Emily Elizabeth Holman

Emily Elizabeth "Lillie" Edwards Holman (née Smith; February 2, 1854 – September 13, 1925), better known by her professional name of E. E. Holman, was an American architect. Active from the 1880s to her retirement in 1914, she was responsible for planning several important historical sites like the Goold House in the Wilder Village Historic District, Wilder, Vermont and the National Park Seminary among many others.

Biography Emily Elizabeth "Lillie" Smith Edwards Holman was born on February 2, 1854, in Pennsylvania, to Samuel Lawrence Smith (1820–?) and Susan L. Hance (1830–1913). Little is known of her early life, however at the age of 17, in 1871, she married Robert L. Edwards (1847–?), with whom she had a daughter, Louise B. Edwards (8 April 1872 – 9 January 1929). After Edwards' death, she married the widower David Shepard Holman (1827–1901), who was a scientist known for creating the Holman Life Slides used in microscopes. She and Holman had no children.

Holman began to work as an architect in the late 1880s, working first as a clerk in an architectural firm. Recognizing that she had talent, she learned the craft and became the person her colleagues relied upon for drawings and design. In 1893, she decided to embark in her own firm and established the company with the name of E. E. Holman, in a deliberate attempt to make her gender irrelevant, at 1020 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1894, she published a plan book of 32 designs "Picturesque Cottages: 32 New & Original Designs." Plan books were an ideal way for architects to bring in customers through contractors and individuals who would be seeking a contractor. Holman went on to publish at least 7 other known plan books focusing on cottages, bungalows, and camps, she advertised these in newspapers and magazines, such as the Ladies Home Journal. She worked in a variety of different styles, but predominantly her residential work adapted American Craftsman and often added elements of Neoclassical or Colonial styles.

Holman built both residential and public spaces, including the summer home of John Hay, Secretary of State in McKinley’s Cabinet; the actor, Francis Wilson's, second home on Lake Mahopac, New York; most of the buildings in the National Park Seminary outside of Washington, DC; and homes from Canada Frank P. Tanner, banker from Ouray, Colorado;

Selected projects

Wilder Village Historic District 54 Norwich Avenue, in Wilder, Vermont, was designed in the Queen Anne style in 1895 for a prominent merchant, Thomas Goold and his wife, Sarah. It has a typical asymmetrical gable front and is one of the few dwellings in the town which was built to professional specifications. Holman drafted the plans in 1895 and the Hartford Historical Society, in Hartford, Vermont, retains some of the original plans. In 1999, the Wilder Village Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There are approximately 20 buildings on the site (though the ballroom was added in 1927 and was not designed by Holman). Besides the eight sorority clubhouses built between 1894 and 1904, there are the Chapel (1898), the Aloha Dormitory (1898), the Miller Library (1901),

Each of the cottages on the property were designed by Holman and the girls for each sorority selected the plans under which their clubhouse was designed. The clubhouses were not lived in but were used for social functions. The first bungalow was built for the Alpha Epsilon Pi Sorority formed in 1895. It followed the East Coast bungalow style, utilizing oak trees which had been felled to clear the site. Built in 1896, it was also in the bungalow style but featured upturned edges giving it an oriental look. The Kappa Delta Phi Sorority was formed in 1899 and selected a smocked Dutch Windmill style from Holman's plan book. The fifth bungalow was built in 1903 for the Phi Delta Psi Sorority in the Colonial Revival style, featuring both Georgian and Neoclassical elements. It was initially intended to emulate an English gatehouse, but the road underneath was never completed. The sixth bungalow was built for the Theta Sigma Rho Sorority, which formed in 1903. The sorority sisters chose the Spanish Mission Revival style for their clubhouse. It was the first example of Mission style in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and its interior featured authentic Native American rugs and furnishings from New Mexico. Pi Beta Nu Sorority formed in 1903, but their clubhouse was not built until 1904. The girls chose a circular stuccoed Castle, based on a British design complete with a drawbridge. The last of the clubhouses to be completed was perhaps the most distinctive. It was built for the Chi Psi Upsilon Sorority in 1904 and is in the style of a Japanese pagoda. Its interior featured a Buddha statue as well as many authentic details. thumb

In 1898, the chapel was constructed. It is a rectangular stucco ed building with a bell tower and wood trim. Stained glass, typical of the late nineteenth century is featured. Originally the chapel had green velour, auditorium-style seats, but the army replaced them with pews. The Aloha Dormitory was also built in 1898 and is stucco with wood trim. The one story arcade is flanked by a series of arches supported by caryatids. In 1901, Holman built the Miller Library,

After completion of the clubhouses, the Odeon Theater and the new gymnasium were built in 1907. Both are in the Greek Revival style, though the elements are stronger in the gymnasium. The theater is a semi-circular bay with a portico of Ionic columns. The three-story gymnasium has a portico supported by six Corinthian columns. The entrance is flanked by two Rundbogenstil windows and the center façade has a two-story protrusion which features an entablature supported by two pilasters and a round-arched window at the peak. The gymnasium underwent a renovation and restoration project in 2014, but the theater burned down in 1993.

Buena Vista Joseph Dillaway Sawyer home "Buena Vista" Old Greenwich, Connecticut, 1900, Architect Emily Elizabeth Holman Joseph Dillaway Sawyer, biographer of George Washington and an early subdivision developer, purchased a 78-acre farm from the widow Sabina Bowen in 1886 in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, with plans to build and divide the parcel into plots as summer homes for New Yorkers.

Works 1894–1907 numerous buildings located at Linden Lane, Forest Glen Park, Maryland which are part of the National Park Seminary Joseph Dillaway Sawyer home Old Greenwich, Connecticut, Italianate architecture. 1900 residence in Jamaica, West Indies 1901 Thomas C. Cairns residence Demopolis, Alabama log Ranch-style architecture. 1901 H. K. Wick residence, Youngstown, Ohio 1901 Dr. J. R. Goodloe residence Demopolis, Alabama 1908 residence Englewood, New Jersey, Colonial Revival architecture. before 1910 Francis Wilson's second home, "The Hill" Lake Mahopac, New York 1909 J. E. Wing residence, Mechanicsburg, Ohio, concrete Colonial Revival architecture. 1915 C. E. Cox residence, Pennington, New Jersey