Marion Sims Wyeth (February 17, 1889 – February 4, 1982) was an American architect known for his range in styles such as

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

Mediterranean Revival Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references to Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial ...

, and classical Georgian, French, and Colonial. He designed numerous mansions in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

, during its gilded age. Wyeth was among a group of architects considered the "Big Five," along with John L. Volk,

Addison Mizner Addison Cairns Mizner ( ) (December 12, 1872 – February 5, 1933) was an American architect whose Mediterranean Revival Style architecture, Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Spanish Colonial Revival style interpret ...

Maurice Fatio Maurice Fatio (1897–1943) was a Switzerland, Swiss-born United States, American architect. Biography Maurice Fatio was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 18th, 1897, originating from a prominent family. He graduated from the Polytechnical S ...

, and Howard Major, who defined Palm Beach style in the early twentieth century.

Biography

Wyeth was born in New York City to Florence Nightingale Sims and Dr. John Allan Wyeth, who founded what is today the

Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital The Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital are a pair of historic buildings at 135 and 137 Second Avenue in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The buildings house the Ottendorfer Branch of the ...

in 1882 (which became

Cabrini Medical Center Cabrini Medical Center of New York City was created in 1973 by a merger of two Manhattan hospitals. It closed in 2008 due to financial difficulties cited by the Berger Commission, followed by a bankruptcy filing. In January 2010, the five build ...

). His grandfather

J. Marion Sims James Marion Sims (January 25, 1813November 13, 1883) was an American physician in the field of surgery. His most famous work was the development of a Surgery, surgical technique for the repair of vesicovaginal fistula, a severe Complication (me ...

founded the first Women's Hospital in the U.S. in 1855 (it is now part of

Mount Sinai Morningside Mount Sinai Morningside, formerly known as Mount Sinai St. Luke's, is a teaching hospital located in the Morningside Heights, Manhattan, Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is affiliated with the Icahn School of M ...

Wyeth attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and studied at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...

in Paris, where he was awarded the Prix Jean LeClerc in 1913 and the Deuxième Prix Rougevin in 1914. Wyeth worked at

Carrère & Hastings Carrère (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 545 Communes of France, communes of the Pyrénées-Atlan ...

in New York City. He moved to

, in 1919 where he founded the firm of Wyeth and King with his business partner

Frederic Rhinelander King Frederic Rhinelander King (April 13, 1887 – March 20, 1972), was an American architect, and the co-founder with Marion Sims Wyeth of the architecture firm Wyeth and King. Early life Frederic Rhinelander King was born in 1887. He was the son of ...

. He was the first Palm Beach architect to be elected a fellow 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 ...

. Wyeth had over 700 commissions, many of which in Palm Beach, including

Mar-a-Lago Mar-a-Lago ( , ) is a resort and National Historic Landmark on a barrier island in Palm Beach, Florida, United States. It spans 126 rooms and built on of land. Since 1985, it has been owned by Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of t ...

(1923-1927 with

Joseph Urban Joseph Urban (May 26, 1872 – July 10, 1933) was an Austrian-American architect, illustrator, and scenic designer. Life and career Joseph Urban was born on May 26, 1872, in Vienna. He received his first architectural commission at age 19 wh ...

). Other notable commissions include the

Norton Museum of Art The Norton Museum of Art is an art museum in West Palm Beach, Florida. The museum has a collection that includes over 8,200 works, with a concentration in Western art history, European, Visual arts of the United States, American, and Chinese art ...

(1941) in West Palm Beach, the Florida Governors Mansion in Tallahassee, and Shangri La,

Doris Duke Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealth, luxurious lifestyle, and love life attracted ...

’s house in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1993, Wyeth's archives were donated to the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach by architect Sidney Neil. The collection includes 13,000 architectural drawings and over 900 photographs.

Projects

, Palm Beach, Florida * La Claridad, Palm Beach, Florida *

, West Palm Beach, Florida * High Point Monument, New Jersey and associated Grey Rock Inn *

Florida Governor's Mansion The Florida Governor's Mansion (also called the People's House of Florida) is a historic U.S. residence in Tallahassee, Florida, and the official residence of the governor of Florida. On July 20, 2006, it was added to the U.S. National Register ...

, Tallahassee, Florida * Palm Beach Day Academy, Palm Beach, Florida * Shangri La, Doris Duke's home in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

* The Church of the Epiphany on New York City's

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

* Dutch South African Village, Coral Gables, Florida

References

External links

Marion Sims Wyeth Collection o
Omeka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyeth, Marion Sims 1889 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American architects Architects from New York City Architects from Florida American neoclassical architects American residential architects People from Palm Beach, Florida Princeton University alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Mar-a-Lago