At the end of the 1800s, Frank Meade came to prominence as one of the
leading residential architects of Cleveland. His architectural career
spanned nearly five decades. His work first emerged among the ruling class
mansions along celebrated Euclid Avenue. He had studied architecture at
MIT and worked four years in the Chicago office of Jenney and Mundie.
Initially opening his own office in Cleveland around 1893, Meade eventually
entered partnerships which included other prominent Cleveland architects
Alfred Granger, Abram Garfield (son of the U. S. President), and for the
longest period, James Hamilton.
Frank Meade lived on
Euclid Avenue and was active in Cleveland's upper society circles.
He was the founding president of the Hermit Club. As the industrial
owners and professionals' families migrated to the suburbs of Wade
Park, Bratenahl, and Shaker Heights, Frank Meade earned commissions
for new homes there as well. He also designed large residences for
the pre-Cleveland Heights villages of Ambler Heights and Euclid
Heights. It was especially during the last 30 years (1911-1941)
of his career, with James Hamilton as his partner, that their practice
flourished. Meade & Hamilton also found success in designing
numerous social club buildings including the Union, Roadside, Euclid
and Century clubs in Cleveland and the Erie and Lamb clubs in New
York City.
Frank Meade
Today, dozens of Meade & Hamilton homes
of traditional revival styles still stand proudly as a testament to the
enduring appeal of their work. Their designs can be found throughout the
western neighborhoods of Cleveland Heights along Fairmount Boulevard, including
the Euclid Golf district, and on Edgehill Road in what was called Euclid
Heights Village.
Sources:
Showplace of America: Cleveland's Euclid Avenue 1850-1910 by Jan Cigliano,
1991;
The Dictionary of Cleveland Biography by David Van Tassel and John J. Grabowski,
1995;
Frank Meade photo from Western Reserve Historical Society.
