Bradford Gilbert

Bradford was born in Watertown, New York, the son of civil engineer and banker Horatio Gates Gilbert and his wife Marie Antoinette (née Bacon). His uncle was Jasper W. Gilbert, a justice with the New York Supreme Court.

He attended Siglar's School in Newburg and the Sedgwick Institute in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Later, he had private tutors at home in Irvington, New York to get ready to attend Yale University, rather than his father's alma mater Norwich University. However, Gilbert decided to forgo college as he was very anxious to learn architecture. He became a student with the architectural firm J. Cleveland Cady in New York City for five years, beginning in 1872.

In 1876, Gilbert was hired as an architect for the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad, under engineer Octave Chanute.{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=July 1, 2007|title=The Architect Who Turned A Railroad Bridge on Its Head|pages=2|work=The New York Times|via=Gale Academic OneFile}} Through his work with the railroad in the northern and northwestern states, Gilbert earned a reputation for originality. Although his body of work is diverse, he preferred Romanesque style and consistently featured "sinuous, interlaced patterns, virtuoso brickwork and deep red color effects".

By 1890, Gilbert opened a firm in his name at 1 Broadway in New York City, initially specializing in railroad and public buildings. He said, "It certainly costs no more, often not such much, to design a building that is architecturally correct, of good, quiet contour, the whole effect gained by constructional outlines, in place of the fancy 'ginger-bread' work too often adopted; and with the interior arrangements designed to meet every requirement."{{Cite news|date=June 12, 1892|title=Art in the Depots|pages=June 12, 1892|work=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94928953/art-in-the-depots/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}

Throughout his career, Gilbert also designed apartment buildings, churches, clubs, exhibition buildings, hospitals, hotels, houses, and office buildings. Gilbert did not just design buildings, he also managed the projects and visited the construction sites; this was documented in newspapers articles announcing his arrival in town to check on the progress of the projects.{{Cite news|date=March 31, 1893|title=Mr. Bradford L Gilbert|pages=7|work=Middletown Times-Press (Middletown, NY)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95448779/wickham-ave-depot-middletown-gilbert-i/|access-date=February 19, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}

This attention to detail may have paid off as many of his other projects steamed from his railroad connections, including designing residences for William H. Baldwin Jr. who was president of the Long Island Railroad, Alfred Skitt who was president of the New York City Interborough Railway Company, Arthur M. Dodge whose father built the Macon and Brunswick Railroad, Benjamin A. Kimball who was president of the Concord and Montreal Railroad Company, and William Greene Raoul president of the Atlantic and Birmingham Railway, the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia, the Mexican National Railroad Company, and the Southwestern Railroad.{{Cite journal|date=June 1904|title=Home for Wm. H. Baldwin, Jr. at Locust Valley, L.I.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kLhCAQAAMAAJ&q=bradford%20gilbert|journal=Architects' and Builders' Magazine|volume=5|issue=9|pages=389–391|via=Google Books}}{{Cite web|year=1971|title=William Greene Raoul papers 1878–1897|url=https://findingaids.library.emory.edu/documents/raoul162/printable/|access-date=February 15, 2022|website=Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library|publisher=Emory University}}{{Cite news|date=July 10, 1906|title=New York City Interborough Railway Company|pages=13|work=The City Records|url=http://cityrecord.engineering.nyu.edu/data/1906/1906-07-10.pdf|access-date=February 16, 2022}}{{Cite web|last=Coe|first=Daniel|date=January 11, 2017|title=Honorable Benjamin Ames Kimball Residence|url=http://www.bradfordleegilbert.com/slides/Kimball_index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911032951/http://www.bradfordleegilbert.com/slides/Kimball_index.html|archive-date=September 11, 2011|access-date=February 16, 2022|website=Bradford Lee Gilbert|publisher=Internet Archive Wayback Machine}}

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As an architect with the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad, Gilbert designed many railroad stations and related buildings. Through his private practice, his railroad clients included the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad; Boston & Maine Railroad; Central Railroad of New Jersey; Concord and Montreal Railroad; the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad; Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad; Georgia Railroad Company; Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad; Illinois Central Railroad; Intercolonial Railroad (Canada); Michigan Central Railroad; Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad; New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad; Norfolk and Virginia Beach Railroad; Northern Pacific Railway; Old Colony Railroad; Philadelphia & Reading Company and others.{{Cite book|last=Potter|first=Janet Greenstein|title=Great American Railroad Stations|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|year=1996|isbn=978-0471143895|location=New York|pages=162}}{{Cite news|date=April 17, 1892|title=Among the Railways: Plains for the North Illinois Central Railway Station|pages=7|work=The Inter Ocean (Chicago, IL)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95402437/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1901, he designed the Ottawa Central Railway Station.{{cite book|last=Fletcher|first=Katharine|title=Capital Walks: Walking Tours of Ottawa|publisher=Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Markham, Ontario|year=2004}} Page 73. He also designed stations, offices and terminals for the National Railroad of Mexico.

