Editing Calvert Vaux

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Short description|Architect and landscape designer (1824–95)}}
{{Infobox architect
| name = Calvert Vaux
| image = CVaux.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| birth_date = {{birth date|1824|12|20}}
| birth_place = [[London]], [[England]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1895|11|19|1824|12|20}}
| death_place = [[Brooklyn]], New York, U.S.
| spouse = Mary Swan McEntee
| children = Calvert<br>[[Downing Vaux|Downing]]<br>Helen<br>Julia
| nationality = British (at birth) and American (after naturalization in 1856).
| significant_projects = [[Central Park]]<br>[[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]]<br>[[Buffalo, New York parks system|Buffalo Parks System]]<br>[[Hudson River State Hospital]]<br>[[Samuel J. Tilden House]]<br>[[Downing Park (Newburgh, New York)|Downing Park]]<br>[[Rockwood Park, Saint John]]
| significant_buildings = [[City Club (Newburgh, New York)|Dr. William A. M. Culbert House]]<br>[[Beechwood (Astor mansion)|Daniel Parish House]]<br>[[Halsey Stevens House]]<br>[[W. E. Warren House]]<br>[[Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital|Sheppard Asylum]]<br>[[Ammadelle]]<br>[[Beaulieu House, Newport|Frederico Berreda House]]<br>[[Belvedere Castle]]<br>[[Olana]]<br>[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
| practice = 1850–1895
}}

'''Calvert Vaux''' [[Fellow of the American Institute of Architects|FAIA]] ({{IPAc-en|v|ɔ:|k|s}}; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American [[architect]] and [[landscape architect|landscape designer]]. He and his protégé [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] designed parks such as [[Central Park]] and [[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]] in New York City and the [[Delaware Park–Front Park System]] in [[Buffalo, New York]].

Vaux, on his own and in various partnerships, designed and created dozens of parks across the northeastern [[United States]], most famously in [[Manhattan]], [[Brooklyn]], and Buffalo in New York. He introduced new ideas about the significance of [[public park]]s in America during a hectic time of [[urbanization]]. This [[industrialization]] of the [[cityscape]] inspired Vaux to focus on the integration of buildings, bridges, and other forms of architecture into their natural surroundings. He favored naturalistic and curvilinear lines in his designs.

In addition to landscape architecture, Vaux was a highly-sought after architect until the 1870s, when his modes of design could not endure the country's return to [[Neoclassical architecture|classical forms]]. His partnership with [[Andrew Jackson Downing]], a major figure in [[horticulture]], landscape design, and domestic architecture, brought him from [[London]] to [[Newburgh, New York]], in 1850. There, Downing's praise of [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] and [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]] architecture contributed to Vaux's personal growth as a designer of homes and landscapes. After Downing's sudden death in 1852, Vaux was left with their assistant [[Frederick Clarke Withers]] to continue Downing's legacy. He left Newburgh in 1856 to grow his practice in New York City, where he began, received and completed commissions with Olmsted, Withers, and [[Jacob Wrey Mould]]. As a result, Vaux's name was frequently overshadowed by other designers, such as Olmsted, yet the contemporary American public still recognized his talents.

==Early life==
Born in [[London]] to a [[physician]], Vaux was baptized at [[St Benet Gracechurch]] on February 9, 1825. He trained as an apprentice under the architect [[Lewis Nockalls Cottingham]], a leader of the [[Gothic Revival]] movement interested in Tudor architecture.<ref>Kowsky, 15–16</ref> Vaux trained under Cottingham until the age of twenty-six, also befriending [[George Godwin]] and [[George Truefitt]] during his studies.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

==First partnership==
In 1850, Vaux exhibited a series of [[watercolor]] landscapes that he made while en route to the [[United States]] that caught the attention of [[Andrew Jackson Downing]], a noted landscape architect in [[Newburgh, New York]]. Rejected in his offer to [[Alexander Jackson Davis]] to form a partnership,  Downing traveled to London in search of a new architect who would complement his architectural vision. <ref>Kowsky, pp. 12–14, 23.</ref> He believed that architecture should be visually integrated into the surrounding landscape, and wanted to work with someone who was equally passionate. Vaux accepted the opportunity and subsequently moved to the United States. {{cn|date=December 2022}}

