Theophilus P. Chandler, Jr.

Theophilus P. Chandler, Jr.
Born 1845
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Died August 16, 1928 (age 83)
Nationality American
Occupation architect
Spouse(s) Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1851–1931)
Scott-Wanamaker townhouse, 2032 Walnut St., Philadelphia (1883-86, demolished 1981). The Jacobean Revival façade survives, with modern townhouses built behind it.

Theophilus Parsons Chandler, Jr. (1845 – August 16, 1928) was an American architect of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He spent his career at Philadelphia, and is best remembered for his churches and country houses. He founded the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania (1890), and served as its first head.

Life and career

Born in Boston, Chandler was educated at Harvard University and in the atelier of Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer in Paris. Upon returning from France, he was employed by several offices in his native Boston. Under the aegis of noted landscape architect Robert Morris Copeland, he relocated to Philadelphia in 1872, to work on development of the planned community of Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

Chandler married Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1851-1931) of the distinguished Delaware industrialist family on March 8, 1873. He designed houses or remodeling projects for several of her relatives, including alterations to the mansion that is now the Winterthur Museum.[1]

Chandler designed several of the original buildings for the Philadelphia Zoo, including the temporary North Gatehouse (1874–75, demolished after 1876), the Monkey House (1874–75, demolished 1898), the Eagle House (1874–75, demolished 1905), and the Bear Pits (1874–75, demolished 1977).[2]

Most noted for his ecclesiastical style, Chandler designed major urban churches, including Philadelphia's Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian), Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, Bethlehem Presbyterian Church; and Pittsburgh's First Presbyterian Church and Third Presbyterian Church. He also designed exquisitely detailed country churches, especially in the Philadelphia suburbs.

As founder and head of the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Architecture, Chandler essentially shaped the architectural climate in Philadelphia. He served as president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the AIA, and sat on the Board of Trustees of the Spring Garden Institute. He persuaded Warren P. Laird to move to Philadelphia to succeed him at Penn and develop a curriculum based on that of the École des Beaux-Arts. French architect Paul Cret, in turn, succeeded Laird.

Chandler was an early restoration architect, making often sympathetic additions to historic structures. He designed alterations to Independence Hall (1878, unbuilt), and doubled the width of John Haviland's 1838 Pennsylvania Fire Insurance Company (1902). The latter building was demolished in 1974, but its 4-story white-marble Egyptian-Revival façade stands at 508-10 Walnut Street in Philadelphia.

Chandler's papers, at the University of Pennsylvania Archives, include designs for furniture, a bridge, an elevated wire road (similar to a gondola), and his unsuccessful submission in the 1889 design competition for the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York.[3]

Furniture designed by Chandler was exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1976.[4] The first retrospective exhibition of his work, Theophilus P. Chandler Jr.: Portrait of an American Architect, was held at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia in 2010.[5]

Personal life

Chandler and his wife did not have any children. He was extremely active in the general Philadelphia community, holding memberships in the Union League, The Philadelphia Club, the Radnor Hunt Club, the Society of Mayflower Descendants, and the Sons of the American Revolution.[6]

He was an accomplished amateur painter. He rendered a self-portrait in 1909, which is in the collection of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia.[7]

Selected works

Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, 37th & Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia (1883-86)

Churches

"Stirling" (James Hervey Sternbergh mansion), Reading, Pennsylvania (1890–92)

Houses

New Castle County Court House, Wilmington, Delaware (1879-80, demolished 1915)

Other buildings and structures

See also

References

Notes

  1. Chandler Papers, from Winterthur Library
  2. Roberts, pp. 45-7.
  3. Theophilus P. Chandler Collection, at Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania
  4. Thomas, pp. 415-16.
  5. Chandler exhibition at Athenaeum of Philadelphia
  6. "Philadelphia Buildings, Chandler, Theophilus Parsons, Jr. (1845-1928) (written by Sandra L. Tatman)". Philadelphiabuildings.org. August 16, 1928. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  7. "Chandler, Theophilus Parsons, Jr. (self-portrait, courtesy of Athenaeum)". Philadelphiabuildings.org. August 16, 1928. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  8. Grace Memorial Church
  9. Christ Church, Ridley Park
  10. Church of the New Jerusalem, from Flickr
  11. Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, from HABS
  12. "Tabernacle United Church". Tabunited.org. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  13. Berean Presbyterian Church, from Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.
  14. "Church of St. Asaph". Saintasaphs.org. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  15. "Trinity Church". Trinity.episcopaldelaware.org. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  16. Church of St. Martin, from HABS
  17. "Third Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh". Thirdchurch.org. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  18. Roberts, p. 29
  19. "First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh". Fpcp.org. September 16, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  20. Christ Church Ithan
  21. Stonecliffe, from Bryn Mawr College
  22. Ingeborg, Moses King, Philadelphia and Notable Philadelphians (New York, 1901), p. 74. Photo caption: "The charmingly picturesque ivy-clad Elizabethan stone residence of the late William Simpson, Jr., of the venerable dry-goods house of Wm. Simpson, Sons & Co., president of Eddystone Mfg. Co., etc., in whose memory was built the beautiful stone Memorial Church of St. Paul at Overbrook. Theophilus P. Chandler, architect." From Bryn Mawr College
  23. Fox Hill, from Bryn Mawr College
  24. "detail". Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  25. Scott-Wanamaker townhouse, from HABS
  26. Belmont, from Flickr
  27. Rostrevor, from Bryn Mawr College
  28. George Burnham house, from HABS
  29. "The Historic Buildings of the Community Arts Center in Wallingford, Pennsylvania" (PDF). CommunityArtsCenter.org. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  30. Compton, from HABS
  31. St. Asaph's Rectory, from Lower Merion Historical Society
  32. "Stirling". Livingplaces.com. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  33. Hillsover, from HABS
  34. Langoma, from RedBubble
  35. Bear Pits, Philadelphia Zoo, from HABS
  36. John Thomas Scharf, History of Delaware: 1609-1888 (Philadelphia: L.J. Richards & Company, 1888), pp. 618-9
  37. Spring Garden Insurance Company, from HABS
  38. Hayes Manor
  39. Commercial Union Assurance Company, from HABS
  40. Gladstone Apartments from Bryn Mawr College
  41. Gladstone Hotel, from HABS
  42. North Philadelphia Station, from HABS
  43. Pennsylvania Fire Insurance Company, from HABS
  44. "Delaware County Bridge Inventory, Bridge #65, pp. D12-D13, April 2007" (PDF). Retrieved December 19, 2012.

Bibliography

External links

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