattuck.	^[1]
Freemason's Hall	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania		Destroyed
Washington Building	Washington, D.C.	1927	Contributing property to the Financial Historic District

Boston & Albany Railroad stations

Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge also designed 23 stations for the Boston & Albany Railroad (1886 through 1894):^[4]

Newton Highlands station, Newton, Massachusetts (still standing)
Union Station, Chatham, New York (still standing)
Brighton station, Brighton, Massachusetts (still standing)
Newton Lower Falls station, Wellesley, Massachusetts
Ashland station, Ashland, Massachusetts (still standing)
Reservoir station, Brookline, Massachusetts
Dalton station, Dalton, Massachusetts (still standing)
Springfield Union Station, Springfield, Massachusetts
Wellesley Square station, Wellesley, Massachusetts
Newton Centre station, Newton, Massachusetts (still standing)
Huntington station, Huntington, Massachusetts
Warren station, Warren, Massachusetts (still standing)
Charlton station, Charlton, Massachusetts
Brookline Hills station, Brookline, Massachusetts
Hinsdale station, Hinsdale, Massachusetts
Canaan station, Canaan, New York
Millbury station, Millbury, Massachusetts
Riverside station, Auburndale, Massachusetts
Longwood station, Brookline, Massachusetts
East Brookfield station, East Brookfield, Massachusetts
Wellesley Farms station, Wellesley, Massachusetts (still standing)
Saxonville station, Framingham, Massachusetts
East Chatham station, Chatham, New York

Sources

online biography at University of Nebraska
Lyndon, Donlyn. (1982) The City Observed: Boston, A Guide to the Architecture of the Hub. Vintage Books
Pridmore, Jay, and Kiar, Peter, The University of Chicago: an architectural tour
*Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge at archINFORM
Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, H.H. Richardson, Complete Architectural Works
photos of 1890 Bell Telephone Building, St. Louis

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Potter, Janet Greenstein (1996). Great American Railroad Stations. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 66, 81, 85, 92, 97, 190, 396. ISBN 9780471143895.
^ Liebs, Chester H. (July 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Albany Union Station". Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2009. and Accompanying two photos, exterior, from 1905 and undated
^ Lovecraft, H. P. (October 1, 2013). The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories. Penguin. ISBN 9781101663035.
^ Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl (June 1988). "Architecture for the Boston & Albany Railroad: 1881-1894". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 47 (2): 109–131. doi:10.2307/990324. JSTOR 990324.

External links

Media related to Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge at Wikimedia Commons

[:0-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Potter, Janet Greenstein (1996). Great American Railroad Stations. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 66, 81, 85, 92, 97, 190, 396. ISBN 9780471143895.

[nrhptextAlbany-2] Liebs, Chester H. (July 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Albany Union Station". Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2009. and Accompanying two photos, exterior, from 1905 and undated

[3] Lovecraft, H. P. (October 1, 2013). The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories. Penguin. ISBN 9781101663035.

[b&aarch-4] Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl (June 1988). "Architecture for the Boston & Albany Railroad: 1881-1894". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 47 (2): 109–131. doi:10.2307/990324. JSTOR 990324.

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