Ida Annah Ryan

Ida Annah Ryan was a pioneering United States woman architect. She was born on November 4, 1873 at Waltham, MA, one of five children of Albert Morse Ryan and Carrie S. Jameson. She graduated from the Waltham High School. [Shelley Cardiel, October 30, 2003, rootsweb.org]

Architecture Studies at MIT

Ida A. Ryan entered architecture studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which offered the first collegiate architectural studies program in the United States. There she studied with the noted architecture professor Constant-Désiré Despradelle, In 1894, Ryan received the Rotch Prize of two hundred dollars for the regular student making the best record during their four years of studies. [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, annual, 1894]

In 1905, Ryan drafted a plan for a New England model town for her final masters degree project. She became the first woman to earn a master of science degree from MIT and also the first woman in the United States to receive a masters degree in architecture. In 1907 Ryan was awarded a traveling scholarship of $1200, the highest prize that the Architectural Department could confer on one of its graduates. This enabled her to spend a year in Europe engaged in the study of architecture. Ryan spent the greater part of the time in Spain and Italy, making her headquarters in Naples. ["The Tech" (MIT), Boston MA, October 7, 1907]

Architectural Practice in Waltham, Massachusetts

Ryan launched the first women's architectural practice in the United States in Waltham, showing a particular concern for the design of modest housing. Ryan added fellow MIT graduate and women’s rights activist Florence Luscomb to her practice, making this one of the first all-women’s architectural practices in the United States. [Political Woman: Florence Luscomb and the Legacy of Radical Reform by Sharon Hartman Strom, page 67] In February 1913, Miss Ryan was appointed superintendent of buildngs and grounds and buildings inspector for the city of Waltham, by Mayor Duane. ["The Tech" (MIT), Boston MA, February 12, 1913] Throughout this time, Ryan’s many attempts to join the Massachusetts chapter of the American Institute of Architects were rebuffed solely because she was a woman. Ryan began an association with the Central Florida area while still in practice in Massachusetts, designing there the Atlantic Coast Line railroad depot in St. Cloud (1917) and the Unity Chapel of Orlando (built in 1913, remodeled by Ryan and Roberts circa 1920).

Architectural Practice in Central Florida

As a result of this and of the building slump caused by the First World War, Ida A. Ryan moved to Central Florida and began an architecture practice based in Orlando, Florida. She became Orlando's first female architect. Soon thereafter Ryan was joined by Isabel Roberts (1871-1955) who had been a designer-draftsman in the Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright and the co-owner, with her mother Mary, of the Isabel Roberts House. Ida Annah Ryan and Isabel Roberts formed an architectural practice called “Ryan and Roberts” which was among no more than twelve firms active in Orlando in the 1920s. [Orlando City Directories, 1926-1931] Among their works are: [Photos of their work may be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11072784@N06/]

* Veterans Memorial Library - 1012 Massachusetts Ave., St. Cloud, Florida. Isabel Roberts’ brother-in-law, John B. Somerville, served on the building committee, a connection which resulted in Ryan and Roberts obtaining this commission. In 1922, an outline of what was desired was laid before architects Miss Ida Annah Ryan and Miss Isabel Roberts of Orlando. The plans submitted by these ladies were subsequently accepted. The architects insisted on a motto. Carlyle's, "The true university is a collection of books," was chosen. The building, although described as of Grecian style is in fact reminiscent of the designs of many of the Prairie School small bank buildings of the upper Midwest by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright and others. It is constructed of hollow tile with stained stucco exterior and still in use today.

* Amherst Apartments - 325 West Colonial Drive, Orlando, Florida. The Amherst Apartments were, for many years, Orlando’s most prestigious apartment address. Designed by Ida A. Ryan and Isabel Roberts in the Prairie Style and built in 1921-1922, it featured forty-seven apartments situated on Lake Concord. The building was demolished in 1986; the currently empty “Fanatic” building is on the site.

* Tourist Club House - 700 Indiana Ave., St. Cloud, Florida. This club house for the Tourist Club of St. Cloud was opened in the city park on December 3, 1923. Designed by Ida Annah Ryan and Isabel Roberts, it shows the influence of the Prairie School with which Roberts was associated, as a rectangular structure with a barrel-roofed auditorium. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park Studio developed this style with open, airy plans, low-pitched hip or gable roofs, horizontal brick walls, exposed rafter ends, broad overhanging eaves and grouped wood windows. The building was demolished circa 2004.

* The Ryan/Roberts Home and Studio – 834 Kenilworth Terrace, Orlando, Florida. Ryan and Roberts designed this Mediterranean Revival style home and studio for their own use in 1920-24. The stucco structure with gable roof is in a simplified Mediterranean revival style. The details of the design include asymmetrical window placements, decorative attic vents, side yard orientation and gently scalloped buttresses. It is a very well maintained private residence today.

* The Chapel at the Fisk Funeral Home, 1107-1111 Massachusetts Avenue, St. Cloud. [Information courtesy of Anita Parks; Volunteer Curator; St. Cloud Heritage Museum]

* The Pennsylvania Hotel Building, 10th Street between Pennsylvania Ave. and Florida Avenue, St. Cloud, Florida. The building now houses the St. Cloud Twin Theatres. [Information courtesy of Anita Parks; Volunteer Curator; St. Cloud Heritage Museum]

* The Peoples Bank Building, southeast corner of 10th Street and New York Avenue, St. Cloud, Florida. The bank failed in the late Twenties; the main floor of the building is now used as a cafe and barber shop. [Information courtesy of Anita Parks; Volunteer Curator; St. Cloud Heritage Museum]

* Unity Chapel, Orlando (remodeled by Ryan and Roberts circa 1920; demolished in the 1960s). For many years, this charming building, in a stuccoed English vernacular style, was the worship home of First Unitarian Church of Orlando, near Lake Eola. Ida Annah Ryan was a member of this congregation. Some scholars have had a hard time identifying this building, which Isabel listed on her AIA application. It is not to be confused with Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois.

Ida A. Ryan lived in Orlando until her death, in mid-February 1950 after an illness of several years, during which she was cared for by Isabel Roberts. According to her wishes, Ryan was buried in her hometown of Waltham, MA. [Ida Annah Ryan Funeral Notice, "Orlando Evening Star", February 18, 1950]

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