J. Cleaveland Cady
Encyclopedia
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, 1837 - April 17, 1919) was a New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based architect whose most familiar surviving building is the south range of the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
on New York's Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
. He worked in partnership from 1870 with Milton See (1854 - October 27, 1920) in the firm of Cady, Berg and See.
Cady was the son of Josiah Cady and his wife Lydia, of Providence, Rhode Island, where he was born. He graduated from Trinity College
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...
, Hartford, Connecticut, in 1860; the following year he married Emma M. Bulkeley, of Orange, New Jersey; they had five children. Cady was a devoted Presbyterian, who served as head of the Sunday school at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, East 42nd Street; his first church commission was the First Presbyterian Church of Oyster Bay
First Presbyterian Church of Oyster Bay
First Presbyterian Church built in 1873 is an historic Carpenter Gothic-style Presbyterian church building located at 60 East Main Street in Oyster Bay, New York. Its architect was J...
, New York. Here he utilized the Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...
or Stick Style to create a surprising effect for this wood-frame church building set on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Cady, Berg and See
Cady was the architect of the original Metropolitan Opera HouseMetropolitan Opera House (39th St)
The Metropolitan Opera House was an opera house located at 1411 Broadway in New York City. Opened in 1883 and demolished in 1967, it was the first home of the Metropolitan Opera Company.-History:...
, opened October 1883 (demolished in 1967). Suitable to the Italian opera that was central to the repertory as New Yorkers then conceived it, the new house for the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
presented a palazzo
Palazzo
Palazzo, an Italian word meaning a large building , may refer to:-Buildings:*Palazzo, an Italian type of building**Palazzo style architecture, imitative of Italian palazzi...
-like full front on Broadway between 39th and 40th streets that offered three tiers of arched triple openings framed by strong masonry piers. Soon the facade was flanked by matching seven-storey towers, to provide extra space and income to support the opera. Cady's original auditorium was gutted by fire on August 27, 1892.
The American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
has a magnificently rusticated Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
entrance range by Cady and See, stretching 707 feet along its 77th Street frontage. The Museum also preserves its Cady auditorium, restored in 2002 as the Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Theater.
Cady and See designed the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the Skin and Cancer Hospital, Bellevue Medical School, and the Hudson Street Hospital, and also many churches.
They designed many college buildings, fifteen buildings for Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
alone, and buildings for Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
, Trinity College
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...
in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
and for Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
.
At Trinity College, Cady's 1878 St. Anthony Hall
St. Anthony Hall
St. Anthony Hall, also known as Saint Anthony Hall and The Order of St. Anthony, is a national college literary society also known as the Fraternity of Delta Psi at colleges in the United States of America. St...
(Delta Psi) is massively rusticated Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
in style, with narrow "arrow-slit" windows and even a tall cylindrical tower with a steep conical roof. The tower is half-embedded within the densely-massed picturesque structure.
In 1880 Cady and See were hired by William West Durant
William West Durant
William West Durant was a designer and developer of camps in the Adirondack Great Camp style, including Camp Uncas, Camp Pine Knot and Sagamore Camp which are National Historic Landmarks. He was the son of Thomas C. Durant, the financier and railroad promoter who was behind the Crédit Mobilier...
to design a summer chapel on an island in Raquette Lake, New York
Raquette Lake, New York
Raquette Lake is a hamlet in the Town of Long Lake in Hamilton County, New York, United States.The community is located on New York State Route 28 by the west town line. Raquette Lake is located on the west side of the lake, Raquette Lake....
, to entice his wealthy acquaintances to build their summer homes in the area. The chapel was constructed in the Stick Style. The plans were used in 1881, modified by Durant at the request of Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
, for the Church of Our Saviour in Mandarin, Florida, and again in 1883 for the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beattystown, New Jersey.
Ten years later Cady again built a chapel on Raquette Lake, St. William's Roman Catholic Church on Long Point, again in Shingle Style, for Durant's employees and local residents. Both churches, only accessible by water, preserve and reflect the Adirondack heritage.
