| The Architects: John Carrere (1858 - 1911) and Thomas Hastings (1860 - 1929) John Carrere was born on November 9, 1858 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the son of John Carrere of Baltimore, a coffee merchant. His family had been living in Baltimore since the French revolution. His mother was Scottish an educated in a Baltimore Convent. He started in the public schools of Lausanne Switzerland. He went to school at the Institute Breitenstein in Switzerland and Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he graduated in 1882. He worked in the ateliers of Victor Ropert, Jean- Charles Laisne and Leon Ginain (second grand Prix in 1844.) His diplome was awarded to winners of a special competition open to students who had been credited with about 2 years worth of concours in the first class. He married Marian Sidonia Dell of Jacksonville in 1886. Thomas Hastings was born on March 1, 1860 in New York, the son of Dr. Thomas S. Hastings, a Presbyterian Minister. This was the connection to Henry Flagler, as Dr. Hastings was Henry Flagler's pastor. Thomas never associated with any church or any faith throughout his life. He went to Columbia University for two years. He quite college and worked in the offices of Herter Brothers as a draftsman under Charles Atwood. Then he spent four years in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He was in the atelier of Jules Andre. In 1900 he married Helen Ripley Benedict, the daughter of E. Cornelius Benedict of Greenwich, Connecticut, with Mr. McKim as his best man. Carrere and Hastings started working as draftsmen for the architect firm of McKim, Mead and White. Both worked on Ross Winans' house in Baltimore. This firm also was engaged in designing hotels. However, Carrere and Hastings quickly formed their own partnership with the apparent blessing of the firm. One day Thomas Hastings was called to Mr. Flagler's office close to the new firm. When he returned he was able to say, "We are going to Florida! We've got a million dollar hotel to build there" To start understanding what was needed in a grand hotel they interviewed many hotel men; this process wasn't very helpful. In the end, they would find an experienced person for understanding what a hotel needed in O.D. Seavey. Although they met each other only briefly in Europe, Carrere and Hastings each traveled extensively in Spain. This was beneficial later as they understood the uniqueness of St. Augustine as a former Spanish colony and wanted to construct a building to fit in with the characteristic atmosphere of St. Augustine. They created a style that would be called Spanish Renaissance. Not only would it fit into the older Spanish style of St. Augustine, but it would also incorporate the coquina gravel in the cement to highlight the Castillo and other older coquina block buildings. In the days of working on the Ponce de Leon Hotel, Thomas Hastings lived with Dr. Anderson. Carrere and Hastings transformed St. Augustine by designing the Ponce de Leon, The Alcazar, Grace United Methodist Church, Memorial Presbyterian Church, and Kirkside. Each of these buildings would be a unique contribution to the city's architectural heritage. By 1891, John Carrere would be a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. They would have over one hundred commissions in their first decade. During opening ceremonies of the Ponce de Leon Hotel in 1888, Thomas Hastings gives his regrets at the completion of the building: I only realized that the work of brains and hands was mine no longer, that when I leave on the morrow I bid it goodbye, and it is saddened as though parting from a loved child. Hastings was also the designer of some of the interior figures including the caryatids. To give an idea of the level of detail that Hastings was capable of the pulpit Bible in Memorial Presbyterian was designed by him. Both Carrere and Hastings are listed as the designers for the baptismal font in Memorial Presbyterian done by Jennie Louis' husband as a memorial to her. On January 30, 1901 he was awarded the la Croix de Chavalier de l'ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur from France for his work in the Paris Exposition of 1900. In 1904 a gold medal was given to the firm of Carrere and Hastings at the 1904 Universal Exposition at St. Louis commemorating the acquisition of the Louisiana territory. In May 1905, Hastings was appointed Director of Atelier for Columbia College with rank of Professor without salary but with a seat in the Faculty of Fine Arts. He remained in that position until he resigned in 1912. He was appointed by both William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson as a member of the Commission of Fine Arts. He was a member of the Architectural Commission for the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. King George awarded him the King's Gold Medal in 1923 on a vote of the Royal Institute of British Architects for his work on over 50 works of 1st class importance. . On April 1, 1925 he received an honorary degree of Master of Architecture from the University of Liverpool. He also received the chevalier of the Legion of Honor from France. Thomas Hasting died after an operation for appendicitis on October 22, 1929 at Mineola, Long Island, New York. He was a trustee of the Academy of Arts and Letters, a former president of the Beaux- Arts Institute of Design, several times a director of the American Institute of Architects, chairman of the Sardis Exploration Society Commission, trustee and secretary-general of the Museum of French Arts, former president of the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, a founder of the Federal Art Commission, and former president of the Architectural League of New York. John Carrere died following an auto accident on February 12, 1911. On the day of his funeral he lay in state at the rotunda of the unfinished New York Public Library. He was elected an Academician of the National Academy of Design in 1910, and was also a member of the Architectural League of New York, a Vice President of the National Sculpture Society, had been twice President of both the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and of the Beaux-Arts Society of New York. He was a founder of the Fine Arts Federation of New York City and a member of the Art Commission of the City of New York, a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and a Director of the Academy at Rome. He was a member of the Century Club and was one of the founders of both the Richmond County Good Government Club and the Staten Island Club. |
| John Carrere and Thomas Hastings |
| John Carrere New York Public Library |
| Thomas Hastings New York Public Library |
| New York Workroom New York Public Library |
| from exhibit at main branch New York Public Library |
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