Warren and Wetmore
Encyclopedia
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...
ure firm in New York City
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...
. It was a partnership between Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles Wetmore (1866–1941), that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and was known for the designing of large hotels.
Whitney Warren
Whitney Warren
Whitney Warren was an architect with Charles Delevan Wetmore at Warren and Wetmore in New York City.-Biography:He was born in 1864 and his brother was Lloyd Warren, also an architect. He was a cousin of the Vanderbilts and spent ten years at the École des Beaux Arts...
was a cousin of the Vanderbilts and spent ten years at the École des Beaux Arts. There he met fellow architecture student Emmanuel Louis Masqueray
Emmanuel Louis Masqueray
Emmanuel Louis Masqueray was a Franco-American preeminent figure in the history of American architecture, both as a gifted designer of landmark buildings and as an influential teacher of the profession of architecture.-Biography:...
, who would, in 1897, join the Warren and Wetmore firm. He began practice in New York City in 1887.
Warren's partner, Charles D. Wetmore, was a lawyer by training. Their society connections led to commissions for clubs, private estates, hotels and terminal buildings, including the New York Central office building, the Chelsea docks, the Ritz-Carlton, Biltmore, Commodore, and Ambassador Hotels. They were the preferred architects for Vanderbilt's New York Central Railroad
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
.
The firm's most important work by far is the Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
in New York City, completed in 1913 in association with Reed and Stem. Warren and Wetmore were involved in a number of related hotels in the surrounding "Terminal City".
Whitney Warren retired in 1931 but occasionally served as consultant. Warren took particular pride in his design of the reconstructed library at the Catholic University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
, finished in 1928, which carried the controversial inscription Furore Teutonico Diruta: Dono Americano Restituta ("Destroyed by German fury, restored by American generosity") on the facade. The library was largely destroyed by German forces again in 1940.
The architectural records of the firm are held by the Dept. of Drawings & Archives at the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
The Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library is one of twenty-five libraries in the Columbia University Library System and is located in Avery Hall on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in the City of New York. It is the largest architecture library in the world...
, 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...
.
Other commissions
- the Racquet House at the Tuxedo Club, Tuxedo Park, New York, 1890-1900
- Westmorly Court , part of Adams House at Harvard University 1898-1902
- the New York Yacht ClubNew York Yacht ClubThe New York Yacht Club is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The organization has over 3,000 members as of 2011. ...
, 1899 - 49 East 52nd StreetCBS Studio BuildingThe CBS Studio Building is a seven-story office building at 49 East 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan that has at various times served as a Vanderbilt family home, the first graduate school of the Juilliard School, CBS Radio studios and Columbia Records studio....
, Vanderbilt guest house, New York City, 1908 - Union Station (Winnipeg)Union Station (Winnipeg)Union Station is the inter-city railway station for Winnipeg, Manitoba.It is a grand beaux-arts structure situated near The Forks in downtown Winnipeg. It was built by the Canadian Northern Railway, National Transcontinental, and Grand Trunk Pacific Railway...
, Manitoba, Canada, 1911 - Union Station, Houston, Texas 1911 (Now a part of Minute Maid Park)
- Aeolian Hall (New York)Aeolian Hall (New York)Aeolian Hall was a concert hall near Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City located on the third floor of 29-33 West 42nd Street across the street from Bryant Park. The Aeolian Building was built in 1912 for the Aeolian Company, which manufactured pianos...
, 1912 - the Helmsley BuildingHelmsley BuildingThe Helmsley Building is a 35-story located at 230 Park Avenue in New York City. Before the erection of the Pan Am Building, now the MetLife Building, this building stood out over the city's second most prestigious avenue as it was the tallest structure in the great "Terminal City" complex around...
, originally the New York Central Building, part of the Grand Central Terminal complex, 1913 - the unfinished Michigan Central StationMichigan Central StationMichigan Central Station , built in mid-1912 through 1913 for the Michigan Central Railroad, was Detroit, Michigan's passenger rail depot from its opening in 1913 after the previous Michigan Central Station burned, until the cessation of Amtrak service on January 6, 1988...
