Charles Christian Hook: One of Charlotte's First Architects

One of the first leaders in the state's early 20th century architectural profession, Charles Christian Hook (February 18, 1870 - September 17, 1938) moved to Charlotte as a young man in 1890 and practiced in the "Queen City" for the rest of his long career. He was Charlotte's first fulltime professional architect, and one of the most prolific architects in the state in the early 20th century. Although Hook is best known for his work in the Colonial Revival style, his work encompassed all of the popular styles and building types of his times, from the Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival and Shingle styles through Italianate, Châteauesque, and Renaissance and Neoclassical Revivals, and by the 1920s he was working in a suave and monumental Beaux-Arts classicism. He exemplified the growing tendency of architects to promote themselves through local newspapers and regional journals.

Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, Hook graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri in 1890. Why he selected Charlotte, North Carolina, as his destination is not known, but he moved promptly after graduation to the growing industrial and commercial city, where he was listed in the Charlotte city directories as an Instructor of Drawing at the Charlotte Graded School in 1890, 1891, and 1892. He married Ida McDonald of an established Charlotte family in 1896, and they had two children, Walter and Rosalie.

Hook also used local newspapers to educate the public about architecture while publicizing his practice.

Complementing his publicity in print, Hook was a shrewd businessman who made important contacts early in his career. One of his earliest associations was with the Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company ("the 4 C's"), the developers of Dilworth, Charlotte's first suburb. Lead developer Edward Dilworth Latta initially employed Hook to design several "new-style" houses for the neighborhood to promote sales. Among the first residences Hook planned in Dilworth was the Mallonee-Jones House (1895), home of another developer of the suburb and one of Hook's last works in the eclectic Queen Anne style. Hook continued to design houses for Dilworth in a variety of styles over the years.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• architecture
• charlotte
• colonial revival

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