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Abram Garfield

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Abram Garfield
Garfield in 1919
Born(1872-11-21)November 21, 1872
Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedOctober 16, 1958(1958-10-16) (aged 85)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Resting placeLake View Cemetery
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Alma materWilliams College (BA)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS)
Occupationarchitect
EmployerMeade & Garfield
SpouseHelen Matthews
Children2
Parents
RelativesHarry Augustus Garfield (brother)
James Rudolph Garfield (brother)
Faxon-Thomas Mansion, now the Hunter Museum of Art

Abram Garfield (November 21, 1872 – October 16, 1958) was an architect who practiced in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the youngest son of President James A. Garfield and Lucretia Rudolph Garfield. He designed prominent residences and other buildings. A number of his works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]

Early life

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Abram Garfield was born in Washington D.C.[2] In 1876 the family moved to what is now the James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, Ohio. Garfield received a Bachelor of Arts from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1893 and a Bachelor of Science in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts three years later. He lived at 9718 Lake Shore Boulevard in Bratenahl.[2]

Career

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He began work as an architect in 1897, and in 1898 formed Meade & Garfield with Frank Meade in Cleveland, Ohio; the firm was noted for its premier residential designs. When the partnership ended in 1905, Garfield opened his own firm. In 1926, he along with Rudolph Stanley-Brown, George R. Harris, and Alexander Robinson started an architectural practice. In 1935 it was renamed Garfield, Harris, Robinson and Schafer until Garfield’s death in 1958. The firm, which still exists, was known as Westlake, Reed, Leskosky Architects until 2016 when purchased by DLR group.

Garfield specialized in residential architecture, designing large houses in Shaker Heights and other Cleveland suburbs, but his work also included more modest houses for the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority and institutional projects such as schools and a hospital. Garfield served as chairman of the Cleveland Planning Commission from 1930 to 1942 and was a founder and first president of the Cleveland School of Architecture, which became part of Western Reserve University in 1941.[3] He was named a trustee of the university that year and two years later was made an honorary lifetime member of the board; he received an honorary doctorate from Western Reserve University in 1945. Garfield was also a director of the American Institute of Architects from 1919 to 1922 and served on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1925 to 1930, including as vice chairman from 1929 to 1930.[4] In 1949 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician. He lived in Bratenahl, Ohio.[5] Garfield married Helen Matthews and together they had two children, Edward W. and Mrs. William R. Hallaran.

Grave of Abram Garfield at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio

Garfield died on October 16, 1958, at his home in Cleveland. He was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.[6]

Works

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Pebble Hill Plantation

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b https://planning.clevelandohio.gov/dompdf/architectDomPrint.php?afil=299,298,174&archID=94
  3. ^ "Abram Garfield". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. July 16, 1997. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  4. ^ Thomas E. Luebke, ed., Civic Art: A Centennial History of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013): Appendix B, p. 544.
  5. ^ "Cleveland Architects Database: Abram Garfield". Cleveland City Planning Commission. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  6. ^ "Garfield is Dead; Son of President". The Cincinnati Enquirer. 1958-10-18. Retrieved 2022-01-19 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  7. ^ https://heightsobserver.org/read/2022/11/01/the-warnerracca-house
  8. ^ https://www.karen-kaler.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-harcourt-house/
  9. ^ Frederic M. Winship, "Sky's the limit (except for price) in luxury homes", Chicago Sun-Times, April 24, 1987.
  10. ^ Chester C. Bolton House (Casa Apava)[permanent dead link‍], Historic American Buildings Survey, Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service, Summer 1971.
  11. ^ Sandra Fleischman, "18 Baths, Beach for a Cool $70 Million", The Washington Post, January 29, 2005.
  12. ^ Isabella Geist, "Ron's $70 Million Sale", Forbes, November 5, 2004.
  13. ^ Palm Beach Daily News.com: "Casa Apava sells for $71.2 million", April 1, 2015.
  14. ^ "James A. Smith Bio". www.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  15. ^ "Kenyon College Virtual Tour". www.kenyon.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  16. ^ https://revfrankhughesjr.org/images/About_the_Organ_and_Morley_Music_Hall.pdf
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