Leila Ross Wilburn (1885–1967) was an early 20th-century
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
, one of the first women in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
to enter that profession.
Early life
Leila Ross Wilburn was born in
Macon, Georgia
Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...
. She was the first of five children of Joseph Gustavus Wilburn and Leila Ada Ross. Her father was a bookkeeper while her mother was a graduate of Wesleyan Female College in Macon who had studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts.
In the midst of the economic depression of 1895, her family moved to Atlanta. From 1902 to 1904, Wilburn attended Agnes Scott Institute where she studied liberal arts and science. She also took private lessons in architectural drawing.
After graduating college, Wilburn traveled around the country to study the emerging Arts and Crafts movement and created a library of 5,000 photographs of inspiring homes.
In 1906-1907, she apprenticed with B. R. Padgett and Son, a firm specializing in residences. She received most of her training with Padgett and became the South's second female architect (the first was Henrietta Dozier). Her first commission at Padgett was a three-story building that became the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
gym
A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...
Woodward Academy
Woodward Academy (also known as Woodward or WA) is a private, co-educational college-preparatory school for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade on two campuses located in College Park, Georgia, College Park and Johns Creek, Georgia, Johns Creek, Geor ...
).
Career as an independent architect
In 1909, Wilburn opened her own firm. She focused on home design which was considered the most appropriate field of architecture for a woman. Fittingly, she opened her office not in the Candler Building, where architects' offices were concentrated, but in the Peters Building, occupied by realtors and developers.
Rather than catering to wealthy clients, Wilburn marketed her residential designs to the middle class through a series of plan books. This was a propitious choice as Atlanta's suburbs were expanding and there was a need for new apartment buildings in the city. Thanks to her location in the Peters Building, she developed close ties with contractors, builders, and developers, who bought her plan books and her plans and built her houses by the hundreds. Her plan books allowed middle class buyers to benefit from her expertise without having to pay the fees of a professional architect.
Beginning with ''Southern Homes and Bungalows'' in 1914, Wilburn’s published nine plan books. She is the only female architect known to have published plan books. In her first plan book, Wilburn emphasized "homes suitable for the climatic conditions of the Southeast" featuring porches, verandas, sun porches and sleeping porches. Stock plans cost $25 to $40, while custom plans cost upwards of $100.
Wilburn is most associated with Craftsman style homes, but she also created plan books of brick, ranch and colonial homes.
Wilburn touted her home making expertise as a woman, writing: “Being a woman I feel that I may know the little things that should go in it to make living in the house a pleasure to the entire family.” However, Wilburn did not necessarily encourage other women to enter the field. She felt that the long training and low initial pay meant that architecture was only a good choice for women committed to a long professional career.
During World War I Wilburn worked as a civilian for the War Department in 1918 at
Fort McPherson
Fort McPherson was a U.S. Army military base located in Atlanta, Georgia, bordering the northern edge of the city of East Point, Georgia. It was the headquarters for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Southeast Region; the U.S. Ar ...
, in southwest Atlanta, and in World War II she served as an engineering draftsman.
Later life and death
Wilburn practiced as an architect until her death in 1967. She is buried in
Decatur Cemetery
The Decatur Cemetery is a historic graveyard within the city of Decatur, Georgia, United States.
History
The Decatur Cemetery is the oldest burial ground in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and is believed to have been used even before Decatur' ...
.
Legacy
According to architectural historian Robert Craig, Wilburn is Georgia's most prolific architect. She designed at least eighty houses, twenty apartment buildings and twenty-four duplexes in Atlanta. Many of the homes in the MAK Historic District in Decatur were also designed by Wilburn. Wilburn homes can also be seen in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Michigan.
Every May, the City of Decatur and the Decatur Preservation Commission hand out the Leila Ross Wilburn Award for individuals or organizations that promote preservation and/or excellence in design.
The Leila Ross Wilburn Papers at the Atlanta Historical Society document over 300 sets of house plans drawn by Wilburn.
In 2018, Sarah J. Boykin and Susan M. Hunter published a survey of the southern homes built from Wilburn’s plan books, examining Wilburn’s architectural legacy and her achievements as a plan book architect. The University of Georgia Press described Wilburn's work as "appealing, historic homes and represent some of the richest examples of southern vernacular architecture to emerge from the plan book tradition."
Lanett, Alabama
Lanett is a city in Chambers County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 6,468, down from 7,897 in 2000. Lanett, originally called Bluffton, is located in eastern Alabama, on the Chattahoochee River, southwest of Atlan ...
(Wilburn, Leila Ross), 1916, Design No. 564, Page 48-49, Southern Homes And Bungalows, (built on custom plans)
* Kidd House, 222 Hartwell Rd. Lavonia, GA (Wilburn, Leila Ross), NRHP-listed
* Martin Historic District, Along both sides of GA 17 and the Norfolk Southern RR tracks Martin, GA (Wilburn, Leila Ross), NRHP-listed
* Piedmont Park Apartments, 266 11th St.
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County and extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 520,070 (2024 estimate) living within the city limits, At ...
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County and extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 520,070 (2024 estimate) living within the city limits, At ...
Ayden Historic District
The Ayden Historic District is a national historic district located at Ayden, Pitt County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 319 contributing buildings and six contributing structures in the town of Ayden. It includes buildings dated ...
Winnona Park Historic District
Winnona Park is a historic area in the southeast corner of the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Decatur, Georgia, Decatur. It is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places,
Decatur, GA (Wilburn, Leila Ross), NRHP-listed
* andler Park1234 Mclendon Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30307
* irginia Highland1102 Saint Charles Pl NE, Atlanta, GA 30306
* orningside1319 Northview Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306
* istoric Druid Hills923 Springdale Road, Atlanta, GA 30307
*Sherman House, 16870 Co Rd 32, Summerdale, AL, 36580; constructed 1937 from plan #5668 in Homes in Good Taste. (Wilburn, Leila Ross)
*Reed House, 3080 Atlanta Rd SE, Smyrna, GA 30080; circa 1910
Honors
In 1961, Wilburn was welcomed into the
Society of American Registered Architects The Society of American Registered Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States.
History
The Society of American Registered Architects was founded on November 9, 1956 by Wilfred J. Gregson. As a professional societ ...
, an honor which is reflected in the fact that the membership certificate at the time still read, “Having given evidence of ''his'' qualifications....”
Wilburn was inducted as a
Georgia Woman of Achievement
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of peo ...
in 2003 as "one of the pioneering women architects in the United States".