Gilbert designed the Illinois Central Terminus (also called Central Station) at 12th Street in Chicago—it was constructed in nine months for the 1893 for the World's Columbian Exposition. The location and use of the building created certain challenges given the brief that all fair buildings have impact and beauty; Gilbert's solution was to increase the size of the station and give it strong Romanesque details, as "the first impression gained of the building by the general public would be regarding its general contour and 'massing' as well as the outline skylines". In other words, it needed to be impressive at a distance. His design included a ten-story office building, with lobby and offices connected via a pneumatic tube service.{{Cite news|date=May 22, 1892|title=To Begin Work on New Depot|pages=34|work=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95422153/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} The first three stories were built from dark speckled granite, with buff brick for the upper levels.{{Cite news|date=May 10, 1892|title=To Be Completed in a Year|pages=1|work=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95407503/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} The roof was dark glazed Spanish tiles, along with a coppery dome. Gilbert was also instructed to make the building fireproof. He achieved this in part by using the building's adjacent tower as a series of fire-proof vaults. The 15-story tower was also a functional clock tower. The cost of this project was over a million dollars, including the passenger station, waiting rooms, restaurant, office building, and a train shed that covered eight tracks. The waiting room was the largest in the world, at {{Convert|100 by 150|ft|m}} and {{Convert|100|ft|m}} high. This elaborate structure remained in use until it was demolished in 1974.{{Cite web|last1=Gilbert|first1=Bradford Lee|year=1895|title=Sketch Portfolio of Railroad Stations and Kindred Structures: From Original Designs & Supplement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dYUxAQAAMAAJ&q=sketch+gilbert+railroad+stations|access-date=February 14, 2022|work=The Railroad Gazette}} It was called "the gateway to the city."{{Cite news |date=October 4, 1991 |title=Going Station to Station |pages=7.41 |work=The Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95454707/chicago-grand-central-vs-illinoise-cent/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Gilbert was also the architect for the 1898 remodel of New York City's Grand Central Terminal—a project started in 1892 where "no expense is to be spared in making the building attractive".{{Cite news|date=February 25, 1892|title=New Offices for the Central|pages=5|work=The Sun (New York, NY)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95399003/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} The actual cost was around $175,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=175,000|start_year=1892|fmt=c}} in today's money). Gilbert designed the ten-story building in the Romanesque style. The front of the building had ornamental bronze panels and bay windows on the second story. The lower level was granite, with Indiana Limestone on top. Inside, there were tiled floors and deeply paneled ceilings, as well as pneumatic tubes to connect the lobby to the offices. This building was replaced by the current Grand Central Station in 1913.

Whether designing a large railroad station for New York City or a small station for a Mexican village, Gilbert believed the structure should be comfortable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing to be an asset to its community. In Engineering Magazine, Gilbert wrote, "No excuse should exempt a railroad company from being amenable to 'local pride.'"{{Cite news|date=January 8, 1872|title=Picturesque Railway Stations|pages=6|work=The Omaha Evening Bee (Omaha, NE)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95396885/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} He also criticized designing public buildings in Queen Anne or other overly decorative styles as being both expensive to construct and to maintain.

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In 1893, Gilbert designed an exhibition building for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago for his clients the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad along with The Wagner Palace Car Co. The building contained wings on either side for railroad engines; inside was an exhibit showing photographs and sketches of Gilbert's work on railroad station architecture. The Exposition's board of directors gave Gilbert a gold medal "for a new type of American architecture". In 1895, the exhibit illustrations were published by Railway Gazette as a book, Sketch Portfolio of Railroad Stations and Kindred Structures. Gilbert noted that railroad buildings had been overlooked in the past, but were an excellent place "to illustrate the modern architecture".

Edmund Coffin Jr., a prominent real estate investor and lawyer in New York City, hired Gilbert to design the Mason Stables.{{Cite web|last=Minn|first=Michael|title=Mason Stable / Dakota Stable|url=https://michaelminn.net/newyork/areas/stable-row/mason-stable/index.html|access-date=2022-02-14|website=Michael Minn}} This project took three years to construct and was divided into two phases, 1881–1882 and 1883–1894.{{Cite web|last=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|year=2006|title=Mason Stable Building, later Dakota Stable and Pyramid Garage|url=https://landmarkwest.org/advocacy/Stables/LPC%20Dakota%20Stable%20Building.pdf|access-date=February 14, 2022|website=Landmark West}} When completed, the Mason Stables were one of the most extensive livery stables in New York City.{{Cite web|date=November 15, 2006|title=Mason Stables aka Dakota Stables Archives|url=https://www.citylandnyc.org/tag/mason-stables-aka-dakota-stables/|access-date=2022-02-14|website=CityLand|language=en-US}} The five-story stables included 158 stalls and room for more than 300 carriages. Primarily Romanesque Revival in style, the building was decorated with some Celtic-style ornaments, repeating patterns in variegated orange-yellow and orange-red brick, and rows of repeating slender windows. One modern writer says, "The stables were nearly abstract, a field of dreams in orange, red, and yellow masonry." The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission says, "Color and texture, rather than ornament, were skillfully used to give the structure its simple, yet monumental character."

Another unique aspect of the Mason Stables was its layout, as the stables wrapped around other buildings, resulting in three entrances—76th Street, 77th Street, and Amsterdam. Two of the entrances featured step-gables, a characteristic of Dutch Renaissance Revival style that Gilbert used with other public buildings in New York City as a nod to the city's origins as New Netherland.{{Cite web|last=Postal|first=Matthew A.|date=June 20, 2006|title=Fire Engine Company No. 258, Hook and Ladder Company No. 115|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2200.pdf|access-date=February 16, 2022|website=NewYorkCity.gov|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission}} In 1912, the stables were remodeled into a car park and were renamed the Dakota Stables (not to be confused with a 19th-century facility with that name), and the Pyramid Garage in the 1950s. Over the years, the building lost many of its period details; it was demolished in 2011.

