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Cleveland Architects

Cleveland Architect Database

The Cleveland Architects Database is a listing of architects and master builders that have worked in Cleveland, since the 1820s and the buildings they designed here and abroad up to and including the 1970s. Sources include City of Cleveland Building Permits, professional publications including American Architect and Builder News, Inland Architect, Interstate Architect, the Ohio Architect and Builder, the Annals of Cleveland, the Plain Dealer, the Leader, the Press, Material Facts, the Bystander, and Cleveland Town Topics. Additional source material reviewed at the Cleveland Public Library Fine Arts Department, various books on Cleveland architecture, the American Institute of Architects Guide to Cleveland Architecture and a catalogue of architectural drawings maintained by the Western Reserve Historical Society were consulted. The Cleveland Necrology file maintained by the Cleveland Public Library, the United States Census, and Cleveland City Directories were reviewed in compiling accompanying biographies.

For this database, an architect is defined as anyone that identified himself or herself as an architect. Generally, these people had an office in the city or designed multiple structures here or in the immediate surrounding cities. This project began as a hobby by Robert Keiser over several years. Craig Bobby has researched many of the entries and donated photographs of those buildings. This is an ongoing project and will be updated on a regular basis. PLEASE NOTE: All entries have not been fully researched and require citations. Please confirm any unsourced entry

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Architects

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X W Z
Birth / Established: 1908
Death / Dissolved: 1913

Biography

George M. Page and John William Cresswell Corbusier.

Building Name Address Built Status
T. E. Borton Residence 2565 Stratford Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 1910 Standing
John E. Morley Residence 10819 Magnolia Drive, Cleveland, OH 1912 Standing
Birth / Established: December 3, 1867
Death / Dissolved: August 8, 1949

Biography

George M. Page was born and educated in Rochester, New York. He attended the Mechanics Institute, where he studied architecture, machinery, and mechanical drawing. He entered the office of Otto Brock in Rochester where he remained for two years. He then went on to Buffalo where he worked with the firms Lansing & Beisel and Green & Wicks. He then went on to work in the firm of W. W. Kent in New York City. Returning to Rochester, he took charge of the architectural work for the city's water department. In 1896 he went to work for C. H. Blackall in Boston and in 1902 he opened an office in Cleveland under the name of Blackall & Page. From 1908 to 1913 he was in partnership with J. W. C. Corbusier. He lived at 18104 Landseer Road in Collinwood. He was listed as a registered architect in the November 1940 Ohio Architect. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church. He was married to Marion Avery in December 1903 and was the father of one daughter, Ruth.

Building Name Address Built Status
J. Ranney Residence Cleveland, OH n.d. Demolished
C.H. Foote Residence 2926 Fontenay Rd, Shaker Heights, OH 1920 Standing

Sources

Cleveland City Directories 1903-1917
Cleveland Town Topics 12.2.1908 50:17; 12.19.1908 51:4

Birth / Established: September 9, 1875
Death / Dissolved: December 6, 1942

Biography

Raymond D. Parsson started as a draftsman. He would later be listed as an architect in the office of Watterson & Schneider. He was a principal in the architectural firm of Bohnard and Parsson. His office was at 1900 Euclid, and he was a long time resident of 17815 Clifton Boulevard in Lakewood.

Building Name Address Built Status
James. J. Hinslea 16313 Lake Avenue, Lakewood, OH 1907 Standing

Sources

Lakewood PD 6.9.07
November 1940 Ohio Architect

Birth / Established: 1863
Death / Dissolved: January 9, 1961

Biography

Charles S. Pennington was born in Rochester, New York, moving to Cleveland with his parents in 1873. He was educated in the public schools of Rochester and Cleveland. He worked for his father, contractor Alexander Pennington for fifteen years. In 1892 he went into business with Morris M. Gleichmann, who had recently returned to Cleveland from Seattle. That partnership lasted one year, after which he went into business for himself. His office was at Detroit and St. Charles in Lakewood, the oldest house in that community. He designed many houses, apartments, churches, and commercial buildings. He was an early zoning board member in Lakewood. He was one of the founders of Lakewood Presbyterian Church and was a member of the West Side Chamber of Industry. He lived at 16806 Delaware in Lakewood. He retired in 1934. His final years were spent at the Mount Royal Nursing Home in North Royalton. He lived to the age of ninety-seven. He was buried in Lakewood Park Cemetery.

