Horace Trumbauer doesn't have the name recognition of many of his turn-of-the-century peers (he avoided interviews and supposedly wrote no articles). During his lifetime, he was derided in some corners for being merely a designer for showpiece mansions for America's upper crust. But while Trumbauer was known for his extravagant clientele, the Philadelphia architect would also come to be respected for work completed during the Gilded Age and Roaring Twenties that, possessed of a modern refinement, still demonstrated a devotion to historical precedent. During a period where styles rapidly changed, Trumbauer was able to evolve from French Classical to Art Deco, helping his firm maintain a full slate of projects even through the Depression.
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