Emmanuel Louis Masqueray was a Franco-American preeminent figure in the history of American architecture, both as a gifted designer of landmark buildings and as an influential teacher of the profession of architecture dedicated to the principles of Beaux-Arts architecture.
He came to the United States in 1887 to work for the firm of Carrère and Hastings in New York City; both John Mervin Carrère and Thomas Hastings had been fellow students with Masqueray at the École des Beaux Arts. While in their employ, Masqueray created the watercolor elevation of the Ponce de Leon Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida. Other important work on the boards during his time with the firm included the Hotel Alcazar, St. Augustine, Florida, 1887, now the Lightner Museum, The Commonwealth Club, Richmond, Virginia, 1891, and the Edison Building, New York City, 1891. Five years later, he joined the office of Richard Morris Hunt, the first American architect to attend the École des Beaux Arts; in Hunt's firm he helped design many notable buildings including the Elbridge Gerry residence in Marblehead, MA, the William Astor house on Fifth Avenue in New York City, and Ochre Court in Newport, Rhode Island. It is likely that he made major contributions to the design of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. He also contributed to the design of The Breakers for Cornelius Vanderbilt II in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1893, Masqueray opened the Atelier Masqueray, for the study of architecture according to French methods; architect Walter B. Chambers shared in this enterprise. Located at 123 E. 23rd Street, this was the first wholly independent atelier opened in the United States. A colorful, dynamic teacher, Masqueray pleaded with his students to make things simple. Beginning in 1899, Masqueray made special provision for women to number among his architectural students by establishing a second atelier especially for women at 37–40 West 22nd Street in New York. As was said at the time, "...he has unbounded faith in women's ability to succeed in architecture...provided they go about it seriously." Increasingly, architectural historians are making the connection between the work of Masqueray and those who studied with him. It is important to have a list of those who were his students over the next decade in New York, in order to foster further awareness and research. According to contemporary published accounts of the exhibitions of the Atelier Masqueray, those who were his students include: This list is ; you can help by expanding it. In 1897, Masqueray left the Hunt office to work for Warren & Wetmore, also in New York City, Whitney Warren having been his fellow student at the École des Beaux Arts, Paris. Work underway while Masqueray was with the firm includes: New York Yacht Club, Westmorly, Harvard, MA, High Tide, 79 Ocean Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island,, The Racquet House at Tuxedo Club, Tuxedo Park, NY,, and the Mrs. Orme Wilson residence, 3 East 64th St., New York. He was responsible for the design of the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn.
St. Louis
His reputation became international in 1901 when the commissioner of architects of the St. Louis Exposition selected him to be Chief of Design. Masqueray in turn employed Louis C. Spiering and some of his former students including Frank Swales and George Nagle. As Chief of Design of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, a position he held for three years, Masqueray had architectural oversight of the entire Fair and personally designed the following Fair buildings:
Masqueray arrived in St. Paul in 1905 and remained there until his death. He designed about two dozen parish churches for Catholic and Protestant congregations in the upper Midwest, including:
Church of St. Peter, St. Peter. This church was destroyed by the 1998 Comfrey–St. Peter tornado outbreak; a new church-school complex was built at a new location west of the city at 1801 West Broadway. The St. Peter Community Center and Public Library occupy the site of the former church.
Masqueray also designed important residences in and around St. Paul and "Wind's Eye" in Dellwood MN; several parochial schools for the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul; Grace Hall at the Saint Paul Seminary and Ireland Hall at the College of Thomas. In St. Paul in 1906, Masqueray founded an atelier which continued his Beaux Arts method of architectural training, among his students who trained there, perhaps the best known is Edwin Lundie. Other architects associated with Masqueray in St. Paul were Fred Slifer and Frank Abrahamson.