Building Name Address Built Status
Frederick Harrington Residence 1915 East 84th Street, Cleveland, OH 1898 Demolished
The Cyrano 7219 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1899 Demolished
Terrace 1425-33 West 84th Street, Cleveland, OH 1903 Standing
Commercial Storeroom for C. J. Lang Cleveland, OH 1907 Demolished
Residence for F. W. Schwentner Cleveland, OH 1907 Demolished
Salon and apartment for J. T. Kelley Cleveland, OH 1907 Demolished
Terrace for William Bahlhorn Cleveland, OH 1907 Demolished
William Gordon House 6904 Franklin Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 1909 Standing
W.F. & F.H. Meyer Residence 2110 West Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 1910 Standing
Commercial-Residential Building 873 Orange Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1911 Demolished
Residence for Ephraim Aadmire 6215-7 Franklin Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 1911 Standing
Mohler Building 9825-9 Lorain Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1912 Standing
Detroit Savings Bank 6501-21 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1913-4 Standing
Commercial-Residential Building for Sarah & Maybelle Pollock 5716 Broadway, Cleveland, OH 1914 Standing
Apartment Building for Herbert Farr & Henry McAuley 7409 Franklin Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 1915 Standing
Maureen Apartments 7009 Franklin Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 1915 Standing
Commercial Building for Isaac Kusse 12000-2 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, OH 1916 Standing
Commercial Building for Daniel E. Giessan 8401-7 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1917 Standing

Sources

Cleveland Plain Dealer "Lakewood's Pennington Dead at 97" January 10, 1961
Orth, Samuel; History of Cleveland, p. 865-6
Image Source(s): Julia LaPlanca, Craig Bobby

Birth / Established: March 11, 1880
Death / Dissolved: June 27, 1929

Biography

Nicola Petti was an Italian-born architect who came to this country as a child. His education was characterized by a love of drawing pictures of houses, buildings, churches, airdomes, and terminals. He later worked in a carpenter shop and then in an architects office. After fifteen years as a clerk and errand boy he opened his own office. He designed a number of buildings in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood. He was also the architect of several theaters, including the Variety, Kinsman, Imperial, and Moreland, and theaters in Canton, Toledo, and Mansfield. He played string and woodwind instruments. He passed away at the age of forty-nine from pneumonia brought on by diabetes.

Building Name Address Built Status
N. Sabbetto Residence 2074 2074 Murray Hill Road, Cleveland, OH 1906 Standing
Double Dwelling for J. A. Barnes Cleveland, OH 1908 Demolished
Store and apartment building Hough and East 55th, Cleveland, OH 1908 Demolished
Monmouth Apartments 11621 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1909 Standing
Apartment Building for Gatto Bros. & Giallombardo 2063 Murray Hill Road, Cleveland, OH 1909-10 Standing
Apartment Building for Gatto Bros. & Giallombardo 2086 East 125th Street, Cleveland, OH 1909-10 Standing
Apartment Building for Nicola Petti 2117-9  Fairview Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1910 Standing
Commercial-Residential Building 10721 Arthur Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1911 Demolished
Residence for Dominic Minadeo 2118 - 20 Murray Hill Road, Cleveland, OH 1911 Standing
Apartments for M. Dionaro 2042 East 125th Street, Cleveland, OH 1912 Standing
Residence 2085 Murray Hill Road, Cleveland, OH 1912 Standing
Residence 2163 Murray Hill Road, Cleveland, OH 1912 Standing
Residence for A. Farano 2181 - 3 Murray Hill Road, Cleveland, OH 1912 Standing
Apartments for Samuel Gurss 2121-3 East 79th Street, Cleveland, OH 1913 Demolished
Gurss Apartments 1402 East 105th Street, Cleveland, OH 1913 Standing
Commercial Building 1356 Central Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1914 Demolished
Residence 2179 Murray Hill Road, Cleveland, OH 1915 Standing
Sun Theatre 8808 Buckeye Road, Cleveland, OH 1915 Demolished
Apartment building 225 East 156th Street, Cleveland, OH 1917 Demolished
Commercial residential building for MB Scharfed Superior and South Blvd, Cleveland, OH 1917 Demolished
Movie Theatre Buckeye and East 89th Street, Cleveland, OH 1917 Demolished
Movie Theatre Madison and West 103rd Street, Cleveland, OH 1917 Demolished
Store and garage Woodland and E. 33rd Street, Cleveland, OH 1917 Demolished
Addition to commercial building for Jacob Babin 2117 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1919 Demolished
Stores and Apartments for Archie Horwitz 16500-16516 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1923 Standing
Commercial Building 5801-9 Broadway, Cleveland, OH 1924 Demolished
Kinsman Theatre 14021-14113 Kinsman Road, Cleveland, OH 1924 Demolished
Commercial-Residential Building for Greenwald and Stecker 11516-34 Clifton Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 1925 Standing
Commercial-Residential Building for Greenwald and Stecker 114206-14 Kinsman Road, Cleveland, OH 1925 Demolished
Commerical-Residential Building addition 11508-14 Clifton Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 1926 Standing
Imperial Theatre 14233 Kinsman Road, Cleveland, OH 1926 Demolished
Union Square Building and Theater 11401-11419 Union Ave, Cleveland, OH 1926 Demolished
LaSalle Theatre 819 East 185th Street, Cleveland, OH 1927 Standing
State Theater 2476 Collingwood Avenue, Toledo, OH 1927 Demolished
Theater Park Avenue, Mansfield, OH 1927 Demolished
Uptown Theatre 10545 St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1927 Demolished
Variety Theater 11815 Lorain Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1927 Standing
Euclid - 100th Building Cleveland, OH n.d. Demolished

