Avery Drawings & Archives Collections
 

Warren & Wetmore architectural drawings and photographs, 1889-1938

Summary Information

At a Glance

Bib ID 3460596 View CLIO record
Creator(s) Warren, Whitney, 1864-1943; Wetmore, Charles D., 1867-1941; Ording, C; Fowler, Ambrose; Foote, L. B. (Lewis Benjamin), 1873-1957; Underhill, Irving, -1960; Van Alen, William, 1883-1954; Nechodoma, Antonín, 1877-1928; Fischer, Sigurd, 1887-1981; Warren & Wetmore; Reed & Stem; Trost Studio; Wurts Brothers (Photographers : New York, N.Y.); George A. Fuller Company; Thompson-Starrett Co; McKim, Mead & White; Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts; Sloan & Robertson; Francis H. Bacon Company; École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts (France); Ritz-Carlton Hotels (Firm); New York Central Railroad Company
Title Warren & Wetmore architectural drawings and photographs, 1889-1938
Physical Description .75 linear feet of papers; 3394 photographs (3,394 photographs); 332 drawings (332 drawings); 30 portfolio boxes (30 portfolio boxes 28 phase boxes 10 clamshell boxes 2 manuscript boxes 1 flatfile drawer)
Language(s) English .
Access

This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.

Arrangement

Arrangement

This material is arranged in five series: Project Records; Reference Files; Office Records; Professional Papers; and Personal Papers. The arrangement of materials within each series is described at the beginning of each series inventory.

Description

Scope and Content

This collection contains architectural photographs, drawings and records related to the architectural projects and designs of Warren and Wetmore, principally in the United States, but also representing commissions in Canada, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, the bulk of architectural drawings produced by the firm are no longer extant. Additionally, it holds a variety of photographs and other records used as reference materials in the course of Warren and Wetmore's professional work. Lastly, a small group of student and personal papers and photographs from Whitney Warren completes the collection.

Using the Collection

Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Restrictions on Access

This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Columbia University is providing access to the materials in the Library's collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of Columbia University is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. In addition to permission from Columbia University, permission of the copyright owner (if not Columbia University) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distributions, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. Columbia University makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.

Preferred Citation

Warren and Wetmore architectural drawings and photographs, 1889-1938. Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. Drawings and Archives Collection. Columbia University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--This collection was a gift from heirs of Whitney Warren to the Avery Library in 1952. Several portraits of Whitney Warren were a gift of Mary Mathews Happy in 1986. Accession number--1952.001 and 1991.006.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Annemarie van Roessel, Mellon Project Archivist, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Drawings and Archives Collection, in 2006.

Revision Description

2006-04-06 File created.

2009-07-23 File revised.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form

Heading "CUL Archives:"
"Portal"
"CUL Collections:"
"CLIO"
"Nat'l / Int'l Archives:"
"ArchivedGRID"
Architectural reprographic prints Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Carbon typescript papers Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Correspondence Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Film negatives Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Holograph papers Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Mixed media works Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Photographic prints Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Photographic prints Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Printing paper Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
architectural drawings (visual works) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
typescripts Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID

