/ City Hall / Boards & Commissions / Cleveland Architects

Landmarks Commission

Cleveland Architects

Cleveland Architect Database

The Cleveland Architects Database is a listing of architects and master builders that have worked in Cleveland, since the 1820s and the buildings they designed here and abroad up to and including the 1970s. Sources include City of Cleveland Building Permits, professional publications including American Architect and Builder News, Inland Architect, Interstate Architect, the Ohio Architect and Builder, the Annals of Cleveland, the Plain Dealer, the Leader, the Press, Material Facts, the Bystander, and Cleveland Town Topics. Additional source material reviewed at the Cleveland Public Library Fine Arts Department, various books on Cleveland architecture, the American Institute of Architects Guide to Cleveland Architecture and a catalogue of architectural drawings maintained by the Western Reserve Historical Society were consulted. The Cleveland Necrology file maintained by the Cleveland Public Library, the United States Census, and Cleveland City Directories were reviewed in compiling accompanying biographies.

For this database, an architect is defined as anyone that identified himself or herself as an architect. Generally, these people had an office in the city or designed multiple structures here or in the immediate surrounding cities. This project began as a hobby by Robert Keiser over several years. Craig Bobby has researched many of the entries and donated photographs of those buildings. This is an ongoing project and will be updated on a regular basis. PLEASE NOTE: All entries have not been fully researched and require citations. Please confirm any unsourced entry

Architects

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X W Z
Birth / Established: March 17, 1884
Death / Dissolved: October 7, 1964

Biography

William R. Taylor was born in Cleveland and was educated at Western Reserve University and Case School of Applied Science. He was a member of the firms of Fulton and Taylor and Fulton, Taylor & Cahill. He was listed as a registered architect in the November 1940 Ohio Architect. He was a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity, the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, and Sleepy Hollow Country Club. He is buried in Lake View Cemetery.

Sources

Cleveland Necrology file October 4, 1964
Representative Clevelanders

Birth / Established: 1899
Death / Dissolved: 1901

Biography

Tenbush and Hill were an architectural firm that was founded in Duluth, Minnesota in 1899. The principles were Gerhard Tenbush and I. Vernon Hill.

Building Name Address Built Status
Endion Passenger Depot 15th Avenue East and South St, Duluth, MN 1899 Standing
Walter Turle House 2216 East Superior Street, Duluth, MN 1899 Standing
Commercial-Residential Building for the Superior Realty and Improvement Co. 10502-16 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1900 Demolished
St. Matthew Church 3256 Scranton Road, Cleveland, OH 1900 Standing
Apartment Building 1850 Superior Avenue NE, Cleveland, OH 1900-1 Standing
Apartment Building for Thomas Mulcare 1644 East 86th Street, Cleveland, OH 1901 Demolished
St. George Church 1401 East 21st Street, Cleveland, OH 1901 Demolished
Birth / Established: September 17, 1866
Death / Dissolved: February 22, 1933

Biography

Gerhard A. Tenbusch was born in Germany and came to America at the age of seventeen. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the 1890's he worked as a draftsman and then architect in Duluth, Minnesota. He was a partner with I. Vernon Hill by 1899. He moved to Cleveland in 1900, maintaining a relationship with Hill who remained in Duluth until 1901. Their offices were on the fourth floor of the Electric Building. After that firm dissolved in 1901, Tenbush moved his office to the Rose Building. Tenbusch specialized in church architecture in the early years of his career, later specializing in commercial design. Initially he worked as an architect and later entered real estate. He formed the Estates and Investment Company, which he headed for several years. He lived at 1854 East 79th Street and had an office in the Buckeye Building. He died at the age of sixty-seven and is buried in Calvary Cemetery.

