Background
James Monroe Hewlett was born on August 1, 1868 in Lawrence, New York, United States. He was a son of James Augustus and Mary Elizabeth (Sanderson) Hewlett.
James Monroe Hewlett was born on August 1, 1868 in Lawrence, New York, United States. He was a son of James Augustus and Mary Elizabeth (Sanderson) Hewlett.
Early in life he began professional study at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, and in 1886 entered the old School of Mines at Columbia where he completed a four-year course in architecture under Professor Ware. Following his graduation in 1890, Hewlett spent four years in supplementary study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.
Returning to New York in 1895, James Monroe Hewlett began practice in association with the late Austin Lord and Washington Hull, and after the latter's decease in 1909, continued his work with Lord. In the succeeding years, Hewlett attained a high degree of success as the designer, independently or with his partners, of many public buildings of note in the greater New York area.
Among the most important of these were: Brooklyn Masonic Temple (Pell & Corbett, Associate Architects): Brooklyn Hospital; St. John's Hospital in Brooklyn; Bronx County Building, New York ; Polytechnic Preparatory School, Brooklyn; St. Jude's Church, Brooklyn; Bedford Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library; Westchester County Court House, White Plains; Far Rockaway Branch, Carnegie Library; also school buildings at Stapleton and Mount Vernon, New York. In addition to public work, Hewlett was widely known in the field of domestic architecture, having designed homes in New York of distinctive character, as well as a number of elaborate country estates on Long Island.
For many years a member of the Brooklyn Chapter, A. I. A., he was advanced to Institute Fellowship in 1896, and was also a member (and past- president) of the Architectural League of New York.
On March 29, 1894 he married Anna Willets. In 1924 he married second time to Estelle Rodgers Wilbur.