Marshall & Fox (Firm)

The son of a wealthy miller, Benjamin Marshall was born in Chicago in 1874 and attended a South Side prep school, the Harvard School in Kenwood. Although he received no formal education in architecture, he apprenticed with the firm of Marble and Wilson from 1893 to 1895. Upon the death of Marble, he was made a partner in the firm after only two years as an apprentice. Following an extended European trip, Marshall started his own firm in 1902. During the next three years, he established a reputation as a designer of theaters including the Iroquois Theater, Chicago (1903). In 1905, Marshall formed a partnership with Charles Fox that would last until Fox's death in 1926. Charles Eli Fox was born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1870. After studying at MIT, he moved to Chicago and worked in the office of Holabird and Roche from 1891 to 1905 as a specialist in steel construction. In the partnership of Marshall and Fox, Fox served as the construction specialist and project manager while Marshall utilized his talents as a designer and entrepreneur to solicit prestigious commissions from Chicago's elite.

The firm designed a wide range of building types including warehouses, commercial office buildings, banks, theaters, and mansions. The firm was best known for their luxury hotels and apartment buildings. Marshall, acting as both developer and architect in many projects, attracted wealthy tenants to these highrise buildings by adopting the characteristics of the elegant French "flat." Even the rooms of the leasing plans were labeled in French. The firm's success at synthesizing the domesticity of the era's elegant mansions with the high-rise form is best represented in such projects as The Breakers (1911), 1550 North State Parkway (1911), the Stewart Apartment Building (1912) all located in Chicago, and the Edgewater Beach Apartments in Edgewater, Miss. (1927). Marshall & Fox also designed numerous luxury hotels with elegantly decorated terra cotta facades and luxuriously appointed interiors including two for the Drake family, the Blackstone Hotel (1908) and the Drake (1919), both in Chicago.

After Fox's death in 1926, Marshall continued to practice alone until the 1930s at which time Lewis B. Walton, Marshall's chief architect, took over the firm. Subsequent successor firms were Walton & Kegley (1935-1950) and Walton and Walton (1950-1969).

From the guide to the Marshall and Fox, Drawings and records, 1900-1959, Chicago MF Accession number(s): 1983028, 1985019, 1988005., 1900-1959, (Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.)

Marshall and Fox was a Chicago architectural firm (1905-1926), best known for luxury apartment buildings and hotels.

After Charles Eli Fox's death in 1926, Bejamin Marshall continued to practice alone until the 1930s, at which time Lewis B. Walton, Marshall's chief architect, took over the firm; successor firms were Walton and Kegley (1935-1950) and Walton and Walton (1950-1969).

From the description of Marshall and Fox records, 1900-1959, 1909-1929. (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 28091336