William Tubby


William Bunker Tubby was an American architect who was particularly notable for his work in New York City.
Tubby was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1875. He worked in the architectural offices of Ebenezer L. Roberts until beginning his own firm in 1883. Continuing this practice until his retirement in 1942, Tubby became a major New York architect. He created important buildings in a variety of styles, and was especially known for his Romanesque and Dutch Revival-style designs.
The house that Tubby designed for Charles Millard Pratt at 241 Clinton Avenue is one of the city's finest examples of Romanesque Revival architecture. His creativity and expertise can also be seen in several other Brooklyn homes: the neo-Jacobean Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture Meeting House, the Romanesque Revival style home at 234 Lincoln Place, the Queen Anne style row at 864-872 Carroll Street, the residences of Brooklyn mayors at 405 Clinton Avenue, and the Dutch Revival house at 43 Willow Street, which Tubby himself occupied.
His institutional designs include Pratt Institute's Student Union from 1887, the Romanesque Revival style South Hall for Pratt Institute in 1892, the Renaissance Revival style library building for the Pratt Institute, the Romanesque Revival style 83rd Police Precinct House in Brooklyn and the Flemish Revival style Wallabout Market which was once the second-largest market in the world. As a member of the Architects' Advisory Commission for the Brooklyn Carnegie Libraries, Tubby designed five library buildings.
Outside of New York City, Tubby created designs for banks, churches, libraries, hospitals and large estates throughout the Northeast, including Waveny House in New Canaan, Connecticut, and Dunnellen Hall in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Roslyn National Bank and Trust Company Building at Roslyn, New York, was built in 1931.
Tubby lived in Brooklyn Heights at 43 Willow Street before retiring to Greenwich in his later life. A member of the Brooklyn Guild Association, he taught architecture at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.

List of works

The following table presents an incomplete list of buildings designed by William Tubby, focusing on those that are extant or for which there is adequate documentation of their style. Note that most addresses link to Google Street View images of the buildings.
NameCompletedStyleImageAddress LocationOriginal usePresent useDesignations and references
124 Willow Street House1885Eclectic-Flemish Renaissance RevivalBrooklyn, NY1831 townhouse remodeled by TubbyPrivate residenceBrooklyn Heights Historic District
864-872 Carroll Street houses1887Queen AnneBrooklyn, NYPrivate residencePrivate residencePark Slope Historic District
286A-290 Vanderbilt Ave. houses1889Romanesque RevivalBrooklyn, NYPrivate residencePrivate residenceFort Greene Historic District
234 Lincoln Place House1889Romanesque RevivalBrooklyn, NYPrivate residencePrivate residencePark Slope Historic District
Charles A. Schieren House1889Romanesque Revival/Queen AnneBrooklyn, NYPrivate residencePrivate residenceClinton Hill Historic District
William B. Tubby House1890?Dutch Colonial RevivalBrooklyn, NYPrivate residencePrivate residenceBrooklyn Heights Historic District
Pratt Institute South Hall1891Renaissance RevivalBrooklyn, NYHigh schoolUniversityNYC Landmark
1-15 Adams Street Factory1891Romanesque RevivalBrooklyn, NYFactoryIndustrialDUMBO Historic District
179-183 St. James Place houses1892Romanesque Revival/Queen AnneBrooklyn, NYPrivate residencePrivate residenceClinton Hill Historic District
Charles Millard Pratt House1893Romanesque RevivalBrooklyn, NYPrivate residenceBrooklyn RC archbishop's residenceClinton Hill Historic District
Charles Millard Pratt's Carriage House1893?Romanesque RevivalBrooklyn, NYCarriage houseApartments-
John Thatcher House1894French Renaissance RevivalBrooklyn, NYPrivate residencePrivate residencePark Slope Historic District
129-135 Cambridge Place houses1894Queen AnneBrooklyn, NYPrivate residencePrivate residenceClinton Hill Historic District
83rd Precinct Police Station and Stable1894Romanesque RevivalBrooklyn, NYPolice precinctPolice precinctNYC Landmark, National Register of Historic Places
50-52 Bridge Street Factory1895American Round ArchBrooklyn, NYFactoryResidential/commercialDUMBO Historic District
Wallabout Market1896Dutch Colonial RevivalBrooklyn, NYWholesale marketDemolished 1941 to build Navy Yard-
Pratt Institute Library1896Renaissance RevivalBrooklyn, NYUniversityUniversityNYC Landmark
American Thread Building1896Renaissance RevivalNew York, NYWarehouseResidential loftsNational Register of Historic Places
Old Jamaica High School1897Dutch Colonial RevivalJamaica, NYPublic schoolPublic schoolNYC Landmark
194-200 Court Street apartment houses1898Renaissance RevivalBrooklyn, NYApartments & RetailApartments/retailCobble Hill Historic District
Maxwelton 1898?Glen Cove, NYStable for estateOnly water tower from stable designed by Tubby is extant on residential property-
Old Nassau County Courthouse1901Classical RevivalGarden City, NYGovernmentGovernmentNational Register of Historic Places
William H. Childs House1901Neo-JacobeanBrooklyn, NYPrivate residenceBrooklyn Society for Ethical CulturePark Slope Historic District
Old Brooklyn Friends School1902Classical RevivalBrooklyn, NYPrivate schoolPublic schoolNational Register of Historic Places
187-195 Waverly Ave. garages1904Brooklyn, NYGaragesPrivate residence-
DeKalb Library1905Classical RevivalBrooklyn, NYLibraryLibraryNYC Landmark
Leonard Library1908Classical RevivalBrooklyn, NYLibraryLibrary-
231-233 Front Street Factory1908CommercialBrooklyn, NYFactoryCommercialVinegar Hill Historic District
Ernest G. Draper House1910Italian Provincial RevivalBrooklyn, NYPrivate residencePrivate residencePark Slope Historic District
Waveny House1912Tudor RevivalNew Canaan, CTPrivate residenceMunicipally-owned event venue-
Stone Avenue Library1914Neo-JacobeanBrooklyn, NYPublic libraryPublic library-
Dunnellen Hall1918Neo-JacobeanGreenwich, CTPrivate residencePrivate residence-
William Tubby Jr. Residence1918?Greenwich, CTPrivate residencePrecise location and status of this work is not known-
Wexford Hall1929Tudor RevivalNew Canaan, CTPrivate residencePrivate residence-
Roslyn National Bank and Trust Company Building1931Classical RevivalRoslyn, NYBankRetailNational Register of Historic Places