century association biographical archive

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William A. Bates

Architect

Centurion, 1913–1922

Full Name William Augustus Bates

Born 25 April 1853 in Jackson, Michigan

Died 27 July 1922 in Bronxville, New York

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Proposed by Carlton T. Chapman and William Mitchell Kendall

Elected 1 November 1913 at age sixty

Century Memorial

The quiet, modest and retiring disposition of William A. Bates, his reticence in conversation, left even his professional associates sometimes puzzled at his professional success. It was unmistakably true that throughout his active career the public sought the architect, not the architect the public. He was a pioneer in directing the people’s attention, through his own designs, to the English cottage outlines which he successfully adapted to present day requirements. In his country houses, for which he was better known than for his larger works, his buildings were so admirably adjusted to their surroundings as perhaps to symbolize the grace and harmony of his own unspoken meditations.

Alexander Dana Noyes
1923 Century Association Yearbook