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George Maher was born in 1864 on Christmas day in Mill Creek, West Virginia. Due to continuing financial difficulties his family moved to New Albany, Indiana and then to Chicago where at the young age of 13 he became an apprentice in the architectural firm of Bauer and Hill. At the time Chicago was becoming a center for innovation in architecture as it was being rebuilt from the fire of 1871. By 1887 Maher was working in the large and influential office of Joseph L. Silsbee where Frank Lloyd Wright and George Grant Elmslie were among his co-workers. In 1888 Maher opened his own practice.
While still working for Silsbee, Maher had started attending meetings of the Chicago Architectural Sketch Club that would evolve into the Chicago Architectural Club, a central organization for the progressive architectural community in Chicago. It was a forum for discussions and exhibitions that provided an opportunity for the exchange of ideas. In 1887 Inland Architect magazine published a paper Maher had presented at the club. Titled "Originality in American Architecture," it expressed his views about architecture and positioned him with those searching for an original and indigenous architectural style.
Maher wrote that "…the right idea of a residence, to have it speak of its function…." He refers to the work of H.H. Richardson saying "the style leaves an idea of substantiality; no lie can be discerned in the material used of the manner of using it" and further praises it for "the idea of massiveness, imposing centralization, of grouping novel ideas for comfort in the interior arrangement…" He also wrote favorably of Shingle Style houses and of his respect for what he called "the old colonial" as an example of original American style.
Working in a variety of styles, Maher's early work during the late 1880s and into the mid 1890s tended to reflect the picturesque manner of Silsbee, but also shows growing influences from Richardson and Louis Sullivan. Towards the mid-1890s Maher's designs turned more towards symmetrical compositions with forms based on geometric simplification, a trend that can be seen in projects such as the Peters House.
The growing success of Maher's career lead to the commission for a large house for John Farson to be built in Oak Park. Known as "Pleasant Home", designed in 1897 and constructed starting early in 1898, it would be among Maher's most important and influential works. Here Maher would synthesis his own version of the progressive architecture that would later come to be called the Prairie Style.
George Maher is known primarily for his residential architecture, however he also designed a number of non-residential buildings. A previous client, James Patten, was influential in helping Maher obtain the commission for several projects at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. These included a campus plan, the Swift Hall of Engineering (1908) and what is probably Maher's best-known non-residential project, the original Patten Gymnasium (1908). The campus plan was never executed. The gym, a greatly admired design, was replaced around 1940 but Swift Hall is still in use. The University Building office and retail building still stands nearby in Evanston.
Small in scale, the Kenilworth Club (1906) is often regarded as one of Maher's most successful Prairie style structures with its broad hipped roof capturing alternating windows and stucco panels set in a sympathetic landscape. The Sears School (1911) was also located in Kenilworth. While the Kenilworth Club is still in use, the school has been replaced by a newer building.
Maher built a number of buildings in Winona, Minnesota including several for the J. R. Watkins Medical Company. The best known are the Watkins Administration building (1911) and the Winona Saving Bank from 1914-16. Both are still in use.
In 1912 Maher was commissioned to design a summer house in Homer, Minnesota for Ernest L. King and his wife, Grace Watkins King who was a member of the family that controlled the J. R. Watkins Company. Overlooking the Mississippi river, the 12,000 square foot house was named "Rockledge". As part of the commission, Maher also designed the interior furnishing for the house including furniture, light fixtures, carpets, table settings, clocks, vases, seemingly everything in the house. This allowed him to use his Motif-Rhythm theory to the fullest extent possible. As ornamental motifs, Maher choose the tiger lily and the segmented arch.
After several decades the house was remodeled and the Maher designed furnishings were put into storage. Over time the house ceased to be used and was ultimately demolished. Fortunately many of the stored pieces were sold and are now in private collections and on display in museums where they are valued as examples of Arts and Crafts design.
Public interest started to turn away from the work of the Prairie School architects in the middle of the second decade of the twentieth century. Clients's tastes and the fashion of the time changed. Commissions for Prairie style designs declined with a devastating effect on the practice of many of the architects working in the style. For many, Maher included, it meant increasingly that designs had to be done in the eclectic styles that had become popular, or else there were would be no work to design.
Maher's son Philip, born in 1894, joined his father's office after World War l. The firm would become known as "George W. Maher & Son". In the early 1920s Maher would explore his interest in town planning. Designs were prepared for Glencoe, Kenilworth, Hinsdale and other communities including Gary, Indiana where Maher and his son designed a plan for the "Railroad Gateway Development." The scheme included a park linking the train station with new buildings for a courthouse and a city hall. During this time, the firm designed a number of other buildings in Gary.
Maher suffered from poor health in the early part of the 1920s. He was hospitalized for a period of time for depression from which he never fully recovered. Unable to fully regain his health, George W. Maher took his own life at the age of 61 in late 1926.
George Washington Maher (December 25, 1864 - September 12, 1926) was an American architect during the first-quarter of the 20th century. He is considered part of the Prairie School-style and was known for blending traditional architecture with the Arts & Crafts-style.
According to architectural historian H. Allen Brooks, "His influence on the Midwest was profound and prolonged and, in its time, was certainly as great as was [Frank Lloyd] Wright's. Compared with the conventional architecture of the day, his work showed considerable freedom and originality, and his interiors were notable for their open and flowing…space".
Maher was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1916.
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