Born in Kenilworth, Illinois in 1894, he was the son and later the partner of George Washington Maher, who was an important figure in the Prairie School movement.
He then studied architecture at the University of Michigan, was in the army and later traveled in Europe before rejoining his father's practice as a partner in 1921.
[1] In 1924, the firm, renamed George W. Maher & Son, submitted the “Gateway Improvement Plan” for Gary, Indiana, where they had been designing other projects.
In 1927 he revised the plan, replacing Prairie School elements with Neoclassical Designs.
[2] Later in his career, Philip Maher's work was influenced by the Art Deco movement.