Horace Trumbauer (1868-1938) was one of the most influential residential architects in the country house era that lasted from the late 19^th century to 1930. His restrained limestone palaces and townhouses for the super rich defined a new elegance in American cities and seaside resorts.

A publicity-shy Philadelphian without social connections and only 10^th grade education, Trumbauer opened his own practice, at the age of 21. Within just a few years he was on his way to becoming a leading practitioner of residential design on the grandest scale. Working with some of America’s most powerful families, including the Vanderbilts, Goulds,Stotesburys, Phippses, Dukes, and Wideners, he executed commissions whose finesse and elegance rivaled the work of the celebrated architects of his generation—Stanford White, Richard Morris Hunt, and Carrère & Hastings.

No American builder in the first three decades of the 20^th century could equal Trumbauer’s output in the sheer number and splendor of his commissions. His large mansions were typically designed in English or French taste, and whether they were in the Whitemarsh Valley outside Philadelphia or new the ocean in Newport, Rhode Island, Trumbauer’s houses had the imposing aristocratic demeanor his clients sought.