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RALPH SPENCER TWITCHELL (1890-1978)
After the untimely death of his father in 1906, his mother moved the family to Winter Park FL. Twitchell enrolled in Rollins College but transferred to McGill University in Montreal then later Columbia University. After his 1917-19 WWI military service, Twitchell graduated from Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in architecture in 1920 and a Masters in 1921. Twitchell first came to Sarasota in 1925 as the representative of New York architect Dwight James Baum to manage the final stages of the construction of John Ringling's Ca d’Zan mansion. In 1936, Twitchell moved permanently to Sarasota to open his own architectural and construction company, Associated Builders. He is considered the father of the group of Sarasota Modernist architects with the name of the "Sarasota School," although there's no actual educational facility involved. In 1938, the AIA revoked Twitchell's membership, due to Twitchell's ownership of a construction company, against the AIA rules at the time. In 1976, two years before his death, the AIA reversed its decision and recognized Twitchell as Architect Emeritus.
In 1941, Twitchell hired Paul Rudolph, 28 years his younger, and they collaborated on a number of projects. Twitchell and Rudolph parted ways in 1951. Between 1953 and 1954, Twitchell partnered with another Sarasota architect, Jack West, and between 1959 and 1965 with his son, Tollyn Jules Twitchell.
Ralph Twitchell married three times and had five children: Sylva, Tollyn and Terry from his first marriage, and Aaron and Debbie from his second.
1926 - The Franklin and Mabel Hodge House, 7316 Broughton, Sarasota FL. 2000sf. Sold in the 1970's. Sold in 1981 to Victoria Creighton. Sold in 2018 to Paula Tietjen.
1936 - The MacKinley and Irene Kantor Residence, 4105 Shell Road, Siesta Key, Sarasota FL. When MacKinley Kantor died in 1977, Irene wife donated his office and its contents to Sarasota County Historical Resources who restored it. Sold. A guest house was built on the property in the late 1980's. Destroyed.
1937 - aka Showboat House, Lake Louise FL. Status unknown.
1939 - The Ludelle (Lu) Andrews House I, 1225 15th Street, Sarasota FL. She was Twitchell's secretary and bookkeeper. Built in partnership with John Lambie of Lamolithic. Destroyed in the 1980's.
1940 - Newtown Heights, Sarasota FL. Public housing. Status unknown.
1941 - The Ludelle (Lu) Andrews House II, 904 Virginia Drive, Sarasota FL. She was Twitchell's secretary and bookkeeper. Restored and expanded away from Twitchell's design in 2009. Renovated in 2016. Sold in 2022 to Newtown Capital Management.
1941 - The Jules and Marie Glorieux House, McClellan Park, Sarasota FL. Twitchell's in-laws. Paul Rudolph is believed to have worked on this during his summer internship. Ed Root was the project manager for construction. Deeded to Marie Glorieux. Deeded around 1950 to her daughter, Lucienne Glorieux Twitchell, Twitchell's first wife. Status unknown.
1941 - The Riviera Apartments, Golden Gate Point, Sarasota FL. Destroyed and replaced by the Grande Riviera Condos.
1941 - The Ralph Twitchell Residence, 101 Big Pass Lane, Siesta Key FL. Featured in Architectural Forum, September 1947. Sold to Garrison and Marjorie Creighton. Top photo by Sarasota County History Center; next by Joseph Steinmetz; remaining photos by Chris Mottalini. Sold in 2005 to architect Joe King. Damaged by fire, the house was dismantled and put into storage in 2007. King sold it in 2019. The parts have been used in various Modernist construction projects by that owner.
1946 - The Alexander S. (Al) and Leona B. Harkavy Residence, 4018 Roberts Point Road, Siesta Key FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Featured in Architectural Forum, September 1947. There was at least one addition. Sold in 1986 to John C. Greer. Was a rental for years. Sold in 2019 to Brian Thompson. B/W photos by Joseph Steinmetz from Architectural Forum.
1946 - The Marion Miller Boat House, Casey Key, Sarasota FL. Unbuilt. Designed with Paul Rudolph.
1946 - The Muniz House, location unknown. Likely unbuilt. Designed with Paul Rudolph.
1947 - The Burt J. Denman Residence, 4822 Ocean Boulevard, Siesta Key FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph.. Commissioned 1946. Appeared in Progressive Architecture, August 1950. Photos courtesy Library of Congress. Destroyed and replaced with condos, bottom photo.
1947 - The Roberta Healy Finney Guest House, aka Finney Guest Cottage, Siesta Key, Sarasota FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Unbuilt.
1947 - The Goar Residence, Sarasota FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Unbuilt.
1947 - The Shute Residence, Sarasota FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Unbuilt.
