Horace W. Peaslee

Horace Whittier Peaslee Jr. (November 9, 1884 – May 18, 1959) was an American architect and landscape designer who primarily practiced in Washington, D.C. Born in New York, he attended Cooper Union and the Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning before moving to the nation's capital to work for the United States Office of Public Buildings and Grounds. During a tour of gardens in several European countries, he drew inspiration that was incorporated into Meridian Hill Park, an urban park in Washington, D.C., that is Peaslee's best known work. During World War I, he served as a captain in the United States Army Corps of Engineers and designed some of the temporary buildings of the National Mall.

Peaslee opened his own architectural practice in the late 1910s and designed residential, religious, educational, and public properties during his career. Most of his designs were examples of Colonial Revival architecture. Many of the buildings and parks he designed or renovated are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Examples include St. John's Episcopal Church, the Eisenhower National Historic Site, the Townsend House, and Dumbarton House. In addition to buildings and parks, Peaslee designed the Zero Milestone and bases for the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial) and Edmund Burke statue.

He was active in professional and social organizations, which included the Committee of 100 on the Federal City and National Capital Planning Commission, both of which he co-founded. He served as president of the American Institute of Architects's local chapter and later as its national vice president. Peaslee was instrumental in preserving Great Falls on the Potomac River in the 1920s and the National Capitol Columns that were removed from the United States Capitol in the 1950s. At the time of his death, Peaslee was serving as a consulting architect for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Early life

Horace Whittier Peaslee, Jr., was born November 9, 1884, in Malden Bridge, New York. He graduated from Chatham High School in 1902 and attended Cooper Union later that year. In 1906, Peaslee began his studies at Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, and graduated four years later as valedictorian with a major in architecture and a minor in landscape architecture. He completed a one-year fellowship at Cornell in 1912. During his fellowship, Peaslee received an award from the Beaux Arts Society and his design of the Chatham Town Hall was chosen in a competition. His design appeared in an issue of The American Architect in 1913. According to Peaslee, his work on the town hall launched his career.

Career

Landscape designs and military service

After his time at Cornell, Peaslee moved to Washington, D.C., where he began working as a landscape designer for the United States Office of Public Buildings and Grounds, assisting his Cornell lecturer George Burnap. He taught landscape architecture as a visiting fellow at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 1914 to 1916. In 1914, Peaslee and Burnap joined other officials from his office and members of the United States Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) on a tour of European gardens. They visited France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, seeking inspiration for planned gardens and parks in the United States. Peaslee studied the details of park designs in Europe, photographing and sketching water features and ornamentations. At the time, Burnap was designing Meridian Hill Park, an urban park in Washington, D.C., but was dismissed from his position in 1916. Peaslee was selected to replace him as lead designer, overseeing the park's construction from 1917 to 1935. His work on Meridian Hill Park would become his best known design.

According to Peaslee, "From a beginning as Landscape Architectural Designer in 1915, through successive stages as Landscape Architect, and then Architect of the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds, and finally as Architect or Consulting Architect in independent practice, I either personally prepared, or directly supervised the preparation of all drawings for the visible construction of [Meridian Hill Park] and drafted the specifications covering visible design." He drew inspiration from the Villa Borghese gardens and Villa d'Este in Italy, intending to compliment the Renaissance Revival mansions being built along 16th Street NW. In addition to his work on Meridian Hill Park, in the late 1910s Peaslee designed the Field House in East Potomac Park, worked with Burnap to design Montrose Park in Georgetown, and designed the Fort Lincoln Cemetery chapel and gatehouse in Brentwood, Maryland. He authored eight articles in The Park International in the early 1920s which were focused on park building designs.

During World War I, Peaslee served as a captain in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, designing some of the temporary buildings on the National Mall and barracks at Camp Humphreys in Fairfax County, Virginia. Around this time Peaslee opened his own architectural practice in Washington, D.C. His designs and renovation works included residential, religious, educational, and public properties. One of his early employees was Rose Greely, who would later become the city's first woman to be a licensed architect. Another one of the city's early woman architects, Gertrude Sawyer, worked for Peaslee for around a decade.

Residential designs

Some of Peaslee's early residential designs included a house for Henry Berliner in 1922, located at 2829 Tilden Street NW in the Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood, the Colonel William Robert Davis House in 1924, located at 3020 Albemarle Street NW in the Forest Hills neighborhood, 29 and 33 Kalorama Circle NW in 1925, and 3001 Garrison Street NW in 1928, also located in Forest Hills. The 25-acre (10 ha) estate on Garrison Street NW was the residence of Charles Hook Tompkins, whose construction company built the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the White House East Wing, and now serves as the Peruvian ambassadorial residence. In 1925, Peaslee was hired to combine and expand two properties in Georgetown. The house, located at 3410 Volta Place NW, was expanded again several years later following designs by Greely.

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