John Haviland (December 15, 1792 – March 28, 1852) was an English-born American architect who was a major figure in American Neo-Classical architecture, and one of the most notable architects working from Philadelphia during the nineteenth century.

Biography

Born December 15, 1792, at Gundenham, near Wellington, England, Haviland was apprenticed in 1811 to a London architect. In 1815, he unsuccessfully pursued an appointment to the Russian Imperial Corps of Engineers. In Russia, however, he met George von Sonntag and John Quincy Adams, who encouraged him to work in the United States. He arrived in Philadelphia in 1816, and soon established himself as one of the few professional architects in the city. By 1818, Haviland produced a book, The Builder's Assistant, which appeared in three volumes over several years. This publication was one of the earliest architectural pattern books written and published in North America, and likely the first to include Greek and Roman classical orders. Due, in part, to The Builder's Assistant, Haviland began to secure what would be his most important commissions in Philadelphia: the Eastern State Penitentiary, the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb (now Dorrance Hamilton Hall, University of the Arts), and the original Franklin Institute building (now home to the Atwater Kent Museum). During this time, Haviland unwisely speculated financially on his own projects, including commercial arcades in Philadelphia and New York, as well as an amusement park. He was eventually forced into bankruptcy, tarnishing his professional reputation in Philadelphia. Elsewhere, however, Haviland's reputation as a designer of prisons brought him important commissions, including the New Jersey Penitentiary, The Tombs in New York City, and prisons in Missouri, Rhode Island, and Arkansas. Haviland was an Honorary and Corresponding Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 1827, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician.

Personal life

On July 2, 1819, Haviland was married to Mary Wright von Sonntag by the Right Rev. William White, Bishop of Pennsylvania. She was the sister of George von Sonntag and the daughter of Captain William Ludwig von Sonntag of the French Army. They had a son, John von Sonntag de Havilland (1826–1886). Edward Haviland, also a prison architect, was born to John as well.

Death and interment

Haviland died in Philadelphia on March 28, 1852, and was buried in the family vault at St. Andrews Church in Philadelphia (now the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. George). That vault had been designed by Haviland himself.

Architectural work, partial listing

Philadelphia buildings

Buildings elsewhere

Gallery