Main House, above, bottom photo by Ezra Stoller
Guest House, above
1948 - The Marion (Monks) Miller Residence, aka Purple Pelican, 2209 Casey Key Road, Nokomis FL. Commissioned in 1947. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Won a 1949 Progressive Architecture Award. Rudolph and Twitchell also designed a guest house in 1949. Miller married Mario Lucci, who lived there until 1971. Sold to a person who expanded it. Author Stephen King lost the bidding in 1999 to buyers Walter and Marilyn Kreiseder, who sought someone to move the main house prior to new construction. The main house was destroyed, as a new 25,000 sf home went up in 2003, bottom photo. The guest house fate is unknown. B/W photos by Ezra Stoller/Esto.
1948 - The Maynard E. (Russ) and Phyllis Boggs Russell Residence, 945 Whitakers Lane, Sarasota FL. Original street name was Palmetto Lane. Commissioned 1947. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Featured in: Architectural Record, January 1950; and House and Garden, December 1949. The Russells moved out around 1968 and their son Jon moved in for about four years, according to Jon's sister Barbara Sue Russell Michel. Destroyed in the 1990s with a new house built in 1994. Photos by Ezra Stoller/Esto.
1948 - The Joseph Janney Steinmetz Photography Studio, 1614 Laurel Street, Sarasota FL. Not a house. Commissioned in 1947. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Was significantly altered. Destroyed in the 2000s. Photos by Sarasota County Historical Resources.
1948 - The Lamolithic/J. E. Lambie Development, 5528, 5540, 5544, 5546 Avenida Del Mare, Siesta Key FL. Made of concrete. Designed with Paul Rudolph.. Above photos are of 5540.
1948 - The Roberta Healy Finney House, aka the Revere Quality House, 100 Ogden Lane, Siesta Key, Sarasota FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph.. Twitchell fell in love with and moved in with the client. The house was a cooperative project between the two architects, Architectural Forum, Revere Copper and Brass, and the builders John Lambie of Lamolithic Industries. There were originally going to be eight houses like this around the country. When this house opened, over 16,000 people visited the first year. It was featured in: House and Garden, August 1949; Architectural Forum, October 1948; and Architectural Review, November 1948. Roberta Finney died in 1966. Twitchell lived there until his death in 1978 and the house stayed with the Twitchell family until sold in 2003 to Doug Olson. B/W photos by Ezra Stoller/Esto. Sold in 2017 to the David S. Zaccardelli Living Trust. A new main house was built on the property in 2007, expanded in 2017, both by Guy Peterson. Sold in 2023 to Elaine and William Crouse.
1948 - The Albert T. and Lois Siegrist Residence, 520 Valencia Road, Venice FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Chosen as a house of "quality and significance" by the NY Museum of Modern Art for an exhibition in 1952. Featured in: Progressive Architecture, June 1949; and Arts+Architecture, April 1953. Sold around 1959 to Robert Leonard Corcoran and Vivian Corcoran. Sold in 1979 and renovated into an Italianate villa, bottom photo from 2010.
1949 - The Edward Deeds Residence, 5242 Avenida Del Mare, Siesta Key FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Commissioned in 1948. Featured in Architectural Forum, April 1950. Renovated in 1969. Sold around 1983 to Marvin and Teresa Emery, still owners as of 2018. B/W photos by Ezra Stoller/Esto; bottom two photos by Jan-Richard Kikkert.
1949 - The Arthur C. Cheatham Pool and Pool House Addition, 120 Kenwith Road, Lakeland FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph.. Original house was built in 1935. Featured in: Home and Garden, 1951; and Progressive Architecture, February 1952. Sold in 1995 to James Bush. As of 2018 still standing but altered. Color photo and rendering by Tim Hills.
1950 - The W. R. Healy Guest House, aka the Cocoon House, 3575 Bayou Louise Lane, Siesta Key, Sarasota FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. The Healys were the parents of Roberta Healy Finney. Commissioned in 1948. Featured in: Architectural Forum, June 1951; House and Home, February 1952; and Arts+Architecture, June 1959. The roof structure is an original technological assembly: the steel straps are fastened to flexible insulation boards, and the roofing material, Cocoon, is sprayed on. This flexible vinyl compound was developed by the U.S. military to encase ship components from the weather. About 1955, the house needed to be reroofed and a young Crutcher Ross was on that roofing crew. Sold to Barry J. (Jim) LaClair. Rented to the Sarasota Architecture Foundation as of 2018. B/W photos by Ezra Stoller/Esto.
1950 - The Burnette Residence, 1201 Hillview Drive, Sarasota FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Sold around 1963 to Michael and Cynthia Lieberbaum. Remodeled in the mid-1990s by Joe Angeleri. Sold in 2016 to Robert L. Taylor. Destroyed in 2018. B/W photos by Ezra Stoller/Esto; bottom two color photos by Harold Bubil.
