Wilson Eyre, Jr. (October 30, 1858 – October 23, 1944) was an American architect, teacher and writer who practiced in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

area. He is known for his deliberately informal and welcoming country houses, and for being an innovator in the Shingle Style.

Architect and author

The son of Americans living abroad, he was born in Florence, Italy, and educated in Europe, Newport, Rhode Island, and Canada. He studied architecture briefly at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, joined the Philadelphia offices of James Peacock Sims in 1877, and took over the firm on Sims's death in 1882. In 1911, he entered into partnership with John Gilbert McIlvaine, and opened a second office in New York City. The firm of Eyre & McIlvaine continued until 1939.Wilson Eyre Biography
at Philadelphia Architects and Buildings For his most important early houses, " Anglecot" (1883) and "Farwood" (1884–85), he used a simple plan: a line of asymmetrical public rooms stretching along a single axis, extending even outside to a piazza. Like many Shingle Style architects, he employed the open "living hall" as an organizing element: all of the main first floor rooms connecting to the hall, often through large openings. In addition, he used staircases to extend the space of the hall to the second floor. According to architectural-historian Vincent Scully: "This sense of extended horizontal plane and intensified "positive" scale evident in Eyre's work becomes later a basic component in the work of rank LloydWright..." Eyre collaborated with artists such as

Alexander Stirling Calder Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of sculptor Alexander (Sandy) Calder. His best-known works are ''George Washi ...

and

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...

. Following his early success, Eyre became a leader in the international country life movement, lecturing in England, and corresponding with British and German architects. He was one of the first U.S. architects to be featured in the Arts & Crafts magazine ''International Studio'', and he was published by Hermann Muthesius, the chronicler of the so-called "English" house of the turn of the century. Prior to

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

's rise to prominence, Eyre was arguably the best-known domestic architect in the U.S. among foreign designers. His post-1890 country houses, such as " Allgates" (1910, expanded by Eyre & McIlvaine 1917) are among the most accomplished American essays in the restrained stucco cottage idiom popularized by C.F.A. Voysey and Ernest Newton in England. He was one of the founders and editors of '' House & Garden'' magazine. He designed many distinctive gardens with his residences, and wrote extensively of the need for interaction between rooms and outdoor spaces. Later house plans often featured loggias, terraces and porches connected to each major room on the ground floor to maximize the experience of the garden from inside the house. Eyre was also renowned for his distinctive artistic drawings, often in watercolor. He used charcoal, pencil and ink with equal facility, and drew bird's eye perspectives with amazing speed. His extant drawings are now housed in the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania. He was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1893. Eyre was one of the few Philadelphia architects who made no attempt to hide his homosexuality, probably diminishing his influence in later years. In August 1914 he was stranded in Europe along with thousands of Americans attempting to escape the fighting that erupted in World War I. Eyre returned to the United States in late September and shared a cabin with Augustus P. Gardner, a member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts. In 1917, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He taught at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, and was one of the founders of the T Square Club of Philadelphia in 1883. In 1910, he was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

as an Associate Academician. He died in Philadelphia and is interred at The Woodlands Cemetery.

Selected works

Philadelphia area

Residences

“Mauchline” (Frank Gifford Tallman house)Wilmington, D

img title="Ashhurst House Overbrook PA Wilson Eyre 1886"; style="text-decoration: none; height:150px;float: left; padding: 0px 3px 0px 0px;"src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Ashhurst_House_Overbrook_PA_Wilson_Eyre_1886.jpg" > Mask&Wig

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

* " Anglecot" (Charles Adams Potter house), 401 E. Evergreen Avenue, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1883). Added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1982. * "Farwood" (Richard L. Ashurst house), Overbrook, Pennsylvania (1884–85, demolished). * 220 Glenn road, Ardmore, PA, 19003 * "Wisteria" (Charles A. Newhall house), 444 W. Chestnut Hill Avenue, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1884–85). * Dr. Henry Genet Taylor House and Office, 305 Cooper Street, Camden, New Jersey (1884–86). As of January 2015, renovation was underway by Rutgers University–Camden to convert the building into a Writers House. * Harriet D. Schaeffer house, 433 W. Stafford Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1888) * Sally Watson House, 5128 Wayne Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1889). * Clarence B. Moore House, 1321 Locust Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1890). * Henry Cochran house, 3511 Baring Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1891). * Neill-Mauran House, 22nd & Delancey Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1891). * Dr. Joseph Leidy House and office, 1319 Locust Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1894). * Mrs. Evan Randolph house, 218 W. Chestnut Hill Avenue, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1906). * Clover Hill Farm, 910 Penn Valley Rd Media, Pennsylvania (1907). *"Lycoming," The Residence of William Jay Turner, 3005 W. School House Lane, Philadelphia, PA, (1907). A Philadelphia Register of Historic Places nomination for this property, authored by Oscar Beisert, Architectural Historian and Historic Preservationist, was filed on October 29, 2018, by the Keeping Society of Philadelphia. A demolition permit was filed by the property owner the same day and the building was demolished soon afterwards for an athletic field. * Alterations to Wilson Eyre House, 1003-05 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1909–1910). It was added to the

in 1977. * " Allgates" (Horatio Gates Lloyd mansion), Coopertown Road, Haverford, Pennsylvania (1910, expanded by Eyre & McIlvaine 1917). Added to the

in 1979. * Additions to "Bel Orme" (Thomas Mott house), Matson Ford & County Line Roads, Radnor, Pennsylvania (Eyre & McIlvaine) (1917).

