Robert Kerr (architect)

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Robert Kerr (17 January 1823 – 21 October 1904) was an architect and writer.

He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and trained as an architect there. In 1844, he moved to London and then spent a year in New York.

He returned to London and was one of the founders of the Architectural Association in 1847, becoming its first President. He was an examiner of the Royal Institute of British Architects and served as a member of its Council; he had been elected a Fellow in 1857.

Between 1861-1890, he was Professor of the Arts of Construction at King's College London.

He was a prolific writer as well as lecturer on architectural subjects, favouring a mixture of architectural styles, which he called "latitudinarian". His books included The Gentleman’s House, or, How to plan English residences, from the parsonage to the palace, originally published in 1864, and reaching a third edition in 1871. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes this as "the most lucid and encyclopaedic account available of mid-Victorian domestic planning".

His main buildings were English country houses, and included "Dunsdale", Westerham, Kent (for Joseph Kitchin); Ascot Heath House, Berkshire; Ford House, Lingfield, Surrey (now called Greathed Manor); and Bearwood, Berkshire. Great Down (for T M Kitchin, perhaps related to Joseph Kitchin of Dunsdale) on the Hog's Back in Surrey (now demolished) has also been attributed to him on stylistic grounds.

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Source: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

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