Gilbert designed a Queen Anne style building for the YMCA in the Bowery.{{Cite news |date=October 18, 2002 |title=Strolling the Neighborhood |pages=B17 |work=Newsday (New York City) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95454629/ywca-bowery/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} Known locally as The Bunker, the building was constructed in 1884. This was the first YMCA in New York City.{{Cite web |date=December 10, 2013 |title=Young Men's Institute Building of the YMCA |url=https://6tocelebrate.org/site/young-mens-institute-building-of-the-ymca/ |access-date=2022-02-14 |website=Historic Districts Council}} It was converted into residences in 1932 and survives today as a New York City Landmark.

In June 1886, Gilbert was hired to design a building for the Harlem Branch of the YMCA.{{Cite news |date=June 20, 1886 |title=Harlem's New Association Hall |pages=10 |work=The Sun (New York, NY) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95357432/ |access-date=February 18, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} The building was located between 5th and 6th Avenues on the north side of 125th Street. It was brownstone on the lower levels and brick and terra cotta on the upper levels, with step-gables in the Dutch Renaissance Revival style at the 125th Street entrance. The $65,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=65,000|start_year=1886|fmt=c}} in today's money) building included a gymnasium, a swimming pool, a bowling alley, five classrooms, a library, a parlor, a reception room, a reading room, and an auditorium that seated 800 people.

{{Main|Tower Building (New York City)}}

John Noble Sterns, a supporter of the Cremorne Mission where Gilbert was a trustee, hired Gilbert in 1888 to design an eleven-story office building in New York City. For such a tall building, traditional construction methods required very thick walls that would have dominated the lot that was just {{Convert|21.5|ft|m}} wide. Calling upon his railroad background, Gilbert thought of turning a railroad bridge on end, with iron girders to support the floors and external walls. This innovation of "skeleton construction" with "steel-framed curtain walls" allowed him to construct a skyscraper without having thick load-bearing walls. Another benefit of this construction technique was that it was fireproof.{{Cite news|date=August 31, 1890|title=The Old Knickerbockers|pages=5|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95391128/gilbert-saves-land-owners-money/|access-date=February 19, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}

To work around local building ordinances, Gilbert constructed a foundation that was four stories or {{Convert|70|ft|m}} tall, essentially the height of the adjacent buildings.{{Cite news|date=September 1, 1888|title=Gotham Gossip|pages=4|work=The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95379242/tower-building/|access-date=February 19, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} This foundation was constructed of iron and Little Falls stone. Next, came ten stories constructed in Philadelphia and Tiffany brick, with an octagonal roof covered in Spanish tiles. The brickwork was colorful, and there was Celtic ornamentation similar to that of Mason Stables.

Opening in 1889, the Tower Building is considered New York City's first skyscraper and the first curtain-wall building in the world. It was initially greeted with great skepticism, with members of the public predicting it would blow over. Some people walked around the block rather than walk by it.{{Cite news |date=November 12, 1926 |title=First N.Y. Skyscraper Erected Back in 1888 |pages=14 |work=The Ephrata Review (Ephrata, Pennsylvania) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95455181/first-skyscraper-office-in-tower-buildi/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} Some engineers declared it "unsafe and impracticable". To assure the public of its safety, Gilbert moved his offices to its top floor and remained there until he stopped practicing. He also scaled the building in the middle of an 1889 hurricane to prove that the building was not vibrating with a plumb line.{{cite web|author=Denenberg, Barry|date=September 1, 2010|title=Skyscrapers|url=http://magicalhystorytour.blogspot.com/2010/08/skyscrapers.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629192827/http://magicalhystorytour.blogspot.com/2010/08/skyscrapers.html|archive-date=June 29, 2015|access-date=August 16, 2011|publisher=Magical Hystory Tour: The Origins of the Commonplace & Curious in America}} In 1889, Engineering News called it "a most skillful solution of an exceedingly difficult problem". Kobble's New York and Environs wrote, "The Tower Building, of No. 50 Broadway, with its fifteen stories, is a remarkable example of a clever utilization of a narrow plot of ground."

The Tower Building cost $250,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=250,000|start_year=1889|fmt=c}} in today's money) to build. This was quite a bargain given that it was expected to earn $210,000 a year in rent, after taxes and upkeep. A building with traditional construction on the same lot would have only netted $30,000 a year in rent, due to the height limit of ten stories and thick walls reducing square footage. Because Gilbert had devised a way to double income from property, The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that "the old Knickerbockers who own real estate on Broadway and other gilt-edge thoroughfares in the lower part of New York have a new god in the person of Bradford L. Gilbert." The building was razed in 1914 to make way for a taller structure.{{Cite news|date=October 29, 1913|title=First Skyscraper to Be Torn Down|work=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/10/29/100655624.pdf|access-date=January 29, 2014}}

During his career, Gilbert designed just one firehouse—for Engine Company No. 1 and Hook & Ladder Company No. 1 in Long Island City.{{Cite web|last=New York City Historic Districts Council|title=Fire Engine Company No. 258, Hook and Ladder Company No. 115 {{!}} Historic Districts Council's Six to Celebrate|url=https://6tocelebrate.org/site/fire-engine-company-no-258-hook-and-ladder-company-no-115/|access-date=2022-02-17|website=6tocelebrate.org|date=January 2, 2017 }} Established in 1891, this company was the first professional firefighters in Queens.{{Cite web|title=Ladder Company 115 Queens FDNY|url=https://nyfd.com/queens_ladders/ladder_115.html|access-date=2022-02-17|website=New York Fire Department}} However, the first base of operation for this ladder company was a modest wood-frame shed. The department merged with that of New York City in 1898, and its name changed to Fire Engine Company No. 258 and Ladder Company No.115 in 1904.

