Dwight James Baum
| Dwight James Baum | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1886 Newville, New York, United States |
| Died | 1939 |
| Occupation | Architect |
Dwight James Baum (1886–1939) was an American architect most active in New York and in Sarasota, Florida.
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[edit] Biography
Baum was born in Newville, New York (near Utica) and moved to Syracuse as a young man, eventually graduating from Syracuse University in 1909 with an architecture degree. He worked for nationally known firms Boring and Tilton and Sanford White before venturing out with his own residential design firm around 1912.
A 1922 visit to Florida led to an important commission from John Nicholas Ringling, the 30-room mansion and estate that the Ringlings dubbed Cà d'Zan, which is now on the grounds of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. During the 1920s Florida land boom, Baum designed a half-dozen significant civic buildings and several houses in Sarasota, and at least one residence in Tampa, all in the Mediterranean Revival Style.
In 1926 Baum designed forty two Mediterranean Revival style houses of varying sizes in the City of Temple Terrace, Florida, this is thought to be the largest collection of his work in the Southeast. He also designed Sunset Hill for Mrs. Eugene D. Stocker at Warren, New York in 1923-1924.[1] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.[2] During the Depression Baum became involved with historic preservation issues, becoming involved with Good Housekeeping Magazine as consulting architect, and as designer of their building exhibit at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair.
His later work includes buildings at his alma mater, Syracuse University (notably the focal point of the campus plan, the Hendricks Chapel, designed with John Russell Pope), and the pedestal for V. Renzo Baldi's statue of Columbus in the city's Columbus Circle.
Baum was distantly related to author and designer L. Frank Baum.
[edit] Work
Baum's work includes:
- Sarasota Times Building, 1925
- El Vernona Apartments-Broadway Apartments, 1926
- Early residences in Temple Terrace, Florida, circa 1926
- Cà d'Zan, now the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 1927
- Sarasota County Courthouse, 1927
- Memorial Hospital, Syracuse, with John Russell Pope, 1927
- Pinecroft, the Crosley Powel, Jr. Estate, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1928–1937
- West Side YMCA, on 63rd Street between Central Park and Columbus Avenue, New York City, 1930 (Baum's only high-rise)
- Columbus Circle (Syracuse, NY), 1934
- Hendricks Memorial Chapel, Syracuse University, with John Russell Pope, 1929–1930
- El Vernona Hotel-John Ringling Hotel, Sarasota, 1929 (razed)
- United States Post Office, Flushing, New York, with William Knowles, 1934
[edit] References
- ^ Raymond W. Smith (October 2006). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Sunset Hill". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=101855. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
[edit] Bibliography
- Corbett, Harvey Wiley, et al. The Work of Dwight James Baum, Architect. New York: 1927.
- Morrison, William A, editor; Ron McCarty, intro. The Work of Dwight James Baum. New York: Acanthus Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-926494-48-0
