J. Cleaveland Cady

Josiah Cleaveland Cady (January 1837 – April 17, 1919) was an American architect known for his Romanesque Revival designs. He was also a founder of the American Institute of Architects.

Cady started his career as a draftsman for Town & Davis in New York City. He opened his Manhattan practice, J. Cleaveland Cady, Architect, in 1864. The firm became J. C. Cady & Company in 1882 and Cady, Berg & See in 1890. Cady's work was diverse, including residences, churches, colleges, libraries, museums, and railroad depots. His first major project was designing the Brooklyn Art Association's Brooklyn Academy of Design in 1869, with architect Henry Martyn Congdon.

Cady designed the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Opera House, and fifteen buildings at Yale University. Although much of his work centered around New York and New England, he was also the main architectural advisor for Berea College in Kentucky. Cady's designs include one National Historic Landmark and twelve buildings that are individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Early life Cady was born in Providence, Rhode Island in January 1837, to Lydia Smith Platner and Josiah Cady, a deacon who was president of the Rhode Island State Anti-Slavery Society. Josiah Cady died in 1853.

Cady attended Bacon Academy and Plainfield Academy, both in Connecticut. He attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut for one year in 1857, and took additional classes in 1860. At Trinity, he was a member of the Fraternity of Delta Psi (St. Anthony Hall).Meyer, H. L. G. Catalog of the Members of the Fraternity of Delta Psi Revised and Corrected to July 1906. New York: Fraternity of Delta Psi, 1906. p. 120. via Internet Archive However, he did not officially graduate.

Between 1857 and 1864, Cady pursued his studies in architecture in New York with an unknown German professor of architecture. He also studied watercolor painting with Alfred Fredericks.

Career Cady worked as a draftsman for Town & Davis in New York City. In 1857, he helped found the American Institute of Architects (AIA), although he did not join at the time. He became a member when he started working professionally in 1864. He was made an AIA Fellow in 1865. Cady gave a presentation on old Dutch farmhouses of colonial New Jersey to the AIA New York City chapter. He also published a paper on opera houses in the AIA journal.

By 1864, he opened his practice, J. Cleaveland Cady, Architect. He advertised that he could provide designs and plans for churches, cottages, public buildings, residences, schools, stores, and warehouses. The Brooklyn Union described Cady as "a young man of fine talents, of refined and cultivated taste, and profoundly zealous in his profession".

From 1864 to 1881, his offices were in the Trinity Building at 111 Broadway in Manhattan, which served as a studio for dozens of architects, providing opportunities for many collaborations. In 1864, he worked with associates Rider & Alden in Hartford, Connecticut. In May 1869, he was associated with architect Henry M. Cougdon.

In 1871, Milton See (1854–1920) joined his practice, followed by Louis DeCoppet Berg (1856–1945) in 1873. Both were just seventeen years old when they began working with Cady. In 1872, Bradford L. Gilbert began training under Cady; he later formed a successful national practice.

In 1880, Cady designed an elegant Old English double house at 1826 Massachusetts Avenue in the Northwest neighborhood of the District of Columbia for sisters Mrs. Katherine Miller and Mrs. Charlotte E. Hopkins. The Hopkins-Miller House was named after their husbands, Colonel Hopkins and Lieutenant Miller. The double house had the appearance of a single large mansion from the outside. It faced Pacific Circle (later Dupont Circle).Massachusetts Avenue BrochureHarper's New Monthly Magazine (1884-85)

In 1882, Cady formed the firm J. C. Cady & Company. In 1890, the firm became known as Cady, Berg & See. With formal training in Germany, Prussia, and Switzerland, Berg was probably the firm's structural and mechanical engineer. See was the chief technician, while Cady was the chief designer. Their offices were located at 31 East 17th Street in New York City. They were joined by student draftsman William S. Gregory (1865–1945) in 1892. The firm dissolved in 1909.

Cady and Gregory formed a partnership known as Cady & Gregory in 1909. They had offices at 6 West 23rd Street in New York City in 1913 and at 40 West 32nd Street in 1919. When Cady died, he left his share of the business to Gregory.

In 1920, Alexander Dana Noyes wrote, "In his professional career, J. Cleveland Cady was perhaps the embodiment of the effort of American architecture, fifty years ago, to find itself while cutting loose from the false and meretricious standards of the Second Empire."

Honors Trinity College presented Cady with an honorary M.A. in 1880, followed by an honorary LL.D. in 1905. Cady's architectural library of more than 400 volumes is housed in Watkinson Library at Trinity College. This is "one of the few intact architectural libraries of nineteenth-century America, allowing a rare glimpse into the working method of one of the era's major architectural firms.' In 1993, Trinity College hosted the exhibition "Forgotten Architect of the Gilded Age: Josiah Cleaveland Cady's Legacy" with a catalog by Kathleen A. Curran

Projects

Cultural buildings

Brooklyn Academy of Design Cady's first important commission was to build the Brooklyn Art Association's Brooklyn Academy of Design in 1889. For this project, he worked with architect Henry M. Cougdon, but there is no evidence that they worked together on other projects. They executed the stone building in high Victorian Gothic style in tones of brown, grey, and pink."Tudor City Historic District Designation Report". New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. 1988. p. 12. Retrieved April 17, 2022. Opening in 1872, the Brooklyn Academy of Design included exhibition space and studios for artists.

