Nationality USA, Austria-Hungary Known for Architect | Name Hugo Kafka | |
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Born 1843 Austria-Hungary Died | ||
Hugo Kafka, AIA, (1843–1915) was a Czech-American architect and founding associate of the predecessor firm of Alfred B. Mullett & Sons, as well as William Schickel & Company; he ran his own firm, Hugo Kafka in the early twentieth century, later renamed Hugo Kafka & Sons.
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Life
Kafka was born in 1843 in Austria-Hungary, "graduated from the Polytechnikum in Zurich, Switzerland studying under Gottfried Semper. He came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1874 to work with Hermann Schwartzmann, architect-in-chief for the buildings of the Centennial Exposition, and practiced in New York City from 1877 to 1903." He became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1876 and a founding associate of the predecessor firm of Alfred B. Mullett & Sons, with Alfred B. Mullett and William G. Steinmetz in 1882. In 1885 along with J. William Schickel (1850–1907) and Isaac E. Ditmars (1850–1934), he was a founding associate of William Scheckel & Company, which later became Scheckel & Ditmars. He died April 28, 1913 in New Rochelle, New York. Working for himself in the twentieth century, his firm's address was at 99 Nassau Street; the firm's name was Hugo Kafka, and Hugo Kafka & Sons after 1905 at 34 W 26th Street.
One of his finest house designs is the Leonard and Annie Wiederer House (1887–1888), 387 St. Paul's Avenue (formerly Mud Lane), Staten Island, a three-story 4,500-square-foot (420 m2) Queen Anne-style mansion of 24-room, including eight bedrooms, two kitchens and six fireplaces, each of a different design. It was built by the German-born beer baron named George Bechtel as a bridal gift to his daughter Annie on her marriage to Leonard Wiederer.
He died April 28, 1915, aged 70, at his home at 49 Washington Avenue, New Rochelle, New York.