Background
Raymond F. Almirall was born at Brooklyn in 1869.
Raymond F. Almirall was born at Brooklyn in 1869.
Raymond studied at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, Mr. Almirall studied architecture at Cornell University, and after four additional years at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, was awarded his diploma in 1896.
Prior to the turn of the century he opened an office in New York, and continued in professional practice until the start of World War I. Early in his career Mr. Almirall was commissioned to design a number of buildings for the Novitiate of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Brooklyn, in the Bronx and at Jamaica, L. I. Later he was architect of a number of Roman Catholic Churches in the greater New York area, at Glen Cove, Oyster Bay and Seaclif F, L. I.; Church of the Nativity, and St. Michael’s Church, School and Rectory, Brooklyn, also designed several Hospitals, including the Fordham, New York and the Seaview on Staten Island. Among other important works of this architect were the Central Public Library at Brooklyn and practically all the Branch Libraries in the Borough of which he served as Consulting Architect for ten years, (1904-1914).
Appointed in 1900 by Theodore Roosevelt, then Governor of New York, to the Tenement Commission, Mr. Almirall maintained a deep interest in civic affairs and social service. After the close of the first World War (in which he was in service in France), he returned to Paris in 1924 as an un official representative of Welles Bosworth who was architect for the late John D. Rockefeller on the restoration of famous buildings, and in recognition of his service for work at the Palace at Versailles and the Trianon, Mr. Almirall was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Following his return to New York, he retired to his home at New Rochelle, where his death occurred later, after a long illness.
Mr. Almirall maintained a deep interest in civic affairs and social service. After the close of the first World War (in which he was in service in France), he returned to Paris in 1924 as an un¬official representative of Welles Bosworth who was architect for the late John D. Rockefeller on the restoration of famous buildings