American architecture firm
Sherwood, Mills &amp; Smith, known after 1968 as the SMS Partnership and as SMS Architects, was an American architecture firm active in Stamford and New Canaan, Connecticut from 1946 to 2000. Initially the partnership of architects Thorne Sherwood , Willis N. Mills and Lester W. Smith , the firm grew into one of the most influential in the region.
History.
Sherwood, Mills &amp; Smith was founded in 1946 in Stamford as the partnership of three architects, Thorne Sherwood (1910–1994), Willis N. Mills (1907–1995) and Lester W. Smith (1909–1993).
Thorne Sherwood was born December 3, 1910, in Montclair, New Jersey. He was educated at Williams College and Columbia University, graduating from the latter in 1936 with a BArch. He worked for Schultze &amp; Weaver, van der Gracht &amp; Kilham, Harrison &amp; Fouilhoux and Raymond Loewy before 1942. During World War II he served in the naval reserve and was discharged in 1946.
Willis Nathaniel Mills was born January 5, 1907, in Menominee, Michigan. His father, also Willis Nathaniel, was a lawyer who was a Michigan State Senator from 1905 to 1907. He was educated at the Kent School, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, graduating from the latter in 1934. He worked for Shreve, Lamb &amp; Harmon and William Lescaze before opening his own office in 1937. He served in the marine corps reserve during World War II and was discharged in 1946.
Lester Wickham Smith was born May 21, 1909, in Brooklyn. He was educated at Princeton University, earning an AB in 1930 and an MFA in 1933. He worked for van der Gracht &amp; Kilham, Wallace K. Harrison and Voorhees, Walker, Foley &amp; Smith before 1940. During World War II he served in the army air force and was discharged in 1946.
The partners chose to locate in Stamford, forty miles from New York City, because it offered many of the advantages and resources of the city without its drawbacks, including competition from other architects. This choice proved advantageous, and the firm expanded quickly over the next ten years.
In 1959, to manage this expansion, Sherwood, Mills &amp; Smith added four new partners, Thomas A. Norton (1922–2016), Carrell S. McNulty Jr. (born 1924), Gray Taylor (1916–1985) and A. Raymond von Brock (1922–2006).
Thomas Akin Norton was born August 4, 1922, in Great Neck, New York. He served in the air force during World War II and was educated at Columbia University, earning a BA in 1946 and a BArch in 1949. He worked for O'Connor &amp; Kilham and Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill before joining Sherwood, Mills &amp; Smith in 1953.
Carrell Stewart McNulty Jr. was born December 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey. He was educated at Emory University, the University of North Carolina and Columbia University, graduating from the latter in 1950 with a BArch. He joined Sherwood, Mills &amp; Smith immediately after leaving school.
Gray Taylor was born April 15, 1916, in New York City. He attended Harvard College and Columbia University, graduating from the latter in 1947 with a BArch. His education was interrupted by World War II, and he served in the corps of engineers from 1941 to 1945. He worked for Ketchum, Giná &amp; Sharp and William F. Schorn before joining Sherwood, Mills &amp; Smith in 1954.
A. Raymond von Brock was born March 18, 1922, in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was educated at the Pratt Institute, graduating in 1946 with a BArch. He worked for Ryder, Struppmann &amp; Neumann before joining Sherwood, Mills &amp; Smith in 1952.
The firm's leadership was again changed in 1963 when Norton left to enter private practice, and in 1967 Mills' son, Willis N. Mills Jr. (1933–2020), joined as partner.
Willis Nathaniel Mills Jr. was born September 25, 1933, in New York City. He was educated at Princeton University, earning an AB in 1955 and an MFA in 1958. He worked for Pedersen &amp; Tilney and Earl P. Carlin in New Haven before joining his father's firm in 1963. In 1962 he was also the architect of a house in Van Hornesville, New York for James H. Case, a relative of his wife, and his then wife, Laura Rockefeller Chasin. This house, completed in 1963, is now NRHP-listed.
In 1968 the firm was renamed the SMS Partnership. The economic decline of the late 1960s led the firm to downsize. Thorne Sherwood retired in 1969, and in 1970 the firm was incorporated as SMS Architects. Mills and Smith retired in 1970 and 1971, respectively, and in 1972 the firm moved from downtown Stamford to suburban New Canaan. McNulty and von Brock retired in 1973 and 1982, followed shortly thereafter by Taylor. Willis N. Mills Jr. led the firm in the 1980s and 1990s in association with several new principals, including Ellen Glenn Golden, Andrew J. Santella, Robert C. Steinmetz, Leonard M. Sussman and Lee A. Wright. In 1998 the firm was acquired by Perkins Eastman of New York City and moved its offices back to Stamford. In 2000 SMS Architects was fully merged with Perkins Eastman, which still maintains a Stamford office.
Legacy.
Sherwood, Mills &amp; Smith developed the largest architectural practice in the suburban regions of the New York metropolitan area and was the undisputed architectural leader in Stamford and Fairfield County. Their works were built throughout the New York area and the Mid-Atlantic states. They were known for the high quality of design of their works, and by the 1970s had won more design awards than any other architecture firm in Connecticut.
The partners of Sherwood, Mills &amp; Smith and SMS were widely respected by their peers. Both of the Mills, McNulty, Sherwood, Smith, Taylor and von Brock were all elected Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and they and other principals served in leadership roles in the Connecticut chapter and on national AIA committees.
In recent years several of their works, particularly in New Canaan, have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.
References.
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