Detlef Lienau

The architect
Detlef Lienau

Detlef Lienau (born February 17, 1818 in Uetersen ; † August 29, 1887 in New York ) was an American architect from Holstein . He brought French style elements into American architecture, in particular the mansard roof with its decorative ornamentation. He completed his training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Lienau designed country houses, villas, apartment buildings, hotels, banks, department stores, churches, schools, libraries, office buildings, factories, train stations and a museum. Clients and colleagues valued him as one of the most creative and technically competent architects of his time. He was one of the 13 founding members of the American Institute of Architects .

Life

Born in Uetersen in Holstein, which was then under Danish rule, Detlef Lienau emigrated to the USA in 1848. On May 11, 1853, he married Catherine Van Giesen Booraem. It was his first marriage and her second. Of the couple's five children, only the eldest son, J. August, survived. Everyone else died at a young age. J. August followed in his father's footsteps and became an architect. After he took over his father's office in 1887, he mainly designed residential buildings. He later formed a partnership with Thomas Nash, which lasted until the 1920s. Detlef Lienau had another son, J. Henry, who was born in 1871, 10 years after the death of his wife Catherine. In 1935, J. Henry Lienau donated 800 architectural drawings, photographs, and other documents from his father to the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University. They are archived there to this day. Detlef Lienau died on August 29, 1887 in New York City.

Working in the USA

Detlev Lienau's guild coat of arms

Detlef Lienau belonged to a very small group of academically trained architects, the majority of whom had only recently come from Europe. All brought the traditions of the Old World to the New World , but Lienau differed from his colleagues in one respect: formed by his youth in Danish-influenced northern Germany, his training in several German art centers and in Paris, his approach was more international. In an era marked by nationalism, that was a rarity. The amalgamation of different traditions enabled him to adapt quickly to American life and successfully face the demands of an increasingly eclectic age. In addition, Lienau, not Richard Morris Hunt , brought the tradition of French Beaux Arts architecture to the United States through contact with Henri Labrouste .

Lienau's career clearly illustrates the contributions of architects trained in Europe to American architecture. Its main importance for American architecture between 1850 and 1885 is not only in the use of the Victorian style, nor in general eclecticism . Rather, it is the classic orientation of his entire work. His work forms a flowing stream of conservatism in American architecture. This was sometimes masked by the prevailing picturesque contemporary style, Victorian high Gothic and the Second Empire with anti-classical tendencies. Lienau's work bridges the gap between the classical style traditions of the second quarter of the 19th century and their reappearance in the 1880s, a movement led in New York by McKim, Mead & White .

The architects Lienau influenced include Henry Janeway Hardenbergh and Paul Johannes Pelz, both of whom worked in Lienau's office. According to Hardenberg, Lienau never had more than six men in his office so that he could devote enough time to them. Through the continued work of his students, Lienau's influence continued into the 20th century.

Regardless of whether he designed simple country houses or large villas - Lienau found many ways to harmonize his ideas with the customer's wishes and to implement them appropriately. The following architectural styles and fashions can be found in his work: the “chalet and stick style” of his early country houses, the Italian villa , the monumental tradition of the French Renaissance , finally Queen Anne Style and Colonial Revival.

Working in Germany

A few buildings were built in Germany based on Detlef Lienau's designs. His brother Michael Lienau , who had also emigrated to America, returned to his home near Uetersen as a rich wine merchant. In 1872 he had the so-called Düneck Castle built in the neighboring Moorrege according to plans by his brother Detlef. It is a castle-like country house, which is unique in northern Germany with its French style elements. Detlef Lienau also designed the much simpler family house in Uetersen.

buildings

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  House of the Lienau family in Uetersen

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  Cottenet-Brown House (Nuits) (1852)

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  LeGrand Lockwood Mansion (1868)

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  Düneck Castle in Moorrege (1872)

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  Tulipwood, residential building designed by J. August Lienau (1892)

Some of Lienau's most important assignments are listed below. Those in italics are on the United States' National Register of Historic Places .

• 1849: Michael Lienau cottage; 44 Jersey Avenue; Jersey City, NJ.
• 1852: Beach Cliffe; Kane Villa; Bath Road; Newport, RI.
• 1852: Francis Cottenet Villa (Nuits) ; Hudson Road and Clifton Place; Ardsley-on-Hudson, NY.
• 1852: Hart M. Shiff House; Fifth Avenue at 10th Street; New York, NY.
• 1853: Grace Church (Van Vorst); Erie Avenue and Second Street; Jersey City, NJ.
• 1859: William C. Schermerhorn House; 49 West 23rd Street; New York, NY.
• 1862: FO Matthiessen & Weichers sugar refinery; South Street; Jersey City, NJ.
• 1864: First National Bank; 1 Exchange Place; Jersey City, NJ.
• 1865: New York Life & Trust Company; 52 Wall Street; New York, NY.
• 1868: LeGrand Lockwood Mansion ; 295 West Avenue; Norwalk, Connecticut, CT.
• 1868: New York Sugar Refining Company; Washington and Essex Streets; Jersey City, NJ.
• 1868: L. Marcotte factory and warehouse; 160-164 West 32nd Street; New York, NY.
• 1869: Edmund Schermerhorn House; 45-47 West 23rd Street; New York, NY.
• 1870: Mrs. Rebecca Jones Block; Fifth Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets; New York, NY.
• 1871: American Jockey Club; Madison Avenue at 27th Street; New York, NY.
• 1871: Henry A. Booraem Block; Second street; Jersey City, NJ.
• 1871: Schermerhorn Apartments; 2131-2137 Third Avenue; New York, NY.
• 1872: Grosvenor House Hotel; Fifth Avenue at 10th Street; New York, NY.
• 1872: Michael Lienau Villa ( Düneck Castle ); Moorrege , Germany.
• 1873: Matthew Wilks Residence (Cruickston Park); Blair, ON, Canada.
• 1874: DeLancey Kane Estate loft building; 676 Broadway; New York, NY.
• 1875: Edward Bech Villa outbuildings (Rosenlund, now Marist College); Poughkeepsie, NY.
• 1875: New Brunswick Theological Seminary (Sage Library); 17 Seminary Place; New Brunswick, NJ.
• 1876: Georgia Historical Society (Hodgson Hall); 501 Whitaker Street; Savannah, GA.
• 1879: George Mosle townhouse; 5 West 51st Street; New York, NY.
• 1880: Walter H. Lewis Cottage (Anglesea); Ocher Point; Newport, RI.
• 1881: William C. Schermerhorn store and loft building; 116-118 East 14th Street; New York, NY.
• 1882: Daniel Parish Estate office building; 67 Wall Street; New York, NY.
• 1883: Mrs. Mary M. Williams Cottage; 1135 Hamilton Street; Somerset, NJ.
• 1884: Mrs. Mary M. Williams Row; 37-47 West 82nd Street; New York, NY.
• 1887: Lienau-Williams Row; 48-54 West 82nd Street; New York, NY.

literature

• Ellen Weill Kramer: The Domestic Architecture of Detlef Lienau. A Conservative Victorian . Infinity Publishing, West Conshohocken, PA 1957 (also dissertation, University of New York 1957).