Vaux worked with Downing for two years and became a firm partner. Together, they designed many projects such as the [[White House]] grounds and the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] Vaux's work on the Smithsonian inspired him to write an article in 1852 for ''The Horticulturalist,'' of which Downing was the editor. In his publication, he argued that the government should recognize and support the arts. Shortly afterward, Downing died in a [[steamboat]] accident.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

==Vaux & Withers==
After Downing's death, Vaux gained control of the firm. As a partner, he hired [[Frederick Clarke Withers]], who was already working at the company.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.design.upenn.edu/architectural-archives/frederick-clarke-withers-collection-003|title = Architectural Archives &#124; Weitzman School}}</ref> In two separate periods of partnership, interrupted by the Civil War, their projects included multiple houses in Newburgh, the [[Hudson River State Hospital]], and the [[Jefferson Market Library|Jefferson Market Courthouse]]. 

==U.S. citizenship, affiliations, and publishing==
{{Unsourced|section|date=December 2022}}
In 1856, he gained U.S. citizenship and became identified with New York City's artistic community, “the guild,” joining the [[National Academy of Design]], as well as the [[Century Association|Century Club]]. 

In 1857, he became one of the founding members of the [[American Institute of Architects]]. 

{{anchor|Villas and Cottages}}
Also in 1857, Vaux published ''Villas and Cottages,'' which was an influential [[pattern book]] that determined the standards for “Victorian Gothic” architecture. 

These particular writings revealed his acknowledgment and tribute to [[John Ruskin|Ruskin]] and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], as well as to his former partner Downing. These people, among others, influenced him intellectually and in his design path.

==Collaboration with Olmsted==
{{Moresources|section|date=December 2022}}
[[File:New York City-Manhattan-Central Park (Gentry).jpg|thumb|New York City's [[Central Park]]]]
[[File:Olana, August 2015.jpg|thumb|[[Olana]], a collaboration with [[Frederic Church]] (1870–72)]]
In 1857, Vaux recruited [[Frederick Law Olmsted]], who had never before designed a landscape plan, to help with the Greensward Plan, which would become New York City's [[Central Park]]. They obtained the commission through the [[Greensward Plan]], an excellent presentation that drew upon Vaux's talents in landscape drawing to include before-and-after sketches of the site. Together, they fought many political battles to make sure their original design remained intact and was carried out. All of the built features of Central Park were of his design; [[Bethesda Terrace]] is a good example.

In 1865, Vaux and Olmsted founded Olmsted, Vaux and Co., which went on to design [[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]] and [[Fort Greene Park]] in [[Brooklyn]], and [[Morningside Park (New York City)|Morningside Park]] in [[Manhattan]]. In [[Chicago]], they planned one of the first suburbs for the [[Riverside, Illinois|Riverside Improvement Company]] in 1868. They also were commissioned to design a major park project in [[Buffalo, New York]], which included The Parade (now [[Martin Luther King, Jr. Park]]), The Park (now the [[Delaware Park-Front Park System|Delaware Park]]), and The Front (now simply [[Delaware Park-Front Park System|Front Park]]). 

Vaux designed many structures to beautify the parks, but most of these have been demolished. Vaux also designed a large Canadian city park in the city of [[Saint John, New Brunswick]] called [[Rockwood Park, Saint John|Rockwood Park]]. It is one of the largest of its kind in Canada. 

In 1871, the partners designed the grounds of the [[H. H. Richardson Complex|New York State Hospital for the Insane]] in Buffalo and the [[Hudson River State Hospital|Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane]] in [[Poughkeepsie (town), New York|Poughkeepsie]].

