Frederic Rhinelander King
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Frederic Rhinelander King (April 13, 1887 – March 20, 1972), was an American architect, and the co-founder with
Marion Sims Wyeth Marion Sims Wyeth (February 17, 1889 – February 4, 1982) was an American architect known for his range in styles such as Art Deco, Mediterranean Revival architecture, Mediterranean Revival, and classical Georgian, French, and Colonial. He de ...
of the architecture firm Wyeth and King.


Early life

Frederic Rhinelander King was born in 1887. He was the son of LeRoy King (1857–1895) and the former Ethel Ledyard Rhinelander (1857–1925) of New York and Newport, Rhode Island. His siblings included LeRoy King, Jr., who married Mary Isabel Lockwood (daughter of Benoni Lockwood), Katharine Bulkeley Lawrence (niece of Edward H. Bulkeley), and Pamela Anne Sutherland Woodbury (daughter of George Henry Sutherland); and art collector Ethel Marjory King, who married Charles Howland Russell. The Kings' Newport residence was designed for his father by
Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect and a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms at the turn of the 20th century. White designed many houses ...
, at the corner of Berkeley and
Bellevue Avenue The Bellevue Avenue Historic District is located along and around Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. Its property is almost exclusively residential, including many of the Gilded Age mansions built as summer retreats aroun ...
s. His paternal grandparents were Edward King and Mary Augusta (
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
LeRoy) King. Through his father, he was a direct descendant of both
Nicholas Fish Nicholas Fish (August 28, 1758 – June 20, 1833) was an American Revolutionary War soldier. He was the first Adjutant General of New York. Early life Fish was born on August 28, 1758, into a wealthy New York City family. He was the son of Jo ...
and
Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...
, the last Dutch
Director-General of New Netherland This is a list of Directors, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, of the 17th century Dutch province of New Netherland (''Nieuw-Nederland'' in Dutch) in North America. Only the last, Peter Stuyvesant, held the title of Director General. As ...
. His great-aunt, Elizabeth Stuyvesant (née LeRoy) Dresser was the mother of D. LeRoy Dresser and
Edith Stuyvesant Dresser Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt Gerry ( Dresser; January 17, 1873 – December 21, 1958) was an American philanthropist and wife of George Washington Vanderbilt II and Peter Goelet Gerry, a United States senator from Rhode Island. Early life Edith ...
, who was married to
George Washington Vanderbilt II George Washington Vanderbilt II (November 14, 1862 – March 6, 1914) was an American art collector and member of the prominent Vanderbilt family, which amassed a huge fortune through steamboats, railroads, and various business enterprises. He ...
and, later,
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
from Rhode Island,
Peter Goelet Gerry Peter Goelet Gerry (September 18, 1879 – October 31, 1957) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives and later, as a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island. He is the only U.S. Senator in American hi ...
. His maternal grandparents were Frederic William Rhinelander, trustee and the president of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, and Frances Davenport (née Skinner) Rhinelander. King's mother was
Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Wharton (; ; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gil ...
's first cousin and King served as the executor of Wharton's American estate. He was educated at St. George's School in Rhode Island, after which he entered
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
, where he graduated from in 1908 with a Bachelor of Arts cum laude. He then studied architecture 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 ...
from 1908-1911, followed by studies at the prestigious
École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...
, in Paris, from 1912-1914.


Career

King apprenticed at the prominent beaux-arts architecture firm
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 ...
from 1914–1917, and was associated with architect Lawrence Grant White between 1915 and 1917. His career was interrupted by the First World War. He served with the American Red Cross Commission in 1917, and following America's entry into the war, served as First Lieutenant in the US Army from 1918 until 1919. Following the war, King continued his apprenticeship at the architecture firm
Carrère and Hastings Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (architect), Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was an American list of architecture firms, architecture firm ...
from 1919-1920. He formed an association in 1920 with the architect
Marion Sims Wyeth Marion Sims Wyeth (February 17, 1889 – February 4, 1982) was an American architect known for his range in styles such as Art Deco, Mediterranean Revival architecture, Mediterranean Revival, and classical Georgian, French, and Colonial. He de ...
, a friend from his student days in Paris. They formally joined in partnership in 1932, known as Wyeth and King and, after joining forces with William Royster Johnson in 1944, were known as Wyeth, King and Johnson. Generally speaking, Wyeth and Johnson were responsible for the work in Florida, while King was responsible for the work in Newport and New York City. His work was also part of the architecture event in the art competition at the
1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...
.


