Alexander McMillan Welch
Alexander McMillan Welch | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1869 |
| Died | 1943 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Architect |
Alexander McMillan Welch(1869–1943)[1]was an Americanarchitecttrained in theBeaux-Artstradition, who led theNew York Cityfirm ofWelch, Smith & Provot,in partnership with Bowen B. Smith and George Provot.
Life and career
[edit]Welch, a descendant of Philip Welch, who emigrated toIpswich, Massachusettsin 1654,[2]graduated fromColumbia Universityand theÉcole des Beaux-Artsin Paris. Under the influence of his brother-in-law,Bashford Dean,Welch collected some antique swords.
The firm's trademark style of discreet brick and limestone townhouses in neo-Georgian style is embodied in theBenjamin N. Duke Houseat 1009 Fifth Avenue, one of a row of four houses built in 1899-1901 for the speculative builders William and Thomas Hall. Number 1009 was purchased by the tobacco magnateBenjamin Newton Duke.Similar rowhouses by Welch, Smith & Provot are 28 through 38 West 86th Street (1906–1908) and 5 and 7 East 75th Street (1901).[3]
Welch was the consulting architect in restorations made to a number of designated historical landmarks, including Alexander Hamilton'sHamilton Grangein theHamilton Heightsneighborhood ofUpper Manhattan,George Washington's Headquarters inWhite Plains, New York,and theDutch ColonialDyckman HouseinInwood, Manhattan.Welch had married to Fannie Fredericka Dyckman on June 2, 1896.[4]She and her sister,Mrs Bashford Deanpresented the Dyckman house to New York City in 1916.[5][6]
Selected commissions
[edit]- TheNew French Hospital,450-58 West 34th Street, New York (1905), for the French Benevolent Society,[7]as the result of a competition supervised by A.D.F. Hamlin, Columbia University. Isolated sunrooms at the rear south-facing facade were provided for each floor. The tuberculosis ward on the top floor was isolated from the others.
- TheSt. Stephen's Methodist Church(1897-1898) was added to theNational Register of Historic Placesin 2012.[8][9]: 3, 6
References
[edit]- ^His portrait by Seymour Millais Stone is at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, of which Welch was a Trustee, 1920-1943, and Chairman of the Executive Committee, 1931-1938. TheSociety's webpagenotes his obituary,The Record,75:1 (January 1944).
- ^Alexander McMillan Welch,Philip Welch of Ipswich, Massachusetts 1654 and His Descendents,(Richmond Virginia: Byrd Press) 1947:3-16.
- ^"Manhattan NB Database".Office for Metropolitan History.Archived fromthe originalon 15 February 2013.Retrieved1 January2021.
- ^"Welch-Dyckman"The New York Times(June 3, 1896)
- ^"Dutch Farmhouse a Gift to the City"The New York Times(September 30, 1915)
- ^The free restoration and furnishing of the Dyckman House is described in Mason, Randall "Historic preservation, public memory and the making of modern New York City", in Page, Max and Mason Randall (eds.)Giving Preservation a History: Histories of Historic Preservation2004:131ff.
- ^Year Book of the Architectural League of New York,1905.
- ^"National Register of Historic Places Listings".Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 5/26/14 through 5/30/14.National Park Service. 2012-02-17. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-10-10.Retrieved2015-12-22.
- ^""Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)"".New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.Archived fromthe original(Searchable database)on July 1, 2015.Retrieved2015-12-01.Note:This includesJacqueline Peu-Duvallon (August 2011)."National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: St. Stephen's Methodist Church"(PDF).Retrieved2015-12-01.andAccompanying photographs