Alfred B. Mullet
| Alfred B. Mullett | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
April 7, 1834 Taunton, England |
| Died | October 20, 1890 (aged 56) Washington, D.C |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Buildings |
Pioneer Courthouse, Portland, Oregon Old Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C. Old Custom House and Post Office, St. Louis, Missouri San Francisco Mint Custom House, Knoxville, Tennessee Federal Building, Raleigh, North Carolina Camp House |
Alfred Bult Mullett (April 7, 1834 – October 20, 1890) was an American architect who served from 1866 to 1874 as Supervising Architect, head of the agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings. His work followed trends in Victorian style, evolving from the Greek Revival to Second Empire to Richardsonian Romanesque.
Mullett was born at Taunton in Somerset, England. When he was eight years old, his family emigrated to Glendale, Ohio, where in 1843 his father bought an 80-acre (32 hectares) farm. He matriculated at Farmers' College in College Hill, Cincinnati, studied mathematics and mechanical drawing, but left as a sophomore in 1854. He trained in the Cincinnati office of architect Isaiah Rogers and became a partner, until he left on less than friendly terms in 1860, to establish his own practice. His first known individual design is the Church of the New Jerusalem, a board-and-batten Gothic Revival church built at Glendale in 1861.
After serving with the Union army, Mullett in 1863 relocated to Washington to again work under Rogers, since 1862 the de facto Supervising Architect at the Treasury Department. But he undermined his superior's position until an exasperated Rogers resigned in 1865, the year Mullet married Pacific Pearl Myrick. Although widely dismissed as "an obscure draftsman" from Cincinnati, he used political skill to get appointed Supervising Architect in 1866, and so designed fireproof federal buildings across the nation, particularly custom houses, post offices and courthouses. Responsible for contracting local architects and/or construction companies to deal with subcontractors, source materials and other matters, he gained a reputation as a micromanaging authoritarian with an explosive temper.
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