NICOLAIS, Raphael Angelo (1883-1979), active in Vancouver, B.C. in a partnership with Richard T. Perry in 1911-12 (see list of works under Perry & Nicolais). Born on 8 January 1883, he was brought to the United States by his family in 1888 and later studied architecture at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Italy. He then moved to Paris to continue his studies, and later took post-graduate studies at Columbia Univ. in New York, and at the Massachusetts Inst. of Technology in Boston. While in New York, he studied under the well-known American architect Henry Hornbostel after 1900.
Nicolais arrived in Vancouver before August 1911 and was invited to form a partnership with Richard T. Perry. While in Vancouver, he also appears to have been teaching design and drawing there. In October 1911 The Society of Beaux-Arts Architects announced the opening of an Atelier in Vancouver “....under the patronage of Raphael A. Nicolais” (C.R., xxv, 25 Oct. 1911, 53; Royal Architect [Montreal], iv, Nov. 1911, 298). After the dissolution of the partnership with Perry in 1912, Nicolais was recorded as designer of several residential commissions in Point Grey in west-end Vancouver. In 1913 he teamed up with Edward Sproat and together they submitted a design in the national competition for the Winnipeg City Hall. Their design was among 39 sets of plans sent in by architects from across Canada (City of Winnipeg Archives, Council Communications, 1913, Box A169, Item 9741, list of entrants). Their scheme was not among the five finalists, and Clemesha & Portnall of Regina were later declared the winners. Nicolais left Canada in 1917 and moved to Fort Worth, Texas where he continued to practise. By 1925 he was living and working in Beverley Hills, Calif. and later died there on 6 May 1979 (death notice, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 1979, Section Two, p. 4; inf. Donald Luxton, Vancouver). A biography and self-advertisement for Nicolais was published in 1922 in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Dec. 1922, 16.
VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for George Wadds, Cedar Crescent at West 19th Avenue, Shaugnhessy Heights, 1913 (Vancouver b.p. 983, 31 July 1913)
VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for Charles Gagne, West 9th Avenue (now Broadway) at Sasamat Street, 1914 (Vancouver b.p. 1372, 17 April 1914)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, Tarrant County Equipment Building, Houston Street at Bluff Street, 1919 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Oct. 1919, 11)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, a 3 storey apartment block at St. Louis Avenue at West Daggett Street, possibly The Markeen Apartments, 1920; still standing in 2023 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 March 1920, Section Four, page 1, descrip.)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, General Motors Truck Co., large showroom and garage, 1920 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 April 1920, Section Four, page 1, descrip.)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, Municipal Auditorium, City Hall, & Soldier's & Sailors Monument, at American Legion Park, between Houston Street and Commerce Street, 1920-21 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Sept. 1920, Section Four, p. 1, illus. & detailed descrip.)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, large residence for A.J. Anderson, Grapevine Road, 1921 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 May 1921, 10)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, a two storey block of retail stores and apartments, Main Street at Rosedale Street, 1921 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 May 1921, 10)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, mansion for Richard O. Dulaney, Elizabeth Boulevard at College Avenue, 1923 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Nov. 1922, 7, illus. & detailed descrip.; Carol Roark, Fort Worth & Tarrant County: An Historical Guide, 2003, 72-3)
BRECKENRIDGE, TEXAS, mansion for L.W. Raney, 1923 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Feb. 1923, 3, illus.)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, a two storey apartment block at Hemphill Street at West Jessamine Street, for Tom Peters, 1923 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 July 1923, Real Estate Section, p. 1, descrip.)
LOS ANGELES, CALIF., Medical Arts Building, Hollywood Boulevard near New Hampshire Avenue (now the Centro Cristiano Pentecostal), 1926
SANTA CLARITA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Joe Scott Boys Camp, Bouquet Canyon Road, 1956-58 (Architect & Engineer [Los Angeles], cciv, 1956, 207)