Background
Fehmer was born in Germany to Heinrich Fehmer and Maria (Zerrahn) Fehmer. His father died in Germany when he was five. The mother and children came to America in 1852 and settled in Boston.
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Carl Fehmer
Edit ProfileEducation
Fehmer attended public school in Boston, and showed an early aptitude for drawing and painting.
Career
At the age of 16 he began studying architecture in the office of George Snell, a prominent Boston architect. Fehmer remained in Snell"s office for eight years before beginning his own architectural practice. Foreign 25 years he performed all of the architectural work for the Massachusetts General Hospital until he was forced to retire due to ill health.
He designed a number of buildings for the McLean Asylum in Waverly and was appointed by Governor Oliver Ames as consulting architect when the extension to the Massachusetts State House was built.
During his long and active professional career, Fehmer designed the Shuman Corner, the Telephone Building, and numerous Back Bay houses. Fehmer died in Boston.
Works include (with attribution):
Boylston Building, 2-22 Boylston Saint Boston, Master of Arts (Fehmer,Carl), NRHP-listed
William King Covell III House, 72 Washington Saint Newport, Rhode Island (Fehmer & Emerson), NRHP-listed
Beaconsfield Terraces Historic District, 11-25, 33-43, and 44-55 Garrison Road and 316-326, 332-344, and 350-366 Tappan Saint Brookline, Master of Arts (Fehmer & Page), NRHP-listed.
Membership
During the Civil War, Fehmer served in the militia at Fort Independence as a member of the Fourth Battalion under Major Thomas Stevenson. Fehmer was a charter member of the Boston Society of Architects and the Saint Botolph Club.
