W. Duncan Lee (July 2, 1884 – March 13, 1952) was an American architect working primarily in the style of

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 ...

who designed and built the majority of his structures in the city of

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, and its environs.

Biography

Duncan Lee was born on July 2, 1884, in

Ashland, Virginia Ashland is a town in Hanover County, Virginia, United States, located north of Richmond along Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 7,565, up from 7,225 at the 2010 census. Ashland is named after the L ...

, to Martha (née Gatch) and Clifton Lee. He attended public schools in Ashland and Richmond. The "W" in Lee's name was merely added after Lee found his name too brief compared to other architects such as

John Russell Pope John Russell Pope (April 24, 1874 – August 27, 1937) was an American architecture, architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building (completed in 193 ...

William Lawrence Bottomley William Lawrence Bottomley (February 24, 1883 – February 1, 1951), was an American architect in twentieth-century New York City; Middleburg, Virginia; and Richmond, Virginia. He was known for his Colonial Revival designs of residential buildings ...

, and Alfred Charles Bossom. He studied under

George R. Tolman George Russell Tolman (December 5, 1848 – after 1930) was an American architect and artist, known for his illustrations, who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life Tolman was born in Boston in 1848 to Joseph and Eli ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. After graduating, from 1906 to 1908 he was a partner of Marion J. Dimmock in the architect firm Dimmock & Lee. In 1910, he opened his own firm in Richmond. Among Lee's noted works in the capital city of the

State of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The state's capital is Richmond and its most populou ...

and its surrounds are the Tuckahoe Apartments (1928–29), the Evelynton mansion on the

Evelynton Plantation Evelynton is a historic home near Charles City, Charles City County, in the U.S. state of Virginia. It was built in 1937, and is a two-story, seven-bay, brick dwelling in the Colonial Revival style. It has a gable roof with dormers, and flanki ...

(1937), Westbourne (designed in 1915- built in 1919), and a wing of the Virginia Executive Mansion (1908). Also, in 1929, Lee was responsible for the restoration of the Old Custom House in

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a town in York County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in Colony of Virginia, colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while ...

. He supervised the restoration of

Carter's Grove Carter's Grove, also known as Carter's Grove Plantation, is a plantation located on the north shore of the James River in the Grove Community of southeastern James City County in the Virginia Peninsula area of the Hampton Roads region of Virg ...

. He was a charter member of Company C and Company D of the Richmond Light Infantry Blues. He was a member of the Commonwealth Club, the Country Club of Virginia and the old Westmoreland Club. He was on the advisory board of architects for Colonial Williamsburg. Lee claimed to have designed 300 homes in Richmond and requested his records be destroyed after his death. He designed residential buildings in a variety of styles, such as

, Georgian, Tudor, Italian Renaissance, and Arts and Crafts. Lee married Elizabeth Marbury Everett. They had a son Everett. He designed his own home on Stonehurst Green in Richmond. He died on March 13, 1952, at a hospital in Richmond. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

References

1884 births 1952 deaths 20th-century American architects Burials at Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia) People from Richmond, Virginia Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni {{US-architect-19C-stub