Taylor A. Woolley (October 10, 1884 - February 2, 1965) was an American
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 ...
of the
Prairie School
Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...
modern architectural style.
Early life
Woolley was born on October 10, 1884, to Taylor Harrar Woolley and Caroline L. Ahlstrom in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
. Early in life, Woolley had an interest in building and construction, which led him to pursue a career in architecture.
Training
Woolley received early professional training from the
International Correspondence Schools
ICS Learn, also known as International Correspondence Schools Ltd, is a provider of online learning courses in the UK. It was founded in 1889 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The UK branch was set up in 1904, and it now serves around 25,000 current stu ...
and at the Salt Lake City architecture firm
Ware & Treganza Ware & Treganza was a leading American architectural firm in the intermountain west during the late 19th and early 20th century. It was a partnership of Walter E. Ware and Alberto O. Treganza and operated in Salt Lake City, Utah.
They designed c ...
. He later continued his studies at the
Chicago Art Institute. Woolley then worked as a draftsman 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 ...
in Prairie School architecture. Beginning 1909, Woolley traveled with Wright to
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
and
Fiesole, Italy to work with Wright's son
Lloyd Wright on the
Wasmuth Portfolio, Wright's first published collection architectural drawings. He also worked for Wright in the
Oak Park studio, and worked in the early stages on the famed
Taliesin I.
Career in Utah
Woolley was licensed as an architect in Utah in 1910, though he continued to work on commissions from Wright and other firms in Chicago. After returning to Utah he established a firm with his brother-in-law
Clifford Percy Evans
Clifford Percy Evans (August 21, 1889 – June 14, 1973)Horsely, TylerRegister of the Papers of Clifford Percy Evans ''University of Utah'', 1990, accessed June 12, 2009. was an American architect based in Salt Lake City, Utah. He graduated from C ...
and
Miles Miller between 1917-1922. His works in Utah and throughout the west include
meetinghouses for the
LDS Church, apartment buildings (
Belvedere Apartments) and private residences, and landscape architectural projects. The Prairie School style is exemplified in his
William W. Ray house and other homes on Yale Avenue in Salt Lake City. Woolley served as
State architect for the State of Utah from 1933-1941. One of Woolley's last works was serving as supervising architect for construction and landscaping at
This Is the Place Heritage Monument. He retired in 1950 having served as
State architect for the State of Utah from 1933-1941 and in the presidency of the Salt Lake Chapter of the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
.
Death
Woolley died on February 2, 1965, in his long-time home. He was 80 years old. He is buried next to his wife, Dorrit Evans, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Works
Meetinghouses
*Yale Ward (1925)
*
Garden Park Ward (1939)
*Salt Lake 13th Ward
*Preston, Idaho 3rd Ward
*University Ward (Seattle)
Residences
*Samuel Jackson House (1911)
*William J. Salmon House (1912)
*Alboroni H. Woolley House (1914)
*
Andrew Jensen House (1915)
*John Jensen House (1915)
*
William W. Ray House (1916)
*Bernard Stewart Residence
Landscape architecture
*Salt Lake City Cemetery Gate (1915)
*
Memory Grove Park
*Gates to Wasatch Lawn
*Gilmer Park Neighborhood's curving streets
*
This Is the Place Monument (1947)
References
External links
Taylor A. Woolley Papersa
University of Utah Digital LibraryMarriott Library Special CollectionsTaylor Woolley's photographs of Taliesin I at the Utah Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolley, Taylor
1884 births
1965 deaths
Architects from Salt Lake City
20th-century American architects
Architects of Latter Day Saint religious buildings and structures