Building Name Address Built Status
Henry Schuette Residence 330 West 6th Street, Appleton, WI 1890 Standing
John Fraser Residence 1602 Jefferson Street, Duluth, MN 1892 Standing
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart 201 West Fourth Street, Duluth, MN 1893-6 Standing
Episcopal Residence West Fourth Street, Duluth, MN 1893-6 Demolished
Apartment Building Giddings Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1901 Standing
Apartment Store Marcy Avenue & Stanley, Cleveland, OH 1901 Demolished
Catholic Church Sheridan, WY 1901 Unknown
Four Story Addition to Koch & Henkes Store Lorain Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1901 Demolished
Franciscans Church Wichita, KS 1901 Unknown
Frost Wire Fence Welland, ONT 1901 Standing
Residence for W. H. Heils Beechwood Street, Cleveland, OH 1901 Demolished
Smith Bedstead Company Lake Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1901 Standing
Swedish Lutheran Church 7505 Wade Park Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1901 Standing
St. Lawrence Church Union Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1902 Demolished
John Stuber Residence 1821 East 79th Street, Cleveland, OH 1903 Demolished
St. Paul Croatian Church 1369 East 40th Street, Cleveland, OH 1903 Standing
St. Paul Parish House 1369 East 40th Street, Cleveland, OH 1903 Standing
Apartment Building East Madison Near Hough, Cleveland, OH 1905 Demolished
Apartment Building for David Feder East 79th Near Wade Park, Cleveland, OH 1905 Demolished
Remodeled House and Terrace E. Madison and LaGrange, Cleveland, OH 1905 Demolished
Buckeye Building 2084 East 4th Street, Cleveland, OH 1906 Standing
Commercial Building for Koch and Henke Lorain Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1906 Demolished
Tenements and Stores for J. B. Gebhardt Woodland Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1906-7 Demolished
Prospect Building 1040 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1910 Standing
Six Story Office Building for Union Realty and Investment Company (Union Building) 1836 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1913-4 Standing
Advance Building 1510 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1915 Demolished

Sources

"Realty Dealer Dies"; Plain Dealer; 2.23.1933
Cleveland City Directories
Interstate 3.17.1900
News 2.23.1933
Press 2.23.1933
Image Source(s): Craig Bobby

Birth / Established: November 8, 1876
Death / Dissolved: June 18, 1973

Biography

J. William Thomas was born in West Pittston, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Architecture where he was a roommate with Carl Howell. After graduation he went to work in the New York office of Cass Gilbert. In 1908 he formed the partnership with Carl Howell in Columbus. Thomas continued in practice under his own name following the death of Howell in 1930. Thomas originally lived in Shaker Heights, moving to Hudson in 1941. He was a member of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association and a president of the Cleveland chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He was listed as a registered architect in the November 1940 Ohio Architect with offices at 3868 Carnegie Avenue. He retired in 1955. In a 1964 interview with Richard Campen, he said that the new buildings in Cleveland - the Erieview Tower, the East Ohio Building and the Illuminating Building, were engineering, not architecture, and that they disturbed him. He predicted that they would be obsolete in ten years.

Sources

Campen, Richard It's Engineering, Not Architecture : J. William Thomas Reminisces and Questions Modern Design Plain Dealer 15 November
Cleveland Necrology file
Obituary J.William Thomas, 96, Dies: was architect Plain Dealer June 20, 1973

Birth / Established: April 18, 1868
Death / Dissolved: December 28, 1946

Biography

Lewis W. Thomas was an active Cleveland architect from 1903 to 1917. He was a partner with Edward A. Richardson in 1903 and then was in business by himself. In 1905 he lived in the Pelton Apartments in Tremont and later moved to Warren Road in Lakewood. He left Cleveland in 1917. He was living in Flint, Michigan in the 1920 and 1930 censuses.

Building Name Address Built Status
Lakewood High School Franklin Boulevard, Lakewood, OH 1904 Demolished
Storage Building Euclid and Olive, Cleveland, OH 1906 Demolished
Miles Theater 911-9 Huron Road, Cleveland, OH 1913 Demolished

Sources

Cleveland City Directories
Cleveland City Directories

Birth / Established: November 8, 1867
Death / Dissolved: May 13, 1931

Biography

Active in Cleveland 1891-1898 as a draftsman and architect per the Cleveland City Directories. The 1900 census shows him in New York City. He later moved to New Jersey. He had relocated to Los Angeles, California by 1912 and was a draftsman for the firm of Parkinson and Bergstrom. Later for R.D. Farquhar. Also listed as Edwin C. He was married to Dr. Lillian Ray Titcomb who was elected president of the Women's University Club of Los Angeles in 1923. Mrs. Titcomb received the M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins in 1908.

