Charles I. Barber

Charles Ives[2] Barber (October 25, 1887 – June 14, 1962) was an American architect, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, and vicinity, during the first half of the 20th century.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Barber designed several structures for federal entities such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Civilian Conservation Corps.

[1] The firm's early work focused on houses for affluent Knoxvillians in the Sequoyah Hills area, such as the homes of White Lily Flour founder J. Allen Smith (1915) and financier William Cary Ross (1921), both on Lyons View Pike, and the home of Alexander Bonnyman (1916) on Kingston Pike.

[3][6] During the 1930s, Barber turned his attention to the design of public buildings and houses for various federal entities that had begun operating in East Tennessee.

[7] Barber's firm also designed the Riverdale School (1938) in eastern Knox County[8] and the headquarters for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (1940),[9] both built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

[11] Barber's residential designs typically consisted of Beaux-Arts elements incorporated into traditional architectural styles, such as Tudor, Gothic, or Renaissance.

[3][12] In a typical Charles Barber house, chimneys and fireplaces are emphasized, openings are richly ornamented, and materials for roofs and walls are carefully chosen for color and texture.

Logan House (1929) is a Tudor-style home built to resemble an English Cotswold Cottage, with fieldstone and cedar exterior, thick walls and solid pine interior doors.

The house's design, a mixture of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque influences, was consistently modified as Fulton continuously changed his preferences.

[5] The interior consisted of vaulted corridors connected by octagonal lobbies, with arcaded loggias on the west and south sides.

The church, the congregation of which Barber was a member,[1] features an imposing bell tower, central courtyard, and interior arcades.

[6] For buildings designed for the University of Tennessee in the early 1930s, the firm used a modified "campus" Gothic style to match Ayres Hall, which stands at the center of the "Hill.

[17] Barber also designed the adjacent Spanish Colonial-style garage, which features a tiled roof and exterior walls that consist of marble and stucco.