Walker & Gillette

Walker & Gillette

Company type	Architectural practice
Industry	Architecture
Founded	1906 in New York City, United States
Founder	Alexander Stewart Walker, Leon Narcisse Gillette
Defunct	1945
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Products	Architectural design services

Walker & Gillette was an architectural practice established in New York City by Alexander Stewart Walker (1876–1952) and Leon Narcisse Gillette (1878–1945), operating between 1906 and 1945.

Biographies

Alexander Stewart Walker hailed from Jersey City, New Jersey and completed his education at Harvard University in 1898. Leon Narcisse Gillette, born in Malden, Massachusetts, pursued studies at the University of Pennsylvania and later at the École des Beaux-Arts from 1901 to 1903. Prior to their collaboration, Gillette gained experience with architectural firms such as Howells & Stokes and Warren & Wetmore. Their professional partnership commenced in 1906.

Sybil Kane Walker, Alexander’s wife and a decorator by profession, contributed to several projects. Her familial ties to banker Grenville Kane and connections within Tuxedo Park’s upper class played a significant role in obtaining initial commissions. After Gillette passed away in 1945, Walker joined forces with Alfred Easton Poor, resulting in prominent works including the 1950 Parke-Bernet Galleries Building. Following Walker’s death in 1952, the firm transitioned into what became known as 'Swanke Hayden Connell'.

Company history

Walker & Gillette maintained a prolific output characterized by a wide range of architectural styles. Although most designs are credited to both partners, Gillette is particularly recognized for projects such as Grasslands Hospital in East View, various structures in White Plains and Venice, Florida, and a residential development in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Prior to 1920, the firm concentrated on upscale residential architecture—designing townhouses in New York City and grand suburban estates—for clientele including bank executives, industrial magnates, social elites, and heirs of railroad fortunes. The commissions in Tuxedo Park notably benefited from Walker’s family network; among these is the 1908 Mary E. Scofield residence which featured landscaping by Takeo Shiota. On Long Island, they were responsible for sixteen homes commissioned by distinguished figures like Irving Brokaw and Ralph Pulitzer. Their urban townhouse portfolio includes the elegant 1932 Regency-style William Goadby Loew residence on East 93rd Street.

The firm ventured into commercial architecture starting in 1921 with notable success. The New York Trust Company Bank at 100 Broadway marked the beginning of approximately a dozen neoclassical bank branches constructed throughout New York during the late 1920s. The 1927 National City Bank branch on Canal Street is among the most distinguished examples. Their portfolio expanded to include major skyscraper projects such as Providence’s Industrial Trust Tower—the tallest building in Rhode Island—and New York’s Fuller Building.

Civic projects include the 1938 enlargement of the New-York Historical Society on Central Park West, an exemplar of late Beaux-Arts design harmonizing with earlier work by York and Sawyer. In contrast to this traditional approach was their modernist Electrical Products Building for the 1939 New York World's Fair, which incorporated cutting-edge design elements to highlight emerging electrical appliances.

Notable works

• St. George's-by-the-River Episcopal Church, located in Rumson, New Jersey, commissioned by Mrs. Alice C. Strong as an English Gothic memorial during 1907–1908; cloister added in 1945.
• Residence at 35 East 69th Street, New York City, completed in 1910; currently operates as The Episcopal School nursery with two additional stories appended later.
• Manor house on the expansive 2000-acre Aknusti Estate in Delaware County, New York, designed for banker and equestrian Robert Livingston Gerry, Sr., featuring Olmsted Brothers landscaping from 1912 (damaged by fire in 1953; presently known as "Broadlands").
• Warren M. Salisbury estate in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, circa 1914; includes murals by realist artist Everett Shinn.
• Bingham-Hanna House with thirty-five rooms located in Cleveland, Ohio (1916–1919), complemented by Olmsted Brothers gardens; now part of the Western Reserve Historical Society.
• Residence at 52 East 69th Street, New York City, completed in 1917.
• Neo-Georgian style Henry P. Davison House at 690 Park Avenue (1917); currently serves as the Italian Consulate.
• Tudor-style Coe Hall within Planting Fields Arboretum designed for William Robertson Coe, constructed between 1918 and 1921.
• House for Thomas W. Lamont at 107 East 70th Street (1921); presently occupied by the Visiting Nurse Service of New York.
• Refurbishment of luxury liner SS Leviathan, undertaken during 1922–1923.
• Multiple public edifices within Venice, Florida’s planned community during the mid-1920s, notably including Hotel Venice.
• Residence of Charles E. Mitchell at 934 Fifth Avenue (1926), styled after a Roman palazzo; since 1952 it has housed the French Consulate.
• East River Savings Bank building situated at Amsterdam Avenue and 96th Street (1926–27; expanded during 1931–32); currently accommodates a CVS Pharmacy and private preschool.
• The Industrial Trust Tower in Providence stands as Rhode Island’s tallest structure since its completion in 1927.
• Collaborative thirteen-story apartment building at 2 East 70th Street with Rosario Candela (1927–1928).
• "Brookby," the John W. Blodgett Estate located in East Grand Rapids, Michigan (1928).
• Playland amusement park in Rye, New York opened its doors in 1928.
• Fuller Building at addresses 41-45 East 57th Street, New York City; completed in 1929 featuring sculptural work by Elie Nadelman.
• Caleb Bragg Estate situated in Montauk, New York (constructed in 1929).
• Westchester County Center located in White Plains, New York; completed in 1930.
• William Goadby Loew residence at 56 East 93rd Street built in 1931; formerly inhabited by Billy Rose and now home to the Spence School.
• United States Post Office constructed in Garden City, New York during 1936.
• Rear-projection Trans-Lux newsreel theater on Lexington Avenue and East 52nd Street developed with Thomas W. Lamb; completed in 1938.
• Stainless steel street-level updates for New York City's Empire Building carried out in 1938.
• Electrical Products Building designed for the now-demolished structure at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
• Jacob Riis Houses public housing development on Manhattan’s Lower East Side finished in 1949.
• Eighteen-story Roebling Building at 117 Liberty Street later demolished to make way for World Trade Center construction.
• Numerous commissions within Tuxedo Park include: "Sho-Chiku-Bai" (1908), Mary E. Scofield residence; "Cannon Hill" (1910), Spanish Mission style estate for Joseph Earl Stevens; Gothic Revival home for banker Charles E. Mitchell (1926); Ambrose Monell house addition (1910); "Boulder Point" expansion (1925); McVicker house addition circa 1926.
• Sandy Point Stables located in Portsmouth, Rhode Island commissioned by Reginald Vanderbilt and built in 1902.