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EDWARD LARRABEE BARNES (1915-2004)
Barnes was born in Chicago into a family he described as "incense-swinging High Episcopalians," consisting of Cecil Barnes, a lawyer, and Margaret Helen Ayer, recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for her novel Year of Grace. He graduated from Harvard in 1938 after studying English and Art History before switching to Architecture, then taught at his alma mater Milton Academy before returning to Harvard to study with Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. After a travelling scholarship, he graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1942 and served in the Navy during WWII. After the war he worked for Henry Dreyfuss in Los Angeles designing prototypes for mass-produced homes. In 1949 he founded Edward Larrabee Barnes Associates in Manhattan. During his long career, Barnes also taught at Harvard University, Pratt, and the University of Virginia.
In 1993 Barnes retired but continued as a consultant for Lee / Timchula Architects, founded by Barnes' lead partners, John M. Y. Lee and Michael Timchula. In 2007 Barnes was posthumously honored with the AIA Gold Medal. He also received the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture, the Harvard University 350th Anniversary Medal, and some 40 other awards. One of his favorite projects, the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle ME, won the AIA Twenty-five Year Award. Barnes' archives are Harvard. In 1944 he married Mary Elizabeth Coss, an architect who had worked with Alvar Aalto and at MOMA under Philip Johnson. They had one son, John Cecil Barnes, who also became an architect. Bio adapted from Wikipedia. Sources include the 1989 Barbara Koerble Thesis.
1947 - The Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation Prefabricated House, aka Fleet House, 325 Monterey Road, South Pasadena CA. Industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss invited Barnes to design a prefab house to be produced after WWII by the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, which produced over 10,000 B-24 bombers between 1941-1945. Vultee was looking for other ways to use its industrial facilities. A prototype one-bedroom design was created at the factory, and two- and three-bedroom models were actually built, but not in large numbers. Vultee sold this division in Downey CA to Southern California Homes. Their President, Reginald Fleet, moved the prototype house from the factory to the Monterey Road location. Sold to Rosemary West. Sold in 2006 to Francisco and Martha Santino.
1950 - The Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation Prefabricated House 2, 18 Sunview, San Anselmo CA. A second house designed by Dreyfuss and Barnes. Two-bedroom. Sold around 1951. Sold to Shannon Green, owner as of 2023.
1950 - The Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation Prefabricated House
3, next door to 18 Sunview, San Anselmo CA. Three-bedroom, plus an addition.
A second house designed by Dreyfuss and Barnes. Has been modified.
1950 - The Whitelaw (Whitie) and Joan Brandon Reid House, 73 West Patent Road, Bedford Hills NY. Reid was Editor of the NY Herald Tribune. Commissioned in 1949. Featured in Architectural Record. They divorced in 1959 and Whitelaw married Elizabeth Ann Brooks. Has been modified. Deeded around 2012 to Paris Realty Holdings LLC, allowing Elizabeth a life estate.
1951 - The Ted and Lucille Weiner House, 4900 Westridge Avenue, Fort Worth TX. 6.5 acres. It was the first Modernist house in North Texas, with lush gardens and waterfalls on the site. In 1960, the Weiners moved to Palm Springs but kept the property until 1971. Sold to Hugh Wolfe. Sold in 1972 to Clinton Wright who built twelve townhouses among the gardens starting in 1973. Sold to the Ard family, still owners as of 2021.
1951 - The Allen Buck House, aka Houseboat in the Fields, Wells Hill Road, Lakeville CT.
2.5 acres.
Featured in Architectural Record, October 1956. Built.
Destroyed at some point.
1952 - The Robert C. Osborn House, 392 Taconic Road, Salisbury CT. Published in Architectural Record, October 1956. Studio space was also designed in 1951, unsure if built. Barnes did renovation plans in the 1980s. He thought this was the best of his platform houses. Was a rental in 2013. Deeded to son Nicolas Courter-Osborn.
1952 - The Edward L. and Mary Barnes House, 205 Wood Road, Mount Kisco NY. Built by August Nelson; landscape design by James Fanning; HVAC by Benjamin Spivak. Featured in Architectural Record Houses of 1957; Architectural Record, October 1956. Sold in 1996 to Norman Selby and Melissa Vail, still owners as of 2022. 6000 sf addition in 2011 by Stamberg Aferiat. Photos by Ben Schnall.
1952 - The C. Paul and Janet O'Connell House, 11 Forest Street, Alpine NJ. Sold in 1972 to Monroe and Harriet Krasilovsky. Sold in 2006 to Michael Cacouris and Anne Ronan. Sold in 2017 to Cristina Haberman.
