Background
John Jacques Ramee was born in 1764 at Chaumont, France.
architect interior designer and landscape architect
John Jacques Ramee was born in 1764 at Chaumont, France.
Forced to flee France during the Revolution, he went to Germany in 1792 and in Hamburg designed several buildings, also acquired a reputation in landscape design. Later he worked in other cities in Northern Europe.
In 1811 M. Ramee arrived in this country, and after two years in New York moved to Philadelphia, when in 1813 his name was listed in the City Directory. Later he moved to Baltimore, and after designing the great "Calverton' estate anticipated being made architect of the proposed new Baltimore Exchange. When another architect was awarded the commission, Ramee was so deeply disappointed that he returned to Europe. After working in Belgium and Germany a few years, he went to Paris in 1823, and during the rest of his life remained in France.
In this country his most notable work was the first building erected at Union College in Schenectady, N. Y. He prepared a monumental plan for the campus and buildings, with two large flanking buildings, designed with classic dignity and a central rotunda remarkably similar to Jefferson's design of the University of Virginia. For a Frenchman, Ramee's work was surprisingly American in spirit as exemplified in his carefully studied and prepared plan for the buildings at Union College dating from 1813-19.