Richardson Brognard Okie Jr. (1875-1945) was an American architect. He is noted for his Colonial-Revival houses and his sensitive restorations of historic buildings.
Biography
Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia was restored by Okie between 1937 and 1941.
Okie was born in Camden, New Jersey, to Dr. Richardson B. and Clara Mickle Okie.[1] He grew up in Chester County, Pennsylvania, graduated from the architecture program at the University of Pennsylvania in 1897, and briefly studied in Europe.[2] He gained practical experience from a summer (1896) spent with William L. Price. After college he was employed by Arthur S. Cochran and soon became his associate.[1] In 1899, he formed a partnership with architects H. Louis Duhring Jr. and Carl Ziegler, that lasted until 1918. He practiced independently until his death in 1945. In his later years he was joined by his son Charles (b. 1915).[2]
He designed a re-creation of George Washington's "President's House" as an attraction at the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia; a re-creation of Pennsbury Manor, William Penn's manor house on the Delaware River, as a museum for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and restored the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia as a museum. He also designed dozens of exquisitely-detailed Colonial-Revival houses in the suburbs surrounding Philadelphia. He bought his own house, "Hillside" in Radnor, Pennsylvania, in 1901, and tinkered with it periodically. It remains in his family's possession.[3]
The Moore-Irwin House [13] in King of Prussia. Okie twice provided additions and restoration for owner Alexander D. Irwin in the 1930's, '40's. The estate was formerly General Peter Muhlenberg's Headquarters' during the Revolutionary War Winter Encampment at Valley Forge, and is where George Washington wrote in his diary of lodging and fishing during a break in the Constitutional Convention, while also meeting there with two other Founding Fathers, Gouverneur Morris and Robert Morris.[14]
Addition to Abraham Hall House, 7005 Goshen Road (1930s). A later addition is attributed to Charles Okie.
Restoration of White Horse Inn, 6154 Goshen Road (c. 1940). The stone building was moved about 100-feet back from the highway.
Restoration of Mary Yarnall House, 7002 Goshen Road (1940s). Charles Okie designed the garage, c. 1950.
Restoration of Charles Mendenhall House, 7004 Goshen Road (1940s). Charles Okie designed the garage, c. 1950.
Restoration of Caleb Yarnall House, 7008 Goshen Road (1949). Charles Okie.
Gallery
St. Martin's Episcopal Church, Radnor, Pennsylvania. Bolingbroke (background, right) was restored by Okie.
Pennsbury Manor, Falls Township, Pennsylvania (re-created 1936-39).
South Brook Farm, East Marlborough Township, Pennsylvania (restored 1940).
References
^ abOkie, Richardson Brognard (1875-1945) data from the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings (PAB) project of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
^ ab"National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). ARCH: Pennsylvania's Historic Architecture & Archaeology. Retrieved 2013-06-08. Note: This includes Robert J. Wise Jr. (December 2000). "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: White Horse Historic District" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-11-05.
^"National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes George E. Thomas (June 1991). "Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form: South Brook Farm" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-12-16.
^St. Peter's Church in the Great Valley from Historic American Buildings Survey.
^"General Muhlenberg's Headquarters". King of Prussia Historical Society, The Moore-Irwin House. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
^Founders Archives, Washington Diary. [1]. [Washington Diary Archives]. [2]. July 30th 1787 and July 31st 1787, as well as personal letter to Elizabeth Powel noting the visit to Jane Moore's House] [3]
Further reading
Garrison, James B. (2013). Stone Houses: Traditional Homes of R. Brognard Okie. New York: Rizzoli. ISBN 978-0-8478-4078-6.
External links
Richardson Brognard Okie data from the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings (PAB) project of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia