Lambert & Bunnell

Wakeman House, Southport, 1871.

Congregational Church, Southport, 1874.

D. M. Hunt Library, Falls Village, 1891.

Lambert & Bunnell was a long-lived American architectural firm from Bridgeport, Connecticut, in business from 1860 to 1901. It was established by Edward R. Lambert and Rufus W. Bunnell.

Partner biographies

Edward Richard Lambert was a life-long resident of Bridgeport. His father, also named Edward R. Lambert, was a surveyor. In the mid-1850s he worked for local architect Albert C. Nash, where he first met Bunnell. About 1855 he established himself as an architect.^[1] In 1858 Bunnell was briefly a draftsman in his office, but then lived in North Carolina for two years. In 1860 Bunnell returned, and the two formed a partnership, Lambert & Bunnell. They remained associated until Lambert fell ill in 1901.^[2]

Rufus William Bunnell was born in Bridgeport on February 11, 1835. He attended the public schools. He began his architectural training in 1852 with Chauncey Graham, a local builder-architect. In 1854 he entered the office of Bridgeport architect Albert C. Nash, where he and Lambert met. The following year he went to Trenton, New Jersey to work for Graham, who had reestablished his office there. After a few months he went to Toledo, Ohio, to work for Frank J. Scott. In 1857-58 he worked briefly for Woollett & Ogden in Albany, and for Lambert in Bridgeport. In 1858 he went south to Wilmington, North Carolina for be the designer for James F. Post, a builder. For Post he worked on the Bellamy Mansion in Wilmington, begun 1859. In 1860 he returned to Bridgeport, establishing his partnership with Lambert. He was with the Union Army from 1862-1863, but otherwise remained associated with Lambert until 1901. After Lambert fell ill that year, the partnership was dissolved and Bunnell worked from his home in Stratford. He died in 1909.^[2]

Architectural works

• 1861 - Moses Bulkley House, 176 Main St, Southport, Connecticut^[3]
• 1864 - Peter L. Perry House, 512 E Washington Ave, Bridgeport, Connecticut^[4]
• 1866 - Bethesda Mission, 540 E Washington Ave, Bridgeport, Connecticut^[4]
• 1868 - Mrs. Benjamin Pomeroy House, 658 Pequot Rd, Southport, Connecticut^[5]
• 1870 - Fairfield County Jail, 1106 North Ave, Bridgeport, Connecticut^[6]
  • Demolished
• 1871 - Mrs. Zalmon Wakeman House, 418 Harbor Rd, Southport, Connecticut^[7]
• 1874 - Southport Congregational Church, 524 Pequot Rd, Southport, Connecticut^[8]
• 1883 - Bridgeport Hospital, 267 Grant St, Bridgeport, Connecticut^[9]
  • Demolished c.1959
• 1884 - Christ Episcopal Church, Post & Burr Rds, Westport, Connecticut^[10]
  • Demolished
• 1887 - Daniel Robert House, 25 West End Ave, Somerville, New Jersey^[11]
• 1891 - D. M. Hunt Library, 63 Main St, Falls Village, Connecticut^[12]

References