In 1872, Vaux dissolved the partnership and went on to form an architectural partnership with George K. Radford and [[Samuel Parsons]]. In that same year he completed work on [[Olana State Historic Site|Olana]], the home of artist [[Frederic Edwin Church]], who collaborated with Vaux on the mansion's design.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ryan|first=James Anthony|title=Frederic Church's Olana: Architecture and Landscape as Art|publisher=Black Dome Press|year=2011|isbn=978-1-883789-28-2|location=Hensonville, New York}}</ref>

Famous [[New York City]] buildings Vaux designed are the [[Samuel J. Tilden House]], and the original Ruskinian Gothic buildings, now largely invisible from exterior view, of the [[American Museum of Natural History]] and the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]. In addition to the New York buildings, Vaux also was the  architect for [[The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital]] in [[Towson, Maryland]].

Less familiar are twelve projects Vaux designed for the [[Children's Aid Society]] in partnership with Radford; the [[Fourteenth Ward Industrial School]] (1889), pp. 256-258 Mott Street, facing the churchyard of [[St. Patrick's Old Cathedral]],<ref>[http://www.nysonglines.com/mott.htm New York songlines.com: Mott Street]; [http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/the-masterpiece-next-door/a257d22de9ede0b66f1d108cc323b5f4 The Masterpiece next door: Fourteenth Ward Industrial School] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406104913/http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/the-masterpiece-next-door/a257d22de9ede0b66f1d108cc323b5f4 |date=April 6, 2012 }}</ref> and the Elizabeth Home for Girls (1892), 307 East 12th Street, both survive and are landmarked.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=2008-06-08 |title=A House of Refuge, With Stories to Tell |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/realestate/08scap.html |access-date=2023-02-09 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
[[File:Downing Park, Newburgh, NY - 1.JPG|thumb|[[Downing Park (Newburgh, New York)|Downing Park, Newburgh, NY]] (1889)]]
The last collaboration between Vaux and Olmsted was [[Downing Park (Newburgh, New York)|Downing Park]] in Newburgh, given to the memory of Downing. Divided into two sections, a hillside landscape and a meadow, the partners handled each differently, connecting them via paths. After Vaux's death, his son Downing completed the grounds, adding a [[Conservatory (greenhouse)|conservatory]] of his own design. [[John Charles Olmsted|John C. Olmstead]] completed his father's portion as he had become gravely ill and could not return to Newburgh.<ref>Kowsky, pp. 317–319</ref>

==Death==
On November 19, 1895, Vaux accidentally drowned in [[Gravesend, Brooklyn|Gravesend Bay]] in [[Brooklyn]] while visiting his son Downing. He is buried in [[Kingston, New York]]'s [[Montrepose Cemetery]]. In 1998, the city of New York dedicated [[Calvert Vaux Park]], situated in Gravesend overlooking the bay, to him.<ref>[http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11724 Calvert Vaux Park], [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]]. Accessed September 8, 2007.</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1854, Vaux married Mary Swan McEntee, the sister of [[Jervis McEntee]], a [[Hudson River School]] painter. They had two sons (Calvert and [[Downing Vaux|Downing)]] and two daughters (Helen and Julia).

== Selected architectural works ==

=== Downing & Vaux (1850–1852) ===
* [[Joel T. Headley House]], "Cedar Lawn," [[New Windsor, New York|New Windsor, NY]] (1850–51){{Multiple image
| image1            = Newport,Rhode Island.USA. - panoramio (14).jpg
| caption1          = Daniel Parish House, Newport, RI (1852)
| image2            = Warren House, Newburgh NY.jpg
| direction         = vertical
| caption2          = [[W. E. Warren House]], Newburgh, NY (1853)
| image3            = Ammadelle, 637 North Lamar Boulevard, Oxford (Lafayette County, Mississippi).jpg
| caption3          = [[Ammadelle]], Oxford, MS (1859–61)
}}
*Remodel of [[Warren Delano Jr.|Warren Delano]] House, "Algonac," [[Balmville, New York|Balmville, NY]] (1851)
* [[City Club (Newburgh, New York)|Dr. William A. M. Culbert House]], [[Newburgh, New York|Newburgh, NY]] (1851–52)
* William L. Findlay House, [[Newburgh, New York|Newburgh, NY]] (1851–52)
* [[Beechwood (Astor mansion)|Daniel Parish House]], [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport, RI]] (1852–53; 1855)
* Robert Dodge House, [[Washington, D.C.]] (1850–53)

