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H. Neill Wilson

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Henry Neill Wilson
BornMay 1, 1855[1]
Died1926
OccupationArchitect
A 1908 postcard of Shadowbrook, built in 1893 for Anson Phelps Stokes who hired Frederick Law Olmsted to design the 900 acre grounds

H. (Henry) Neill Wilson (1855 in Glendale, Ohio – 1926 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts) was an architect with his father James Keys Wilson in Cincinnati, Ohio; on his own in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and for most of his career in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The buildings he designed include the Rookwood Pottery building in Ohio and several massive summer cottages in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.

Career

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H. Neill Wilson started his career working for his father, a prominent Cincinnati architect, in 1873.[1] He moved on after seven years and established himself in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1879 where a building boom was under way.[2]

Wilson moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1885 and did several projects in Berkshire County.[1] He worked in the Northeast until his death in 1926.[3] He was elected as Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in February 1887.[2]

Noted works

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In Ohio, Wilson's Rookwood Pottery building remains, although it was expanded after initial construction, as well as the Glendale Lyceum (ca. 1891) building.

His "splendid" Berkshire, County "cottages" were featured in an illustrated book by Jackson and Gilder.[1] The Shadowbrook residence where Andrew Carnegie also lived and died was particularly massive. It was destroyed by a fire in 1956. It was rebuilt, but the newer structure is not considered[by whom?] up to par with the original.[1][4]

Of his work in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the William Russell Allen House and Pilgrim Memorial Church and Parish House are still standing and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Berkshire County Home for Aged Women building (1888) and Red Lion Inn, Pittsfield, Massachusetts also remain.

In redesigning the 1773 Red Lion Inn building in 1897 following "a devastating fire" that started in the pastry kitchen, Wilson designed an 80-room building with a separate kitchen building.[5]

Chicago lawyer Wirt Dexter Walker hired him in 1890 to design his cottage.[6]

Personal life

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Wilson married Olivia Lovell.[3]

Projects

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Glendale Town Hall and Police Station (now Glendale Police Station)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Walter E. Langsam H. Neill Wilson Archived 2010-09-17 at the Wayback Machine Biographical Dictionary of Cincinnati Architects, 1788-1940, Architectural Foundation of Cincinnati
  2. ^ a b c ROLLIN HILLYER COOKE (1906). "Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Berkshire County, Massachusetts". THE LEWIS PUBLISHING CO. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d "H. Neill Wilson". The New York Times. 7 July 1926. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  4. ^ Phil Bilzor Shadowbrook Castle (includes aerial photo)
  5. ^ Bernard A. Drew The Springfield gas machine May 5, 2007 The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts)
  6. ^ a b c d e Carole Owens Pittsfield: Gem City in the Gilded Age Edition illustrated Publisher The History Press, 2008 ISBN 978-1-59629-408-0. 117 pages, page 31,32
  7. ^ a b c d e "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  8. ^ Interlaken for D. W. Bishop American Architect and Building News February 18, 1888
  9. ^ IN THE BERKSHIRE HILLS; THE MAGNIFICENT SUMMER RESIDENCE OF D.W. BISHOP AT LENOX June 10, 1888, Page 13, 1291 words New York Times
  10. ^ Scott Stafford Volunteers to refurbish Pittsfield's Allen House Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine September 24 ???? Berkshire Eagle
  11. ^ "Full text of "American architect and architecture"" (TXT).
  12. ^ Lyceum Archived 2009-09-03 at the Wayback Machine history, Glendale, Ohio
  13. ^ "The architect who drew the plans was H. Neil Wilson of Pittsfield, Mass., but Mrs. Atkins-McKay's was the real planning mind of the whole structure." [1] May 17, 1904 Hartford Courant
  14. ^ Glendale lyceum website
  15. ^ "Places Where History was Made: Berkshire County Home for Aged Women". (includes photo). National Park Service.
  16. ^ A Walk Through History Archived 2010-06-16 at the Wayback Machine North Adams, Massachusetts
  17. ^ Hoosac Savings Bank website
  18. ^ New England Design description of renovation project and photographs of Hoosac savings Bank interior

Further reading

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  • Jackson and Gilder (2006)
  • Painter, AIC (2006), 122, 123;
  • Nuxhall, SGC, 49, 1.
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