The building was pictured in The American Architect and Building News in January 1876. Architectural critic Montgomery Schuyler said that Cady's Brooklyn Academy of Design was one of the few successful examples of secular Gothic design.

Peabody Museum

Cady designed the original Peabody Museum of Natural History to house Yale University's mineral collection, fossils, and exhibits on zoology and geology. The Gothic style building was constructed between 1873 and 1876 from brown and Nova Scotia stone, as well as Philadelphia-pressed brick. However, only a portion of Cady's design was ever constructed. The museum was located at the corner of Elm and High Streets but was demolished in 1917.

Barron Library

Cady designed the Barron Library in Middlesex, New Jersey in 1877.Bischoff, C. Gerald (April 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Barron Library". National Park Service. pp. 1-3 This brownstone in Richardson Romanesque style has a Roman arch, a three-story tower, and stained-glass windows. This was likely the first time Cady used Richardsonian Romanesque style and is a restrained attempt because he wanted to blend the library into its rural background.

Metropolitan Opera House

Cady was the architect of the original Metropolitan Opera House, which opened in October 1883. To get this contract, the firm won a design contest, gaining the advantage because of its functional design, fireproof materials, and low construction costs. It also incorporated the newest engineering technologies, including electric lights, elevators, an iron cage for structural support, a sprinkler system for fire suppression, and a simple air conditioning system.Korom, Joseph J. American Skyscraper, 1850-1940: A Celebration of Height. Boston: Branden Books, 2008: 84-86. Accessed December 27, 2023. via Internet Archive Architect Joseph J. Korom notes that on this project, Cady was "a true architectural pioneer".

When completed, it seated 3,700 people and was the largest opera house in the world. Its four-story façade had matching seven-story towers with commercial establishments on the ground level, restaurants and ballrooms above, and apartments for bachelors in the upper levels—Korom calls this "an early and excellent example of a multi-use project". Its plans were published in The American Architect, February 16, 1884.

Cady said the Metropolitan Opera House had "a simple dignity that will not be tiresome or uninteresting as the years go by". Although its yellow brick and terracotta exterior was not particularly noteworthy, the Historic American Buildings Survey noted, "its interior placed it among the great opera houses of the world". Cady's original auditorium was destroyed by a fire on August 27, 1892; it was rebuilt by the architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings and was used until 1966. However, in 1939, the New York City Guide by the Federal Writers' Project noted, "The opera house was designed by J. C. Cady, a prominent architect of the day. That Mr. Cady was without experience in theater construction seemed to matter little; audiences ever since have paid for his mistakes, as but half the stage can be seen from the side seats of the balcony and family circle." The opera house was razed in January 1967.

American Museum of Natural History

Cady, Berg & See designed the main building of the American Museum of Natural History (1899) in New York City. The firm was selected through an invitation-only contest held in 1887. The museum's Romanesque Revival design was very open because of iron supports beneath the red granite façade. Running along the museum's West 77th Street entrance, this was the longest public building façade in New York City. It included black cherry window frames, elaborate cornices, cartouches, eagles, finials, wreaths, and a wideporte-cochère.Bernard, Joan Kelly. (2009-09-01). "Romanesque Revival." Natural History, Vol. 118, Issue 7. Accessed April 18, 2022, via Gale Joan Kelly Benard says, "the 77th Street façade has been hailed as one of the finest examples of Romanesque Revival architecture in New York City." Inside, the building reflected a new approach to museum design; it included spaces for public exhibitions and scholarly study.

Colleges Cady, Berg & See designed buildings for many college including Bellevue Medical School, Berea College, Trinity College, Wesleyan University, Williams College, and Yale University.Brief Biographies of American Architects Who Died Between 1897 and 1947. Transcribed from the American Art Annual by Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. Society of Architectural Historians. p. 20.

Trinity College At Trinity College, Cady designed Saint Anthony Hall (1878), a chapter house for the Fraternity of Delta Psi (St. Anthony Hall). Robert Habersham Coleman, a former classmate and fraternity brother of Cady, donated the funds to construct the chapter house. Architectural historian Kathleen A. Curran notes that Cady's Romanesque Revival fraternity house design departed "from the traditional 'tomb-like' structures of fraternities at other schools [and]...was more a cross between a house and fortress." The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in November 1985."Saint Anthony Hall". (May 9, 1985) National Register of Historic Places Digital Archive on NPGallery . Accessed March 15, 2024.

He also designed the Jarvis Hall of Science (1899) at Trinity, a simple Romanesque-style building with laboratories and classrooms that was demolished in the 1960s.

Yale University Cady designed more than fifteen buildings for Yale University, including the now demolished Dwight Hall (1885–1886), Berkeley Hall (1893–1894), White Hall (1893–1894), Pierson Hall (1896), Fayerweather Hall (1900–1901), Lampson Hall (1903), and Lyceum Hall (1903).