Background
Walter Cook was born on July 23, 1846, at Buffalo, New York, United States. He was the son of Edward and Catherine (Ireland) Cook.
Walter Cook was born on July 23, 1846, at Buffalo, New York, United States. He was the son of Edward and Catherine (Ireland) Cook.
Cook entered Yale as a freshman but transferred to Harvard and there received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1869 and Master of Arts in 1872. He then went to Paris and was one of the earliest Americans to take advantage of the opportunities for architectural training in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he came under the influence of the gifted Vandremer, whose atelier was a center of inspirational instruction. His preparation was broadened by further study in the Royal Polytechnic School at Munich.
In 1877 Cook became the dominating factor of the architectural firms of New York including Babb, Cook & Willard; Willard, Babb, Cook & Welch; and Cook & Welch. During his long career many he designed many important homes and commercial buildings. In all of his designs there was an evident fitting of the means to the conditions, an application of modern methods and their utilization in the most efficient manner. He brought to the career of architecture a great fund of collateral knowledge, administrative ability, and educational ideals. His professional performance was thorough and distinguished. It notably influenced the achievement of his time. These characteristics were recognized by his fellow architects in elevating him to the position of president of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and of president for two terms of the American Institute of Architects (1912 - 1914). His intimate interest in the affairs of the Institute was continued to the time of his death, as a member of the Board of Directors.
The city of New York made him a member of the Municipal Art Commission (190507), consulting architect of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and of the Court House Board. As an architectural adviser he was a member of the competition juries for the selection of architects for the New York Public Library and for the University of California.
Cook was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the Beaux-Arts Society of Architects.
Walter Cook was "a man of rare qualifications, of wide and genial culture, imbued with that kind of personal dignity and charm which well fitted him to represent the architects of this country on all occasions requiring tact and judgment, executive and administrative ability. . He was always simple and ‘getattable’ with a delightful sense of humor, gentle and kindly though ever ready to fight when a principle was involved”.
Cook was married in Paris on November 18, 1876, to Marie Elizabeth Hugot of Fresnes, Yonne, France. She died in 1888, and on February 25, 1890, he was married to Louise Sprague Oakey.