1 career
1.1 painting , etching
1.2 gardens
1.3 architecture , clients
early career
painting , etching
a marine etching platt s period after studied under stephen parrish
platt born in new york city, son of mary elizabeth (cheney) , john henry platt. platt trained landscape painter, , etcher stephen parrish in gloucester, massachusetts in 1880. attended national academy of design , art students league in new york, , later in paris académie julian, gustave boulanger , jules joseph lefebvre. @ paris salon of 1885 exhibited paintings , etchings , gained first audience. in decade 1880–1890 made hundreds of etchings of architecture , landscapes. received bronze medal @ paris exposition universelle of 1900.
gardens
a trip italy in 1892 in company of brother photograph extant renaissance gardens , villas led marked development in platt s aesthetic approach. platt published many of these images in influential book italian gardens (harper & brothers, 1894), outcome of 2 articles published in harper s new monthly magazine in summer of 1893. volume strong on surviving gardens of renaissance , baroque , made no attempt describe history or designers. well, influences of reginald blomfield s formal garden in england (1892) , gardens gertrude jekyll illustrated in country life further refined platt s style. (platt unaware of first history of italian gardens, w.p. tuckermann s thorough die gartenkunst der italienischen renaissance-zeit, berlin 1884.) impact of platt, , of edith wharton s italian villas , gardens (1904) can seen in switch among stylish americans country houses set in lawns shaped beds of annuals, swept drives , clumps of trees typical of 1885 houses in settings of gravel-lined forecourts, planted terracing, formal stairs , water features, herbaceous borders , pergolas typical of 20th century.
platt member of group gravitated cornish art colony formed around augustus saint-gaudens in cornish, new hampshire. own garden in cornish, made between 1892 , 1912, exemplifies new style, arts , crafts setting beaux-arts neo-georgian , colonial revival architecture.
architecture , clients
platt s 1918 freer gallery of art in washington, dc
platt designed grand country estate edith rockefeller mccormick @ villa turicum in lake forest, illinois (1912, demolished).
in 1907 designed townhouse sara delano roosevelt on east 65th street in new york, historic landmark, sara delano roosevelt memorial house. eleanor roosevelt called platt architect of great taste townhouse had made of every inch of space. building houses roosevelt house public policy institute @ hunter college.
in 1912 designed causeway , washington dc, neo-georgian house in extensive wooded landscape setting.
platt designed large manor house , grounds, built in 1915 in city of little falls, new york (extant, in private ownership) mr. j. judson gilbert, owner of gilbert knitting company , several other prosperous factories in mohawk valley region of upstate new york.
the mit endicott house in dedham, massachusetts platt-designed mansion built h. wendell endicott in 1934, in use today conference center massachusetts institute of technology.
beginning in 1906, platt had begun receive numerous commissions estate of vincent astor. platt turned professional in surveying large-scale projects sons of frederick law olmsted. received detailed planting plans fill borders ellen biddle shipman, whom had come know through gardening @ cornish, , whom had instructed in presentation drawings draftsman own office, sent grosse pointe, michigan plant 1 of designs.
his more visible public commissions include italianate palazzo designed smithsonian institution s freer gallery of art (1918) in washington, d.c. , campuses of university of illinois @ urbana-champaign (1822 , 1927), connecticut college, deerfield academy, , phillips academy andover, designed chapel , library , settings. fulfilled university of illinois s 1920s building program designing 11 buildings, many purposes, in georgian style, red brick, white wood , limestone trim, round , arched windows, , prominent gables, dormers, , chimneys. these included several buildings (1924-31) combining classrooms , offices, dormitory, gymnasiums, plus such landmarks main library, mckinley hospital, , president s house.
the italian renaissance styled russell a. alger house, @ 32 lakeshore drive, designed charles a. platt serves grosse pointe war memorial. platt designed lyme art association building in old lyme, connecticut.
he designed leader-news building in cleveland, ohio @ corner of superior , bond street (now east 6th street) reportedly fitted elevator cabs designed tiffany studios. building completed in 1912 , per architectural record, cleveland congratulated upon possession of 1 of handsomest , distinguished buildings in country. - h.d.c.
in 1919 became trustee of american academy in rome. became president of academy in 1928 , served until death. served on u.s. commission of fine arts 1916 1921, , vice chairman 1920 1921.
throughout life, platt maintained house , garden in cornish, new hampshire, , office , residence in manhattan. second wife, eleanor hardy bunker (widow of dennis miller bunker), whom platt married in 1893, platt had 5 children. among children william (1897–1984) , geoffrey (1905–1985), followed in father s footsteps , practiced architecture in new york city. platt died in cornish, new hampshire @ age of 72.
near end of 20th century of platt s surviving gardens in full maturity opened public including spectacular gardens @ gwinn estate in cleveland, ohio (designed warren manning , ellen biddle shipman).
his great-grandson actor oliver platt.
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