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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 4324
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 10:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Charles Platt is considered to be one of the most underrated architects in American history. He was mainly known for his stunning villas and beautiful gardens. Many are unaware that he designed several works in the Detroit area besides the Alger estate (The Moorings). Most of his residential works were in the Italian Renaissance Style.

His initial projects in Detroit were through his relationship with Charles Lang Freer. He met Freer in Cornish, New Hampshire through famed Tonalist painter Thomas W. Dewing. Hecker already had a good relationship with the “New York gang” of Stanford White. Platt simply added to the mix.

Freer first commissioned Platt in the summer of 1897 to create a plan for the development of farmland. It was to have 300 lots along with a private club and central parkland. It was to be one of the finest residential developments in the country. The project would have also has a casino pavilion, basins, and malls (not shopping malls).

Hecker’s fortune took a blow during 1898 and the plan was put on hold. The project was called LaSalle Gardens South and it was supposedly “south” of Detroit. Had LaSalle gardens South been completed, Detroit would look much different than it does today.

-Freer supplied the grading and planting plan for Colonel Hecker’s mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery. The tomb itself was designed by Stanford White.

-In 1902, Freer commissioned Platt to design a verandah and later, a garden. Albert Kahn oversaw this project. The walled fountain was Freer’s personal gift to the club.

-In 1907 Platt was commissioned to design a home in Indian Village for Allen F. Edwards. It is listed at 776 Seminole Avenue.

-In 1927, Platt was once again hired by Allen Edwards to design a mansion at 99 Lothrop, in Grosse Pointe Farms. The project cost roughly $2 million and Platt brought it Ellen Shipman for the landscaping.

Other Michigan connections include the Freer Gallery in DC, and the McMillan Memorial Fountain/Park in DC. A statue was commissioned for the project by famed sculptor Herbert Adams. Please not that the park was redeveloped when the reservoir was enlarged and the statue is now in storage.

-Platt also designed the Clark Lombard Ring estate in Saginaw. It is now the Saginaw Art Museum.

Charles Platt biography

Saginaw Art Museum

Great book on Platt

JSTOR Article (subscription).

Link to AIW’s great site w/ pic

Freer Gallery

Rockefeller Estate

Roosevelt Mansion
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 4335
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 3:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I also read that he may have done work in Ontario, but I cannot verify this.
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Jjaba
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Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5298
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 4:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wonderful Patrick. Some real scholarship here.

jjaba adds that Charles Platt designed the Platt Gardens, overlooking Boise, Idaho from the Union Pacific RR Station done in 1925, also by Platt.

Thanks.
jjaba.
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Neilr
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Username: Neilr

Post Number: 498
Registered: 06-2005
Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 4:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

As a part of their American Architect Series, Acanthus Press published The Architecture of Charles A. Platt. I have not gotten it yet; but every book in the series that I do have is first rate.

One of my favorite apartments by Platt is The Astor Court on Broadway and 90th Street, NYC. The building is especially know for its very large, very grand, intact cornice.

Astor Court

www.cityrealty.com

(Message edited by Neilr on May 02, 2007)
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Jjaba
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Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5299
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 4:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Charles Platt designed the University of Illinois campus where jjaba was on faculty.

He also designed the 1925 Union Pacific RR Station and Platt Gardens, overlooking Boise, Idaho.

jjaba.
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Durango
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Username: Durango

Post Number: 13
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 4:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Jjaba,

The University of Illinois is a beautiful Land-Grant Institutions. When I worked for Monsanto we frequently recruited student there to work for us as interns and full-time employees. What haven't you done in your lifetime, Jjaba?

Durango, formerly Westside, now further west in Colorado.
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Jjaba
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Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5301
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 4:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

jjaba has never been in outer space. Durango, thanks for the props and welcome to The Forum.

Right now, the Illinois Redbud trees on campus are alive with lush red color. Illinois has a very strict rule against chaining bikes to trees.
Illi-cops can cut Kryptonite in 15 seconds.
After you plea to the Judicial Council, pay your fine, you might get your bike back.

jjaba, Westside Bar Mitzvah Bukkor.
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Neilr
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Username: Neilr

Post Number: 499
Registered: 06-2005
Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 8:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Another of my favorite Charles Platt apartment buildings is 120 East End Avenue at East 85th Street. It has only 3 apartments on most floors. Some floors have fewer. The top floor was designed for the building's owner, Vincent Astor. It has 17 rooms, 6.5 baths, and several terraces. One nice feature of this particular apartment is that the master suite has separate his & hers baths and each bath has its own terrace. This apartment came up for sale in 2000. The asking price was $20,000,000. As in my previous post, the photo is from cityrealty.com.

120 EEA
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Jjaba
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Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5304
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2007 - 1:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Neilr, great photo and description.

jjaba.

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