J. Lawrence Aspinwall

J. Lawrence Aspinwall (June 3, 1854 – May 16, 1936) was an American architect in practice in New York City during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was a partner of, and successor to, major architect James Renwick Jr. In his own practice Aspinwall continued to design notable buildings and for many years was the go-to architect for several major charities, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Provident Loan Society.

Life and career James Lawrence Aspinwall was born June 3, 1854, in New York City to James S. Aspinwall and Margaret Aspinwall, née Maxwell. He was educated in several private schools in New York. In 1875 he joined the office of architect James Renwick Jr., whose wife, Anna Lloyd Aspinwall, was his cousin. As Renwick's employee Aspinwall was responsible for much of the detail of the new spire of Grace Church (1883), which Renwick had originally completed in 1846. In 1883 he became a partner in the Renwick firm, which was renamed Renwick, Aspinwall & Russell. It was reorganized as Renwick, Aspinwall & Renwick in 1891.

After Renwick's death in 1895 Aspinwall became head of the firm, which in 1896 was reorganized as Renwick, Aspinwall & Owen to include Walter Tallant Owen, an employee since . Owen had previously been chief designer of the firm's George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts, completed shortly before Renwick's death. Owen died in 1902. Aspinwall was sole proprietor until 1904, when he was joined by Fitz-Henry Faye Tucke in the reorganized Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker. Tucker withdrew in 1925 and was replaced by Shirley R. Guard, the firm being renamed Renwick, Aspinwall & Guard. Aspinwall retired in the 1930s and Guard continued the firm under the same name until his own death in 1943.

Aspinwall is credited as chief designer of many of the firm's major works. These included the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children building (1892), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals building (1898), Stony Wold Sanatorium (1903), the New York Infirmary for Women and Children (1906), Neighborhood House of Grace Church (1907), the headquarters and branches of the Provident Loan Society (1908 et al.) and the American Express Building (1917). He also designed homes for John G. McCullough and Frederic B. Jennings (1892) and for A. Lanfear Norrie (1899) in New York City and country homes for Percy Rivington Pyne II (1899) in Bernardsville, New Jersey, and for Jennings (1903) in North Bennington, Vermont. He was a second cousin of Renwick's wife, Anna Lloyd Aspinwall, through their great-grandfather, John Aspinwall (1705–1774). Edward Livingston Trudeau of the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium was also a cousin. He was married in 1891 to Mary Morris Carnochan, a daughter of surgeon John Murray Carnochan. They had no children and she died in 1892.

Aspinwall was a trustee of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children and of the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind, now the New York Institute for Special Education. When the latter institution planned a new campus, he served as chairman of the building committee. The completed campus (1925) was designed by McKim, Mead & White. He was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1914 and was a member of the Union Club and the Engineers' Club. Garrett's grandfather was John W. Garrett, on whose estate, Evergreen, the house was built. The house, designated Evergreen Junior, was planned by Garrett's widowed mother Alice as a wedding gift to him and his new wife, Charlotte, though he died of cancer shortly before construction was completed. Shortly before the commencement of Evergreen Junior, Alice Garrett hired to firm to renovate Evergreen senior. Here the firm added a new main entrance and stair and closed off the original entrance. Charlotte Garrett married Carlyon Bellairs in 1911 and no member of the Garrett family ever lived in the house. In 1921 the house was bought by the predecessor of Loyola University Maryland, which has used it as its Humanities Center since 1994. NRHP-listed.

Renwick, Aspinwall & Owen, 1896–1904 1896 – Administration Building and Baker Chapel, Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium, Saranac Lake, New York Contributing resources to the NRHP-listed Trudeau Sanitorium historic district. 1897 – Lucie (Cable) Castleman house, St. Louis Castleman was the widow of George Alfred Castleman, a former Missouri state legislator, and a sister of Illinois representative Benjamin T. Cable. Later known as the Castleman–MacKay House. Demolished in 1982. 1898 – American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals headquarters (former), New York City Later remodeled into a condominium building by architects Platt Byard Dovell White, who removed the fourth floor and added eight new floors. The authors of the fifth edition of the AIA Guide to New York City described the remodeling as a "lobotomy." 1899 – A. Lanfear Norrie house, New York City 1901 – Herman Ossian Armour family mausoleum, Woodlawn Cemetery, the Bronx 1902 – Mansfield Hotel, New York City A New York City landmark. 1903 – Fairview, North Bennington, Vermont The country estate of Frederic B. Jennings. Now the Jennings Music Building of Bennington College. 1903 – Stony Wold Sanatorium, Lake Kushaqua, Franklin, New York Aspinwall later designed Stony Wold Hall (1909), the sanatorium's chapel. The property was later a seminary operated by the White Fathers before being demolished; the chapel survives. 1904 – J. Lawrence Aspinwall cottage, East Hampton, New York Aspinwall's summer home. A contributing resource to the NRHP-listed Briar Patch Road Historic District. 1904 – New York City Farm Colony, Staten Island

Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker, 1904–1925 1906 – New York Infirmary for Women and Children, New York City The Grace Church complex is NRHP-listed and a New York City Landmark. 1909 – Provident Loan Society headquarters, New York City 1913 – American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Rogers Memorial Building, Brooklyn Expanded by Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker in 1922. A New York City Landmark. 1917 – American Express Building, New York City A New York City Landmark. 1919 – Dollar Savings Bank Building, Mott Haven, Bronx NRHP-listed, also a New York City Landmark. 1921 – McCullough Free Library, North Bennington, Vermont

Renwick, Aspinwall & Guard, 1925–1943 1928 – Mount Washington Presbyterian Church, 84 Vermilyea Ave, New York City 1929 – Hudson Square Building, 145 Hudson St, New York City 1931 – Green Exchange Building, 130 Cedar St, New York City