, Detroit, Michigan, 1913, also with Reed and Stem - Packard Manor, Chautauqua, New York- A summer home for William Doud Packard, 1915
- the Texas Company (Texaco) Building, Houston, Texas, 1915
- 927 Fifth Avenue927 Fifth Avenue927 Fifth Avenue is an upscale residential apartment building in Manhattan, New York City. It is located on Fifth Avenue at the corner of East 74th Street opposite the Model Sailboat Pond in Central Park...
, New York City, a cooperative apartment house, 1917 - The Commodore Hotel, now the Grand Hyatt Hotel, part of "Terminal City", 1920
- The New York Biltmore HotelNew York Biltmore HotelThe New York Biltmore Hotel was a luxury hotel in New York City. It was one of three palatial hotels built as part of the Terminal City development...
, also part of "Terminal City" - the Crown Building, formerly the Heckscher Building, New York City, 1921
- the Providence BiltmoreProvidence BiltmoreThe Providence Biltmore Hotel is an upscale hotel that opened in 1922 as part of the Biltmore Hotel chain. It was founded by John McEntee Bowman and Louis Wallick, and is currently owned by Grand Heritage Hotels International...
Hotel, Providence, Rhode Island, 1922 - the Mayflower HotelMayflower HotelThe Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, known locally as simply The Mayflower, is a historic hotel in downtown Washington, DC located on Connecticut Avenue NW, two blocks north of Farragut Square . It is the largest luxury hotel in the U.S. capital and the longest continuously operating hotel in the...
, Washington, D.C., 1922, with Robert F. Beresford - Steinway HallSteinway HallSteinway Hall is the name of buildings housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for Steinway & Sons pianos. The first Steinway Hall was opened 1866 in New York City. Today, Steinway Halls and Steinway-Häuser are located in world cities such as New York City, London, Hamburg, Berlin,...
on 57th Street, New York City, 1925 - Royal Hawaiian HotelRoyal Hawaiian HotelRoyal Hawaiian Hotel, also known as the Pink Palace of the Pacific, is a hotel located at 2259 Kalākaua Avenue in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. One of the first hotels established in Waikiki, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel is considered one of the flagship hotels in Hawaii tourism...
, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1927 - Norwood GardensNorwood GardensNorwood Gardens is a planned community in Astoria, Queens. Developed in the 1920s during a period of expansion in New York City.With the opening of the Queensboro Bridge in 1909 and the extension of the IRT subway service to Ditmars Boulevard in 1915, Astoria and Long Island City were forever...
terrace homes, 36th St., Astoria, New York, planned development by W&W architect Walter Hopkins, 1928 - Asbury Park Convention HallAsbury Park Convention HallAsbury Park Convention Hall is a 3,600-seat indoor exhibition center located on the boardwalk and on the beach in Asbury Park, New Jersey. It was built between 1928 and 1930 and is used for sports, concerts and other special events. Adjacent to the Convention Hall is the Paramount Theatre; both are...
, 1923, and the adjoining Paramount TheatreParamount Theatre (Asbury Park)The Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, New Jersey, is co-located with the Asbury Park Convention Hall on the boardwalk along the Atlantic Ocean. The two are connected by an arcade that spans the boardwalk, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and Bradley Park on the west. A statue of...
, 1930 - Ritz-Carlton, Atlantic City, 1921
- the Chelsea PiersChelsea PiersChelsea Piers is a series of piers on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City that was a passenger ship terminal in the early 1900s that was used by the RMS Lusitania and was the destination of the RMS Titanic....
- 903 Park Avenue, a Bing & BingBing & BingBing & Bing was one of the most important apartment real estate developers in New York City in the early 20th century.The firm was founded by Leo S. Bing and his brother, Alexander M. Bing...
building.
External links
- Warren and Wetmore at New York Architecture Images
- high-resolution photographs of Warren and Wetmore's interiors at the New York Yacht Club
- Warren & Wetmore architectural drawings and photographs, 1889-1938. Held in the Dept. of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.