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Archival Collections Portal > Avery Drawings & Archives Collections > Finding Aid: Warren & Wetmore architectural drawings and photographs
Warren & Wetmore architectural drawings and photographs,
1889-1938
Preferred Citation
Warren and Wetmore architectural drawings and photographs. Dept. of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
COinS Metadata
available (e.g., for Zotero).
Summary Information
At a Glance
| Avery ID: | D&A Warren & Wetmore View CLIO record |
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| Creator(s): | Warren & Wetmore. |
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| Title: | Warren & Wetmore architectural drawings and photographs,
1889-1938
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| Physical description: | .75 linear foot of papers, 3394 photographs, 332 drawings (30 portfolio boxes, 28 phase boxes, 10 clamshell boxes, 2 manuscript boxes, 1 flatfile drawer)
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| Language(s): |
In English.
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| Access: |
This collection is
available for use by qualified readers by appointment in the Archives and Drawings' Reading Room, Avery Architectural
and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University. Collections maintained in off-site storage will be retrieved with advance
notification only; for further details, please consult the Drawings & Archives staff. For further information and to make an
appointment, please call (212) 854-4110.
More information » |
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| Types of Materials in the Collection: | Correspondence,
typescript papers,
carbon typescript papers,
holograph papers,
printed papers,
photographic prints,
film negatives,
architectural reprographic prints,
and
mixed media drawings
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Arrangement
Arrangement
This material is arranged in five series: Project Records; Reference Files; Office Records; Professional Papers; and Personal Papers.
The arrangement of materials within each series is described at the beginning of each series inventory.
Return to top Description
Scope and Content
This collection contains architectural photographs, drawings and records related to the architectural projects and designs of Warren and Wetmore, principally
in the United States, but also representing commissions in Canada, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, the bulk of architectural drawings produced by the firm
are no longer extant. Additionally, it holds a variety of photographs and other records used as reference materials in the course of Warren and Wetmore's professional
work. Lastly, a small group of student and personal papers and photographs from Whitney Warren completes the collection.
Return to top Using the Collection
Access Restrictions
 This collection is
available for use by qualified readers by appointment in the Archives and Drawings' Reading Room, Avery Architectural
and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University. Collections maintained in off-site storage will be retrieved with advance
notification only; for further details, please consult the Drawings & Archives staff. For further information and to make an
appointment, please call (212) 854-4110.
Restrictions on Use
Columbia University is providing access to the materials
in the Library's collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including,
but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of Columbia University is strictly prohibited.
All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director,
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For additional guidance, see
Columbia University Libraries' publication policy.
In addition to permission from Columbia University, permission
of the copyright owner (if not Columbia University) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distributions, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal
assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item.
Columbia University makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.
Preferred Citation
Warren and Wetmore architectural drawings and photographs. Dept. of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
For Further InformationFor more information about using the collections and conducting research in the Department of Drawings & Archives, please see our FAQ. Return to top About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Finding aid written by Annemarie van Roessel, Mellon Project Archivist,
Dept. of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Annemarie van Roessel, Mellon Project Archivist, Dept. of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library,in 2006.
EAD instance generated by Annemarie van Roessel from MS Access database and MARC AMC record April 4, 2006.
Finding aid written in English.
CLIO ID: 3460596 View CLIO record Return to top Index Terms
The names and terms listed below are represented in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a consortial/union catalog offered by OCLC that allows users to search the holdings of multiple archives and libraries. All links open new windows.
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Return to top History / Biographical Note
Biographical Note
Architects Whitney Warren (1864-1943) and Charles D. Wetmore (1866-1941) are perhaps best known today for their monumental Beaux-Arts
Grand Central Terminal in New York City (1904-1912). Their practice, however, included a diverse catalog of building types and architectural styles
across the United States and internationally. Partners for more than three decades, their success was built on the far-reaching commercial and social
networks that grew from the rapid growth of American cities during the Gilded Age, with long-standing commissions from many of America’s most
prominent businessmen and families.
Educated in architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris between 1887 and 1894, Whitney Warren maintained a life-long devotion to European
classicism—especially in its French variants—and principles of Beaux-Arts planning. Shortly after returning from Paris, Warren’s competition entry to
design the Newport (Rhode Island) Country Club received first place, and his long career as an architect to New York’s society began in earnest.
With the subsequent commission for the New York Yacht Club's new headquarters in 1898, Warren invited Harvard-educated Charles Wetmore—lawyer,
businessman, and real estate developer—to establish a joint partnership to complete the club and to undertake other architectural projects. From 1898
until retiring in 1931, Warren and Wetmore received multiple commissions from members of their prominent familal and social circles, as well as from leading
hoteliers, transportation magnates, and developers, often sharing in the investment as stockholders.
In addition to Grand Central Terminal (in partnership with architects Reed & Stem) and the New York Yacht Club, among the firm’s most
significant commissions were expansions to the William K. Vanderbilt Estate, "Idle Hour," on Long Island; the Ritz, Vanderbilt, Ambassador and Biltmore hotels in Manhattan and across the
United States, Canada, and the Caribbean; opulent Manhattan townhouses for relatives of the Vanderbilts and Astors; elite apartment buildings on
Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue; country clubs and tennis and squash courts in Tuxedo Park, Long Island, South Carolina, and Massachusetts; and
expansive estates in suburban New Jersey, the Hudson River Valley, and on Long Island. Other major commercial and institutional commissions
included the Seamen’s Church Institute, Steinway Hall, the Heckscher building, the New Aeolian Hall, and the Chelsea Piers complex, all in Manhattan.
In the 1910s and 1920s, Warren & Wetmore were also deeply involved in designing railroad stations and terminals along the New York Central Line and
for various Canadian railroad lines, an outgrowth of their association with Reed & Stem. After World War I, Whitney Warren also received considerable
acclaim for his carefully conceived reconstruction of the war-damaged library for the University of Louvain in Belgium.
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