CROFF, Gilbert Bostwick (1841-1909) was born at Wallinford, Vermont 18 January 1841, son of John F. and Harriet N. Croff, but little information has be found on his training or education. He moved to Saratoga Springs, N.Y. in 1869 and became a talented exponent of the Second Empire style, designing dozens of residential and commercial buildings in Saratoga Springs, Rhinebeck, and surrounding towns. He was also author of three important pattern books which helped to disseminate his designs throughout New England. His first book, Model Suburban Architecture (1870) contained plans '...expressly prepared for execution in the Eastern and middle States'. The following year he published Original Designs for Entrance Doors, followed in 1875 by Progressive American Architecture, with an extensive collection of "...original studies for Dwellings, Banks, Schools and Office Buildings" including Plate No. 40 which shows a "Design for a stately and imposing Villa, prepared for erection on Mount Royal in MONTREAL, CANADA" (C. Cameron & J. Wright, Second Empire Style in Canadian Architecture, 1980, 130-1, illus. & descrip).
Shortly after the Great Fire in Saint John, N.B. on 20 June 1877 Croff moved to the city and practiced there for nearly two years. He formed a partnership with Frederick Theodore Camp (1849-1905), but by early 1880 the intensity of construction activity had dissipated and both partners left Canada after terminating their partnership. Croff maintained an office in New York City until 1888 and returned to Saratoga Springs. He died on 20 April 1909 and was buried at Morningside Cemetery in Malone, Franklin County, N.Y. (N. Bartlett, History of Saratoga County, 1878; D.S. Francis, Architects in Practise New York City 1840-1900, 20, 23; inf. Saratoga Springs Public Library; inf. Fort Edward Historical Association, N.Y.). A brief biography of Croff, together with illustrations of his work in Rhinebeck, N.Y., can be found in Nancy V. Kelly, Rhinebeck's Historic Architecture, 2009, 127-30, illus.
CROFF & CAMP
(works in Saint John unless noted)
GERMAIN STREET, pair of houses for James Lawton, 1877 (Daily Telegraph [Saint John], 10 Sept. 1877, 2, t.c.; 28 Dec. 1877, 2; Daily News [Saint John], 1 Dec. 1877, 3)
WENTWORTH STREET, at Princess Street, residence for A. Chipman Smith, 1877-78 (Daily Telegraph [Saint John], 14 Nov. 1877, 3, descrip.; 7 Jan. 1878, 1, t.c.; Daily News [Saint John], 8 Dec. 1877, 3)
GERMAIN STREET, commercial block for J.R. Ruel, 1877 (Daily News [Saint John], 1 Dec. 1877, 3)
PRINCE WILLIAM STREET, near Princess Street, commercial block for J. & A. McMillan, 1877-78 (Daily Telegraph [Saint John], 7 Dec. 1877, 3; 19 June 1878, 3, descrip.)
MECKLENBURG TERRACE, residence for John Magee, 1877 (Daily Telegraph [Saint John], 19 Dec. 1877, 3)
FREDERICTON, N.B., Exhibition Palace, 1878 (Daily News [Saint John], 24 June 1878, 3, descrip.; Morning Freeman [Saint John], 7 Oct. 1878, 3, descrip.)
ST. JAMES ANGLICAN CHURCH, Main Street, Lower Cove, 1878 (Daily News [Saint John], 11 May 1878, 2; 25 June 1878, 3, descrip.; American Architect & Building News [Boston], iv, 28 Sept. 1878, 111, descrip.; DaIly Sun [Saint John], 7 Jan. 1879, 3, descrip.)
PRINCESS STREET, residence for Adam Young, 1878 (Daily News [Saint John], 30 Nov. 1878, 3, descrip.)
QUEEN SQUARE, near Sydney Street, mansion for John Boyd, 1878-79 (Daily News [Saint John], 30 Nov. 1878, 3; Daily Sun [Saint John], 11 July 1879, 3, descrip.)