Sources

Cleveland City Directories
Plain Dealer 4.11
The Builder's Weekly 3 July 1929, v. 11
Image Source(s): Craig Bobby

Birth / Established: 1780
Death / Dissolved: 1829

Biography

Lemuel Porter was born in Waterbury, Connecticut. He was part of the New England tradition of carpentry that moved on to the Western Reserve. In 1818, he settled in Talmadge, later moving on to Hudson, where he was the superintendent of construction for Western Reserve College.

Building Name Address Built Status
Middle College Western Reserve College, Hudson, OH 1827 Demolished
South College Western Reserve College, Hudson, OH 1829-30 Demolished

Sources

Johannesen, Eric Ohio History 1965 -Simeon Porter - Ohio Architect

Birth / Established: April 23, 1807
Death / Dissolved: May 5, 1871

Biography

Simeon Porter was the son of Lemuel Porter. Upon his fathers death in 1829 he was named to succeed him as superintendent and he continued to design structures for Western Reserve College. He moved on to Cleveland in 1850 where he went into business with Charles Heard. That partnership lasted until 1859. When Porter again went into business for himself.

Building Name Address Built Status
Presidents House Western Reserve College, Hudson, OH 1830 Standing
Chapel Western Reserve College, Hudson, OH 1835-6 Standing
Athenaeum Western Reserve College, Hudson, OH 1843 Standing
Brecksville Congregational Church Brecksville, OH 1844 Standing
Christ Church Episcopal Hudson, OH 1846 Demolished
Lemuel Wick Residence 1051 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1851 Demolished
Second Presbyterian Church Superior Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1851-2 Demolished
U. S. Marine Hospital East 9th and Lake Street, Cleveland, OH 1852-5 Demolished
Old Stone Church 91 Public Square, Cleveland, OH 1853-6 Standing
Central High School Cleveland, OH 1855 Demolished
Eagle Street School Cleveland, OH 1855 Demolished
Cleveland Orphan Asylum Cleveland, OH 1859 Demolished
Cottage Chapel St. Clair below E. 9th Street, Cleveland, OH 1860 Demolished
Mt. Union College - Chapman Hall 225 West Hartshorn Street, Alliance, OH 1862-4 Standing
Commercial Building for D. B. Saxton 1518-36 Merwin Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1863 Demolished
First Presbyterian Church 3645 North Main Street, Mineral Ridge, OH 1863-5 Standing
Brownell School 2222 East 14th Street, Cleveland, OH 1864 Demolished
First Congregational Church 47 Aurora Street, Hudson, OH 1865 Standing
Ladies Hall (Second) Professor and College Streets, Oberlin, OH 1865 Demolished
B. Harrington Residence Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1866 Demolished
Horace Kelly Residence 2063 East 55th Street, Cleveland, OH 1866 Demolished
Miller Hall Mt. Union College, Alliance, OH 1866 Standing
Orlando M. Barnes Residence 3133 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1866 Demolished

