The Architecture of Henry Hobson Richardson

“His life passed into his buildings by ways too subtle for himself to understand.” —Phillips Brooks on Richardson, 1886

Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886) was the first architect to secure international acclaim for his uniquely personal and distinctively American style. He has been called the father of modern architecture in the U.S. for his bold concepts, direct forms, fluid floor plans and straightforward expression of structure and materials that anticipate the organic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Like Mark Twain, Winslow Homer and other game-changing creative personalities of the era, Richardson was a major player in America's cultural coming of age.

For more information on H.H. Richardson and his unique and influential architecture, visit American National Biography Online, the SAH-Archipedia or our map of selected local Richardson sites.