William Ellery Channing Whitney (April 11, 1851 – August 23, 1945) was an American architect who practiced in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. He specialized primarily in domestic architecture, designing homes for many prominent

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

families.

Early life

Whitney was born in

Harvard, Massachusetts Harvard is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is located 25 miles west-northwest of Boston, in eastern Massachusetts. It is mostly bounded by I-495 to the east and Route 2 to the north. A farming community se ...

on April 11, 1851. The son of Benjamin F. Whitney, he was educated at the

Lawrence Academy at Groton Lawrence Academy at Groton is a private, nonsectarian, co-educational college-preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. Founded in 1792 as Groton Academy and chartered in 1793 by Governor John Hancock, Lawrence is the tenth ...

and

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 ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

from the

Massachusetts Agricultural College The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...

in 1872.

Career

Whitney worked in the Boston architectural office of

William Ralph Emerson William Ralph Emerson (March 11, 1833 – November 23, 1917) was an American architect. He partnered with Carl Fehmer in Emerson and Fehmer. Early life and education A cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson, William was born in Alton, Illinois, and ...

and

Carl Fehmer Carl Fehmer (November 10, 1838 – 1923) was a prominent German-American Boston architect during the 19th century. Fehmer had already started his architectural career before his service in the Civil War, but became well-established afterwar ...

for several years during the 1870s. After moving to

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

in 1878, he formed an architectural partnership with James C. Plant which lasted six years. In 1885 he began to practice on his own and soon gained a reputation among the Minneapolis manufacturing and milling elite for his high-style residential designs. During his career he designed residences for Frank H. Peavey, James S. Bell, William H. Dunwoody, and others. The

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

house he designed for Horace H. Irvine in 1911 is now the Minnesota Governor's Residence. Whitney was known to be very style-conscious. He is credited with introducing the neo-Georgian style of architecture to Minneapolis with his design for the William J. Hinkle House in 1886. Within the tasteful exteriors that appealed to his upper-class patrons, Whitney's houses were full of modern innovations such as central vacuum cleaning plants, electrical refrigeration, and intercom systems. This allowed his houses to retain value after household staffing became less commonplace during the mid-twentieth century. Whitney served on the board of trustees of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts from 1888 to 1896. As a prominent architect of Minneapolis, he was selected to design the Minnesota Building at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago. The structure was built under the impetus of the

City Beautiful The City Beautiful movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of th ...

movement, whose aesthetic was expressed at the exposition's "White City." As a follower of the City Beautiful movement, Whitney was a strong proponent of city parks and ennobling urban schemes. Whitney retired from practice in 1925. In his office were trained younger architects such as C.B. Chapman, Adam L. Dorr, and Serenus Colburn. He was a member 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 ...

Family and personal life

Whitney married Alma C. Walker on October 6, 1881. The couple had two daughters, Marion (born August 19, 1882) and Katherine (born March 16, 1888).

Notable houses

* Kate Dunwoody Hall, Minneapolis, 1882 or 1883. (Demolished) * Eugene A. Merrill House, Minneapolis, 1884. (National Register of Historic Places) * H. Alden Smith House, Minneapolis, 1886. (

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

; National Register of Historic Places) * William H. Hinkle House, Minneapolis, 1886-1887. ( Neo-Georgian; National Register of Historic Places) * Hazen Burton "Chimo" Estate, Deephaven, 1890. ( Eastlake Queen Anne) * William G. Northup "BonSyde" Estate,

Wayzata Wayzata ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,434 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of the Twin Cities, Wayzata is located about west of Minneapolis al ...

, 1894. (

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

; demolished 2013) * Frank H. Peavey "Highcroft" Estate, Wayzata, 1895. ( Neo-Georgian; demolished 1953) * Samuel Culbertson House,

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, 1897. * Frank Heffelfinger House, Minneapolis, 1902. * Charles J. Martin House, Minneapolis, 1903. (

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

; National Register of Historic Places) * William Dunwoody House, Minneapolis, 1905. (Demolished 1967) * Elbert L. Carpenter House, Minneapolis, 1906. ( Neo-Georgian; National Register of Historic Places) * John Lind House, Minneapolis, 1907. ( Neo-Georgian) * James S. Bell "Belford" Estate, Wayzata, 1908. (

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 ...

) * Horace H. Irvine House, Saint Paul, 1910-1911. (

English Tudor English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

; National Register of Historic Places)

Other commissions

* Dyer Music Store, Minneapolis, 1884. *

Minneapolis Club The Minneapolis Club is a private club with its clubhouse at 729 Second Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota. History The Minneapolis Club was founded in 1883 by leading Minnesota business and civic leaders, including John Pillsbury and Charle ...

, Minneapolis, 1892. * Minnesota Building at the

, Chicago, 1893. * D. R. Moon Memorial Library,

Stanley, Wisconsin Stanley is a city in Chippewa and Clark counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 3,804 at the 2020 census. Of this, 3,804 were in Chippewa County, and none were in Clark County. History Stanley was settled and platted i ...

, 1901. * Lafayette Club, Minnetonka Beach, 1906 (burned 1922). *

Handicraft Guild Building The Handicraft Guild Building is located at 89 10th Street South, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It was designed in 1907 by architect William Channing Whitney in the Georgian Revival/Arts & Crafts style to house The Handicraft Guild. An ...

, Minneapolis, 1907.

Notes

External links

Heritage Preservation Committee, Minneapolis: William Channing WhitneyWilliam Channing Whitney collection, N13, Northwest Architectural Archives
University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis, MN. {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney, William Channing 1851 births 1945 deaths Architects from Massachusetts People from Harvard, Massachusetts Architects from Minneapolis Massachusetts Agricultural College alumni