About Charles Follen McKim, Architect of the Gilded Age

With his partners Stanford White and William R. Mead, architect Charles Follen McKim designed grand Beaux Arts buildings, important mansions, and also relaxed Shingle Style homes. As the architectural firm of McKim, Mead White, these three architects brought European nobility and taste to Americas nouveau riche. Background of McKim: Born: August 24, 1847 in Chester County, Pennsylvania Died: September 14, 1909 at his summer home in St. James, Long Island, New York Education: 1866-1867: Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA1867-1870: Studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris Professional: 1867: Worked briefly in the New York office of Russel Sturgis1870: Joined the office of Henry Hobson Richardson1877: Partnered with William R. Mead1879: Stanford White joined the partnership and the influential architectural firm of McKim, Mead White was established Important Projects: McKim, Mead, White designed both relaxed summer homes and grand public buildings. Landmark examples of McKims influential designs include these: 1881-1883: Isaac Bell House in Newport, Rhode Island1887-1895: Boston Public Library1894: New York Herald Building1897: Low Memorial Library, Columbia University, New York City1906: Pierpont Morgan Library, New York City1910: Pennsylvania Station, New York City Styles Associated with McKim: Beaux ArtsShingle Style More About McKim: Charles Follen McKim was influenced by his study at Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Along with his partners Stanford White and William R. Mead, McKim applied French Beaux Arts ideas to grand American buildings like the Boston Public Library and Pennsylvania Station in New York City. These historic styles were not associated with the new architecture of the day—the skyscraper—so the firm did not tackle skyscrapers. However, after McKims death, the firm built the 40-floor Municipal Building (1914) in Lower Manhattan. McKim was drawn to the clean lines of American Colonial architecture, and he admired the simple architecture of Japan and rural France. The architectural firm McKim, Mead, White became known for informal, open plan Shingle Style houses designed shortly after the partnership was formed. They could also transition into designing the more opulent styles prevalent in Newport, Rhode Island. McKim and White became the design architects of the firm, while Mead administered much of the firms business. What Others Say: McKims formal training and innate sobriety provided clarity of form to which White added richness of texture and plasticity in ornamentation.—Professor Leland M. Roth, Architectural Historian Learn More: Archives: The Charles Follen McKim papers,1838-1929, are held at the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (PDF)Americans in Paris: Foundations of Americas Architectural Gilded Age by Jean Paul Carlhian and Margot M. Ellis, Rizzoli, 2014Triumvirate: McKim, Mead White: Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class in Americas Gilded Age by Mosette Broderick, Knopf, 2010Making of the Morgan from Charles McKim to Renzo Piano by Paul S. Byard, Morgan Library Museum, 2008 Source: McKim, Mead, and White by Leland M. Roth, Master Builders, Diane Maddex, ed., Preservation Press, Wiley, 1985, p. 95