Grosvenor Atterbury

Grosvenor Atterbury (July 7, 1869 in Detroit, MI – October 18, 1956 in Southampton, NY) was an American architect, urban planner and writer.

Atterbury was given the commission for the model housing community of Forest Hills Gardens which began in 1909 under the sponsorship of the Russell Sage Foundation.

For Forest Hills, Atterbury developed an innovative construction method: each house was built from approximately 170 standardized precast concrete panels, fabricated off-site and assembled by crane.

The system was sophisticated even by modern standards: panels were cast with integral hollow insulation chambers; casting formwork incorporated an internal sleeve, allowing molds to be "broken" before concrete had completely set; and panels were moved to the site in only two operations (formwork to truck and truck to crane).

Atterbury worked on various projects with John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in the 1930s, including what today is Stone Barns Food and Agriculture Center, and the Gatehouse and Entrance Wall to Kykuit Estate, as well as the six stucco houses built for estate employees.

Surprise Valley Farm (1916), Arthur Curtiss James property in Newport, Rhode Island, photographed by Frances Benjamin Johnston in 1917. Architect: Grosvenor Atterbury, 1914-1916. These buildings have survived as part of the SVF Foundation founded to preserve endangered breeds of livestock.