VAN SICLEN, William Doty (1865-1951), active in Vancouver, B.C. in 1911-13, and in Edmonton, Alta. in 1912-13. He was a native of Clearwater, Michigan, born there on 29 April 1865 and later active as a professional architect in San Francisco and San Jose, Calif. from 1890 to 1900. He moved to Seattle, Wash. in 1901, and commenced practise in that city after serving an apprenticeship with Saunders & Lawton in 1901-02. He was active in Seattle until 1910 then moved to Vancouver, B.C. where he formed a partnership with William K. Macomber in 1911 and with him designed several works in Canada including large commercial blocks in Vancouver, B.C. and in Edmonton, Alta. This included an elaborate Chateau style hotel in Edmonton (1912-13), and a restrained Edwardian design for the Kelly Exchange, also located in Edmonton.
After leaving Vancouver in 1914, Van Siclen moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1915 and was active there until December of 1924. He formed a partnership with G.W. Collignon, but their collaboration was brief, and after 1918 Van Siclen worked under his own name. His most important work in Tulsa is the sprawling mansion for Patrick J. Hurley (1920-21; still standing as of 2016). Hurley was a personal friend of Van Siclen when both attended high school together, and he was a leading citizen of Tulsa, and would later serve as War Secretary under the Hoover administration. Completed in 1921, this mansion reputedly cost $90,000 at the time to construct, making it one of the costliest private residences in the state. In late 1924, Van Siclen moved again, this time to Brownsville, Texas, on the border with Mexico, and he would spend the rest of his career there. He employed a Spanish Revival style for many of his commercial and residential commissions in southern Texas, and completed his own design for the U.S. Post Office Building in McAllen, Tex., one of the very few federal buildings in Texas not designed by the Federal Architect’s Department in Washington, D.C.
Van Siclen continued to work in Brownsville until his death on 14 July 1951 (obituary Brownsville Herald, 15 July 1951, 12; biog. in Jeffrey K. Ochsner, Shaping Seattle Architecture, 2014, 482; D. Luxton, Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 485, 522)
W. D. VAN SICLEN
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF., a block of two storey flats for William Fruhling, Union Street near Buchanan Street, 1891 (San Francisco Chronicle, 12 June 1891, 5)
SAN JOSE, CALIF., National Guard Armoury, for Company "B", North Market Street, between Santa Clara Street and St. John Street, 1895 (San Francisco Chronicle, 22 Oct. 1895, 6, illus. & descrip.)
VAN SICLEN & MACOMBER
VANCOUVER, B.C., McDougall & Cameron Block, East Hastings Street, an 8 storey office building, 1912 (The Sun [Vancouver], 28 May 1912, 5, descrip.; Province [Vancouver], 1 June 1912, 13, descrip.)
EDMONTON, ALTA., Royal Alexandra Hotel, First Street near Peace Avenue, 1912-13 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 28 Dec. 1912, 11, illus. & descrip.; dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives, 208/14)
EDMONTON, ALTA., Samuel Nankin Building, 1913 (dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives, 462/14)
EDMONTON, ALTA., Kelly Exchange Building, 101A Avenue at 100A Street, 1914-15 (Edmonton Historical Board, Historical Walking Tours of Downtown Edmonton, 1988, 39; dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives, 807/14, 1156/14)
EDMONTON, ALTA., Gariepy Block, Jasper Avenue at McDougall Avenue, a seven storey commercial building with terra cotta facade, for Joseph H. Gariepy, 1914-15 (Pacific Coast Architect [San Francisco], viii, Oct. 1914)
VAN SICLEN & COLLIGNON
TULSA, OKLA., office building for the architectural firm of Van Siclen & Collingnon, Fourth Street at Detroit Street, 1917 (Tulsa Daily World, 8 April 1917, 8)
W.D. VAN SICLEN
TULSA, OKLA., a mansion for Patrick J. Hurley, South Boston Avenue near East 26th Place, 1920-21 (historical article in the Brownsville Herald [Brownsville, Texas], 11 April 1930, 14)
(works in Brownsville, Texas)
CAMERON HOTEL, Cameron Hotel, East Washington Street, 1927-28 (Anthony J. Lehmann Jr., History of Brownsville, Texas 1925-1935, website, 2013)
WEST ELIZABETH STREET, residence for George Aziz, 1927-28 (Anthony J. Lehmann Jr., History of Brownsville, Texas 1925-1935, website, 2013)
VALLEY VIEW APARTMENTS, Palm Boulevard, 1929 (list of works in Brownsville Herald, 2 Nov. 1930, 5, with biog. and port.)
SETHMAN APARTMENTS, Palm Boulevard, 1928-29 (list of works in Brownsville Herald, 2 Nov. 1930, 5, with biog. and port.)
ARGENTINE APARTMENTS, West Washington Street, 1930 (Anthony J. Lehmann Jr., History of Brownsville, Texas 1925-1935, website, 2013)
WEST 18TH STREET, residence for the architect, 1930 (Anthony J. Lehmann Jr., History of Brownsville, Texas 1925-1935, website, 2013)
RESACA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Filmore Street, 1931 (Anthony J. Lehmann Jr., History of Brownsville, Texas 1925-1935, website, 2013)
(works elsewhere in Texas)
SAN BENITO, TEX., Rivoli Theatre, North Sam Houston Boulevard, 1926 (list of works in Brownsville Herald, 2 Nov. 1930, 5, with biog. and port.)
PORT ISABEL, TEX., The Yacht Club Hotel, North Ylurria Street, 1929 (Brownsville Herald, 24 March 1929, 14, descrip.; list of works in Brownsville Herald, 2 Nov. 1930, 5, with biog. and port.)
PORT ISABEL, TEX., Alta Vista Apartments, Polk Street at Gomez Street, 1930 (Brownsville Herald, 6 Aug. 1930, 1, descrip.)
BAYVIEW, TEX., a large residence at the Bayview Citrus Groves for Dr. J.W. Williams of Chicago, 1931 (Brownsville Herald, 22 Jan. 1931, 13; Valley Morning Star [Harlingen], 30 June 1931, 4, descrip.)
LOS FRESNOS, TEX., residence for Dr. W.A. Hobbs, located "......north of Los Fresnos", 1931 (Valley Morning Star [Harlingen], 12 July 1931, 1)
McALLEN, TEX., U.S. Post Office, Main Street at Chicago Avenue, 1934-35 (Brownsville Herald, 24 Nov. 1934, 1, illus. & descrip.)