Subject

Heading "CUL Archives:"
"Portal"
"CUL Collections:"
"CLIO"
"Nat'l / Int'l Archives:"
"ArchivedGRID"
908 Fifth Avenue (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Aeolian Hall (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Ambassador Hotel (Atlantic City, N.J.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Apartment houses -- New York (State) -- New York Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Architects -- United States Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Architectural photography Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Architecture -- Colorado -- Colorado Springs Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Architecture -- Manitoba -- Winnipeg Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Architecture -- Michigan -- Detroit Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Architecture -- New York (State) -- New York Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Architecture -- Québec (Province) -- Montréal Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Architecture -- Russia (Federation) -- Moscow Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Architecture, Domestic -- New York (State) -- New York Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Architecture, Domestic -- New York (State) -- Tuxedo Park Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Architecture, Domestic -- Puerto Rico Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Biltmore (Hotel : New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Broadmoor (Hotel : Colorado Springs, Colo.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Buildings -- New York (State) -- New York Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Catedral de La Habana Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Chanin Building (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Chelsea Piers (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Chrysler Building (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Church architecture -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Columbia County Courthouse (Hudson, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Commercial buildings -- New York (State) -- New York Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Commodore Hotel (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Detroit Terminal Station (Detroit, Mich.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Eagle Buildings (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
El Condado Trio (San Juan, P.R.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Elizabeth Arden Building (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Erlanger's Theatre (Organization : New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Gran Hotel Condado Vanderbilt (San Juan, P.R.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Grand Central Palace (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Grand Central Terminal (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Hotels (built public accommodations) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Hotels -- Colorado -- Colorado Springs Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Hotels -- New Jersey -- Atlantic City Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Hotels -- New York (State) -- New York Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Hotels -- Puerto Rico -- San Juan Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Moscow Railroad Terminal (Moscow, Soviet Union) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
New Aeolian Hall (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
New Theatre (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
New York Times Building (New York, N.Y. : 43rd Street) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
New York Yacht Club (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Prisons -- New York (State) -- New York Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Public buildings -- New York (State) -- Hudson Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Railroad stations -- United States Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Ritz-Carlton Hotel (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Seamen's Church Institute (New York, N.Y. : 1907-1960) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Seaside resorts -- Puerto Rico -- San Juan Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Shanghai Hotel (Shanghai, China) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Sing Sing Correctional Facility Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
St. James Theatre (Organization : New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
St. Paul's Cathedral (Saint Paul, Minn.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Stables -- New York (State) -- New York Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Steinway Hall (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Theaters -- New York (State) -- New York Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Transportation buildings -- New York (State) -- New York Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Transportation buildings -- Russia (Federation) -- Moscow Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Tuxedo Park (N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Université catholique de Louvain (1835-1969). Bibliothèque Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Warren, Whitney, 1864-1943 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Wetmore, Charles, 1887-1941 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Woodlawn Cemetery (New York, N.Y.). Hornblower Mausoleum Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

Architects Whitney Warren (1864-1943) and Charles D. Wetmore (1866-1941) are perhaps best known today for their monumental Beaux-Arts Grand Central Terminal in New York City (1904-1912). Their practice, however, included a diverse catalog of building types and architectural styles across the United States and internationally. Partners for more than three decades, their success was built on the far-reaching commercial and social networks that grew from the rapid growth of American cities during the Gilded Age, with long-standing commissions from many of America's most prominent businessmen and families. Educated in architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris between 1887 and 1894, Whitney Warren maintained a life-long devotion to European classicism, especially in its French variants, and principles of Beaux-Arts planning. Shortly after returning from Paris, Warren's competition entry to design the Newport (Rhode Island) Country Club received first place, and his long career as an architect to New York's society began in earnest. With the subsequent commission for the New York Yacht Club's new headquarters in 1898, Warren invited Harvard-educated Charles Wetmore--lawyer, businessman, and real estate developer--to establish a joint partnership to complete the club and to undertake other architectural projects. From 1898 until retiring in 1931, Warren and Wetmore received multiple commissions from members of their prominent familal and social circles, as well as from leading hoteliers, transportation magnates, and developers, often sharing in the investment as stockholders.

In addition to Grand Central Terminal (in partnership with architects Reed & Stem) and the New York Yacht Club, among the firm's most significant commissions were expansions to the William K. Vanderbilt Estate"Idle Hour" on Long Island; the Ritz, Vanderbilt, Ambassador and Biltmore hotels in Manhattan and across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean; opulent Manhattan townhouses for relatives of the Vanderbilts and Astors; elite apartment buildings on Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue; country clubs and tennis and squash courts in Tuxedo Park, Long Island, South Carolina, and Massachusetts; and expansive estates in suburban New Jersey, the Hudson River Valley, and on Long Island. Other major commercial and institutional commissions included the Seamen's Church Institute, Steinway Hall, the Heckscher building, the New Aeolian Hall, and the Chelsea Piers complex, all in Manhattan. In the 1910s and 1920s, Warren & Wetmore were also deeply involved in designing railroad stations and terminals along the New York Central Line and for various Canadian railroad lines, an outgrowth of their association with Reed & Stem. After World War I, Whitney Warren also received considerable acclaim for his carefully conceived reconstruction of the war-damaged library for the University of Louvain in Belgium.