Architect. He pioneered the use of Romanesque and Italianate forms in the United States. Tefft was teaching school when he was encouraged to become an architect by school reformer Henry Barnard who had seen his designs for one-room schools. Joining the firm of Tallman and Bucklin in Providence, Rhode Island, Tefft also entered Brown University. While still a student, he designed the original Union Depot in Providence and the Cannelton Cotton Mill in Cannelton, Indiana, each the largest project of its type in the United States at the time. Graduating from Brown in 1851, Tefft had a short but prolific career. His projects included houses, churches, academic buildings and commercial structures. In general, Tefft favored the use of round arches and twin spires, features that were prominent in the Union Depot. He also gave close attention to the use of brick ornamentation. Notable projects completed using Tefft's designs were the Female Institute in Richmond, Virginia, and an octagonal library based on the "panoptic" plan at Williams College. Tefft went to Europe in 1856 to study architectural styles and art education and to promote his ideas for a uniform decimalized international currency. He fell ill and died in Florence at the home of his friend, the sculptor Hiram Powers. His remains were interred temporarily in the English Cemetery (Cimitero Accatolico, Tomb 689) in Florence, then returned to Rhode Island and buried beneath a monument of his own design.
Architect. He pioneered the use of Romanesque and Italianate forms in the United States. Tefft was teaching school when he was encouraged to become an architect by school reformer Henry Barnard who had seen his designs for one-room schools. Joining the firm of Tallman and Bucklin in Providence, Rhode Island, Tefft also entered Brown University. While still a student, he designed the original Union Depot in Providence and the Cannelton Cotton Mill in Cannelton, Indiana, each the largest project of its type in the United States at the time. Graduating from Brown in 1851, Tefft had a short but prolific career. His projects included houses, churches, academic buildings and commercial structures. In general, Tefft favored the use of round arches and twin spires, features that were prominent in the Union Depot. He also gave close attention to the use of brick ornamentation. Notable projects completed using Tefft's designs were the Female Institute in Richmond, Virginia, and an octagonal library based on the "panoptic" plan at Williams College. Tefft went to Europe in 1856 to study architectural styles and art education and to promote his ideas for a uniform decimalized international currency. He fell ill and died in Florence at the home of his friend, the sculptor Hiram Powers. His remains were interred temporarily in the English Cemetery (Cimitero Accatolico, Tomb 689) in Florence, then returned to Rhode Island and buried beneath a monument of his own design.
Bio by: Michael Walter
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Records on Ancestry
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