==== Sole partner ====
*[[W. E. Warren House|William E. Warren House]], [[Newburgh, New York|Newburgh, NY]] (1853)
*[[Nathaniel Parker Willis]] House, "Idlewild," [[Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York|Cornwall on Hudson]], NY (1853)
*Remodel of [[Henry Winthrop Sargent]] House, "Wodenethe," [[Beacon, New York|Beacon, NY]] (1853)
*[[c:File:E._S._Hall_House.png|Edward S. Hall House]] (project), [[Middletown, Connecticut|Middletown, CT]] (1853)
*Lydig M. Hoyt House, "[[Margaret Lewis Norrie State Park|The Point]]," [[Staatsburg, New York|Staatsburg, NY]] (1855), independently
<ref>Kowsky, 28–42. The Culbert house remains ruined after a 1981 fire; the Findlay House no longer stands. </ref>

=== Vaux & Withers (1854–1856) ===
* James Walker Fowler House (project), [[Newburgh, New York|Newburgh, NY]] (c. 1855) 
* [[Halsey Stevens House|Halsey R. Stevens House]], [[Newburgh, New York|Newburgh, NY]] (1855)
* Bank of New York, [[New York City|New York, NY]] (1856)
*Leonard H. Lee Cottage, [[New Windsor, New York|New Windsor, NY]] (1856)
*Thomas Earle House, [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester, MA]] (1856) 
* John A. C. Gray House, [[New York City|New York, NY]] (1856–57)
<ref>Kowsky, 54–91. The Willis house still exists as a highly altered 1-story house, with Vaux's landscape eradicated. Wodenethe no longer stands, neither do the Bank of New York or Gray house. </ref>

=== Central Park structures (1857–1870) ===
* [[Bow Bridge (Central Park)|Bow Bridge]] (completed 1858), with [[Jacob Wrey Mould]]
* [[The Ramble and Lake|Ramble Arch]] (completed 1859)
* [[Bethesda Terrace and Fountain|Bethesda Terrace]] (built 1862–73), with Mould 
* [[Ballplayers House|Boys Play House]], (completed 1868)
* [[The Dairy]] (completed 1869)
* [[Belvedere Castle]] (built 1867–71), with Mould
<ref>Kowsky, 103–135, 189–94</ref>

=== Country houses (1856–1863) ===
* {{Multiple image
| image1            = Bethesda Terrace.png
| caption1          = [[Bethesda Terrace]], [[Central Park]], New York, NY (1862–73)
| image2            = Samuel J Tilden house 15 Gramercy Pk South jeh.JPG
| direction         = vertical
| caption2          = Remodel of Samuel J. Tilden House (1881–84)
| image3            = (King1893NYC) pg434 CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY. EAST-SIDE BOYS- LODGING-HOUSE AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, 287 EAST BROADWAY.jpg
| caption3          = East Side Boys' Lodging House and Industrial School, New York, NY (1879)
}}    [[c:File:Eugene_Dutilh_House.png|Eugene Dutilh House]], [[Garrison, New York|Garrison, NY]] (1857)
* Remodel of [[John Bigelow]] House, "[[The Squirrels (Highland Falls, New York)|The Squirrels]]," [[Highland Falls, New York|Highland Falls, NY]] (1857)
* Peter Chardon Brooks III House, "Point of Rocks," [[Medford, Massachusetts|Medford, MA]] (1859) 
* Thomas E. B. Pegues House, "[[Ammadelle]]," [[Oxford, Mississippi|Oxford, MS]] (1859–61) 
* [[Beaulieu House, Newport|Frederico Berreda House]], [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport, RI]] (1859–60)
*Francis Tomes House, Greenwich, CT (1861) <ref>{{Cite web|title=Tomes-Higgins House|url=https://christchurchgreenwich.org/buildingsgrounds-2/tomes-higgins/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122225154/https://christchurchgreenwich.org/buildingsgrounds-2/tomes-higgins/ |archive-date=November 22, 2021 }}</ref>
*Stephen B. Hammond House, "[[Ashcroft (Geneva, New York)|Ashcroft]]," [[Geneva, New York|Geneva, NY]] (1862) 
<ref>Kowsky, 141–48. The Brooks house no longer stands. The Berreda house has seen various alterations, chiefly the removal of a tower.  </ref>