Building Name Address Built Status
Residence ffor William Van Tine & William Cleminshaw 2349 East 87th Street, Cleveland, OH 1891 Demolished
William F. Bulkeley Residence 2231 Chestnut Hills Road, Cleveland, OH 1895 Standing
Donaldson Residence and Studio 4960 Melrose Hill, Los Angeles, CA 1921 Standing
Building Name Address Built Status
Christ Protestant Episcopal Church 10808 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1909 Standing
Birth / Established: September 15, 1864
Death / Dissolved: June 13, 1924

Biography

Charles Edmund Tousley was born in Brunswick and moved to the Village of Brooklyn Centre. In his early career he was the editor of the "Cuyahogan." He later became a draftsman for George J. Hardway. He and Hardway were the editors and publishers of the "American Builder," a Cleveland-based publication that chronicled building activity in the city. Early in his career as an architect, he designed several homes along Archwood and Denison Avenues in the Brooklyn Centre neighborhood. He later was the architect for several Cleveland Telephone Company buildings, apartment buildings, and terraces. From Brooklyn Centre he moved to the east side, where he lived on East 55th Street and East 61st Street, before moving to Elbur Avenue in Lakewood. He died of Bright's Disease on June 13, 1924, and is buried in Royalton Cemetery.

Building Name Address Built Status
Cleveland Telephone Company 2016 West 65th Street , Cleveland, OH n.d. Demolished
Store Additions for Auld & Couger 500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1894 Demolished
George Zottman Residence 2128 West 100th Street, Cleveland, OH 1895 Standing
Residence for Ebeneezer Adams 7511 Franklin Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1895 Standing
Stephen Ashby Residence 7517 Franklin Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1895 Demolished
Weldon Davis Residence 3515 Archwood Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1895 Standing
Addition to Archwood Avenue Congregational Church 2704 Archwood Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1896 Demolished
Stable for William Grief 11835 Edgewater Drive, Cleveland, OH 1896 Standing
Commercial-Residential Building for Adam Kroehle 3829-33 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 1897 Demolished
Nancy Tousley Residence 3201 Archwood Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1897 Standing
Residence 2804 Archwood Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1897 Standing
Cleveland City Mission Society Church 9902-6 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1898 Standing
Alonzo E. Hyre Residence 3325 Archwood Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1899 Standing
Cleveland Telephone Company 3026 Scranton Road, Cleveland, OH 1899 Standing
Cleveland Telephone Company 6133-7 Broadway, Cleveland, OH 1899 Standing
Dr. George Farnsworth Residence 3219 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1899 Standing
Gustave Kroehle Residence 3303 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1899 Standing
Residence Addition for D. Auld Jr. 7029 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1899 Demolished
Residence for William Stevens 1773-5 East 20th Street, Cleveland, OH 1899 Demolished
Barn for Cleveland Telephone Company 1949 East 90th Street, Cleveland, OH 1900 Demolished
Cleveland Telephone Company 2136 East 19th Street, Cleveland, OH 1900 Demolished
Apartment Building for Ashby & Turnbull 3543 Scranton Road, Cleveland, OH 1901 Demolished
Apartment Building for P. J. Turnbull 7512 Franklin Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 1901 Standing
Cleveland Disciples Union Church 2026 West 50th Street, Cleveland, OH 1901 Standing
William C. Keyser Residence 3006 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1901 Standing
Cleveland Nickel Works West 67th Street, Cleveland, OH 1903 Demolished
Apartment Building for Frank Hohlfelder 3107 West 14th Street, Cleveland, OH 1904 Demolished
Commercial-Residential Building Pearl & Archwood, Cleveland, OH 1904 Unbuilt
First Baptist Church 235 Woodlawn Avenue, Bucyrus, OH 1904 Standing
Guernsey Apartment Building built for Ebeneezer.E. Ashby 1567-77 West 29th Street, Cleveland, OH 1904 Standing
H. H. Pratt Residence Unknown 1904 Unknown
Apartment Building for Dr. Corlett East19th Street, Cleveland, OH 1905 Demolished
Thomas Callaghan Residence Jennings Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1905 Demolished
Dr. William Ebersole Residence 1894 Roxbury Road, East Cleveland, OH 1906 Demolished
Residence for Weldon Davis 3100 Archwood Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1906 Standing
Sabina Terrace for Ebenezer Ashby 4401-17 Franklin Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 1906 Standing
Terrace for Ebenezer Ashby and Amelia Sparrow 4603-25 Franklin Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 1906 Standing
Alteration to Mary Deland Residence 3815 West 33rd Street, Cleveland, OH 1907 Demolished
Mission House for Presbyterian Society Lake Chautauqua, NY 1907 Unknown
Office for T. A. Rodefer Bellaire, OH 1907 Unknown
Residence for Dr. Follansbee Bedford, OH 1907 Unknown
F. E. Wardell Residence 2600 Norfolk Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 1908 Standing
Giffhorn Terrace for Ernest Giffhorn 13732-40 Euclid Avenue, East Cleveland, OH 1908 Standing
Residence for F. Hennessey Cleveland Heights, OH 1917 Unknown
Residence for Hazel Hennessey Lake Avenue and Erie Cliff Drive, Lakewood, OH 1917 Demolished

