Ida Annah Ryan
Encyclopedia
Ida Annah Ryan was a pioneering United States
woman architect
. She was born on November 4, 1873 at Waltham
, MA, one of five children of Albert Morse Ryan and Carrie S. Jameson. Albert Morse Ryan was a Waltham city employee and historian who also ran a milk business. She graduated from the Waltham High School. During her Waltham High School years, Ryan was first attracted to the study of architectural design.
(MIT), which offered the first collegiate architectural studies program in the United States. There she studied with the noted architecture professor Constant-Désiré Despradelle, In 1894, Ryan received the Rotch Prize of two hundred dollars for the regular student making the best record during their four years of studies.
At the end of her term at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ryan’s junior design received the first of the first four prizes. Thereafter, she was invited to compete with only senior and fifth class men in the Junior Beaux Arts contest, in which she won second prize for a grand plan, elevation and section of a public market.
In 1904, Ryan showed a project for "A Proposed City Hall" at the Boston Architectural Club's annual exhibition. In 1905, Ryan drafted a plan for a New England model town for her final masters degree project. In 1907, Ryan showed five examples of her work at the Boston Architectural Club Exhibition: Camp at Litchfield, NH, Cottage Made From a Stable, Sewage Pump House at Crescent Park, Cottage at Violet Hill, Waltham, and Inexpensive Two-Family House at Waltham Highlands. The two-family house is a large Spanish Revival stucco structure with double height bay windows, hip roof, overhanging eaves and a double height triple-arched entry porch that is a precursor of Ryan's work at 1114 Massachusetts Avenue, St. Cloud Florida; located at 228-240 Hammond Street the double-house is still in good condition more than a hundred years later.
Ryan became the first woman to earn a master of science degree from MIT and also the first woman in the United States to receive a masters degree in architecture. In 1907 Ryan was awarded a traveling scholarship of $1200, the highest prize that the Architectural Department could confer on one of its graduates. This enabled her to spend a year in Europe engaged in the study of architecture. Ryan spent the greater part of the time in Spain and Italy, making her headquarters in Naples.
While at MIT Ryan was a member of Cleophan a club for women students that also included Matilda A. Fraser and Harriet F. Locke (see below).
to her practice, making this one of the first all-women’s architectural practices in the United States. In February 1913, Miss Ryan was appointed superintendent of buildings and grounds and buildings inspector for the city of Waltham, by Mayor Duane.
Typical of her work during this time is the house that Ryan designed for her nephew as a wedding present in 1914, located at 19 Boynton Street, Waltham. The -storey smooth stucco residence turns its gable-end to the street. A small, 1-storey covered porch at the entrance is distinguished by an arched roof reminiscent of the work of George Washington Maher in the Chicago suburbs. Windows are placed singly, in pairs, or, as in the gable, in threes, while sill heights vary according to the interior needs. Ryan would continue the use of many of these distinctive elements in her work in Florida. During her Waltham practice Ryan also designed the spacious, well-appointed home of industrialist B. C. Ames (1917). Many of the most attractive Waltham homes of that era were said to have been designed by Ryan. Also of note is the apartment building at 19 Hammond Street, Waltham; a Ryan remodeling of a barn once owned by David Smith. Her address was, for a time, at this building.
While associated with fellow MIT graduate Harriet F. Locke (1870–1919), Ryan was responsible for the design of Memorial Hospital, Nashua, New Hampshire
, circa 1915, a 3-storey stuccoed symmetrical building with recessed porches, of a simplified Grecian design, closely anticipating the Amherst Apartments in Orlando. The intertwined "cross and x" used for the porch railings would appear later in the Veteran's Memorial Library windows and ventilation grills. The hospital featured a roof parapet that prefigures Ryan and Roberts' work in Florida, as well.
Ryan was active in the women's suffrage movement, a member of the Waltham Equal Suffrage League and the Political Equality Association of Massachusetts. Her recreational activities included camping and traveling. When the United States
entered World War I
, Ryan gave her services without charge in designing and decorating the Army and Navy Canteen on Boston Common. Ryan offered her services to the government in Washington, D.C.
