Detlef Lienau (17 February 1818 – 29 August 1887) was a German architect born in
Holstein
Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany.
Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...
. He is credited with having introduced the
French style
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
to American building construction, notably the
mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...
and all its decorative flourishes. Trained at the
École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, he designed virtually every type of
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literatur ...
structure—cottages, mansions,
townhouse
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...
s, apartment houses, hotels, tenements, banks, stores, churches, schools, libraries, offices, factories, railroad stations, and a museum. Lienau was recognized by clients and colleagues alike as one of the most creative and technically proficient architects of the period, and was one of the 29 founding members of the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...
.
Life and career

Lienau was born to a German family in an area of Denmark that later became part of Germany. He
immigrated to the United States in 1848 and on May 11, 1853, he married Catherine Van Giesen Booraem. It was his first marriage and her second. Lienau and Catherine had five children:
Jacob August Lienau (1854–1906), Detlef Lienau II, Catherine Cornelia Lienau, Lucy Lienau, and Louise Lienau. All but the eldest son, J. August, died young. His great-great-great-granddaughter is Jane Lienau, a prestigious teacher of classics at
Brunswick High School. J. August followed in his father's footsteps and became an architect, designing mostly residential structures after taking over his father's practice in 1887. He later formed a partnership with Thomas Nash, which lasted through the late 1920s.
After Catherine's death in 1861, Lienau married Harriet Jane Wreaks in 1866 and they had two children:
[Garraty, John D. and Carnes, Mark C. eds., 1999. '']American National Biography
The ''American National Biography'' (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries and 20 million words, first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Lea ...
'' (Volume 13). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 643. . Eleanor F. and Jacob Henry. In 1935, J. Henry donated about 800 of his father's professional drawings, photographs and other original documents to the Avery Library of Architecture and Fine Arts at Columbia University.
Lienau was one of a relatively small group of trained architects, of whom the majority were fairly recent arrivals from Great Britain and the continent. All brought with them to the New World the traditions of the Old, but Lienau differed from his colleagues in one important respect: Molded by his early
Danish and
North German environment, and by years of study in various German art centers and in Paris, Lienau had a point of view more international than theirs—a rarity in an age of ardent nationalism. Thus, a fusion of traditions enabled him to adapt quickly to life in America and to deal successfully with the demands of an increasingly eclectic age. Another point that should be stressed, since it has long been ignored: It was Lienau, not
Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of architecture of the United States. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 ...
, who was the first to bring to the United States a mind and a hand that was shaped, through contact with
Henri Labrouste
Pierre-François-Henri Labrouste () (11 May 1801 – 24 June 1875) was a French architect from the famous school of architecture. After a six-year stay in Rome, Labrouste established an architectural training workshop, which soon became ...
, by the French
Beaux-Arts tradition.
Lienau's career provides a dramatic illustration of the contributions made by the professionally trained European architect to American architecture. His chief importance to
American architecture of the period from 1850 to the mid-1980s lies not in his use of the
Second Empire mode ''per se'', nor in his general eclecticism, but in the classical orientation of his entire practice. His work represents a continuing current of conservatism in American architecture, which for a time was submerged beneath the more dominant picturesque modes of the period, the High Victorian
Gothic and the Second Empire—the latter quite as anti-classical in its later style phase as the former. He served as a bridge between the classical traditions of design of the second quarter of the 19th century and their re-emergence in the 1880s of the movement led in New York by the firm of
McKim, Mead & White
McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York.
The firm's founding partners, Cha ...
.
Among the architects Lienau is said to have influenced are
Henry Janeway Hardenbergh
Henry Janeway Hardenbergh (February 6, 1847 – March 13, 1918) was an American architect, best known for his hotels and apartment buildings, and as a "master of a new building form — the skyscraper." He worked three times with Edward Clark, ...
and
Paul Johannes Pelz, both of whom worked in Lienau's office-workshop. According to Hardenbergh, Lienau never had more than six men in his office, so he could really devote some time to them. Thus, through the work of his many pupils, Lienau's influence continued down through the early years of the 20th century.
From simple cottages to great mansions, Lienau used many modes to express his own ideas and the wishes of his clients in what he considered to be their most appropriate form. The
Chalet and Stick style of the early cottages, the
Italian Villa, the monumental
French Renaissance
The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...
tradition (all reflections of the picturesque High Victorian Gothic of the late ’60s and early ’70s), and finally echoes of the
Queen Anne and of the
Colonial Revival
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...
—all found expression in Lienau’s work.
Lienau died in New York City. His drawings and papers are held in the Department of Drawings & Archives at the
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, the world's largest architecture library, is located in Avery Hall on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in New York City. Serving Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning a ...
at
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in New York City.
Buildings

Some of Lienau’s most important commissions (by completion date of their first phase). Those in boldface are on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
1849—Michael Lienau cottage; 44 Jersey Avenue; Jersey City, NJ.
