George Grant Elmslie

For the Australian politician, seeGeorge Elmslie (politician).

George Grant Elmslie
Born	(1869-02-20)February 20, 1869 Aberdeenshire,Scotland
Died	April 23, 1952(1952-04-23)(aged 83) Chicago,Illinois
Alma mater	Cornell University
Occupation	Architect
Buildings	Wainwright Building National Farmers Bank Harold C. Bradley House Woodbury County Courthouse

George Grant Elmslie(February 20, 1869 – April 23, 1952) was an AmericanPrairie Schoolarchitectwhose works are is mostly found in theMidwesternUnited States.He worked withLouis Sullivanand later withWilliam Gray Purcellas a partner in the firmPurcell & Elmslie.

Career

Elmslie began his apprenticeship in the office ofWilliam LeBaron Jenney,who originated the steel frame skeleton used in modern building construction. In 1887, Elmslie joinedFrank Lloyd WrightandGeorge Maherin the office ofJoseph Lyman Silsbee,aWestern New Yorkbased architect who had moved to Chicago. After Wright left to go to work forDankmar AdlerandLouis Sullivanin 1887, he recommended Elmslie to Sullivan. In 1888, Elsmlie joined Wright atAdler & Sullivan,which led to a 20-year association between Elmslie and Sullivan. Wright and Elmslie shared an office next to Sullivan's. Elmslie was Sullivan's chiefdraftsmanandornamental designer.He detailed the ornamentation for Sullivan'sWainwright BuildinginSt. Louis,theSchlesinger & MayerDepartment store in Chicago and theNational Farmers BankinOwatonna, Minnesota.

Purcell & Elmslie

Main article:Purcell & Elmslie

The architectural practice most widely known as Purcell & Elmslie consisted of three partnerships. The first, Purcell & Feick, was created at Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1907 between Purcell and his Cornell School of Architecture classmate, George Feick, Jr. George Elmslie and Purcell had been friends since 1903, when Purcell worked for a short while in the office ofLouis Sullivan,and Elmslie was an informal influence in the work of Purcell & Feick. In 1909, Elmslie joined the office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the name of the firm changed to Purcell, Feick, & Elmslie in 1910. Feick left the partnership in 1912, and the name of the practice became Purcell & Elmslie until being dissolved in 1921.

Over the course of the partnership, Purcell & Elmslie became one of the most commissioned firms among the Prairie School architects, second only toFrank Lloyd Wright.Following the dissolution of his partnership with Purcell, Elmslie worked occasionally with various other architects, including Lawrence A. Fournier, William S. Hutton,Hermann V. von Holst,William Eugene Drummond,andWilliam L. Steele,and produced a number of banks, train stations, commercial, and institutional buildings during the 1920s and 1930s. In private practice Elmslie concentrated primarily on commercial designs. As his commission work decreased, he sought work with William S. Hutton and helped him with the design of theWashington Irving,theOliver Mortonand the Thomas Edison Schools inHammond, Indiana,and also the design ofThornton Township High SchoolinCalumet City, Illinois.

Elmslie was elected aFellowin theAmerican Institute of Architectsin 1947.

Gallery

• 
  National Farmers BankinOwatonna, Minnesota(1908)
• 
  Harold C. Bradley House,Madison, WI, designed by Sullivan and Elmslie (1908–10)
• 
  Edna S. Purcell Housedesigned byPurcell & Elmslie(1913)
• 
  Steele,Purcell & Elmslie,Woodbury County Courthouse(1916)
• 
  Interior of Woodbury County Courthouse (1916)
• 
  Elmslie's grave

Personal life

Elmslie's grave at Graceland Cemetery

Elmslie claimed to have been born in 1871, and he carefully kept his true birth year a secret all his life except from a very few people. Though some have suggested it was due to his immigration status in 1884, there were no laws that would have restricted his entry at the time. Elmslie died on April 23, 1952, and is interred atGraceland Cemeteryin Chicago.

References

• Gebhard, David(edited by Patricia Gebhard),Purcell & Elmslie: Prairie Progressive Architects,Gibbs Smith, Salt Lake City 2006,ISBN1-4236-0005-3

External links

• Purcell and Elmslie, Architects
• Purcell-Cutts House at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts