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Allen & Collens

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Riverside Church in New York City, designed by Allen & Collens and Henry C. Pelton in the Gothic Revival style and completed in 1930.

Allen & Collens was an American architectural firm based in Boston. It was initially established by architect Francis R. Allen in 1879. After two early partnerships he formed Allen & Collens in 1903 with Charles Collens. The firm was best known as the designers of Gothic Revival buildings, including the Union Theological Seminary campus and Riverside Church in New York City. Allen and Collens died in 1931 and 1956, respectively, and the firm was continued by Collens' partner, Harold Buckley Willis, until his own death in 1962.

History

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Architect Francis R. Allen established his Boston practice in 1879.[1] Circa 1880 he formed the partnership of Allen & Kenway with Welsh-born architect Herbert P. Kenway. Kenway had been trained in Manchester and immigrated to the United States in 1874. Before joining Allen, he had worked for city architect George A. Clough after briefly practicing in Auburn, Maine, where his works included the William A. Robinson House.[2] Their work included Sonnenberg, the Canandaigua, New York, country house of Frederick Ferris Thompson and Mary Clark Thompson. The Thompsons attended the First Congregational Church in Canandaigua, where Allen's brother, Frederick Baylies Allen, was pastor. Mrs. Thompson would become a major client of the Allen firm.[3] In the late 1880s Kenway's health declined and he died in July 1890 while visiting Wales.[2] Allen continued independently until January 1897, when he formed the partnership of Allen & Vance with Joseph McArthur Vance, a former employee then practicing in Pittsfield.[4] They designed Lathrop House and Davison House at Vassar College and in 1899 won a competition to design Woman's Hospital in New York City. Mrs. Thompson was a prominent supporter of the hospital. A change of site meant that their design was not built, but Allen was retained as architect and completed the project on a new site in 1906.[3] In the meantime the Allen & Vance partnership had been dissolved, and in January 1903 Allen formed Allen & Collens with Charles Collens, an employee recently returned from Europe.[5]

Allen and Collens had both had a Beaux-Arts education, which greatly influenced their work. Their work was based on Beaux-Arts principles and was chiefly designed in the Neoclassical and Gothic Revival styles. They were particularly well known for their Gothic work, which included the Union Theological Seminary campus and Riverside Church in New York City. In 1925 Allen retired from the partnership.[1] About the same time J. Lawrence Berry and Harold Buckley Willis became partners, though the firm continued as Allen & Collens. Berry had worked for Allen at the turn of the century before opening his own office, though he frequently associated with the firm on individual projects, such as the Marlborough City Hall. His independent works included the North Hampton Library and St. Luke's and St. Margaret's Church, the latter as a member of the firm of Berry & Davidson. He rejoined the firm sometime after World War I.[6] Willis, a decorated veteran of the war, joined the firm in 1920.[7] Their work included The Cloisters in New York City and the Newton City Hall and War Memorial, winner of the Harleston Parker Medal for 1936. Berry died in January 1931 followed by Allen in November.[8][1] The firm was renamed Allen, Collens & Willis c. 1934 when they were joined by architect Edward A. Hubbard, a former partner of Henry Forbes Bigelow. In 1940 Willis, who had served with the American Field Service during World War I, returned to service with that organization.[9] In his absence the firm was renamed Collens, Willis & Hubbard. After the war Willis returned and Hubbard was replaced by Carl A. Beckonert, the firm being renamed a final time to Collens, Willis & Beckonert. Collens died in September 1956,[10] followed by Willis in April 1962.[11] The firm was thereafter dissolved.

Partner biographies

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Francis R. Allen

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Francis Richmond Allen FAIA (November 22, 1843 – November 7, 1931) was born in Boston to Frederick Deane Allen, a dry goods merchant, and Mary Richmond Allen, née Baylies. He was educated at the Boston Latin School and at Amherst College, graduating from the latter in 1865. He then entered his father's dry goods business, Allen, Lane & Company.[1] In 1875, Allen married and bought a house lot on Fairfield Street in the Back Bay. He hired architect W. Whitney Lewis to design the house, which was completed in 1876.[12] This experience apparently triggered a career shift, and that year he left his father's business to enter the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) architecture school.[1] After a year at MIT he spent another in Paris, studying in the Beaux-Arts atelier of Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer. Also studying in the Vaudremer atelier at the time was fellow Bostonian Arthur Rotch.[13] He returned to Boston in 1878 and worked for Peabody & Stearns before opening an office of his own in 1879.[1]

Allen was married to Elizabeth Bradlee Wood. They had two children, both daughters, only one of whom, Dorothy, survived to adulthood. She married yachtsman and Kidder, Peabody & Company partner Chandler Hovey. Allen was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and from 1904 to 1925 he was vice president of the Comité permanent international des Architectes, a predecessor to the International Union of Architects. He was a member of the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, the Boston Society of Architects, the Bostonian Society, the General Society of Colonial Wars, the Country Club, the Mayflower Society and the St. Botolph Club. He died in Boston at the age of 87.[1]

Charles Collens

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Charles Collens FAIA ANA (October 14, 1873 – September 18, 1956) was born in New York City to Charles Terry Collins and Mary Abby Collins, née Wood. Collens and his siblings used the "Collens" spelling of their surname. His father was a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and was Yale-educated pastor. In 1875 he was called to Plymouth Church in Cleveland. His mother was a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Collins died in 1883 and Mrs. Collins raised their children in New Haven. Collens was educated at Yale University, graduating in 1896. For the next year he worked as a private tutor, accompanying a family in Europe and Egypt. In 1897 he joined the Boston office of Peabody & Stearns as a drafter. In 1900 he traveled to Paris and joined the atelier of Jean-Louis Pascal, and he was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in September. He returned to Boston in April 1902 and joined Allen's office, and became Allen's partner in January 1903.[5][14]

Collens was married in 1903 to Margaret Winsor. They had three children, one son and two daughters. [14] Like Allen he was a Fellow of the AIA and was additionally an associate National Academician of the National Academy of Design.[15] He was a member of the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, the Boston Society of Architects, the Country Club, the St. Botolph Club, the Union Club and the Yale Club. He died in Boston at the age of 82.[14][10]

Harold B. Willis

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Main article: Harold Buckley Willis

