Walter Dabney Blair
Walter Dabney Blair | |
|---|---|
Grelen (near Orange, Virginia) | |
| Born | June 14, 1877 Amelia, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | January 11, 1953 (aged 75) Tarrytown, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Richmond College University of Virginia University of Pennsylvania École des Beaux-Arts |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Spouse(s) | Ethel Gould Elizabeth Hollister Frost |
Walter Dabney Blair (June 14, 1877 – January 11, 1953) was an American architect. Two of his buildings—Grelen, a Georgian Revival house near Orange, Virginia, and (with James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter Jr.) The Stahlman in Nashville, Tennessee—are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Lewis H. Blair House on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, designed by Blair for his father, is a contributing property to the Monument Avenue Historic District.
Early life
Blair was born on June 14, 1877, in Amelia, Virginia, near Richmond,[1][2] the son of Alice Wayles Harrison and Lewis Harvie Blair, a prominent businessman, author, and political thinker.[3] He attended Richmond College, the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, and the École des Beaux-Arts.[1]
Career
Blair taught Architectural Design at Cornell University in 1903–1904.[4] He designed several buildings on the campus of the University of Virginia[2] as well as the McIntire Public Library in Charlottesville.[5][6] Also in Virginia is Grelen, a Georgian Revival house near Orange, designed by Blair in 1935; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. Blair also designed the Warner Library in Tarrytown, New York, and the Edwin Gould Foundation building in New York City.[2]
One of his early projects is the Lewis H. Blair House on the historic Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, designed by Blair for his father. Built in 1913, the Colonial Revival house is the only building on the avenue with a monumental, two-story portico (a staple of Southern residential architecture).[7][8] The house (at 2327 Monument Avenue) is a contributing property to the Monument Avenue Historic District.
The McIntire Public Library in Charlottesville, "a diminutive jewel of a building,"[6] follows the tradition of Jeffersonian classicism. Blair's Warner Library in Tarrytown (where he resided) differs greatly from the many Carnegie libraries built during the same period across America, whose simplified design was guided by efficiency considerations.[9] His Neoclassical design incorporates intricate scrollwork, fifteen-foot windows, Ionic columns, Grecian figural urns flanking the entrance,[10] and an oculus in the lobby ceiling inspired by the Roman Pantheon.[11] Blair's other notable local work is the 1926 Italianate bathhouse at Kingsland Point Park in the neighboring Sleepy Hollow.[12][13]
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The Stahlman (Nashville, Tennessee)
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Warner Library (Tarrytown, New York)
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Bathhouse (Sleepy Hollow, New York)
With James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter Jr., he designed The Stahlman in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1906–1907.[2] The building is considered one of the city's first skyscrapers; its architectural design features a base composed of a Doric colonnade rising three floors.[14] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 as a contributing property to the Nashville Financial Historic District.[15]
Personal life and death
Blair was married twice. His first wife was Ethel Gould, sister of another prominent architect, Carl Frelinghuysen Gould, a former partner of Blair's in an architectural firm.[16] His second wife, Elizabeth Hollister Frost, was a poet. He resided in Tarrytown, New York, where he died on January 11, 1953.[17]
References
- ^ a b "W.D. Blair, Architect, Succumbs. He Was Native of Richmond". The Times Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. January 12, 1953. p. 13. Retrieved February 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d "Walter Dabney Blair". Chattanooga Daily Times. Chattanooga, Tennessee. January 12, 1953. p. 7. Retrieved February 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Lewis Harvie Blair papers, 1897-1914". Columbia University Libraries.
- ^ "Former Cornell Professor Dies". The Ithaca Journal. Ithaca, New York. January 12, 1953. p. 3. Retrieved February 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.comj.
- ^ "Our Building". The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
- ^ a b Anderson, Glaire D. (2015). "Walter Dabney Blair and the McIntire Public Library" (PDF). Magazine of Albemarle County History. 73.
- ^ "Monument Avenue: 2000, 2200, and 2300 Blocks". SAH ARCHIPEDIA / Society of Architectural Historians. June 18, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
- ^ "MONUMENT AVENUE HISTORIC DISTRICT". National Register of Historic Places Inventory. Archived from the original on December 7, 2025.
- ^ "Carnegie Library Architecture". Carnegie Libraries of California. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
- ^ "Warner Library (Tarrytown, N.Y.) · Architecture". Ancient and Modern Libraries: a Comparison. Archived from the original on December 28, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
- ^ "Warner Library (Tarrytown, N.Y.) - Collection Items". Ancient and Modern Libraries: a Comparison. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
- ^ "NPC1487 / Bathhouse at Kingsland Point Park [drawing)". Westchester County Archives.
- ^ "NPC5391 / Kingsland Point bathhouse (photograph)". Westchester County Archives.
- ^ "Stahlman Building in downtown Nashville, Tennesse". Nashville Public Library's Digital Collections. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
- ^ "Nomination: Nashville Financial Historic District". National Register of Historic Places Inventory. National Park Service. October 1, 2001. With accompanying pictures
- ^ "Gould Family Papers". Archives West / Orbis Cascade Alliance. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
- ^ "WALTER BLAIR, 75, ARGHITECT, IS DEAD; He Designed tile Edwin Gould Foundation Here and Warner Library in Tarrytown". The New York Times. January 12, 1953.