"[1] He designed several buildings in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts.

[1][4] Putnam graduated from the Boston Latin School, and from Harvard College in 1868.

He then trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in 1869, and the Royal Academy of Architecture, Berlin, 1870-1872.

Leaving Paris for Berlin, he was twice arrested as a Prussian spy, while sketching in the streets.

"[7] On returning to the US in 1872 he began practicing architecture and was associated professionally with George Thomas Tilden.