Alfred B. Mullett

Alfred Bult Mullett (April 7, 1834 – October 20, 1890) was a British-American architect who served from 1866 to 1874 as Supervising Architect, head of the agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings. His work followed trends in Victorian style, evolving from the Greek Revival to Second Empire to Richardsonian Romanesque.

Biography Mullett was born at Taunton in Somerset, England. When he was eight years old, his family immigrated to Glendale, Ohio, where in 1843 his father bought an 80-acre (32 hectares) farm. He matriculated at Farmers' College in College Hill, Cincinnati, studied mathematics and mechanical drawing, but left as a sophomore in 1854. He trained in the Cincinnati office of architect Isaiah Rogers and became a partner.

Career Mullett left Rogers on less than friendly terms in 1860, to establish his own practice. His first known individual design is the Church of the New Jerusalem, a board-and-batten Gothic Revival church built at Glendale in 1861.

After serving with the Union army during the American Civil War, Mullett in 1863 relocated to Washington. He worked again with Rogers, since 1862 the de facto Supervising Architect at the Treasury Department. At that time the Treasury Department oversaw design and construction of all federal buildings.

Influenced by the 1864–1868 remodeling of the Louvre's Pavillon de Flore by Hector Lefuel and Richard Morris Hunt, Mullett produced six massive fortress-like Second Empire federal buildings in St. Louis, Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, New York and Washington D.C. What was called the State, War, and Navy Building rose near the White House. These stone and cast iron structures, with mansard roofs and multiple tiers of columns, were expensive. Mullett was dogged by accusations of extravagance and subjected to five separate investigations into his ties to the corrupt "Granite Ring". In 1890, in financial trouble and ill health, Mullett killed himself in Washington.

Over his career he produced some 40 government buildings. Two of the six huge Second Empire buildings survive in St. Louis and Washington. The New York City Hall Post Office was dubbed "Mullett's monstrosity." Following another shift in popular taste, however, he is recognized since the late 20th century for his contribution to monumental Victorian architecture.

Death Mullet died by suicide in 1890 after a period of ill health.

Works 1861 — Church of the New Jerusalem, Glendale, Ohio 1866-1870 — Carson City Mint, Carson City, Nevada 1867 — Courthouse and Post Office, Madison, Wisconsin 1867 — Post Office, Portland, Maine (demolished 1965) 1867-1870 — Custom House and Post Office, Ogdensburg, New York 1868-1871 — Office Building and U.S. Light-House Depot Complex, St. George, Staten Island, New York 1869-1870 – Old Custom House and Post Office, Wiscasset, Maine 1869-1873 — Post Office and Sub-Treasury Building Boston, Massachusetts (demolished c. 1929) 1869-1874 — San Francisco Mint, San Francisco, California (survived the San Francisco earthquake, 1906) 1869-1880 — City Hall Post Office and Courthouse, New York City (demolished 1939) 1869-1875 — Pioneer Courthouse, Portland, Oregon 1870 — Courthouse and Post Office (now City Hall), Columbia, South Carolina 1871-1888 — State, War, and Navy Building aka Old Executive Office Building aka Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C. 1871-1881 – U.S. Custom House (New Orleans), Louisiana 1871 — US Assay Office, Boise, Idaho 1872 — Custom House and Post Office, Cairo, Illinois 1872 — US Custom House, Portland, Maine 1873-1879 — Post Office and Customs House, Evansville, Indiana 1873-1884 — Old Post Office, St. Louis, Missouri 1874 — Customs House, Knoxville, Tennessee 1874-1885 — Courthouse and Post Office, Cincinnati, Ohio (demolished c. 1936) 1874-1884 — Courthouse and Post Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (demolished c. 1942) 1874-1878 — Federal Building, Raleigh, North Carolina 1876-1879 – Evansville Post Office, Evansville, Indiana 1877 — Custom House and Post Office, Port Huron, Michigan 1873-1882 — Courthouse and Post Office, Hartford, Connecticut 1887 – Major General John A. Logan Mausoleum, U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, Washington, D.C. 1887 — Sun Building, Washington, D.C., for the publisher of The Baltimore Sun newspaper; it is one of the oldest multistory steel-frame buildings in Washington, D.C. 1889 — Mullett Rowhouses, Washington, D.C. 1890 — Camp House mansion, Knoxville, Tennessee

Gallery of designs