Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Architect Richard Haviland Smythe was born in 1889. He attended Brooklyn Latin School and Columbia University, from which he was granted a degree in architecture in 1909. Other education included an appointment at the American Academy in Rome.
Smythe practiced exclusively in New York City. His most significant achievement was the colonial design he employed in recreating and restoring the village of Stony Brook on Long Island, New York, for Ward Melville. Smyth also developed the modern storefront at typified by the Melville Shoe Corporation of Thom McAn shoe stores across the nation. Additionally he designed over one thousand private residences, ranging from simple cottages to mansions.
Richard Smythe died in 1965, having never married and leaving no heirs.
The Smythe Papers consist primarily of drawings; 760 projects are included in the collection and are arranged chronologically by job number. It should be noted that in some cases, two different projects share the same job number. Photographs of several projects and of Smythe have been separated to the Photograph Collection. Job numbers on the backs of photos can be matched with those listed on the inventory for purposes of identification. Photographs include prints of Old Field houses; the Setauket school; interiors of the Tudor-style John Ward Shoes and Ye Peg Woffington Coffee House; and portraits of the architect.