1852—Beach Cliffe; Kane Villa; Bath Road; Newport, RI.
1852—Francis Cottenet Villa (
Nuits
Nuits (; also known, though unofficially, as ''Nuits-sur-Armançon'') is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France.
See also
*Armançon river
*Communes of the Yonne department
The following is a l ...
); Hudson Road and Clifton Place; Ardsley-on-Hudson, NY.
1852—Hart M. Shiff House; Fifth Avenue at 10th Street; New York, NY.
1853—
Grace Church Van Vorst
The Grace Church Van Vorst, is located in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 1, 1979. The church was built in 1853 and was named after the former Van ...
; Erie Avenue and Second Street; Jersey City, NJ
1854—Oakwood; 50 Narragansett Avenue; Newport, RI.
1859—
William C. Schermerhorn House; 49 West 23rd Street; New York, NY.
1862—F.O. Matthiessen & Weichers sugar refinery; South Street; Jersey City, NJ.
1864—First National Bank; 1 Exchange Place; Jersey City, NJ.
1865—New York Life & Trust Company; 52 Wall Street; New York, NY.
1868—
Elm Park
Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London and part of the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority f ...
(now known as the "Lockwood-Mathews Mansion"), 295 West Avenue;
Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...
.
1868—New York Sugar Refining Company; Washington and Essex Streets; Jersey City, NJ.
1868—L. Marcotte factory and warehouse; 160-164 West 32nd Street; New York, NY.
1869—
Edmund Schermerhorn House; 45-47 West 23rd Street; New York, NY.
1870—Mrs. Rebecca Jones Block; Fifth Avenue between 55th and 56th Street; New York, NY.
1871—American Jockey Club; Madison Avenue at 27th Street; New York, NY.
1871—Henry A. Booraem Block; Second Street; Jersey City, NJ.
1871—Schermerhorn Apartments; 2131-2137 Third Avenue; New York, NY.
1872—Grosvenor House Hotel; Fifth Avenue at 10th Street; New York, NY.
1872—Michael Lienau Villa (Schloss Düneck);
Moorrege
Moorrege, located north west of Hamburg at the small river Pinnau, close to the Elbe river, is a municipality in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Moorrege is around south of Uetersen
Uetersen (, formerly known as ...
, Germany.
1873—Matthew Wilks Residence (Cruickston Park); Blair, ON, Canada.
1874—DeLancey Kane Estate loft building; 676 Broadway; New York, NY.
1875—
Edward Bech
Edward Bech (May 4, 1812 – July 9, 1873) was a Danish diplomat and businessman who lived in the United States. His former home is now part of Marist College.
Early life
Bech was born on May 4, 1812, in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was a son of Elle ...
Villa outbuildings (Rosenlund, now
Marist College
Marist University is a private university in Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Marist was founded by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute, in 1905 to prepare brothers for their ...
);
Poughkeepsie, NY
Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New Yor ...
.
1875—
New Brunswick Theological Seminary
New Brunswick Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), a mainline Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States that follows the theological tradition and Christian practice of John Calvin. It was fo ...
(Sage Library); 17 Seminary Place; New Brunswick, NJ.
1876—
W. B. Hodgson Hall; 501 Whitaker Street; Savannah, GA.
1879—George Mosle townhouse; 5 West
51st Street; New York, NY.
1880—Walter H. Lewis Cottage (Anglesea); Ochre Point; Newport, RI.
1881—William C. Schermerhorn store and loft building; 116-118 East 14th Street; New York, NY.
1881—Barron Loft Building; 129-131 Greene Street; New York, NY.
1882—Daniel Parish Estate office building; 67 Wall Street; New York, NY.
1883—Mrs. Mary M. Williams Cottage; 1135 Hamilton Street; Somerset, NJ. See:
Tulipwood (Somerset, New Jersey)
Tulipwood is a shingle style historic home at 1165 Hamilton Street in the Somerset, New Jersey, Somerset section of Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County, New Jersey, Un ...
1883—Daniel Parish store and loft building; 860 Broadway; New York, NY.
1884—Mrs. Mary M. Williams Row; 37-47 West 82nd Street; New York, NY.
1886—Restoration of Telfair family mansion as
Telfair Academy
The Telfair Academy is a historic mansion at 121 Barnard Street in Savannah, Georgia. It was designed by William Jay (architect), William Jay and built in 1818, and is one of a small number of Jay's surviving works. It is one of three sites ow ...
of Arts and Sciences
1887—Lienau-Williams Row; 48–54 West 82nd Street; New York, NY.
References
Sources
Ellen Weill Kramer. ''The Domestic Architecture of Detlef Lienau, a Conservative Victorian''. West Conshohocken, PA: Infinity Publishing.
External links
Detlef Lienau architectural drawings and papers, circa 1835-1886, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lienau, Detlef
1818 births
1887 deaths
People from Uetersen
19th-century German architects
American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts
19th-century American architects
Emigrants from the Duchy of Holstein
Immigrants to the United States