13 Facts About Ralph Twitchell

Ralph Spencer Twitchell was one of the founding members of the Sarasota School of Architecture.

Ralph Twitchell bridged the more traditional architecture of his early work in Florida during the 1920s with his modernist designs that began in the 1940s.

Ralph Twitchell enrolled in Rollins College, but transferred to McGill University, Montreal, in 1910 to study architecture.

Ralph Twitchell first came to Sarasota in 1925 as the representative of New York architect Dwight James Baum to manage the final stages of the construction of John Ringling's Ca d'Zan, a Venetian-style mansion on the Sarasota Bay.

Ralph Twitchell purchased thirteen lots in the Ravellan Gardens bayside neighborhood of Sarasota and designed Mediterranean architecture homes on these lots.

Ralph Twitchell retreated to the Northeast and more favorable economic climate.

In 1936, Ralph Twitchell moved permanently to Sarasota to open his own architectural and construction company, Associated Builders.

Ralph Twitchell believed that the Florida landscape required a unique understanding of building site planning that could be only be accomplished by merging design and construction.

Rudolph, like Ralph Twitchell, was fixated on vanguard architecture, and the two collaborated on a number of projects in the months prior to Rudolph's departure for graduate studies.

Rudolph focused on the idea of the structure while Ralph Twitchell prioritized construction details.

Between 1953 and 1954, Ralph Twitchell partnered with another "Sarasota School" architect, Jack West, and between 1959 and 1965 with his son, Tollyn Jules Ralph Twitchell.

Ralph Twitchell died in Sarasota, Florida, on January 30,1978.

Ralph Twitchell married three times and had five children: Sylva, Tollyn and Terry from his first marriage, and Aaron and Debbie from his second marriage.