George Henri Desmond

George Henri Desmond (commonly known as G. Henri Desmond; February 22, 1874 – July 3, 1965) was an American architect from Watertown, Massachusetts. He designed several notable buildings, including the expanded Maine State House in Augusta, Maine, and the Fidelity Trust Building in Portland, Maine.

Early life Desmond was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1874, to Dennis Desmond and Mary Ann Fennell. He was educated in the Boston public schools. Their office was at 15 Beacon Street, 1909 – Central Fire Station, Chelsea, Massachusetts 1909 – Chelsea Trust Company Building, Chelsea, Massachusetts Extant but reclad at an unknown date 1910 – Fidelity Trust Building, Portland, Maine Maine's first skyscraper 1910 – Maine State House expansion and reconstruction, Augusta, Maine Only the granite walls and portico of Charles Bulfinch's building were preserved; Desmond's redesign doubled the length of the building and added a higher dome and all-new interiors 1912 – All Souls Chapel, Poland Spring, Maine NRHP-listed 1915 – Elephant House, Franklin Park Zoo, Roxbury, Boston Demolished 1915 – Elks' Home, Providence, Rhode Island Demolished 1918 – Portland High School, Portland, Maine Designed by Miller & Mayo, architects, with G. Henri Desmond, associate architect; NRHP-listed 1921 – Hyde Park Municipal Building, Hyde Park, Boston 1923 – Clapp Memorial Building, Portland, Maine 1923 – Press Herald Building, Portland, Maine 1927 – Omni Parker House, Boston Built for the use of the Highland Trust Company, Somerville Institution for Savings and the Winter Hill Cooperative Bank, of which only the latter survived the Great Depression 1937 – Malden High School, Malden, Massachusetts 1939 – Calvin Coolidge Bridge, Connecticut River, Northampton and Hadley, Massachusetts Designed by Maurice A. Reidy, consulting engineer, with Desmond & Lord, architects 1939 – Suffolk County Courthouse, Boston 1949 – White Stadium, Franklin Park, Roxbury, Boston Designed by Miller & Beal, Inc., architects, with Desmond & Lord, associate architects 1962 – Furcolo Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts

Personal life In 1903, Desmond married Maud Vasti Hollis, a native of New York, with whom he had one child: son George Henri Desmond Jr. The family lived at the corner of Braemore Road and Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, in a house which Desmond designed. Desmond became a widower in 1938, but it is not known if he remarried.

He was a member of the Boston Art Club, Boston Real Estate Exchange, the Point Shirley Club and the Cumberland Club in Portland, Maine.

Death After retiring, Desmond moved to Marblehead Neck, Massachusetts. He died in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1965 at the age of 91. He was interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.