HOPPIN & KOEN, architects of New York City, consisting of Francis Laurens Vinton Hoppin (1867-1941) and Terrence A. Koen (1858-1923). Hoppin was born in Providence, R.I. and studied architecture at M.I.T. in Boston, then moved to Paris, France to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He trained in New York with the leading firm of McKim, Mead & White, and while there, he met another draftsman and designer in that firm, Terrence Koen. Both left that office in 1894 to form a new partnership in New York City and practised together until 1922. Hoppin retired from the profession in 1923 to pursue a career as an artist.
One of their first projects was the commission obtained from a Canadian client to design an elaborate mansion in Ottawa, Ontario for Hayter Reed in 1894. There, they collaborated with local supervising architect Frederick J. Alexander to complete this work. This important Queen Anne style landmark was demolished in 1970, but the costly stone fence surrounding the property still stands facing Wurtemburg Street. In 1902 they again collaborated with F.J. Alexander, this time to prepare an ambitious plan for a large hotel, to be located to the east of Parliament Hill on the site of the present Chateau Laurier Hotel. A detailed prospectus and investment solicitation for the project appeared in 1902, but the project was not built. The firm of Hoppen & Koen later became known for several lavish designs for private residences on Long Island, including the sprawling Tudor mansion for Stewart Postley (1918). A detailed illustrated essay on their residential work was published in 1997 (Robert B. MacKay, Anthony K. Baker & Carol Traynor, Long Island Country Houses and Their Architects 1860-1940, 1997, 218-222, illus.).
Hoppin died in New York City on 9 September 1941 (obit. New York Times, 10 Sept. 1941, 23; obit Pencil Points (New York), xxii, Oct. 1941, 64; biog. and port. in National Cyclopedia of American Biography, xxxi, 1944, 162-63; biog. and list of works in H. Withey, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects, 1956, 300; MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 1982, Vol. 2, 419). Koen died in New York on 16 May 1923 (obit. New York Times, 17 May 1923, 19; biog. and list of works in H. Withey, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects, 1956, 353).
(with F.J. Alexander) OTTAWA, ONT., residence for Hayter Reed, Wurtemburg Street near Rideau Street, 1894; demol. 1970, but stone fence still standing (Ottawa Free Press, 25 July 1894, 7; American Architect & Building News [Boston], xlv, 25 Aug. 1894, illus. plate; L. Maitland, Queen Anne Revival Style in Canadian Architecture, 1990, 132, illus., but lacking attribution to Hoppin & Koen)
(with F.J. Alexander) OTTAWA, ONT., proposal for a new Central Hotel, Wellington Street, opposite the Central Railway Station, and fronting on Major’s Hill Park, 1902, but not built, (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 8 March 1902, 2, descrip.)