, and was the first woman employed in the War Department (in the gun carriage section).
Ryan began an association with the Central Florida area while still in practice in Massachusetts, designing there the Atlantic Coast Line railroad depot in St. Cloud (1917) and the Unity Chapel of Orlando (built in 1913, remodeled by Ryan and Roberts circa 1920). Throughout this time, Ryan’s many attempts to join the Massachusetts chapter of the American Institute of Architects were rebuffed solely because she was a woman.
. She became Orlando's first female architect. In 1918–1919, Frederick H. Trimble
employed Ryan as designing architect in his firm.
Soon thereafter Ryan was joined by Isabel Roberts
(1871–1955) who had been a designer-draftsman in the Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright
and the co-owner, with her mother Mary, of the Isabel Roberts House
. Ida Annah Ryan and Isabel Roberts formed an architectural practice called “Ryan and Roberts” which was among no more than twelve firms active in Orlando in the 1920s. Their business is listed under the heading “Architects” as "Ryan and Roberts" in the 1926 and in the 1927 Orlando City Directories, at 240 S. Orange St. and the Kenilworth Terrace address. One of only 10 architectural firms listed in 1926, the others including: Frank L. Bodine
, Fred E. Field
, David Hyer
, Murry S. King
, George E. Krug
, Howard M. Reynolds
, Frederick H. Trimble
and Percy P. Turner
. And one of 12 firms so listed in Orlando in 1927, which included Maurice E. Kressly
. Each of these architects are notable and together these firms were supportive colleagues in promoting excellence in the built environment, as one can learn by reading the links to each.
Among the works of "Ryan and Roberts" are:
Ida A. Ryan worked with builder Samuel (Sam) Stoltz who created fantasy architecture with original murals in story book settings in Orlando, Mount Plymouth
, and Windermere
, Florida. Ryan lived in Orlando until her death, in mid-February 1950 after an illness of several years, during which she was cared for by Isabel Roberts. According to her wishes, Ryan was buried in her hometown of Waltham, MA.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
woman architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
. She was born on November 4, 1873 at Waltham
Waltham, Maine
Waltham is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 306 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
, MA, one of five children of Albert Morse Ryan and Carrie S. Jameson. Albert Morse Ryan was a Waltham city employee and historian who also ran a milk business. She graduated from the Waltham High School. During her Waltham High School years, Ryan was first attracted to the study of architectural design.
Architecture Studies at MIT
Ida A. Ryan entered architecture studies at the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT), which offered the first collegiate architectural studies program in the United States. There she studied with the noted architecture professor Constant-Désiré Despradelle, In 1894, Ryan received the Rotch Prize of two hundred dollars for the regular student making the best record during their four years of studies.
At the end of her term at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ryan’s junior design received the first of the first four prizes. Thereafter, she was invited to compete with only senior and fifth class men in the Junior Beaux Arts contest, in which she won second prize for a grand plan, elevation and section of a public market.
In 1904, Ryan showed a project for "A Proposed City Hall" at the Boston Architectural Club's annual exhibition. In 1905, Ryan drafted a plan for a New England model town for her final masters degree project. In 1907, Ryan showed five examples of her work at the Boston Architectural Club Exhibition: Camp at Litchfield, NH, Cottage Made From a Stable, Sewage Pump House at Crescent Park, Cottage at Violet Hill, Waltham, and Inexpensive Two-Family House at Waltham Highlands. The two-family house is a large Spanish Revival stucco structure with double height bay windows, hip roof, overhanging eaves and a double height triple-arched entry porch that is a precursor of Ryan's work at 1114 Massachusetts Avenue, St. Cloud Florida; located at 228-240 Hammond Street the double-house is still in good condition more than a hundred years later.
Ryan became the first woman to earn a master of science degree from MIT and also the first woman in the United States to receive a masters degree in architecture. In 1907 Ryan was awarded a traveling scholarship of $1200, the highest prize that the Architectural Department could confer on one of its graduates. This enabled her to spend a year in Europe engaged in the study of architecture. Ryan spent the greater part of the time in Spain and Italy, making her headquarters in Naples.