Constructed between 1902 and 1904, Gilbert's granite building with 4 1/2 stories not only improved the working condition of the firefighters but also reflects the importance of this paid crew who fought fires at the Standard Oil refinery, row-frames, schools, tenements and factories such as the Pratt & Lambert varnish factory. New York City's Historic Districts Council says, "This building was one of the more ambitious firehouse projects undertaken by the department due to its size and level of architectural detail." Even the selection of the renowned Gilbert, rather than the city's usual firehouse architects, was a statement.

Calling on the origins of New York as New Netherland, Gilbert's designed the firehouse in Dutch Renaissance Revival style, with oversized limestone trim to offset the darker granite background. Gilbert had also used Dutch Renaissance Revival for other buildings in New York City, including the Harlem Branch YMCA building and the Samuel R. Smith Infirmary and Hospital in Staten Island. The fire house's site cost $20,000; the building was $60,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=60,000|start_year=1902|fmt=c}} in today's money).

The firehouse is still in use and is listed as a NYC Individual Landmark.

In 1888, Gilbert designed the Virginia Beach Hotel, with its attached Terminal Station, for the Norfolk and Virginia Beach Railroad in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Later called the Princess Anne Hotel, this marked the beginnings of the beach resort, as well as Norfolk Southern Railroad.{{Cite news|date=March 13, 2006|title=Beach behemoth had modest start a century ago|work=The Virginian-Pilot|url=https://www.pilotonline.com/news/article_bd2f2f68-b618-5ee8-ac2c-b3251566ad05.html|access-date=February 15, 2022}}

In 1895, Gilbert designed the Mary F. Ballentine Home for the Aged at 927 Park Ave. in Norfolk, Virginia, for Thomas R. Ballentine.{{Cite web|title=Ballentine Home for the Aged (Norfolk, Va.) {{!}}|url=http://smcarchives.libraryhost.com/?p=creators/creator&id=406|access-date=2022-02-15|website=Sargeant Memorial Collection|publisher=Norfolk Public Library}} This facility was named after Ballentine's late wife as it was originally her idea.{{Cite web|title=Thomas R. Ballentine|url=https://www.historicforrest.com/HSites/NorfolkVA/elmwoodCemetery/thomasRBallentine.html|access-date=2022-02-15|website=Elmwood Cemetery}} The Ballentine Home was intended to provide a non-institutional, home-like environment for elderly local women, "more specifically gentle folk of irreproachable family." Ballentine endowed the home when he died and it remained in Gilbert's building until new construction at a different location in 1952.

In 1891, wealthy railroad executive William Greene Raoul hired Gilbert to design his residence on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia.{{Cite news |date=May 5, 1974 |title=Capt. Raoul's Peachtree Mansion |pages=11 |work=The Atlanta Journal and Constitution Magazine |publisher=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95454866/raoul-house-in-atlanta/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} The ornate, gabled house and its estate included a wine cellar, a cottage for servants, a stable, and the first tennis court in Atlanta.{{Cite web|title=Raoul House|url=http://www.atlantatimemachine.com/commercialbldgs/raoul_house.htm|access-date=2022-02-15|website=Atlanta Time Machine}} This house was home to the Raoul family through 1914. During the 1940s, the Red Cross acquired the property and used the house as a blood donation and bandage rolling center; around 1950 the Red Cross built a modern building on the property, directly in the front of the Raoul house. The house was also surrounded by the Cabana Motor Hotel and the Biltmore Hotel, losing its original context on a street of mansions. The Raoul House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s but burned in 1991 while it was leased to a nightclub.

{{Main|Cotton States and International Exposition}}

In 1895, Gilbert was the supervising architect for the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. For this world's fair event, he designed many structures, including the Administration Building with Main Entrance and Exits, the Agricultural Building, the Auditorium, the Chime Tower and Band Stand, the Electricity Building, the Fire Building, the Machinery Hall, the Manufacturers & Liberal Arts Building, the Minerals and Forestry Building, the Negro Building, the Semi-Circular Entrance, and Exit Gateway, the Transportation Building, and the United States Government Building.{{Cite news |date=November 23, 1893 |title=Atlanta's Fair |pages=1 |work=Roanoke Beacon (Plymouth, North Carolina) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95450541/bradford/ |access-date=July 1, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}

There was a logic to his designs; for example, the Minerals and Forestry Building was constructed of natural Southern woods. At his suggestion, Bradford's designs were in the Romanesque style as this resulted in cost-effective temporary structures with a simple outline.{{Cite journal|last=Harvey|first=Bruce|year=1997|title=Architecture for the Future at the Charleston Exposition, 1901–1902|url=https://doi.org/10.2307/3514388|journal=Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture|volume=7|pages=120–121|doi=10.2307/3514388 |jstor=3514388 |url-access=subscription}} Romanesque style was also a good way for Atlanta "to be seen as au courant with America's commercial trends." In addition to designing for the Exposition, he also created vendor buildings for the Southern Railway Company and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.