Sources

Johannesen, Eric Ohio History 1965 -Simeon Porter - Ohio Architect

Birth / Established: November 10, 1888
Death / Dissolved: May 17, 1958

Biography

J. Ellsworth Potter was born in Ashtabula. At sixteen he was the youngest county engineer in Ashtabula County. He was featured in an April 1912 issue of the Ohio Architect and Builder as the junior member of the Akron architectural firm of Haglock & Potter. He was a church and school architect with offices in Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Gary, Indiana. He was listed as a registered architect in the November 1940 Ohio Architect.

Building Name Address Built Status
Akron Towell and Supply Wabash Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1918 Standing
St. George Lithuanian Church 1380 East 67th Street, Cleveland, OH 1920 Standing
St. George Lithuanian School 6527 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1920 Standing
Ursuline Academy Euclid & Belmont, East Cleveland, OH 1923 Demolished
Commercial-Residential Building for P. J. McDermott 14921 Kinsman Road, Cleveland, OH 1926 Demolished
Residence 23074 Clifford Road, North Olmsted , OH 1940 Unknown
Residence for Edward J. Krajic 23181 Clifford Drive, North Olmsted, OH 1940 Standing
Residence for J. J. Daly 21481 North Park Drive, Fairview Park, OH 1941 Standing
Sacred Heart of Jesus Chruch 4320 East 71st Street, Cleveland, OH 1949-51 Standing
Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapouch 17486 Mumford Road, Burton, OH 1950 Standing
St. Andrew Benedicat Abbey Addition 10510 Buckeye Road, Cleveland, OH 1950 Standing
St. Benedict Roman Catholic 2940 Martin Luther King Drive, Cleveland, OH 1950 Standing
St. Hyacinth Church 6106 Francis Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1950 Standing
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church 3522 Deodar Avenue, East Chicago, IL 1957 Standing
St. Mary of the Assumption Church 15519 Holmes Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1957 Standing
First Catholic Slovak Union 24960 Chagrin Boulevard, Beachwood, OH 1958 Standing

Sources

Cleveland Necrology file
Ohio Architect and Builder April 1912
Press May 26, 1958

Biography

J. Ellsworth Potter and Henry C. Gabele. In 1929 they had offices at 2077 East 4th Street, Room 805.

Building Name Address Built Status
St. John Cantius Church 2322 Professor Street, Cleveland, OH 1924-5 Standing
Birth / Established: December 30, 1876
Death / Dissolved: May 20, 1967

Biography

William Robert Powell was born and attended school in Radnor, Ohio. He attended Oberlin College and Case School of Applied Science, graduated from Columbia University in 1905, and received a degree in Fine Arts from the Sorbonne in Paris in 1907. According to City Directories, he settled in Cleveland in 1909, and earned a law degree at Western Reserve University in 1929. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and the Hiram Lodge of the Masons at Delaware. He was listed as a registered architect in the November 1940 Ohio Architect. He retired in 1964 and died in 1967 at the age of eighty-nine in Delaware, Ohio. He was buried in Radnor.

Building Name Address Built Status
Price Wolf Clothiers Company 2125 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1914 Standing
Cleveland Public Library East 79th Street Branch, Cleveland, OH 1916 Standing
Six Residences Allendale Avenue, East Cleveland, OH 1918 Unknown
Ideal Company Department Store 59 Lincolnway East, Massillon, OH 1918-21 Standing
Cleveland Heights City Hall Mayfield Road, Cleveland, OH 1923 Demolished
Apartment Building for M. Berkoff 3411-5 East 140th Street, Cleveland, OH 1925 Demolished
Lorain Medical Building 11420 Lorain Avenue, Cleveland, OH 1925 Standing
Residence 2904 Montgomery Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1927 Standing
Fire Station 3216 Silsby Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 1929 Standing
Fire Station 2595 Noble Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 1930 Standing

Sources

Cleveland City Directories 1909 - 1939
Coates, William R.; A History of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland; v. III, p.216-7; 1924 Chicago and New York : American Historical Society
Obituary Cleveland Press May 20, 1967
Who's Who in Ohio 1930 p 104
Image Source(s): Donn R. Nottage, City of Cleveland