While at MIT Ryan was a member of Cleophan a club for women students that also included Matilda A. Fraser and Harriet F. Locke (see below).
Architectural Practice in Waltham, Massachusetts
Ryan launched the first women's architectural practice in the United States in Waltham, showing a particular concern for the design of modest housing. In 1909, Ryan added fellow MIT graduate and women’s rights activist Florence LuscombFlorence Luscomb
Florence Hope Luscomb was an American architect and women's suffrage activist in Massachusetts. One of the first women to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in architecture, Luscomb became a partner in an early woman-owned architecture firm before work in the...
to her practice, making this one of the first all-women’s architectural practices in the United States. In February 1913, Miss Ryan was appointed superintendent of buildings and grounds and buildings inspector for the city of Waltham, by Mayor Duane.
Typical of her work during this time is the house that Ryan designed for her nephew as a wedding present in 1914, located at 19 Boynton Street, Waltham. The -storey smooth stucco residence turns its gable-end to the street. A small, 1-storey covered porch at the entrance is distinguished by an arched roof reminiscent of the work of George Washington Maher in the Chicago suburbs. Windows are placed singly, in pairs, or, as in the gable, in threes, while sill heights vary according to the interior needs. Ryan would continue the use of many of these distinctive elements in her work in Florida. During her Waltham practice Ryan also designed the spacious, well-appointed home of industrialist B. C. Ames (1917). Many of the most attractive Waltham homes of that era were said to have been designed by Ryan. Also of note is the apartment building at 19 Hammond Street, Waltham; a Ryan remodeling of a barn once owned by David Smith. Her address was, for a time, at this building.
While associated with fellow MIT graduate Harriet F. Locke (1870–1919), Ryan was responsible for the design of Memorial Hospital, Nashua, New Hampshire
Nashua, New Hampshire
-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 86,494 people, 35,044 households, and 21,876 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,719.9 people per square mile . There were 37,168 housing units at an average density of 1,202.8 per square mile...
, circa 1915, a 3-storey stuccoed symmetrical building with recessed porches, of a simplified Grecian design, closely anticipating the Amherst Apartments in Orlando. The intertwined "cross and x" used for the porch railings would appear later in the Veteran's Memorial Library windows and ventilation grills. The hospital featured a roof parapet that prefigures Ryan and Roberts' work in Florida, as well.
Ryan was active in the women's suffrage movement, a member of the Waltham Equal Suffrage League and the Political Equality Association of Massachusetts. Her recreational activities included camping and traveling. When the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entered World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Ryan gave her services without charge in designing and decorating the Army and Navy Canteen on Boston Common. Ryan offered her services to the government in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and was the first woman employed in the War Department (in the gun carriage section).
Ryan began an association with the Central Florida area while still in practice in Massachusetts, designing there the Atlantic Coast Line railroad depot in St. Cloud (1917) and the Unity Chapel of Orlando (built in 1913, remodeled by Ryan and Roberts circa 1920). Throughout this time, Ryan’s many attempts to join the Massachusetts chapter of the American Institute of Architects were rebuffed solely because she was a woman.
Architectural Practice in Central Florida
As a result of this and of the building slump caused by the First World War, Ida A. Ryan moved to Central Florida and began an architecture practice based in Orlando, FloridaOrlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
. She became Orlando's first female architect. In 1918–1919, Frederick H. Trimble
Frederick H. Trimble
Frederick H. Trimble was an American architect practicing in Central Florida from the early 1900s through the 1920s, working in the Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival and Prairie Style....
employed Ryan as designing architect in his firm.
Soon thereafter Ryan was joined by Isabel Roberts
Isabel Roberts
Isabel Roberts was a Prairie School figure, member of the architectural design team in the Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright and partner with Ida Annah Ryan in the Orlando, Florida architecture firm, “Ryan and Roberts”. It is fair to say that Roberts is an under-appreciated member of Wright’s...
(1871–1955) who had been a designer-draftsman in the Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
and the co-owner, with her mother Mary, of the Isabel Roberts House
Isabel Roberts House
Isabel Roberts House is a classic 1908 Prairie House from the studio of Frank Lloyd Wright located at 603 Edgewood Place in River Forest, Illinois It was built for Isabel Roberts and her widowed mother, Mary Roberts....