=== Vaux, Withers & Co. (1863–1871) ===
* Landscape architecture with Olmsted, [[Gallaudet University]], [[Washington, D.C.|Washington, DC]] (1866) 
* Landscape architecture with Olmsted, [[Hudson River State Hospital]], [[Poughkeepsie, New York|Poughkeepsie, NY]] (1867)
* Civic planning and landscape design with Olmsted, [[Riverside, Illinois]] (1869)
* [https://michaelminn.net/cities/chicago/riverside/dore_cottage/index.html Dore Cottage], [[Riverside, Illinois]] (1869)
* Consulting, [[Frederic Edwin Church|Frederic E. Church]] House, "[[Olana State Historic Site|Olana]]," [[Hudson, New York|Hudson, NY]] (1870–72) 
* [[American Museum of Natural History]], [[New York City|New York, NY]] (1872–77), with Mould
* [[Grand Army of the Republic Hall (Worcester, Massachusetts)|George J. Bull House]], [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester, MA]] (1874–75) 
* Design for New York City Prison, "[[The Tombs|Tombs]]," (1874)
<ref>Kowsky, 198–251. The Museum of Natural History no longer stands. </ref>

=== Later career (1869–1889) ===
* [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], [[New York City|New York, NY]] (1874–1880), with Mould
* East Side Boys' Lodging House and Industrial School for [[Children's Aid Society]], [[New York City|New York, NY]] (1879)
* Raphael Pumpelly House, [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport, RI]] (1880)
* Garden, [[Grace Church (Manhattan)|Grace Church]], [[New York City|New York, NY]] (1881)
* Remodel of [[Samuel J. Tilden House]], [[New York City|New York, NY]] (1881–84) 
* [[Edwin Booth]] House, "Boothden," Middletown, RI (1883)
* Tompkins Square Lodging House and Industrial School, New York, NY (1885) 
* Canal Street Park, [[New York City|New York, NY]] (1887–88) 
* [[Columbus Park (Manhattan)|Mulberry Bend Park]], [[New York City|New York, NY]] (1895) 
* [[Rockwood Park (Saint John, New Brunswick)]] (1894) <ref>{{cite web |title=Rockwood Park |url=https://stonehammergeopark.com/geosites/rockwood-park/ |publisher=Stonehammer |access-date=24 April 2025}}</ref>
* [[Downing Park (Newburgh, New York)|Downing Park]], [[Newburgh, New York|Newburgh, NY]] (1889), with Olmsted
<ref>Kowsky, 261–319. The Pumpelly house no longer stands. </ref>

== Sources ==
* Kowsky, Francis R. ''Country, Park, & City: The Architecture and Life of Calvert Vaux''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. 

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.calvertvaux.org/ Calvert Vaux Preservation Alliance profile]
*[http://www.fredericklawolmsted.com/calvert_vaux.htm Olmsted profile]
* ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73830 Description of a plan for the improvement of the Central Park]'' (1858), [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] and Calvert Vaux. New York: The Aldine Press
{{Portal|Biography}}
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*{{Find a Grave|20972}}
{{commons category|Calvert Vaux}}
* {{Structurae|id=20005814|title=Gothic Arch #27 Bridge (Central Park)}}
* {{Structurae|id=20005812|title=Bow Bridge (Central Park)}}

{{Central Park}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaux, Calvert}}
[[Category:1824 births]]
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:Architects from London]]
[[Category:Architects from New York City]]
[[Category:American landscape and garden designers]]
[[Category:American landscape architects]]
[[Category:Burials at Montrepose Cemetery]]
[[Category:English emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Institute of Architects]]
[[Category:People from Kingston, New York]]
[[Category:Deaths by drowning in New York (state)]]