The Atlanta Constitution wrote, "The design for the Administration Building and Gateway is one of the handsomest of the entire Exhibition. The design...is a composite design of old baronial castles...these castellated turrets, those embattled ramparts, those ancient moats, the old swinging drawbridge, will prove a source of keen enjoyment and profit." Gilbert received a gold medal from the Exposition Directors for "the designing and building all of the fifteen principal structures within the limit of time and appropriation."

{{Main|Albemarle Park}}

After a family vacation in 1896, William Greene Raoul decided to make Asheville, North Carolina his family's summer home. Getting away from the heat of a Georgia summer may have been one goal. Still, his son Thomas contracted tuberculosis in 1897, and the mountain air of Asheville was believed to be a cure. Raoul and his son hired Gilbert to design Albemarle Park, a park-like resort development on {{Convert|32|acre|ha}} just outside of Asheville.{{Cite web|title=As soon as you enter Albemarle Park you know that you are in a special place.|url=http://albemarlepark.org/|access-date=February 12, 2022|website=Albemarle Park}}{{Cite web|title=Manor and Cottages--Asheville, North Carolina: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary|url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/asheville/man.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015200555/http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/asheville/man.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 15, 2007|access-date=2022-02-13|website=National Park Service}} Gilbert began with a small hotel called Manor Inn, five cottages and the Lodge (or Gatehouse) where the Raoul family lived at first.{{Cite web|title=The Unique Architecture of Albemarle Park|url=http://albemarlepark.org/cottages.html|access-date=2022-02-15|website=Albemarle Park}} In 1902, he added three new houses, a wing to the Manor Inn, doubled the size of the dining room and added a stage for musicians.{{Cite news |date=December 7, 1902 |title=Albemarle Park CO's Improvements |pages=5 |work=Asheville Daily Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95457377/albemarle-park/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} Known cottages credited to Gilbert include Clover, Columbus, Hollyhock, Marigold, and Milfoil.

To suit the mountain setting, Gilbert created a "resort with an English inn atmosphere," with grounds designed by landscape architect Samuel Parsons, Jr. This translated to a hybrid of Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, Dutch Colonial Revival, and Shingle architectural styles, with exteriors that featured shingles, roughcast plaster, and timber framing. Built between 1898 and 1920, Albemarle Park would eventually consist of 42 structures—some designed by other architects—becoming one of America's first planned residential parks. Albemarle Park is now a National Register Historic District.{{Cite web|title=Historic Districts and Design Guidelines|url=https://www.ashevillenc.gov/department/planning-urban-design/historic-resources/historic-district-guidelines/|access-date=2022-02-13|website=The City of Asheville|language=en-US}} The National Register says, "The Manor and Cottages compose a picturesque small historic district, evocative of Asheville's dramatic turn-of-the-century resort town boom era."

{{Main|Flatiron Building (Atlanta)}}

In 1897, Gilbert designed the English-American Building for Atlanta's English-American Loan and Trust Company—whose president was Rufus Bullock, a former Georgia governor.{{cite web|title=Flatiron Building (The English-American Building)|url=http://www.atlantaga.gov/government/urbandesign_flatiron.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917043803/http://www.atlantaga.gov/government/urbandesign_flatiron.aspx|archive-date=September 17, 2011|access-date=August 16, 2011|website=Atlanta.gov|publisher=City of Atlanta}} Located at the junction of Broad and Peachtree Streets, this triangular-shaped building with eleven stories was the second skyscraper in Atlanta.{{Cite web|last=Digital Resources of the Kenan Research Center|title=The English American Building|url=https://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/digital/collection/athpc/id/995|access-date=February 12, 2022|website=Atlanta History Center}} Its style was Neo-Classical and Neo-Renaissance, but the shape was modern. At a cost of some $400,000, the building included three electric elevators, 200 rooms, and electric lighting.{{Cite news |date=July 7, 1896 |title=To Arch the Street |pages=8 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95453416/ |access-date=July 1, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}

The Within a year, the building's tenants included National Cash Register Co., Otis Bros. Co. (elevators), Rand McNally Co., Mutual Life Insurance Co., Southern Bell and many others along with its owners and the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Known as the Flatiron Building since 1916 because of its shape, this is the oldest remaining steel-framed skyscraper in Atlanta and one of the few non-railroad buildings by Gilbert that survive today. Dr. Elizabeth Lyon says, "The building plays an important role in its urban setting by establishing a sense of dignity and scale and helping to create a visually interesting sequence of spaces and styles in the central business area of the city."

