Henry F. Ludorf was an American architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 who specialized in churches and schools mostly for Polish Catholic clients in New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

.

Childhood and architectural education

Ludorf was born in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 in 1899 and graduated from the Pratt Institute of Architecture and the Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 School of Architecture. He then worked for 2 years in the offices of C. C. Palmer before establishing his own firm in 1921. His offices were located at 100 Hanson Place, Hartford CT.

Architectural Practice

Although Ludorf was a prolific designer of churches and schools his most memorable building is the 1929 art deco styled Community Center of the Polish National Home, Hartford Ct. This building was described in a Hartford Courant article as a stately Art Deco cube with a stylish, comfortable and inviting interior for which Ludorf became known for Art Deco buildings in other East Coast cities. .

Personal life

Ludorf was chairman of the Ella Burr McManus Trust Fund and the Connecticut Commission on the Fine Arts.

Works Include

• St. Adalbert Church, Providence, RI
• St. Anne Church, Hartford, CT
• St Louis Church, Hartford, CT (destroyed by fire)
• St. John the Evangelist Church, New Britain, CT (basement only)
• St. John the Evangelist Rectory, New Britain, CT
• Holy Name Church, Stamford, CT
• St. Peter and Paul Church, Wallingford, CT
• St. Benedict Church and Rectory, Stamford, CT
• St. Mary Church, Bridgeport, CT (renovation, church has been replaced)
• St. Stanislaw School, Bristol, CT
• SS Cyril and Methodius School, Hartford, CT
• St. Joseph School, Webster, MA
• St. Mary School, Middletown, CT
• Polish Community Center, Northampton, MA
• Roosevelt School, New Britain, CT
• Embassy Theatre, New Britain, CT
• Polish Orphan Asylum, New Britain, CT
• Swedish Bethany Church, New Britain, CT
• Community Center of the Polish National Home, Hartford, CT
• Bushnell Tower, Hartford, CT (with I.M. Pei)