Sources

Cleveland City Directories
Cleveland Necrology file
Men of Ohio in Nineteen Hundred p70
Image Source(s): Craig Bobby

Birth / Established: 1955
Death / Dissolved: 1970
Building Name Address Built Status
Willoughby Methodist Church Parsonage 15 East Spaulding Street, Willoughby, OH 1955 Unknown
Bedford YMCA 460 Northfield Boulevard, Bedford, OH 1956 Standing
Esst Cleveland Savings and Loan 5816 Mayfield Road, Mayfield Heights, OH 1956 Demolished
Hillcrest YMCA 5000 Mayfield Road, South Euclid, OH 1956 Standing
Mentor Plains Methodist Church 7271 Lake Shore Boulevard, Mentor, OH 1956 Standing
Parma South Presbyterian Church 6155 Parma Road, Parma Heights, OH 1956 Standing
YMCA Building East Cleveland, OH 1956 Unknown
Cleveland Pearl Road Church (Exterior) 4200 Pearl Road, Cleveland, OH 1957 Standing
Faith Lutheran Church Educational Wing 16511 Hilliard Road, Lakewood, OH 1957 Standing
Westlake Christian Church 25800 Hilliard Boulevard, Westlake, OH 1957 Standing
Shaker Square Beverages at Severance Center 3480 Mayfield Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 1963 Unknown
Firest Methodist Episcopal Church Remodel 3000 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1965 Standing
Tritity Cathedral Old Hall Remodel 2200 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1965 Standing
Hough Salvation Army 6000 Hough Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1969 Standing
Birth / Established: January 23, 1889
Death / Dissolved: February 24, 1936

Biography

Bloodgood Tuttle was born in Chicago and was educated at the University of Chicago. He began his practice in Detroit and moved to Cleveland in 1920. He was retained by the Van Sweringen Brothers to build two groups of demonstration homes in Shaker Heights, one group of five on Van Aken near Southington Road and another group of four on Van Aken west of Parkland Drive. He lived at 1944 East 75th Street. He died in Mt. Sinai Hospital of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Building Name Address Built Status
David R. Jones Residence 10416 Lake Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1922 Standing
Residence 18850 South Woodland Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1923 Standing
St. Francis Chapel at John Carroll University Washington Boulevard, University Heights, OH 1923 Unbuilt
Harold Alexander Residence 18850 South Woodland Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1923-4 Standing
Fairmount Presbyterian Church 2757 Fairmount Boulevard, Cleveland Heights, OH 1924 Standing
Residence 18405 Van Aken Boulevard, Shaker Heights, OH 1924 Standing
Residence 18419 Van Aken Boulevard, Shaker Heights, OH 1924 Standing
Samuel Hartman Residence 2543 Euclid Heights Boulevard, Cleveland Heights, OH 1924 Demolished
William F. Gray Residence 16650 South Woodland Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1924-5 Standing
Fred Fishback Residence 19100 South Woodland Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1925-6 Standing
Midland County Courthouse 301 West Main Street, Midland, MI 1925-6 Standing
James Murray Residence 1335 Yellowstone Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 1926 Standing
Residence Warrington Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1927 Standing
William Brownlee Alexander Residence 18585 Parkland Drive, Shaker Heights, OH 1927-8 Standing
Herman Hersch Residence South Moreland and Onaway, Shaker Heights, OH 1929 Standing
Kroger Warehouse 3105 East 55th Street, Cleveland, OH 1929 Standing
Residence St. James Parkway & Clarkson Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 1929 Standing
Residence 3624 Glenallen Drive, Cleveland Heights, OH 1930 Standing
Sterling W. Alderfer Residence 114 Ely Road, Akron, OH 1930 Standing
Bert Kent Residence 2712 East Overlook Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 1936 Standing
Krieger Office Building Unknown n.d. Unknown

Sources

Campen, Richard - Distinguished Homes of Shaker Heights
Cleveland City Directories
Cleveland Necrology file
Obituary - Plain Dealer February 24, 1936 2:3
Withey and Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects
Image Source(s): Craig Bobby