. Ida Annah Ryan and Isabel Roberts formed an architectural practice called “Ryan and Roberts” which was among no more than twelve firms active in Orlando in the 1920s. Their business is listed under the heading “Architects” as "Ryan and Roberts" in the 1926 and in the 1927 Orlando City Directories, at 240 S. Orange St. and the Kenilworth Terrace address. One of only 10 architectural firms listed in 1926, the others including: Frank L. Bodine
Frank L. Bodine
Frank Lee Bodine was an American architect who practiced in Asbury Park, New Jersey and in Orlando, Florida in the first four decades of the twentieth century....
, Fred E. Field
Fred E. Field
Frederick E. Field was an American architect who practiced in Providence, Rhode Island, and Orlando, Florida, in the period between 1883 and 1927.Frederick E Field was born November 7, 1861. His professional training took place at Cornell University...
, David Hyer
David Hyer
David Burns Hyer was an American architect who practiced in Charleston, South Carolina and Orlando, Florida during the first half of the twentieth century, designing civic buildings in the Neoclassical Revival and Mediterranean Revival styles.-Biography:...
, Murry S. King
Murry S. King
Murry S. King was Florida's first registered architect, a noted American architect with a successful practice in Orlando, Florida, in the 1910s and 1920s....
, George E. Krug
George E. Krug
George Edward Krug was an American architect who practiced in Greater New York City , Sao Paulo, Brazil and Orlando, Florida....
, Howard M. Reynolds
Howard M. Reynolds
Howard Montalbert Reynolds, Sr. was an American architect practicing in Orlando, Florida in the 1920s. He designed gracefully proportioned, notable public buildings in the prevailing fashionable styles of the 1920s, including Mediterranean Revival, Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial, Egyptian...
, Frederick H. Trimble
Frederick H. Trimble
Frederick H. Trimble was an American architect practicing in Central Florida from the early 1900s through the 1920s, working in the Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival and Prairie Style....
and Percy P. Turner
Percy P. Turner
Percy Pamorrow Turner was an American architect who, in the 1920s-1950s practiced in Baltimore Maryland, Houston, Texas, Orlando, Florida and Miami, Florida.-Early years:...
. And one of 12 firms so listed in Orlando in 1927, which included Maurice E. Kressly
Maurice E. Kressly
Maurice E. Kressly was an American architect practicing in Pennsylvania and central Florida in the middle years of the twentieth century. Kressly was well known as a school architect in both states, as well as for designing romantic Mediterranean Revival and Tudor Revival residences in the...
. Each of these architects are notable and together these firms were supportive colleagues in promoting excellence in the built environment, as one can learn by reading the links to each.
Among the works of "Ryan and Roberts" are:
- Veterans Memorial Library - 1012 Massachusetts Ave., St. Cloud, Florida. Isabel Roberts’ brother-in-law, John B. Somerville, served on the building committee, a connection which resulted in Ryan and Roberts obtaining this commission. In 1922, an outline of what was desired was laid before architects Miss Ida Annah Ryan and Miss Isabel Roberts of Orlando. The plans submitted by these ladies were subsequently accepted. The architects insisted on a motto. Carlyle's, "The true university is a collection of books," was chosen. The building, although described as of Grecian style is in fact reminiscent of the designs of many of the Prairie SchoolPrairie SchoolPrairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
small bank buildings of the upper Midwest by Louis SullivanLouis SullivanLouis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...
, Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
and others, notably Wright's First National Bank of Dwight, Illinois, and the Madison State Bank Building, Madison, Minnesota, by Purcell & Elmslie, (1913, demolished 1968). The library is constructed of hollow tile with stained stucco exterior and still in use today.
- Amherst Apartments - 325 West Colonial Drive, Orlando, Florida. The Amherst Apartments were, for many years, Orlando’s most prestigious apartment address. Designed by Ida A. Ryan and Isabel Roberts in the Prairie Style and built in 1921–1922, this orange-yellow brick building featured forty-seven apartments situated on Lake Concord. The building was demolished in 1986.