Cady & Gregory
Cady was later in partnership with William S. Gregory, a long-term associate, as "Cady & Gregory", with offices at 40 West 32nd Street, New York.Works
Buildings designed by Cady which survive and which are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
include:
- American Museum of Natural HistoryAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryThe American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
, Central Park West and 77th St., New York, New York (Cady, Berg & See) - Barron Library, 582 Rahway Ave., Woodbridge, New Jersey (J. Cleveland Cady)
- Boone Tavern Hotel, 100 Main St., Berea, Kentucky (Cady and See)
- Church of the Holy CommunionChurch of the Holy CommunionChurch of the Holy Communion is a historic church building on Summit Avenue in Norwood, New Jersey.It was designed by J. Cleaveland Cady in Late Gothic Revival style and Shingle Style and was built in 1886...
, Summit Ave., Norwood, New Jersey (J. Cleveland Cady) - CliffsideCliffside (Palisades, New York)Cliffside, also known as H. E. Lawrence Estate, is a building in Palisades, New York. It was designed by J. Cleveland Cady and was built in 1876. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990....
, Lawrence Ln. S of River Rd., Palisades, New York (J. Cleveland Cady) - Demarest Railroad DepotDemarest Railroad DepotDemarest Railroad Depot, is located in Demarest, New Jersey. The depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 2004. The station was designed by architect J. Cleaveland Cady and built in 1872 on the Northern Railroad of New Jersey line. The station was named after State...
, 38 Park St., Demarest Borough, New Jersey (J. Cleveland Cady) - First Presbyterian Church of Albany, Albany, New York (J. Cleaveland Cady)
- First Presbyterian Church of Oyster BayFirst Presbyterian Church of Oyster BayFirst Presbyterian Church built in 1873 is an historic Carpenter Gothic-style Presbyterian church building located at 60 East Main Street in Oyster Bay, New York. Its architect was J...
, E. Main St., Oyster Bay, New York (J. Cleveland Cady) - First Romanian-American Congregation Synagogue, 89-93 Rivington St., New York, New York (J.C. Cady & Co.)
- Grace Episcopal Church ComplexGrace Episcopal Church Complex (Queens, New York)Grace Episcopal Church Complex is a historic Episcopal church complex at 155-15 Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, New York, New York. The complex includes the church, parish house, and cemetery. The church was built between 1861 and 1862. It is constructed of rough-cut sandstone and features a...
, 15515 Jamaica Ave., Queens, New York (Cady, Berg & See) - Othniel C. Marsh HouseOthniel C. Marsh HouseMarsh Hall, formally known as Othniel C. Marsh House, is a historic house at 360 Prospect Street on Prospect Hill in New Haven, Connecticut. The property, which includes the house and a area, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965....
, 360 Prospect St., New Haven, Connecticut (J. Cleveland Cady), a U.S. National Historic LandmarkNational Historic LandmarkA National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance... - One or more properties in Plantsville Historic District, Roughly bounded by Prospect St., Summer St., Quinnipiac River, Grove St., S. Main St., W. Main St., and West St., Southington, Connecticut (Josiah Cleveland Cady)
- Saint Anthony Hall, 340 Summit St., Hartford, Connecticut (Josiah Cleveland Cady)
- St. William's Catholic ChurchSt. William's Catholic Church (Long Lake, New York)St. William's Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic church on Long Point on Raquette Lake in Long Lake, Hamilton County, New York. It was designed by prominent New York architect J. Cleaveland Cady's firm at the height of Shingle Style architecture fashion. It was built in 1890 and is a...
, Long Point on Raquette Lake, Long Lake, New York(J.C. Cady & Co.) - One or more properties in Upper Closter-Alpine Historic DistrictUpper Closter-Alpine Historic DistrictUpper Closter-Alpine Historic District, is located in Alpine, New Jersey. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 8, 1985....
, Roughly bounded by Forest St., Old Dock Rd., School House Ln., Church St. and Closter Dock Rd., Alpine, New Jersey (J. Cleveland Cady)
Legacy
Cady presented his architectural library to Trinity College in 1918 and died the following year at his apartment, 214 Riverside Drive. A 1993 Trinity College exhibition "Forgotten architect of the gilded age: Josiah Cleaveland Cady's legacy" with a catalogue by Kathleen A. Curran, failed to cause Cady's reputation to rebound.Sources
- Schuyler, Montgomery. "The Works of Cady, Berg & See." The Architectural Record VI (July 1896-June 1897): pp. 516–553
- Wessels, William. "The Story of the Twin Churches." Utica, New York: Trailmarker, July–August 1962