{{Main|South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition}}

Gilbert was the supervising architect for the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition in 1901.{{Cite journal|last=Teder|first=Camryn|date=September 2021|title=Monumental Endeavor: The Incredible 'Ivory City' that Once Stood In Today's Hampton Park|url=https://charlestonmag.com/features/monumental_endeavor_the_incredible_ivory_city_that_once_stood_in_today_s_hampton_park|journal=Charleston Magazine|access-date=February 15, 2022}} Remarkably, he was responsible for all aspects of this Charleston world's fair event, from the buildings to the {{Convert|250|acre|ha}} grounds to its infrastructure, including roads, water, sewage, and electricity.{{Cite journal|last=Harvey|first=Bruce|year=1997|title=Architecture for the Future at the Charleston Exposition, 1901–1902|url=https://doi.org/10.2307/3514388|journal=Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture|volume=7|pages=122–129|doi=10.2307/3514388 |jstor=3514388 |url-access=subscription}} Gilbert designed twenty large buildings, including the {{Convert|320|foot|m}} long Cotton Palace with and its {{Convert|75|ft|m}} tall dome, and the Administration Building, Agriculture Palace, Art Palace, Auditorium, and the Sunken Garden & Conning Tower Sculpture.{{Cite NIE|wstitle=South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition|short=|vb=}} The main buildings, with their domes, arcades, finials, and brackets, were all painted in off-white, giving the Exposition its name the Ivory City—a play on the White City of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893

Gilbert's instructions for this fair were to create a "Southern motif" which seems noticeably lacking in the Italian and Spanish-Revival style he used. However, Gilbert gave the exposition a more romantic look than the Atlanta exposition, while also modernizing it with the Mediterranean-style that was, during the 1890s and early 20th-century, in fashion for commercial and residential buildings Rather than Southern plantation architecture, it seems that Gilbert was influenced by the fair's goal of reminding commercial interests of the once lucrative trade route between the West Indies and the port of Charleston. Thus, architect Bruce Harvey concludes "The architecture at Charleston's exposition both reflected and promoted this conscious hope for the future." The architectural critic Montgomery Schuyler wrote, "At Chicago, they called the style Columbian; at Buffalo, they called it Pan-American...in Charleston—the Spanish Renaissance of the Sixteenth Century."

Gilbert's layout divided the fair into sections, suggesting that he studied that of the widely successful Columbian Exposition. His idea was to split the grounds into areas for the natural and artificial, connected by a "narrow neck" that included the Administration Building. Like Frederick Law Olmsted in Chicago, Gilbert used the natural setting—in this case, live oaks and magnolias along the Ashley River—to give structure to his Natural Section that included the Art, Machinery, Negro, various states, Transportation, and Women's Buildings. Gilbert wrote that the Natural section "will form a natural park of endless beauty of vista and landscape effect naturalistic [sic.]...a winding path of 100 feet in width will be carried underneath the overspreading live oaks along the edge of the embankment."

The artificial or Art Section was formal with architecturally similar buildings: the Palaces of Agriculture, Commerce, and Cotton. Gilbert sited this section over the former Washington Race Course, a flat area that was already treeless, allowing him to create "complex geometrical design" for the Court of Palaces which was surrounded with a sunken garden and connected by a colonnade. After the exposition, the majority of its temporary buildings were razed; the bandstand is the only structure from the event that survives.

However, Gilbert and the expedition quarreled over his compensation for work.{{Cite news |date=May 25, 1902 |title=South Carolina News and Gossip: The Architect and Exposition |pages=10 |work=The State (Columbia, South Carolina) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95457464/gilbert-sueing-charleston-exposition/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} In May 1902, Gilbert appeared in court for his lawsuit against the exposition for $16,422.80, the balance due on his $34,422.30 invoice (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=34,422.30|start_year=1902|fmt=c}} in today's money). In return, the exposition sued Gilbert for $51,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=51,000|start_year=1902|fmt=c}} in today's money) in damages and loss of business due to his failure to complete the construction of all of the buildings by the opening date.

In 1902, Gilbert was paid $1,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=1000|start_year=1902|fmt=c}} in today's money) by Atlanta to draw plans for a new railroad station.{{Cite news |date=December 9, 1902 |title=The Resolution Providing |pages=7 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95457355/atlanta-station/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1901, he designed the Ottawa Central Railway Station.

In 1905, Gilbert and Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, also an architect from New York City, collaborated on the redesign and expansion of the Windsor Hotel in Montreal, Canada.{{Cite news |date=November 17, 1905 |title=New Hotel Plans: Windsor to be Made one of the Largest Hostelries on the Continent |pages=9 |work=The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95456880/windsor-hotel/ |access-date=June 27, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} Construction began in the spring of 1906 to create one of the largest hotels in North America of its day. Built of a steel frame and stone, the hotel was increased to a height of eight stories, with 250 new rooms and 175 new bathrooms. The combined total of old and new construction was 800 rooms and 450 baths, as well as a new double entrance through a rotunda.

In July 1905, Gilbert and Hardenbergh were selected to design a new hotel at the existing Grand Union Hotel site in Ottawa, Canada. This one-million-dollar project was to include 300 hotel rooms.{{Cite news |date=July 8, 1905 |title=New Hotel for Ottawa |pages=5 |work=The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95456991/ottawa-hotel/ |access-date=June 27, 2022 |via=Newspaper.com}}

In 1872, Gilbert married Cora Rathbone, daughter of the late Captain John Rathbone, in Brooklyn, New York.{{Cite news|date=October 21, 1887|title=Two Months Since|pages=8|work=The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95375501/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} He was 19 and she was seventeen or eighteen years older. From its beginning, this was an unhappy marriage.

Gilbert was an elder with the University Presbyterian Church in New York City, and later an elder with the Westminster Presbyterian Church. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects—New York Chapter, the Architectural League of New York, the National Arts Club, the National Sculpture Society, the Quill Club, the Riding Club, and the Transportation Club, as well as the Chicago Club in Illinois.

