Delano & Aldrich was an American
Beaux-Arts architectural firm based in
New York City. Many of its clients were among the wealthiest and most powerful families in the state. Founded in 1903, the firm operated as a partnership until 1935, when Aldrich left for an appointment in Rome. Delano continued in his practice nearly until his death in 1960.
Almost immediately after the firm was formed, they won commissions from the
Rockefeller family, among others. Delano & Aldrich tended to adapt conservative
Georgian and
Federal architectural styles for their townhouses, churches, schools, and a spate of social clubs for the
Astors,
Vanderbilts, and the
Whitneys. Separately (Delano was the more prolific) and in tandem, they designed a number of buildings at
Yale.[1]
Aldrich left the partnership in 1935 to become the resident director of the
American Academy at Rome, where he died in 1940.[3] Delano continued to practice almost until his death in 1960.[4]
Notable works
Surviving buildings (all in New York City unless noted):
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, 1910. Their first major public commission.
(Center for Inter-American Relations), 1911. Neo-Federal townhouse, part of a harmonious row continuing a theme set by
McKim, Mead, and White next door, in the first flush of buildings along
Park Avenue, formed by covering over
New York Central tracks in the area.
Woodside (demolished), (
Syosset, New York), for James A. Burden and his wife, Florence, 1916. The architects worked the spirit of Annapolis's Whitehall, a 1760 plantation house, into the design.
Greenwich House, 1917. The community later added two floors to this center, stretching the Georgian townhouse manner to the limit.
Francis F. Palmer House (later George F. Baker, Jr. House), 75 East 93rd Street at Park Avenue, 1918 (altered with a ballroom wing added in 1928).
Third Church of Christ, Scientist; Park Avenue at 63rd Street, 1924.
1040 Park Avenue, at 86th, apartment building, 1924. In low relief along a classical frieze, tortoises alternate with hares.
Condé Nast took the penthouse.
Sage-Bowers Hall,
Yale School of Forestry, New Haven, CT, 1924 (Sage), 1931 (Bowers). Two buildings in brownstone Collegiate Gothic style.[1]
Sterling Divinity Quadrangle,
Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT, 1932. Georgian colonial group of buildings.[1]
Union Club, 69th and Park Avenue, 1933. A smoothly rusticated
Italianate limestone palazzo in the manner of London clubs of the 19th century, "one of the last great monuments of the
American Renaissance".[11]
Ferry Building, U.S. Immigration Station,
Ellis Island, New York Harbor, 1935–1936
Archives
The Delano and Aldrich archive is held by the Drawings and Archives Department in the
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at
Columbia University. Some historical records of Delano & Aldrich's work on the Wall Street headquarters of Brown Brothers Harriman are included in the Brown Brothers Harriman Collection housed in the manuscript collections at
New-York Historical Society.
^Geng, Julie, "Straight Up: The Construction of Willard Straight Hall," Cornell Daily Sun Sept. 2, 2005
http://cornellsun.com/node/26950 Viewed July 27, 2009
Peter Pennoyer and
Anne Walker, 2003. The Architecture of Delano & Aldrich (Norton)
ISBN0-393-73087-5 Eighteen projects are examined in detail, and a catalogue of the firm's complete oeuvre. Introduction by Robert A.M. Stern
Delano & Aldrich was an American
Beaux-Arts architectural firm based in
New York City. Many of its clients were among the wealthiest and most powerful families in the state. Founded in 1903, the firm operated as a partnership until 1935, when Aldrich left for an appointment in Rome. Delano continued in his practice nearly until his death in 1960.
Almost immediately after the firm was formed, they won commissions from the
Rockefeller family, among others. Delano & Aldrich tended to adapt conservative
Georgian and
Federal architectural styles for their townhouses, churches, schools, and a spate of social clubs for the
Astors,
Vanderbilts, and the
Whitneys. Separately (Delano was the more prolific) and in tandem, they designed a number of buildings at
Yale.[1]
Aldrich left the partnership in 1935 to become the resident director of the
American Academy at Rome, where he died in 1940.[3] Delano continued to practice almost until his death in 1960.[4]
Notable works
Surviving buildings (all in New York City unless noted):
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, 1910. Their first major public commission.
(Center for Inter-American Relations), 1911. Neo-Federal townhouse, part of a harmonious row continuing a theme set by
McKim, Mead, and White next door, in the first flush of buildings along
Park Avenue, formed by covering over
New York Central tracks in the area.
Woodside (demolished), (
Syosset, New York), for James A. Burden and his wife, Florence, 1916. The architects worked the spirit of Annapolis's Whitehall, a 1760 plantation house, into the design.
Greenwich House, 1917. The community later added two floors to this center, stretching the Georgian townhouse manner to the limit.
Francis F. Palmer House (later George F. Baker, Jr. House), 75 East 93rd Street at Park Avenue, 1918 (altered with a ballroom wing added in 1928).
Third Church of Christ, Scientist; Park Avenue at 63rd Street, 1924.
1040 Park Avenue, at 86th, apartment building, 1924. In low relief along a classical frieze, tortoises alternate with hares.
Condé Nast took the penthouse.
Sage-Bowers Hall,
Yale School of Forestry, New Haven, CT, 1924 (Sage), 1931 (Bowers). Two buildings in brownstone Collegiate Gothic style.[1]
Sterling Divinity Quadrangle,
Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT, 1932. Georgian colonial group of buildings.[1]
Union Club, 69th and Park Avenue, 1933. A smoothly rusticated
Italianate limestone palazzo in the manner of London clubs of the 19th century, "one of the last great monuments of the
American Renaissance".[11]
Ferry Building, U.S. Immigration Station,
Ellis Island, New York Harbor, 1935–1936
Archives
The Delano and Aldrich archive is held by the Drawings and Archives Department in the
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at
Columbia University. Some historical records of Delano & Aldrich's work on the Wall Street headquarters of Brown Brothers Harriman are included in the Brown Brothers Harriman Collection housed in the manuscript collections at
New-York Historical Society.
^Geng, Julie, "Straight Up: The Construction of Willard Straight Hall," Cornell Daily Sun Sept. 2, 2005
http://cornellsun.com/node/26950 Viewed July 27, 2009
Peter Pennoyer and
Anne Walker, 2003. The Architecture of Delano & Aldrich (Norton)
ISBN0-393-73087-5 Eighteen projects are examined in detail, and a catalogue of the firm's complete oeuvre. Introduction by Robert A.M. Stern