Benjamin A. Muncil

Benjamin A. Muncil (1867 – 1930) was an American master builder in the Adirondacks early in the 20th century. He was a major figure in the architectural development of the Adirondack Great Camps; among his many projects was Marjorie Merriweather Post's Camp Topridge, and White Pine Camp, a summer White House of US President Calvin Coolidge.

Born in Vermontville, New York, he started life as a lumberman at age 14 and as a guide and camp caretaker on Upper St. Regis Lake at age 18. He was the first to use "brainstorm siding," wavey-edged cladding, in place of clapboard, at several camps, including White Pine Camp on Osgood Pond in 1907. Other projects included Camp Longwood and the Huntington camp, both on Spitfire Lake, and the Little Camp on Upper St. Regis Lake. The main boathouse at Topridge, with its curving cedar railings and twig work screens, is one of the major and last examples of the naturalistic rustic tradition introduced by W. W. Durant.

External links

* [http://adirondackconnections.com/yoga/060721%20VLP%20Osgood%20tour%20(2).pdf "Adirondack Connections" article on two Muncil sites. (pdf)]
* [http://www.nps.gov/nhl/themes/Architecture/2camp.pdf United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service "ADIRONDACK CAMPS THEME STUDY" (pdf)]