Collections : [Avery Drawings & Archives]

The collection includes 55 architectural drawing prints (blue line, wash-off, and electroic static) and small group of papers including specifications, copy of a photograph of Wright on the site, and some statements and financial records. Additional creators in the collection include landscape architect David Lawson, Northwest Mill & Supply Corp., and Taliesin Associated Architects.

The collection provides primary documentation of the material design and construction of a mansioned commissioned by the lawyer A. Frank B. Chace and located at 5 Willard Place in Hudson, N.Y. Included are two versions of Croff's "General specifications for the enaction, construction and all requiste material.." (June 1874); two draft proposals and final 26 page contract, with detailed specs, for building the house made with Morris & O'Connor, of Rhinebeck, N.Y. (October 1874); 18 pieces of correspondence, both brief and detailed, from Croff to Chace, with one regarding his book and including a printed prospectus of it; a full run of payment receipts from builders Morris & O'Connor; and a small batch of bills for various materials relating to the house.

The architectural drawings found at "Natirar" at the time the property was acquired by Somerset County, in 2003, include those relating to the original designs by Guy Lowell and Henry J. Hardenbergh between 1910 and 1912, and those relating to the alterations and renovations made in the late 1940s under the direction of York and Sawyer. The drawings are organized by architect, which, in effect, also organizes the drawings by date ranges. Drawings that bear the names of various subcontractors have been organized by subcontractor but are filed with reference to the relevant principal architect. In addition to the drawings pertaining to "Natirar," the collection includes copies of three drawings by architect William Hanford Beers (1856-1932) of the "Gedney Farm" residence of Howard Willets and Mary Macy Willets at White Plains, New York, which was constructed circa 1898 (see photographs of the Willets residence in the July 1901 issue of The American Architect and Building News). William H. Beers' wife, Alice Macy, was a first cousin once removed to sisters Mary Macy Willets and Kate Macy Ladd.

Five drawings show proposed alterations to the house, and three drawings show cottages on the grounds, circa 1801-1804. Two plans of the grounds, 1820, one with proposed alterations, are also included.

This collection includes speeches, writings, and articles by and about Klaber; printed papers relating to the Federal Housing Adminsitration and housing design and planning in the United States; and a small group of photographs, drawings, and office records from Klaber's partnership with Ernest A. Grunsfeld, Jr. in Chicago during the 1920s.

Photographs and architectural drawings of Lienau's work, much of it in New York City and in New Jersey. Projects include the Gardner A. Sage Library for the General Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, N.J.; the Francis Cottenet Villa in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.; a house for Legrand Lockwood in South Norwalk, Conn., later owned by Mark Twain and now known as the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion; and the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences in Savannah, Ga. Also included are drawings of unidentified or unexecuted buildings; student drawings, and early European commissions; lecture notes, 1835-1837, from the Stadtische Gewerbeschule, Berlin; a partial list of of Lienau's work, 1848-1886; specifications; acounts; printed material; photographs, postcards, and prints showing various European buildings; clippings; certificates; typescripts of articles; and correspondence.

This collection documents the life and career of Edgar Allen Tafel: New York architect, Frank Lloyd Wright historian, and one of the original apprentices of the Taliesin Fellowship from 1932. The collection primarily documents Tafel's professional activities and his later independent architectural career which was most prominent from 1965-1985. The collection is made up of nine series: Personal Papers, Correspondence, Writings, Professional Papers, Office Records, Project Records, Photographs and Slides, Audio-Visual Material, and Printed Material.

The collection documents the design development and construction of the Randolph and Amalie Rothschild Residence in Baltimore, MD. The papers, collected by the owners, Randolph and Amalie Rothschild, consist primarily of correspondence, specifications, and floor plans and sketches by architect Percival Goodman. There is a significant amount of correspondence between the Rothschild's and Goodman regarding alterations to the design. This correspondence underscores the larger theme of client-architect relationships and its influence on the design process.

Papers consist primarily of Smith's files relating to his architectural work containing correspondence with clients, colleagues, contractors, suppliers, and others, with related bills, notes, receipts, accounts, estimates, specifications, time sheets, progress reports, and architectural drawings. Also, portrait photographs of young people (possibly classmates?) in Rochester, N.Y. and Evanston, Ill., circa late 19th century; a class roll card, 1901, for a class taught by Smith at the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, New York; a memo book, undated, containing miscellaneous accounts, sketches, memoranda; correspondence, 1890s, between Ella Smith (Smith's mother) and Lucien Smith and other family members, Rochester, N.Y., and Elmhurst, Ill.; account book, 1891-1902, of Mrs. H. V. (Ella) Smith, Rochester, N.Y.; calling cards, invitations, photographs, letters, bills, receipts, and other, miscellaneous personal documents; student drawings made by Smith when at Columbia University's School of Architecture; drawings for a proposed "academy of art and archaeology" in Rome, 1905-1906; and drawings for Malvina Hoffman's house and studio in New York City.