George Franklin Barber

George F. Barber
ca. 1910
Born
George Franklin Barber

(1854-07-31)July 31, 1854[1]
DeKalb, Illinois, USA
DiedFebruary 17, 1915(1915-02-17) (aged 60)[1]
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Resting placeGreenwood Cemetery, Knoxville[1]
OccupationArchitect
SpouseLaura Cheney[2]
ChildrenCharles, George, Jr., Laura[2]
Parent(s)Lyman and Cornelia Barber[3]

George Franklin Barber (July 31, 1854 – February 17, 1915) was an American architect known for the house designs he marketed worldwide through mail-order catalogs. Barber was one of the most successful residential architects of the late Victorian period in the United States,[4] and his plans were used for houses in all 50 U.S. states, and in nations as far away as Japan and the Philippines.[4] Over four dozen Barber houses are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and several dozen more are listed as part of historic districts.[5]

Barber began designing houses in his native DeKalb, Illinois, in the late 1880s, before permanently moving his base to Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1888. His first widely circulated catalog, Cottage Souvenir No. 2, contained designs and floor plans for 59 houses, mostly in the Queen Anne style, as well as Barber's architectural philosophy and tips for homebuilders. Later catalogs contained more Colonial designs.[4] By the time his catalog business ended in 1908, Barber had sold upwards of 20,000 plans.[4]

Barber was the father of Charles I. Barber (1887–1962), who became a successful architect in his own right and designed several notable buildings in the Knoxville area during the first half of the 20th century.[4] BarberMcMurry, an architectural firm cofounded by Charles Barber in 1915, still operates in Knoxville.[6]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference findagrave was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b East Tennessee Historical Society, Lucile Deaderick (ed.), Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1976), pp. 491-492.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference little was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d e Michael Tomlan, Introduction to George F. Barber's Victorian Cottage Architecture: An American Catalog of Designs, 1891 (Dover Publications, 2004), pp. v-xvi.
  5. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  6. ^ BarberMcMurry - History Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved: 3 May 2011.