Notable works

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Building Image Location Year Built Notes Ref
Sonnenberg Canandaigua, New York 1885–1887 For Frederick Ferris and Mary Clark Thompson [16]: 5 
Twin Oaks Washington, D.C. 1888 For Gardiner Greene Hubbard
Marlborough City Hall Marlborough, Massachusetts 1905 Designed by Allen, Collens & Berry
Thompson Memorial Chapel Williamstown, Massachusetts 1905 For Williams College
Thompson Memorial Library Poughkeepsie, New York 1905 For Vassar College
Union Theological Seminary New York City 1908–1910 W. 120th Street and Broadway [17]
United States Post Office Canandaigua, New York 1910 28 N. Main Street [17]
William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library Columbus, Ohio 1910–1912 For Ohio State University [18]
Andover Hall Cambridge, Massachusetts 1911 Now Swartz Hall at Harvard Divinity School
Knox United Church Calgary, Alberta 1912–1913 Designed in association with Calgary architects Lawson & Fordyce. [19]
Second Church in Newton Newton, Massachusetts 1914–1916 [20]
Reformed Dutch Church of Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie, New York 1921 70 Hooker Avenue [17]
Central Presbyterian Church New York City 1922 593 Park Avenue [21]
Hartford Seminary Hartford, Connecticut 1923–1929 55 Elizabeth Street and 72–120 Sherman Street. Now the University of Connecticut School of Law [17]
Leslie Lindsey Memorial Chapel Back Bay, Boston 1924 Designed for the Emmanuel Episcopal Church [22]
Trinity United Methodist Church Springfield, Massachusetts 1924 361 Sumner Avenue
United Congregational Church Bridgeport, Connecticut 1924–1926 877 Park Avenue [17]
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Stillington Hall Gloucester, Massachusetts 1925 For Leslie Buswell [24]
Hammond Castle Gloucester, Massachusetts 1926–1929 For John Hays Hammond Jr.
Cushing House Poughkeepsie, New York 1927 Dormitory for Vassar College
Riverside Church Morningside Heights, New York City 1930 Designed with Henry C. Pelton
Universalist National Memorial Church Washington, D.C. 1930 1810 16th Street, Northwest
Newton City Hall and War Memorial Newton, Massachusetts 1931 1000 Commonwealth Avenue [17]
First Parish Church Waltham, Massachusetts 1932–1933 87 School Street [17]
The Cloisters Fort Tyron Park, New York City 1934–1938 Designed by Charles Collens [25]
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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Allen, Francis Richmond" in The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography 32 (New York: James T. White & Company, 1945): 243-244.
  2. ^ a b Herbert Phipps Kenway, A Biographical Dictionary of the Architects of Greater Manchester, no date. Accessed November 13, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Andrew S. Dolkart, Morningside Heights: A History of its Architecture & Development (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998): 98-100.
  4. ^ "Architects' removals, etc." in The American Architect and Building News 55, no. 1105 (February 27, 1897): x.
  5. ^ a b "Charles Collens" in Decennial Record of the Class of 1896, Yale College (New York: De Vinne Press, printers, 1907): 282-284.
  6. ^ Henry F. Withey and Elsie Rathburn Withey, "Berry, James Lawrence" in Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased) (Los Angeles: New Age Publishing Company, 1956): 54.
  7. ^ "Willis, Harold Buckley" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 609.
  8. ^ "F. R. Allen Dead; Boston Architect". New York Times. November 8, 1931.
  9. ^ Carlyle Hoyt, "Bostonians will sail for France next month," The Boston Globe, December 27, 1939.
  10. ^ a b "Charles Collens," The Boston Globe, September 19, 1956.
  11. ^ "Harold Buckley Willis," The New York Times, April 19, 1962.
  12. ^ "20 Fairfield," Back Bay Houses, no date. Accessed November 13, 2024.
  13. ^ Harry L. Katz, A Continental Eye: The Art and Architecture of Arthur Rotch (Boston: Boston Athenaeum, 1985): 42.
  14. ^ a b c "Collens, Charles" in Who's Who in America (Chicago: A. N. Marquis Company, 1928): 523.
  15. ^ National Academicians, National Academy of Design, no date. Accessed August 16, 2023.
  16. ^ Larry E. Gobrecht (December 1986). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Canandaigua Post Office". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2009-06-14. See also: "Accompanying 14 photos".
  17. ^ a b c d e f g "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.[dead link]
  18. ^ "William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library". Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture Digital Library. The Ohio State University. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  19. ^ "Allen, Francis Richmond," dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org, Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800–1950, n. d. Accessed May 12, 2021.
  20. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  21. ^ "Central Presbyterian Church". nycago.org. Archived from the original on 2015-12-29.
  22. ^ "Architects & Craftsmen of Lindsey Chapel, Emmanuel Church, Boston". Emmanuel Church. Archived from the original on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  23. ^ Kate Ohno and John Herzan (May 1983). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: United Congregational Church". National Park Service. and Accompanying 5 photos, from 1983
  24. ^ "Ron Hazelton House Tour". Good Morning America. January 6, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  25. ^ "Cloisters Opened on Tryon Heights". The New York Times. May 11, 1938.
  26. ^ "Architects File Plans For the New Cloisters". The New York Times. April 6, 1935.("Plans of the Cloisters Building ... were filed yesterday by Allen, Collens & Williams, the architects.")
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Allen & Collens works. Held by the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.

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