Architectural Photo Album of Bydie and Katie Kilgour's Home - Cincinnati, Ohio

(Cincinnati, Ohio - Architectural Photo Album) Kilgour, II, Bayard Livingston & Kate Elena Gray. BYDIE AND KATIE KILGOUR'S HOUSE. Excavation started June 5th, 1940. This is an extraordinary photo album documenting the construction of the Kilgour mansion just prior to World War II on Drake Road, Indian Hill near Hyde Park in Cincinnati, Ohio by the Guentter-Reinhard Co. Building Contractors, depicting the weekly stages, and the building crew of over 120 workers, including 13 African-Americans listed as "The Colored Boys".  Cincinnati, Ohio.  Oblong folio. 13.5 x 10.5 in. [132 pp (unpaginated).], on thick black paper stock, white ink lettering on front paste down, and throughout, with 449 silver gelatin photographs, sized from 3 x 4.5 in. up to 5 x 7 in., nearly all mounted with black corners, and the majority with dated captions on the respective pages. Contemporary limp calf post-binder, gilt ruling on front cover, sewn at gutter margin w/ black silk braid (some rubbing, edge wear, a couple leaves loose, a couple images lifted), still a remarkable exemplar; together with TLS signed by contractor Joseph Henry Reinhard, indicating enclosures of signature sheet for all the workers, and separate ruled sheet in pencil w/ names & addresses of African-American workers on the project.  

This exceptional and well-annotated photo album, filled with nearly 450 silver gelatin photographs,  chronicles the week-by-week efforts of road builders, cement workers, masons, framers, bricklayers, finish carpenters, and landscapers erecting the Kilgour mansion on Drake Road, Indian Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio in 1940. The album opens with photos of the driveway leading up to the immense home under construction, showing the road building, forms for curbs, laying of sewer pipes, dump-truck attached back hoes, and more. On June 6th, 1940, Bydie & Katie Kilgour, together with family and friends are shown making the initial dig with ceremonial shovels, followed by series of photos showing the forms for the immense basement and cement block foundations, and by August 15, 1940 the first floor masonry, and installation of window casements. The photo series dated August 21, 1940 shows the visit of close friend Pierre Matisse (1900-1989), noted art dealer and youngest son of Henri Matisse, and his first wife "Teenie" touring the home under construction. Photos dated August 24, 1940, show the cement floors were being poured with steel reinforcement, and by Oct. 16, 1940, the second floor was being framed, roof trusses framed, and teams of workers racing to finish the immense project. Images also depict the new views from the home, the family's 1940 Cadillac La Salle, George Barr excavating around the site on a Caterpillar bulldozer, as well as photos of Bill Wehrmann, their road contractor, George Casper site foreman, and Thane Hartman, the gardener for the summer of 1940. Of particular interest are the several photos devoted to the African-American crew working for George Barr, which were later listed in the special list of attendees for the "Beer Party" thrown by the Kilgour's as "The Colored Boys," listing all 13 African-American workers and their addresses. Finally the cornerstone was installed in Nov., 1940, windows installed, planting begun, and beer party thrown. The remainder of the album shows the planting of the immense mature trees, such as an immense Pin Oak Tree brought in on a flatbed, and others, followed by photos of the family and friends enjoying the completed project, and seven aerial views of the home. The Kilgour mansion later became the site of the People's Junior High School constructed in 1969, and then razed to the ground in 2009. Bayard Kilgour, Jr. (1904-1984) was the scion of the very wealthy Kilgour family which had developed "The Pines" and Hyde Park in Cincinnati, OH, served as President and Director of the Bell Telephone Co., and was an avid collector of Russian icons, musical scores, and Slavic language books, building collections at Harvard University Libraries, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. Kate Kilgour (1904-1999), was the daughter of a successful Syracuse, NY industrialist who married "Bydie" in 1931, and would become a noted Cincinnati socialite and philanthropist together with her husband. Their contractors for the project were the successful firm Guentter-Reinhard Co., large commercial building contractors in and around Cincinnati, OH and Covington, KY, owned by Joseph Henry Reinhard (1894-1949), and William John Guentter (1889-1962). See: Gregory Rogers, Cincinnati's Hyde Park: A Queen City Gem (2010).