1953 - The Ted and Kathy Marsters House, 526 Maple Street, Litchfield CT. Featured in Architectural Record, October 1956. Includes a separate studio. Sold to Emily Swomley. Sold in 2016 to Andrew Fabricant.
1955 - 29 Quinn Road, Briarcliff Manor NY. Addition by Roger Pellaton. Status unknown.
1958 - The Donald Miller Jr. House, 301 Roaring Brook Road, Chappaqua NY. Featured in Architectural Record Houses of 1959. Structural engineer, William Atlas; HVAC, Benjamin Spivak; built by O'Brien and Kinkle; landscape design, Bye and Herrmann; interiors, Mary Barnes and Emily Malino. Sold in 1977 to Gabby and Louise Rosenfeld. Photos by Ben Schnall. Sold in 2013 to Kaiyuan Wang and Liannan Jin.
1958 - The El Monte Apartments, Hato Rey, San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Modernist, crescent-shaped apartment buildings were completed in two phases: first, the northern section was designed by architect Barnes in conjunction with local firm Reed Basora Menendez. Hideo Sasaki contributed the landscape design. The southern portion was designed by Torres, Beauchamp and Marvel with local landscape architect Hunter Randolph. Still standing as of 2020.
1958 - The John and Anne Straus House, 125 Eastwoods Road, Pound Ridge NY. 6800 sf. B/W photo by Charles Forberg. Sold in 2009 to Abby Simpson, still owner as of 2022.
1960 - The Dooneief House. Published in Architectural Record, November 1964. Unsure if built.
1962 - The Capitol Towers Apartments, 1500 7th Street, Sacramento CA. Designed in collaboration with Wurster, Bernardi and Emmons Architects and DeMars and Reay Architects. Barnes designed the low rise apartments, Wurster Bernardi and Emmons the high rise. Two-story frame and stucco apartments on the first floor opening onto private patios, second floor looks out in the other direction over common park space.
1962 - The Rockefeller House, St Barts, aka Caribbean House. Published in Architectural Record, November 1964. Project architect, Giovanni Pasanella. Unbuilt.
1962 - Consul Residence and Staff Housing, Tabriz, Iran. Published in AIA Journal, June 1962; Architectural Record, August 1967.
1962 - Freshman Dean's House, Yale University, New Haven CT. Published in Architectural Record, April 1962. Unbuilt. Project architect Giovanni Pasanella.
1962 - The St. Paul's Schools Dormitories, 325 Pleasant Street, Concord NH. Published in Architectural Record, June 1963.
1963 - The Helen Newberry Joy Residence for Women, Anthony Wayne Drive and West Kirby Street, Detroit MI. Located at Wayne State University. Designed in collaboration with Richard Moger Associates, Giovanni Pasanella, project architect, and Hildegarde Bergeim. Destroyed in 2004.
1963 - The John and Sage Cowles House, 725 6th Avenue North, Wayzata MN. Commissioned in 1959. Barnes did an addition and the site became the Spring Hill Conference Center. That was destroyed to become the Spring Hill Golf Club.
1963 - The Barklie McKee (Buzz) Henry Summer House, Blue Mountain Lake NY. First schemes for the Adirondack House, below. Featured in Progressive Architecture, January 1963; Architectural Record, November 1964. Unbuilt.
1963 - The Barklie McKee (Buzz) Henry Summer House 2, aka Adirondack House, Blue Mountain Lake, Hamilton County NY. Engineering by Severud Elstad Krueger. Project architect, Noel Yauch. Won a November 1965 Progressive Architecture Award. Status unknown.
1964 - The Samuel Barbour and Gian-Carlo Menotti Studios, aka Study for Two Composers, aka Capricorn, Haines Road, Mt Kisco NY. Published in Architectural Record, November 1964. Project architect, Giovanni Pasanella; built by O'Brien and Kinkel; structural engineer, Severud Elsted Krueger. Status unknown.
1964 - aka Middle Western Country House. Published in Architectural Record, November 1964. Associate architects, Cavin and Page; project architect, Hildegarde Bergeim; structural engineer, John Mascioni; mechanical engineers, Gausman and Moore; landscape architect, James Fanning; interiors, Benjamin Baldwin; built by Carl N. Peterson and Son; photos by Warren Reynolds. Status unknown.
1965 - The Andrew Rockefeller House, Greenwich CT. Designed with Hildegarde Bergeim. Won awards. Photo by Ezra Stoller. Status unknown.