Gilbert was a supporter and trustee of the McAuley Water Street Mission (now the New York City Rescue Mission) which was founded in 1887 by missionaries Jerry McAuley and his wife Maria, to give shelter and food to the poor. McAuley and his wife were Christian converts who were previously an alcoholic convict and an alcoholic prostitute, respectively.{{Cite news|date=September 20, 1919|title=Maria Fahy Gilbert, Mission Worker, Dead|pages=10|work=The Standard Union (Brooklyn, New York)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94850681/obituary-for-maria-fahy-gilbert-aged-71/|access-date=February 12, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}Kurian, George Thomas; Lamport, Mark A. (2016). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=73xfDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1446 Jeremiah 'Jerry' McAuley]" in Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Vol. 5. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 1446. {{isbn|978-1-4422-4432-0}}. After her husband's death in 1884, Maria McAuley (née Fahy) became the Matron of the Cremorne Mission which Gilbert was a trustee.{{Cite news|date=September 2, 1911|title=Bradford Lee Gilbert pt 2|pages=2|work=The Standard Union (Brooklyn, New York)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94844430/bradford-lee-gilbert-pt-2/|access-date=February 12, 2022}} In 1885, Gilbert was secretary of a committee that raised funds for a public drinking fountain in memory of McAuley.{{Cite news|date=August 26, 1885|title=New York|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95355918/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=August 27, 1885|title=A Fountain in Memory of Jerry McAuley|pages=2|work=The Record-Union (Sacramento, CA)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95356789/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}

Gilbert separated from his wife in January 1887. In June 1887, he filed for an annulment in Jersey City, New Jersey, on the basis that he was underaged at the time of his marriage, with his wife being seventeen years his senior.{{Cite news|date=October 17, 1887|title=Mrs. McAuley Denies It: The Scandal Which Hovers over McAuley Mission|pages=17|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95359230/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} On October 13, 1887, Cora Gilbert served her husband with divorce papers during the intermission of a prayer meeting at Cremorne Mission.{{Cite news|date=October 17, 1887|title=While a Prayer Meeting Was in Progress|pages=1|work=Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95366596/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=October 17, 1887|title=Sued for Divorce: The Widow of Jerry McAuley Made Correspondant|pages=1|work=San Francisco Chronicle|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95368161/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} Her claim was on the basis of infidelity, to be heard in the superior court at White Plains.{{Cite news|date=October 20, 1887|title=A Sensation|pages=1|work=Black Hills Daily Times (Deadwood, SD)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95372454/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} At the same time, she served Maria McAuley with a $50,000 lawsuit for alienation of affections, with allegations that "were numerous and specific." Cora claimed she had been driven from her home, that her husband was abusive, and his attention had been diverted to Mrs. McAuley.

On October 16, 1887, at the Mission, Gilbert made a public announcement saying, "If it did not affect this mission and the noble Christian woman who conducts it, I would remain silent. I suppose you have all read in today's papers...a story reflecting upon Mrs. McAuley and myself. I pronounce it false. All those who know me will take my word, and all those who do not know me will see by the result that what I say is true."{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=October 17, 1887 |title=Exhorter Gilbert Denies It |pages=3 |work=The Sun (New York, NY) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95371364/ |access-date=February 18, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} Standing by Gilbert were banker A.S Hatch, real estate agent Sidney Whittemore, Franklin W. Coe, and other ladies and gentlemen associated with McAuley Mission. Hatch also spoke, saying "The very fact that I am on this platform tonight is sufficient for the purpose without saying a word; but I may add that my faith in Mrs. McAuley and Mr. Gilbert has not been shaken one jot by what has appeared in print, and I continue to have unwavering confidence in both." McAuley "emphatically denied" the allegations. Later, Gilbert said his wife was influenced by would-be blackmailers. After Gilbert obtained a divorce, Cora withdrew the lawsuit against Maria.{{Cite news|date=May 13, 1892|title=Joined Their Fortunes|pages=8|work=St Louis Post-Dispatch|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95408978/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}

