Augustus Barker Higginson (1866-1915)

Architect, of Chicago & Santa Barbara, California

He was born at Stockbridge, Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard, he studied architecture with the Boston firm of Andrews & Jacques (1889-91) and then continued his studies at L'École des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1892-94). On returning to the States he opened an office in the Monadnock Building in Chicago as Belden & Higginson and received various commissions for residential buildings, notably at Winnetka where his brother, George, had established himself as the region's largest landowner. His work was very much influenced by the Arts & Crafts Movement. After his first wife died in 1905 he moved to Montecito in California and worked in the Santa Barbara area until his death. Among the houses he built there are the Higginson House (1905-10) at 1000 Channel Drive, Montecito, and the Coe House (1909) at Santa Barbara. In 1895, he was married at Lenox to Mary Girvan, of San Francisco. She died in 1905 and in 1907 he married Ednah Girvan at Piedmont in California. He died at Santa Barbara.
Contributed by Mark Meredith on 03/06/2023 and last updated on 03/06/2023.