Robert Storer Stephenson

Robert Storer Stephenson (1858–1929) was an American architect who was active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Among numerous private and commercial buildings of that time, he is particularly known for designing two mansions: industrialist Frederick F. Brewster's Tudor-revival house in New Haven's Edgerton Park (completed 1909; demolished 1964) and "Wrexleigh," attorney John Anson Garver's "cottage" on Oyster Bay Cove, on Long Island (completed 1913). He is also known for the distinctive design of the Brewster Building in Queens, New York.

Biography Robert Storer Stephenson was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 18, 1858, to George Storer and Ellen T. ( Brewster) Stephenson. He was a partner at Stephenson & Wheeler from 1886 to 1921, when he retired.

Stephenson was best known for his work for wealthy families in the environs of New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut. These included Edgerton (Connecticut) and Wrexleigh (New York), as well as designing homes for Charles Bigelow, Thomas E. Gillespie, and Oliver Gould Jennings (882 Fifth Avenue, New York City). An American Architect article contended, "The automobile factory of Brewster & Co. is an unprecedented proposition in factory construction." The building was particularly notable for its distinctive clocktower, which The AIA guide to New York City characterized as "constructivist" in style. A 2001 New York Times article went into further detail about the building and its plaza:

The Times article traces some of the building's history—including the production of Rolls-Royce automobiles in the 1920s and 1930s and the building's acquisition and renovation by MetLife 2000. Since 2010, JetBlue's headquarters have occupied the building.