1950 - The Per Scheutz Apartments, Sarasota FL. Likely unbuilt. Source: Library of Congress Rudolph project list.
1951 - The Allen and Barbara Bennett Residence, 3901 Riverview Boulevard, Bradenton FL. Commissioned in 1949. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Sold to a new owner. Sold in 1993 to architect/author Joseph King did a restoration and later wrote extensively on Rudolph. Sold in 2011 to Robin Zimmerman. Sold in 2020 to Gary Goldberg. Top photo by Bobby Bennett.
1951 - The W. W. Kerr Residence, 211 Oak Street, Melbourne Beach FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. 2900 sf. Sold in 1988 to Joseph and Hope Petrone. Renovated and expanded in 2007 by architect Larry Maxwell of Spacecoast Architects. Sold to Martine and Bina Rothblatt.
1951 - The Francis B. and Farrell O. Watson Residence, 2040 Northwest 11th Road, Gainesville FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Commissioned in 1950. Renovated, including a second story, around 1975. Letters about the house are at the University of Florida, according to author Joe King. Sold in 1990 to Thomas Barrup and Christina Tannen. Deeded around 2009 to Christina Tannen.
1951 - The C. Richard Leavengood Residence, 1000 Park Street North, St. Petersburg FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Destroyed. Photos by Ezra Stoller/Esto.
1951 - The Lucienne Glorieux Twitchell Neilson Residence, Martha's Vineyard MA. Address unknown. Designed with Paul Rudolph. The client was Twitchell's first wife. Commissioned in 1947. Destroyed by fire.
1951 - The Marion Coward Residence, 4023 North Shell Road, Siesta Key, Sarasota FL. Designed with Paul Rudolph. Lightweight tent structure with beam down the center. Architect Richard (Dick) G. Allen rented the house during 1969 and recalls it was a miserably hot house to live in. Sold to Tom LeFevre. Destroyed around 2005. B/W photos by Ezra Stoller/Esto.
1953 - The Eugene Knotts House, aka Knotts Glass House, 1 Genie Court, Yankeetown FL. Knotts was the founder of the town. Knotts did not like Paul Rudolph's initial design, citing price and insufficient structural integrity of the roof. Rudolph left the firm around that time and new employee Jack West created a more classic Modernist design which was built by Twitchell's brother. Sold to John W. and Nancy Smith. Put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
1953 - The Hudson Beach House, 616 Valencia, Venice FL. 2104 sf. Sold in 2020 to David Backman.
1954 - 121 Ogden Street, Siesta Key, Sarasota FL. Sold to the Miller Family Trust. Sold in 2024.
1955 - The Dartha and Bill Dennis House, 409 Brice Avenue, Glasgow KY. Project architect, James West. 1850 sf. The bedroom wing is suspended on steel columns above a sloping site; stone walls throughout were a departure from typical Florida materials. West selected all furnishings including Eames Compact sofas. Dennis supervised construction; West never visited the site until completion. Won a 1958 Southeast Regional AIA Honor Award. Sold to Scott and Donna Brogdon, Dartha's niece. Sold in 2016 to Ann Gonnella.
1956 - The Karl and Lucienne Glorieux Twitchell Nielsen House, aka Twitchell Hutchens House, 3730 Sandspur Lane, Casey Key, Nokomis FL. Twitchell's ex-wife and her new husband. Deeded to daughter Sylvia Twitchell Hutchens, who was living there as of 2005. Listed in 2007 in the National Register of Historic Places. Deeded to the Robina Twitchell Living Trust.
1959 - The Ludelle (Lu) Andrews House III, 1695 Lowe Drive, Sarasota FL. Sold in 1998 to Lou and Kim Salvatori who did a restoration. Second photo by Darren Bradley. Sold in 2019 to Gina Vutera. For sale in 2025.
1962 - The Wickliffe A. and Eugenie B. Luhn Residence, 2405 Nassau Street, Sarasota FL. They raised five children there: David, John, Victor, Christopher and Barbara Ann. 4000sf with 2300 sf of covered open air space. Sold in 1969. Sold in 2023 to Todd and Liceth Page.
1962 - The Stuart Rae Residence, 1224 Port Lane, Sarasota, FL. Commissioned 1960. On Siesta Key. Sold to Lisa L. Russo.
1965 - The Jane and Merton Wilcox Residence, 6841 Peacock Road, Siesta Key, Sarasota FL. Project architect, Bob Schennum; project builder Irv Bulifant. There was also a guest house. Sold in 1979 to Paul and Carolyn Jones Van Helden. Renovated and rebuilt, with a huge addition, in 2015. Sold to Geoffrey and Jill Raker.
Sources include: Lisa Russo, Joe King, granddaughter Karen Twitchell.