File:Maria McAuley.jpg

Five years later, McAuley's health declined and doctors believed she would die. She resigned from her position at Cremorne Mission and moved to Cranford, New Jersey.{{Cite news|date=May 13, 1891|title=Mrs. Gilbert Now|pages=3|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95411211/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} Gilbert discontinued his association with the Mission when McAuley left. On May 12, 1892, in Cranford, Gilbert married McAuley "when her health was poor and took care of her."{{Cite news|date=May 13, 1892|title=Pertinent Paragraphs|pages=3|work=The Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94843311/|access-date=February 12, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} Newspapers announcements said they had courted for five years, and that he was 38 and she was 55 years old.{{Efn|McAuley's exact birth date is unknown. If she was 55 at the time of her marriage to Gilbert, she would have been born in 1837. Her obituary in The New York Times states that she was 78 in September 1919 when she died. If that age is correct, she would have around 51 years old when she married Gilbert, having been born around 1841. The 1870 US Census recorded that she was 27 and was born around 1843, while the 1910 US Census says she was 55 and born in 1855. In any event, it appears that McAuley was older than Bradford by several years.}} The Gilberts initially lived in a cottage on Madison Avenue, before moving to 225 Park Place in Brooklyn.{{Cite news |date=October 29, 1899 |title=Mr. and Mrs. Bradford L. Gilbert |pages=21 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95454468/gilberts-madison-ave-cottage/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} They also owned a summer home in the Catskills. They adopted their niece Blossom, the daughter of Maria's sister.{{Cite news |date=September 2, 1911 |title=Bradford L. Gilbert Dead: Was Designer of First Skyscraper Erected in City |pages=2 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95455406/obituary-for-bradford-l-gilbert/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Around 1887, Gilbert acquired nearly {{Convert|1,000|acre|ha}} in Roscoe, New York.{{Cite web|last=Sokolow|first=Jane|year=2015|title=Dundas Castle|url=http://beaverkillfriends.org/Pages/StoryV2Dundas.html|access-date=2022-02-13|website=Beaverkill Friends}}{{Cite web|last=Parsons|first=Rebecca|title=Dundas Castle History|url=http://dundascastle.synthasite.com/castle-history.php|access-date=February 13, 2022|website=Dundas Castle (Craig E Claire)}} There, he constructed his summer retreat, Beaverkill Lodge, named for the nearby river. This frame structure was clad in shingles and featured leaded Swiss-style sash windows, gas lighting, running water, and a turret.{{Cite news|date=December 6, 1894|title=Rockland|pages=3|work=Middletown Daily Argus (Middletown, NY)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95349118/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} Maria, who was an Irish immigrant, said the Catskill scenery reminded her of Ireland. She named the surrounding hamlet Craig-e-Clair which translates as "beautiful mountainside". The Gilberts sold the property in 1903. In 1907, Beaverkill Lodge was acquired by Ralph Wurts-Dundas who built Dundas Castle or Craig-e-Clair which encapsulated Beaverkill Lodge, based on documentary photos.

There is evidence that Gilbert and Maria were close, with her joining him on various business trips.{{Cite news|date=May 27, 1892|title=We Have Difficult Problems to Face|pages=9|work=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95424102/|access-date=February 18, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=May 11, 1893|title=Personal Services: Mr. Bradford L. Gilbert|pages=7|work=Middletown Times-Press (Middletown, NY)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95449499/|access-date=February 19, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} While designing the 1895 Cobblestone Church in Schenectady, New York, Gilbert donated $800 to build its clock tower in honor of Maria. He incorporated a clock he acquired from the New York Central Railroad.{{Cite web|title=Our Story|url=http://thecobblestonechurch.org/ourstory|access-date=2022-02-16|website=Cobblestone Church|language=en-US}} Gilbert, who was notoriously against ornamentation, also added Celtic designs to several buildings around the time of his marriage to Maria, including the Mason Stables and the Tower Building.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that Gilbert was recovering from a "severe illness" on August 14, 1904.{{Cite news |date=August 14, 1904 |title=The Accompanying Reproductions |pages=13 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95457225/william-baldwin-glen-cover-house/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} On March 15, 1908, the Gilberts conducted services at the Water Street Mission.{{Cite news |date=March 13, 1908 |title=Water Street Mission |pages=7 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95456248/gilberts-conduct-service-at-water-st-mis/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} Gilbert began designing the yacht Jerry McAuley as a gift to The Salvation Army in June 1908.{{Cite news |date=June 23, 1911 |title=The 'Army's' Navy: The Jerry McAuley Going to Sailors at Many Ports |pages=5 |work=The Raleigh Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96240397/jerry-mcauley-yacht/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} In his June 1911 dedication speech for the ship and launch of the Salvation Army Navy before a crowd of 5,000 people, Gilbert said, McAuley was "the missing link between what the church thought it could do and what God could really do."{{Cite news |last=Brinton |first=Arthur J. |date=August 2, 1911 |title=Salvation Army Finds It Needs a Navy and Sends Off First Boat, The Jerry McAuley, to Fight Satan |pages=6 |work=The Asheville Weekly Citizen (Asheville, North Carolina) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96219347/missionary-ship-jerry-mcauley/ |access-date=June 27, 2022 |via=Newspaper.com}} In April 1911, Gilbert was working on designs for a new building to replace the Jerry McAuley Water Street Mission.{{Cite news |date=February 19, 1911 |title=M'Auley Mission to be Rebuilt |pages=7 |work=The Selma Times-Journal (Selma, Alabama) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95455552/designing-new-mcauley-mission/ |access-date=March 5, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} The new $100,000 building was to include a chapel, dormitories, and modern bathrooms.{{Cite news |date=April 14, 1911 |title=M'Auley Mission to be Rebuilt |pages=7 |work=The Selma Times-Journal (Selma, Alabama) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95455552/ |access-date=June 27, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}

On September 1, 1911, at age 58, Gilbert died of dropsy at his summer house in Accord, New York.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VMBBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA311|title=American Art Annual, Volume 9|publisher=MacMillan Company|year=1911|page=311}} His last architectural design was for a new mission.

Many of the surviving buildings by Gilbert are on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|30em}}

{{commons category|Bradford Gilbert}}

• [https://books.google.com/books?id=dYUxAQAAMAAJ Sketch Portfolio of Railroad Stations and Kindred Structures by Brandon Gilbert (1895). Google Books].

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Category:1853 births

Category:1911 deaths

Category:19th-century American architects

Category:Erie Railroad

Category:People from Watertown, New York

Category:Architects from New York (state)

Category:American railway architects

Category:20th-century American architects

Category:Skyscraper architects