Victorine & Samuel Homsey facts for kids

Victorine & Samuel Homsey
Practice information
Partners	Victorine du Pont Homsey Samuel Eldon Homsey
Founded	1935
Dissolved	1979
Location	Wilmington, Delaware

Victorine & Samuel Homsey was an American company that designed buildings. It was based in Delaware. The company was started by two architects, Victorine du Pont Homsey (who lived from 1900 to 1998) and Samuel Eldon Homsey (who lived from 1904 to 1994). They were married, and their firm was one of the first in the United States started by a husband and wife working together.

Meet the Architects

Victorine du Pont Homsey

Victorine du Pont was born on November 27, 1900, in Michigan. Her family, the Du Pont family, was very old and well-known. Her great-grandfather was a famous industrialist named Alfred V. du Pont.

Victorine went to Wellesley College and finished her studies there in 1923. She then studied architecture at the Cambridge School of Domestic and Landscape Architecture for Women. She earned her architecture certificate in 1925. Later, in 1935, she received her Master of Architecture degree from the same school after it joined with Smith College.

After college, she worked as a draftsperson, which means she drew plans for buildings. She worked at a company in Boston from 1926 to 1927. There, she met Samuel Homsey, and they got married in 1929.

Samuel Eldon Homsey

Samuel Eldon Homsey was born on August 29, 1904, in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture there, finishing his master's in 1926.

Samuel also enjoyed painting in his free time. He painted many landscapes using watercolors. Some of his paintings are now in the Biggs Museum of American Art.

Their Architectural Firm

Starting Their Business

Victorine and Samuel moved to Wilmington, Delaware. In 1935, they opened their own company called Victorine & Samuel Homsey. They were pioneers as one of the first married couples to run an architectural firm in the U.S.

They are believed to be the first architects in Delaware to use the International Style in their designs. This style uses clean lines and simple shapes. One of their early house designs was even shown in a famous art exhibition in Paris in 1938.

However, their style was also very flexible. They started their careers during the Great Depression, a time when money was tight. Because of this, they focused on finding ways to build economically and use new materials. In 1950, one of their house designs was featured in Better Homes and Gardens magazine. People could buy the building plans for just $5.

Famous Buildings They Designed

Victorine & Samuel Homsey became one of the most important architectural firms in Wilmington during the mid-1900s. They designed many different types of buildings, including homes, schools, churches, and other public places.

Some of their projects were for institutions connected to the Du Pont family. These included Longwood Gardens and the Winterthur Museum. For Winterthur, they designed the visitor's center, a lecture hall, and an office building.

Other important buildings they designed include:

• The Delaware Art Museum (built in 1955), and they also designed a later addition to it.
• The American Embassy in Tehran, Iran (built in 1964).
• The Cambridge Yacht Club in Maryland, which won an award for its design.
• The Dover Public Library.

They also built a house in 1938 in the Colonial Revival style. This house is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, it is used as the main office for Mt. Cuba Center, which is a historical preserve and garden near Wilmington.

Victorine's Special Role

Victorine was also very good at landscape architecture, which means designing outdoor spaces like gardens. She designed many gardens in Delaware.

In 1967, she was chosen as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). This is a high honor for architects. She also served on important committees, like the Washington Fine Arts Commission. She even led the committee that helped restore the Octagon House, which is the main office for the AIA in Washington, D.C.

During World War II

During World War II, Victorine and Samuel moved to Washington, D.C. Samuel served in the Naval Reserve for four years. He worked in an office that focused on research and new inventions.

While Samuel was serving, Victorine worked with another architect, Eugene H. Klaber. Together, they designed an elementary school and a large public housing project in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Samuel's Contributions

Samuel was also a Fellow of the AIA, just like Victorine. He served as the vice-president of the AIA for two years, from 1965 to 1967. He also worked on many planning and zoning boards in Delaware. These boards help decide how land can be used and what types of buildings can be built.

Retirement and Legacy

Both Victorine and Samuel retired in 1979. They passed their company on to their younger son, Eldon du Pont Homsey, who was also an architect. The company then became known as Homsey Architects, Inc.

Samuel Homsey passed away on May 22, 1994. Victorine Homsey passed away four years later, on January 6, 1998. The records of their architectural work from 1937 onwards are kept at the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington.