William Adams Delano

William Adams Delano (January 21, 1874 – January 12, 1960) was a prominent American architect most active in New York City and Long Island, known for his wealthy clients and his sense of humor.

Related Topics:
January 21 - 1874 - January 12 - 1960 - New York City - Long Island

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Delano attended Yale and met his longstanding partner Chester Holmes Aldrich at the office of Carrère and Hastings before the turn of the century. They formed their partnership in 1903 and almost immediately won commissions from the Rockefeller family, among others. Delano & Aldrich tended to adapt conservative Georgian and Federal architectural styles for their town homes, churches, schools, and a spate of social clubs for Astors, Vanderbils, and Whitneys.

Related Topics:
Yale - Chester Holmes Aldrich - Carrère and Hastings - Georgian - Federal

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Delano alone won the commission for the second-largest residence in the United States, "Oheka", overlooking Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island, New York for financier Otto Kahn. Built in 1921 in French chateau style, with gardens by Frederick Law Olmsted, Oheka ranges over 109,000 square feet (10,000 m²) and was staffed with 125 people. (The largest residence is the Biltmore Estate designed by Richard Morris Hunt.)

Related Topics:
Cold Spring Harbor - Long Island, New York - Otto Kahn - Frederick Law Olmsted - Biltmore Estate - Richard Morris Hunt

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Delano's irreverent sense of humor was subtly expressed in some his architectural details and friezes, such as bands of carved tortoises and hares, and backgammon club rooms ornamented like backgammon boards. At the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia Airport, built for Pan American Airways' transatlantic seaplane service in 1939 and the oldest such passenger air facility still in use, his Art Deco terra cotta friezes feature flying fish.

Related Topics:
Frieze - Tortoise - Hare - Backgammon - LaGuardia Airport - Pan American Airways - Seaplane - Art Deco - Terra cotta - Flying fish

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Aldrich died in 1940; Delano continued to practice almost until his own death in 1960.

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Buildings (all in New York City unless noted):

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• Barbey Building, 15 West 38th Street, 1909
• Kykuit, for John D. Rockefeller, Sleepy Hollow, New York, 1913
• St. Bernard's School, 98th Street, 1915
• Knickerbocker Club, 62nd and Fifth Avenue, 1915
• Colony Club, 62nd and Park Avenue, 1916
• Third Church of Christ, Scientist, Park Avenue at 63rd Street, 1924
• The Brook Club, 111 East 54th Avenue, 1925
• Chapin School, at 84th and East End Avenue, 1928
• Japanese Embassy, Washington, DC, 1931
• Union Club, 69th and Park Avenue, 1933
• Pan American Airways System Terminal Building at Dinner Key in Miami, Florida, 1933
• Marine Art Terminal at La Guardia Airport, 1940