Other buildings

* Mask & Wig Clubhouse, 310 Quince Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1894, altered by Eyre 1901). Murals by Maxfield Parrish. Added to the

in 1979. * University of Pennsylvania Museum, 3260 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (with Frank Miles Day and Cope & Stewardson) (1895–99). *

Corn Exchange Bank The Corn Exchange Bank was a retail bank founded in 1853 in New York state. Over the years, the company acquired many community banks. History In 1855, the Corn Exchange Bank moved into an existing building in New York City at the northwest ...

, Northeast corner 2nd & Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1896). * Carnegie Library, McPherson Square, 601 E. Indiana Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Eyre & McIlvaine) (1915–17) *

Swann Memorial Fountain The ''Swann Memorial Fountain'' (also known as the ''Fountain of the Three Rivers'') is an art deco fountain sculpture located in the center of Logan Circle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.Hayes, Margaret Calder, ''Three Alexander C ...

, Logan Circle, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Eyre & McIlvaine, architects;

, sculptor) (1921–24). * The St. Anthony Club of Philadelphia. 32 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1888.

Other regions

Residences

* Charles Lang Freer House, 71 E. Ferry Street, Detroit, Michigan (1890). Eyre altered the carriage house in 1906, to install ''

The Peacock Room ''Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room'' (better known as ''The Peacock Room'') is a masterpiece of interior decorative art created by James McNeill Whistler and Thomas Jeckyll, translocated to the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. W ...

'' by James McNeill Whistler (now in the

Freer Gallery The Freer Gallery of Art is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. focusing on Asian art. The Freer and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. The Freer and S ...

, Washington, DC). Added to the

in 1971. * Nathan Franklin Barrett house, "26, The Boulevard", Rochelle Park, New Rochelle, New York (1890). Barrett was the landscape architect and planner of the Rochelle Park community. * "Greyeres" ( Ernest Albert mansion), 9 Manhattan Avenue, Rochelle Park, New Rochelle, New York (1896, demolished). * "Meadowcroft" (Theodore E. Conklin mansion), Southampton, Long Island, New York (1904). Lighting by

. * E.S. Sands mansion, Southport, Connecticut (1905) * "Etowah" (George W. King house), 429 Mt. Vernon Ave, Marion, Ohio (1908). Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. * "Northcote" (Stephen Parrish house), Lang Road, Cornish, New Hampshire (1893). Located near the Cornish Art Colony, this became the home/studio of the client's son, the painter Maxfield Parrish

Other buildings

Detroit Club The Detroit Club is a private social club located in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. The building was constructed in 1891 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. History The origin of the Detroit Club dates to 1882, when D ...

, 712 Cass Avenue, Detroit, Michigan (1891). Added to the

in 2005. * Newcomb College Memorial Chapel, 6th & Chestnut Streets, New Orleans, Louisiana (1894–95, demolished 1954). Stained glass by

Image gallery

File:Anglecot.JPG, " Anglecot" (Charles Adams Potter house), 401 E. Evergreen Ave., Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia (1883). File:TaylorFacade.jpg, Dr. Henry Genet Taylor House and Office, 305 Cooper St., Camden, NJ (1884–86). File:TaylorStair.jpg, Interior of Taylor house (1884–86). File:SchaefferHouse.jpg, Harriet D. Schaeffer house, 433 W. Stafford St., Philadelphia (1888). File:Charles Lang Freer House.jpg, Charles Lang Freer House, 71 E. Ferry St., Detroit, MI (1890). File:DetroitClub.jpg,

, 712 Cass Ave., Detroit, MI (1891). File:Neill Mauran.JPG, Doorways to Neill & Mauran Houses, 22nd & Delancey Sts., Philadelphia (1891). File:Clarence B. Moore House 1321 Locust Street.jpg, Clarence Bloomfield Moore House, 1321 Locust St., Philadelphia (1890). Eyre's Leidy House is next door (right). File:1319locustst front.jpg, Dr. Joseph Leidy, Jr. House & Office, 1319 Locust St., Philadelphia (1894). File:Allgates.jpg, Allgates (Horatio Gates Lloyd mansion), Haverford, PA (1910, altered by Eyre & McIlvaine 1917). File:BelOrme.jpg, "Bel Orme" (Thomas Mott house), Radnor, PA (altered by Eyre & McIlvaine 1917). File:Swann Fountain-27527.jpg,

, Logan Circle, Philadelphia (1924), Eyre & McIlvaine, architects;

, sculptor.

References

External links

* Wilson Eyre architectural drawings and papers, circa 1877–194
Held by the Department of Drawings & Archives
* *Wilson Eyre Collection, Weitzman Archives, University of Pennsylvani

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyre, Wilson 20th-century American architects 1858 births 1944 deaths 19th-century American architects Burials at The Woodlands Cemetery University of Pennsylvania faculty Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Architects from Philadelphia Preservationist architects Members of the Philadelphia Club LGBT architects