Richard H. Hunt

The work of Richard Howland Hunt in architecture was of graceful and pleasing character. He planned country-houses on some of our great estates and educational buildings at some of our universities; he completed for the Metropolitan Museum the plans of the new wings of the building in Central Park for which his celebrated father [Richard Morris Hunt] had left an unfinished sketch. Perhaps the overshadowing distinction of the elder Hunt, his long repute as foremost American architect, his participation even in the restoration of architectural Paris after 1871, made it more difficult for the son’s work to win the highest professional recognition. No doubt he also lacked the “picturesque, eager, eloquent” personality which Judge Howland’s Century memorial recalled as belonging to his father. But he was a useful citizen; his mind was occupied with plans for the artistic betterment of the city of New York, and stalwart opposition to the unrestrained development of “sky-scraping” architecture had an essential place in them.

Alexander Dana Noyes
1932 Century Association Yearbook