Principal architectural works

;Designed by King (1920–1953) *Tea House, ''Chateau-sur-Mer'', 474 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island (completed 1920). *LeRoy King House, ''Indian Spring'', 0 Moorland Road,
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
(completed 1927). *Stuyvesant LeRoy House, ''Royden'', 22 Castle Hill Avenue,
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
(completed 1929). *Frederick Allen House, 10 Hazard Road,
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
(completed 1929). *Frederic King House, ''Syosset'', 678 Old Woodbury Road, Woodbury, New York (now The Town of Oyster Bay Chabad, completed 1929). * Seamen's Church Institute, Market Square,
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
(completed 1930). *New facade and interior alterations, 14 East 81st Street, New York City (completed in 1930, but all was replaced in a 1991 alteration). ;Designed in partnership with Marion Sims Wyeth (1932–1964) * Women's National Republican Club, 23 West 51st Street, New York City (completed 1934). * Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, York Avenue and 74th Street, New York City (dedicated in 1939). *Diego Suarez residence, Brookville, New York (completed 1952). *Alterations to Millbank Hall, Barnard College, New York City (completed 1953). *Reginald B. Rives House, ''Seacliff'', 562 Bellevue Avenue,
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
(completed 1953). *Addition to Council on Foreign Relations building, East 68th Street, New York City (completed 1954). *Honyman Hall, Trinity Church,
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
(completed 1956). *Fourth Floor Addition,
Phillips Collection The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips (art collector), Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the ...
, Washington, DC (completed 1960) *Garden Library,
Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and gardens of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife ...
, Washington DC (completed 1963).


Personal life

In 1924, King married Edith Percy Morgan (1891–1968), the daughter of David Percy Morgan and Edith (née Parsons) Morgan, at the Church of the Epiphany when it was at
Lexington Avenue Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side (Manhattan), East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street (Manhattan), 131st Street to Gra ...
and East 35th Street. Edith was the granddaughter of
John Edward Parsons John Edward Parsons (October 24, 1829 – January 16, 1915) was an American lawyer in New York City. He was president of the New York City Bar Association from 1900 to 1901 and the president of the Cooper Union from 1905 to 1915. Early life Par ...
, president of the
New York City Bar Association The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, commonly referred to as the New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization has been headquartere ...
. They lived at 340
East 72nd Street 72nd Street is one of the major bi-directional crosstown streets in New York City's borough of Manhattan. The street primarily runs through the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods. It is one of the few streets to go through C ...
and had a weekend home in
Syosset, New York Syosset is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place in the Oyster Bay (town), New York, Town of Oyster Bay, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state ...
on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. Together, they were the parents of twin sons: *Rev. David Rhinelander King (1929–1987), who married Mary Sue Griffith. David was the rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in
Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. *Rev. Jonathan LeRoy King (1929-2019), who married Jacqueline Patricia Esmerian in 1958. Jaqueline was the daughter of Raphael Esmerian, who lived at 988 Fifth Avenue, and was president of R. Esmerian Inc., jewelers. Jonathan was the canon at the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhoo ...
. King died at his residence in New York City on March 20, 1972. His funeral was held at the Church of the Epiphany in New York City.


Descendants

Through his son David, he was the grandfather of Nicholas Rhinelander King, who was married to Colleen Ellen Dunphy, the daughter of Joanne and Edward P. Dunphy, in 2000; Elizabeth Parsons King; and Melissa Morgan King. Through his son Jonathan, he was the grandfather of four, including Cynthia Bayard King, who married Lee Gregory Vance, a son of Lee N. Vance (the vice president of the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
), in 1986.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Frederic Rhinelander 1887 births 1972 deaths 20th-century American architects American neoclassical architects Architects from New York City Frederic Rhinelander Harvard College alumni St. George's School (Rhode Island) alumni Frederic Rhinelander Art competitors at the 1936 Summer Olympics