In 1874, H.H. Richardson established the architectural practice that is Shepley Bulfinch with the commission to design Trinity Church in Boston. Following Richardson’s untimely death in 1886, younger partners from his studio were ready to step up and lead. George Foster Shepley (26), Charles Allerton Coolidge (28), and Charles Hercules Rutan (35) were named as successors in Richardson’s bedside will, completing some of the country’s most renowned projects of its time between 1886 and 1915, including the original Stanford University campus, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Harvard Medical School. Shepley and Rutan both passed away unexpectedly in the early 20th century, leaving Coolidge as the sole survivor. George C. Shattuck was brought in to fill the gap in leadership. From 1915 to 1924, the firm – now called Coolidge and Shattuck – sharpened its focus on medical schools and facilities through projects such as the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (NY), Peking Union Medical Center (China), Massachusetts General in Boston, and the Boston Lying-In Hospital.

In 1924, Henry Richardson Shepley joined the firm. According to firm lore, when Henry Shepley asked Charles Coolidge to make him a partner, Coolidge replied that if he promoted Shepley, he would have to promote other men as well. And so, admitting Shepley, Francis V. Bulfinch and Lewis B. Abbott were added to the partnership and marked a name change to Coolidge Shepley Bulfinch and Abbott (CSBA). In this period the firm worked on a broader diversity of groundbreaking projects including the Boston Blacking Chemical building, the original Logan International Airport, and 20 projects for the Rockefeller Institute. CSBA also introduced the Neo-Georgian style used throughout the Harvard University campus as the institution’s primary architect for many decades.   

In 1972, the firm dissolved the partnership and registered as a corporation. When George Mathey became president in 1978, it signaled the transition from the family era. This continued with Presidents W. Mason Smith III in 1994 and Oliver Egleston in 2011. As the firm entered its second century, it grew its expertise in healthcare, education, and science including projects for Dartmouth and Smith Colleges, and Vanderbilt University. 

At the turn of the 21st century, the firm reflected a changing society and opened the door to new design talent and leadership who would take the firm to new places. In 2004, Carole Wedge was named its first female president, succeeded by its second female president, Angela Watson, in 2021. Today, Shepley Bulfinch operates as a female-led company, leading by example and advocating for gender equity throughout the design industry. 

This exploration of our firm’s family tree was inspired by Roxanne Williamson’s “Career Connections of Major American Architects,” from American Architects and the Mechanics of Fame, 1991.