1965 - The Righter Beach House, aka Beach House, Brickyard Road, Fishers Island NY. Siglinde Stern, project architect. 3400sf. Published in Architectural Record, November 1964. Separate guest house. Sold in 2003. Addition around 2008. Sold to Edmund N. Carpenter.Status unknown.
Around 1967 - The John D. Rockefeller Guest House, aka Fieldwood Farms, 835 Sleepy Hollow Road, Briarcliff Manor NY. Landscape design, Peter Rolland. George Large, project architect. A dark stained house in the woods with peaked roofs and triangular windows looking up to the trees. Status unknown.
1967 - The Rochester Institute of Technology Dormitories, Rochester NY. Designed in collaboration with Harry Weese, Hugh Stubbins, Kevin Roche, Lawrence Anderson, and Dan Kiley.
1967 - The Bennington College Fels, Noyes, and Sawtell Dormitories, 48, 88 and 124 3rd Street, North Bennington VT. Built into the slope so that their height would not dominate the original campus.
Around 1967 - aka Hilltop House, Greenwich CT. Featured in Architectural Record Houses of 1967. Structural engineers, Severud Associates; HVAC, Thomas Polise; built by August Nelson; landscape design, Peter Rolland. Status unknown.
Around 1968 - aka Woodland House, Chappaqua NY. Featured in Architectural Record Houses of 1968. Structural engineers, Severud Associates; HVAC, Thomas Polise; built by Louis E. Lee; landscape design, Peter Rolland; photos by ESTO. Status unknown.
1972 - The Volney (Turkey) Righter House, 125 David's Hill Road, Bedford Hills NY. 3400sf. 6 acres. Sold to Marsha Russell and Lee Tawes. Robert Siegel Architects did a 2500 sf addition of a master suite and study. Sold in 2014 to 125 David's Hill Road LLC (Allan Gordon).
1973 - The August Hecksher House, 223 Peabody Drive, Mount Desert Island ME. Commissioned in 1971. Built by Horace Bucklin; engineering by Severud. Featured in Architectural Record Houses of 1976; Architectural Record Vacation Houses of 1977. Top 3 photos by David Franzen. Sold in 2008 to Abby R. Simpson.
1975 - The Robert and Margaret McNamara House, 9 Azalea Lane, Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard MA. Designed with associates Bruce Fowle and Laurie Maurer. Sold in 1979 to John Belushi and Judith (Judy) Jacklin. Sold in 1996 to Ronald E. Nash and the 9 Azalea Lane Nominee Trust (John Belushi's brother, Jim Belushi).
1975 - The Ralph H. Meyer House, 15 Azalea Lane, Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard MA. Designed with associates Bruce Fowle and Laurie Maurer. Deeded to Marianne D. Meyer.
1975 - The David Ginsburg House, 1 Azalea Lane, Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard MA. Designed with associates Bruce Fowle and Laurie Maurer. Sold to Caryn Hammerman.
1981 - The Paul and Rachel (Bunny)
Mellon Estate Library, aka Oak Spring Garden Library, 1776 Loughborough
Lane, Upperville VA. Open by appointment.
1982 - The Breakers Condominiums, 1 South County Road, Palm Beach FL. Designed with associate architects John Lee and Thomas Czarnoski.
1983 - The Melba Davis Greenlee Whatley House, aka Greenlee House, 4608 Meadowood Road, Dallas TX. Designed with Armand Arvakian; photos by Niels Wheeler; interiors, Marguerite Theresa Green; built by Gene Campbell; lighting, Donald Bliss; structural engineer, Severud Perrone Szegezdy Stunn. Featured in Architectural Record Houses of 1984. Sold in 2001 to William and Catherine Rose.
1984 - The University of Virginia Gooch-Dillard Residence Halls, 527 Floyd Drive, Charlottesville VA. Renovated in 2017.
1986 - The Middlebury College Coffrin Hall Dormitory, 202 Freeman Way, Middlebury VT. Designed with John Lee and Daniel Hoffman.
1989 - The Deerfield Academy Dorm, Deerfield VA.
1989 - The Ved and Linn Cary Mehta House, 824 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro ME.
1990 - The David Rockefeller House, US-9, Livingston NY. Norman-style farmstead. Designed with associates Zehra Kuz and Amelie Rennolds.
Sources include: Architectural Record; The Edward Larrabee Barnes Collection at Harvard Library; Bergen County Clerk's Office.