Richardson, H. H. (Henry Hobson), 1838-1886

Architect Henry Hobson Richardson was born and raised in Louisiana. He attended Harvard College (class of 1859) and was the second American to enroll in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Upon his return in 1866, he opened a small office in New York City in partnership with Charles Gambrill. In 1872 he received the design commission for Trinity Church in Boston and in 1874 he moved his home and office to Brookline to handle his growing practice in New England. The following years were to be the busiest and most successful years of his career until ill health caused his premature death in 1886 at the age of forty-seven. Richardson is known for his re-interpretation of French Romanesque architecture, called Richardson Romanesque.

The architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886) was born and raised in Louisiana. He attended Harvard College and was the second American to enroll in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Upon his return in 1866, he opened a small office in New York City in partnership with Charles Gambrill. In 1872 he received the design commission for Trinity Church in Boston and in 1874 he moved his home and office to Brookline to handle his growing practice in New England. The following years were to be the busiest and most successful years of his career until ill health caused his premature death in 1886 at the age of forty-seven. Richardson is known for his re-interpretation of French Romanesque architecture, called Richardson Romanesque.

Architect; Boston, Massachusetts.

Richardson was an American architect.

Henry Hobson Richardson was born at Priestly Plantation, Louisiana, on September 29, 1838. He studied at Harvard University where he decided to become an architect. Upon graduation in 1859 he attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later worked in the office of Théodore Labrouste. Richardson returned to the United States after the Civil War in 1865. In 1866 he was awarded his first commission, the Church of the Unity, in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1874 he moved his practice from New York to Boston and founded, where he designed residential buildings, library buildings, railroad stations, educational buildings, and commercial and civic structures. Among his renowned buildings are the Brattle Square Church (1870-72), and Trinity Church (1872-77) in Boston, Sever (1878-80) and Austin Hall (1880-84) at Harvard, Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail (1883-88) in Pittsburgh, the Glessner House in Chicago (1885-87), and the Crane Memorial Library in Quincy, Massachusetts (1880-82). Richardson died in Brookline, Massachusetts on April 27, 1886.

Architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886) was born and raised in Louisiana. He attended Harvard College and was the second American to enroll in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Upon his return in 1866, he opened a small office in New York City in partnership with Charles Gambrill. In 1872 he received the design commission for Trinity Church in Boston and in 1874 he moved his home and office to Brookline to handle his growing practice in New England. The following years were to be the busiest and most successful years of his career until ill health caused his premature death in 1886 at the age of forty-seven. Richardson is known for his re-interpretation of French Romanesque architecture, called Richardson Romanesque.