Benjamin F. McAdoo: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

In June 1947, he received his first full commission for the [[Madrona, Seattle|Madrona]] residence of local dentist and Black community activist John P. Browning. After living in various homes to the south of Seattle, he moved into the city proper in 1949, living in a renovated house across the street from the Browning residence. He participated in a small homes design competition in 1947, designing a {{convert|887|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} ranch house featuring a [[butterfly roof]]. Although the design did not receive the prize, it was reviewed favorably in a column in ''[[The Seattle Times]]''.{{sfn|Cottrell-Crawford|Heuser|2023}}{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}} His work received consistently favorable coverage by ''Seattle Times'' architecture columnist [[Margery Phillips]], with her coverage becoming a major source of publicity across his early career. Beginning in 1954, Phillips launched a "Home-of-the-Month" column in association with the [[American Institute of Architects]]. One of McAdoo's works was chosen as one of the first winners, and would ultimately be featured ten times in Phillips' columns. In 1956, a home McAdoo designed for George Hage was selected as "Home of the Year".{{Sfn|PCAD|}}{{Sfn|Houser|}}{{Sfn|Dunham|2022b}}

[[File:Ben Mar Apartments 1951.png|alt=A black and white photo of a small apartment building|thumb|McAdoo's Ben Mar Apartments, 1951]]

In 1948, he designed the nine-unit Ben-Mar Apartments, named for his children Benjamin and Marcia. Unlike other apartment complexes in the area, these apartments were not limited to White tenants.{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}} In 1950, he created a design for a {{Convert|620|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} single-family house titled the "House of Merit", featuring two bedrooms, a combined living and dining room, a projecting carport, and exterior walls covered in [[Wood shingle|wood shakes]]. The House of Merit design was intended to be affordable and easy to construct; five of these homes were constructed before the end of the year, with around eighty constructed over the following three years.{{Sfn|Williams|2021}} Following his increased business success in the early 1950s, he purchased an office building for his firm in 1951. The following year, he purchased a home in the [[Montlake, Seattle|Montlake]] neighborhood. At this time, less than 0.1% of the neighborhoods residents were Black. Local opinion among the predominately White residents was divided on his arrival due to tensions over [[racial integration]] in the city.{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}}{{Sfn|Dunham|2022a}}

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=== Overseas and D.C. ===

After hosting a Ghanaian ambassador, McAdoo traveled to [[Ghana]] in 1960, seeking to set up an architectural business in the newly-independent country. Such ventures were unsuccessful, but led to him meeting with President [[Kwame Nkrumah]] and hosting Ghanaian [[Student exchange program|exchange students]] at his house. In 1961, he designed the "Pagoda of Medicine" in [[Nashville, Tennessee]], serving as the medical offices of his brother-in-law Carl A. Dent. That same year, he was appointed the Chief Housing Advisor of the [[United States Agency for International Development|Agency for International Development]], and was sent to design [[Modular building|modular homes]] in [[Jamaica]]. He arrived in [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]] on January 14, 1962.{{Sfn|Sprague|2022|pp=20–27}}{{Sfn|Mahmoud|2022}}{{Sfn|Lee|2022|p=64}}

[[File:Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., LCCN2011632175.jpg|alt=A photograph of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as seen over the water|thumb|McAdoo served as the coordinating architect for the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts|Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] under [[Edward Durell Stone]].]]

These homes were fashioned from concrete blocks and were able to be constructed by untrained builders, and allowed low-income areas to be connected to water and electrical infrastructure. While in Jamaica, McAdoo lived in a middle-class neighborhood, unlike the upper class accommodations where most foreigners were residing. He attended ceremonies for the [[Independence of Jamaica]] on August 6, 1962, alongside other American dignitaries such as President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].{{Sfn|Mahmoud|2022}}

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=== Later career ===

[[File:Queen Anne Pool exterior.jpg|alt=A modern photograph of the Queen Anne Pool, a brick building with a stepped roof and a large blue awning|thumb|McAdoo designed the [[Queen Anne Pool]] (built 1977).]]

Upon returning to Seattle, McAdoo and his family initially lived in an apartment atop his offices in Capitol Hill. After a difficult housing search held back by redlining practices and seller's discrimination, they moved to the [[Hilltop Community]] in [[Bellevue, Washington]], where they lived in a home designed by Paul Hayden Kirk.{{Sfn|Mahmoud|2022}} McAdoo continued his work with the General Services Administration at its [[Auburn, Washington|Auburn]] offices, with his private architectural practice as a secondary job. In the late 1960s, he returned to private practice full-time, where he specialized in civic and educational buildings such as the Southcenter Blood Bank (1970), the University of Washington Ethnic Cultural Center (1972), and the [[Queen Anne Pool]] (1977).{{Sfn|Houser|}}