- Unity Chapel, Orlando (remodeled by Ryan and Roberts circa 1920; demolished in the 1960s). For many years, this charming building, in a stuccoed English vernacular style, was the worship home of First Unitarian Church of Orlando, near Lake Eola. Ida Annah Ryan was a member of this congregation. Some scholars have had a hard time identifying this building, which Isabel listed on her AIA application. It is not to be confused with Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Unity TempleUnity TempleUnity Temple is a Unitarian Universalist church in Oak Park, Illinois, and the home of the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and built between 1905 and 1908. Unity Temple is considered to be one of Wright's most important...
in Oak Park, Illinois.
- Tourist Club House - 700 Indiana Ave., St. Cloud, Florida. This club house for the Tourist Club of St. Cloud was opened in the city park on December 3, 1923. Designed by Ida Annah Ryan and Isabel Roberts, it shows the influence of the Prairie SchoolPrairie SchoolPrairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
with which Roberts was associated, as a rectangular structure with a barrel-roofed auditorium. Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
’s Oak Park Studio developed this style with open, airy plans, low-pitched hip or gable roofs, horizontal brick walls, exposed rafter ends, broad overhanging eaves and grouped wood windows. The building was demolished circa 2004.
- The Ryan/Roberts Home and Studio – 834 Kenilworth Terrace, Orlando, Florida. Ryan and Roberts designed this Mediterranean Revival–style home and studio for their own use in 1920–24. The stucco structure with gable roof is in a simplified Mediterranean revival style. The details of the design include asymmetrical window placements, decorative attic vents, side yard orientation and gently scalloped buttresses. It is a very well maintained private residence today.
- The Chapel at the Fisk Funeral Home, 1107–1111 Massachusetts Avenue, St. Cloud.
- The Pennsylvania Hotel Building, 10th Street between Pennsylvania Ave. and Florida Avenue, St. Cloud, Florida. The building now houses the St. Cloud Twin Theatres.
- The Peoples Bank Building, southeast corner of 10th Street and New York Avenue, St. Cloud, Florida. The bank failed in the late Twenties; the main floor of the building is now used as a cafe and barber shop.
- Ross E. Jeffries Elementary School, 1200 Vermont Avenue, St. Cloud, Florida, circa 1926; Though positive documentation has been lost to time, records show that the designers of the Mediterranean Revival style school's original building may have been Ryan & Roberts. The building is distinguished by an arched porch in the offset tower main entry and a low profile accentuated by a curved parapet-roofed bay. The facade consists chiefly of large tri-part Chicago style windows, with small end windows as accents.
- Lester M. Austin, Sr. Residence, 541 North Boyd Street, Winter Garden, Florida, circa 1927. A large Mediterranean Revival stucco house with tile roof and triparte arched windows. The Austin Residence is well-maintained and remains in private hands.
- The Matilda A. Fraser Residence, Orlando, Florida (private). A spacious, elegant Mediterranean Revival stucco mansion situated on one of Orlando's secluded lakes, the Fraser Residence is well-maintained and remains in private hands. Ryan and Roberts' freedom with window shapes and placement is particularly evident in this house, as is their use of round-headed French doors and similar windows, without any 45 degree angle dividers and with the two half circle segments on each side. It was a popular device with the firm and might be thought of as one of their "trademarks". This home served as Orlando Opera Guild's 1988 Designers' Show House.
Ida A. Ryan worked with builder Samuel (Sam) Stoltz who created fantasy architecture with original murals in story book settings in Orlando, Mount Plymouth
Mount Plymouth, Florida
Mount Plymouth is a census-designated place in Lake County, Florida, United States. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 2,814. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, and Windermere
Windermere
Windermere is the largest natural lake of England. It is also a name used in a number of places, including:-Australia:* Lake Windermere , a reservoir, Australian Capital Territory * Lake Windermere...
, Florida. Ryan lived in Orlando until her death, in mid-February 1950 after an illness of several years, during which she was cared for by Isabel Roberts. According to her wishes, Ryan was buried in her hometown of Waltham, MA.