William Channing Whitney
Encyclopedia
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
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Born in Harvard, Massachusetts
Harvard, Massachusetts
Harvard is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. A farming community settled in 1658 and incorporated in 1732, it has been home to several non-traditional communities, such as Harvard Shaker Village and the utopian Transcendentalist center Fruitlands...
, the son of Benjamin F. Whitney, he was educated at Lawrence Academy at Groton
Lawrence Academy at Groton
Lawrence Academy at Groton, , is a co-educational preparatory school located in Groton, Massachusetts, in the United States...
, Connecticut, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
and received his B.S. from the Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1872. After working in the Boston architectural office of William Ralph Emerson
William Ralph Emerson
-Biography:Emerson was born in Alton, Illinois, a cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and trained in the office of Jonathan Preston , an architect–builder in Boston, Massachusetts. He formed an architectural partnership with Preston , practiced alone for two years, then partnered with Carl Fehmer...
and Carl Fehmer
Carl Fehmer
Carl Fehmer was a prominent Boston architect during the 19th century.-Biography:Fehmer was born in Germany to Heinrich Fehmer and Maria Fehmer...
for several years, he moved to Minneapolis in 1877-78, where he formed an architectural partnership with James C. Plant, 1879-85. He married Alma C. Walker on 6 October 1881In 1885 he began to practise on his own and soon gained a reputation among the manufacturing and milling elite for his residential designs; he built residences for Frank Peavey, J.F. Bell, William Dunwoody and others. The house he built in St. Paul for Horace Hills Irvine, 1911-12, is now the Minnesota Governor's Residence
Minnesota Governor's Residence
The Minnesota Governor's Residence serves as the official home of the governor of Minnesota. The house, located at 1006 Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, is on of land. The building covers an area of slightly more than ....
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He is credited with introducing neo-Georgian architecture to Minneapolis, in his design for the William J. Hinkle House (1886-87). Within the tasteful exteriors that appealed to his upper-class patrons, Whitney's houses were full of modern innovations, such as central vacuum-cleaning plants, electrical refrigeration, intercom systems. With the reduced household staffing of the post-World War era, his efficient houses retained their value.
During the height of his career he served on the Board of Trustees of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts from 1888 to 1896. As a prominent architect of Minneapolis, he was selected to design the Minnesota Building at the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, Chicago, 1893, in a Belgravia
Belgravia
Belgravia is a district of central London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Noted for its immensely expensive residential properties, it is one of the wealthiest districts in the world...
manner very like his redsdential structure; under the impetus of the City Beautiful movement whose esthetic was expressed at the Exposition's "White City", he was a strong proponent of city parks and ennobling urbanistic schemes. Whitney was a member of the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
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He trained a younger generation of architects in his office and retired from active practice in 1925.
Selected houses, all in the Minneapolis-St Paul area
- Eugene A. Merrill House, 1884 (National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
) - H. Alden Smith HouseH. Alden Smith HouseThe H. Alden Smith House is a historic Richardsonian Romanesque house just west of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was designed in 1887 by noted local architect William Channing Whitney. Its owner was a wealthy businessman, a partner in Smith and Wyman Sash and Door Company...
, 1886. Richardsonian RomanesqueRichardsonian RomanesqueRichardsonian 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...
(National Register of Historic Places) - William H. Hinkle HouseHinkle-Murphy HouseThe Hinkle-Murphy House is a historic building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States. It was designed in 1886 as a private residence in the Colonial Revival style by William Channing Whitney , and is considered to be the first Georgian Revival style house in Minnesota...
, 1886-87. Neo-Georgian (National Register of Historic Places) - Frank Heffelfinger House, 1902.
- Charles J. Martin House, 1903 Renaissance Revival (National Register of Historic Places)
- William Dunwoody House, 1905
- Elbert L. Carpenter House, 1906 Neo-Georgian (National Register of Historic Places)
- John LindJohn Lind (politician)John Lind was an American politician.-Background:Lind was born in Kånna, Kronoberg County in the Swedish province of Småland and emigrated to the United States with his parents when he was thirteen years old. He served in the Spanish-American War in 1898...
House, 1907 Neo-Georgian - Horace Hills Irvine HouseMinnesota Governor's ResidenceThe Minnesota Governor's Residence serves as the official home of the governor of Minnesota. The house, located at 1006 Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, is on of land. The building covers an area of slightly more than ....
, 1910-1911. English Tudor styleTudor style architectureThe Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
. Since 1965 the Minnesota Governor's Mansion. (National Register of Historic Places)
Other commissions
- Dyer Music Store, 1884
- The Minneapolis ClubMinneapolis ClubThe Minneapolis Club is a private club with its clubhouse at 729 Second Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota.- History :The Minneapolis Club was founded in 1883 by leading Minnesota business and civic leaders, including John Pillsbury and Charles Loring. In its first 25 years, the club changed...
, 1892 - The Minnesota Building at the World's Columbian ExpositionWorld's Columbian ExpositionThe World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, Chicago 1893 - Samuel Culbertson Mansion, 1897 Georgian Revival, 1432 S. Third St., Louisville Kentucky
- Handicraft Guild BuildingHandicraft Guild BuildingThe Handicraft Guild Building is located at 89 10th Street South, Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was designed in 1907 by architect William Channing Whitney in the Georgian Revival/Arts & Crafts style to house The Handicraft Guild....
, 1907