David Sprague Hopkins
David Sprague “D.S.” Hopkins (1836-1918), of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was a prolific designer who originated the mail order system of selling residential plans to home owners in the United States and Canada. Small booklets would be produced promoting designs and the cost of production would be underwritten by including advertisements from building component manufacturers at the back of the booklet. Born in Argyle, N.Y. he moved to Grand Rapids in 1864 and designed several landmarks there, including the Wonderly Building, the Masonic Temple, First Methodist Church and the Castle Cottage at Highland Park.
It was his pattern books, however, which enabled him to widely disseminate his ideas for residences designed in a variety of fashionable styles including the Colonial, late Victorian, Edwardian and the eclectic. By 1895 he had produced at least ten catalogues displaying over four hundred home plans. His largest catalogue, entitled Hopkins Homes: A Collection of Practical and Economical House and Cottage Designs was produced in collaboration with his partner J. Latimer Davis and released in 1905. A list of some his house plan catalogues appears in Henry-Russell Hitchcock, American Architectural Books, 1976, 51.
In Canada it is likely that many of his residential designs borrowed from his publications will be found in Ontario and Quebec. Hopkins died in Grand Rapids on 21 April 1918 (obituary in the Grand Rapids News, 22 April 1918).
Before 1888, Charles M. Robinson produced designs for Victorian Houses under Hopkin’s supervision while an architectural student. Of the ten catalogues Hopkins produced by 1895, only three have been reviewed for Robinson designs.
-
“Houses & Cottages Book #4 (35 designs) 1891” – Robinson’s signature appears on four designs - #26, #28, #29 and #33.
-
“Houses & Cottages Book #6 (58 designs) 1893” – Robinson’s signature appears on one design - #28 (the same design as in Book #4).
-
“Houses & Cottages Book #7 (57 designs) 1893” – Robinson’s signature appears on #43, #26, #41, #44, #33, #58, #64 and #29 (#26 and #29 are the same as in Book #4).
Each of the Charles M. Robinson Hopkins’ designs are signed “CM Robinson – DEL” or “CMR DEL” with “DEL” meaning “Delineator.” According to Encyclopedia Britannica,
“The ‘delineator,’ or technical illustrator, converts preliminary or final drawings into pictorial representations, usually perspective constructions to help others visualize the design, to inform the public, to attract investment, or to promote sales. Before undertaking their own drawings, persons entering the profession of drafting may trace drawings to revise or repair them, then advance to the preparation of detail drawings, tables of materials, schedules of sub-assemblies (such as doors and windows), and the dimensioning of drawings initiated by more experienced colleagues. The wide spectrum of activities demanded of a design team requires that its members combine experience and creativity with skills in visualization, analysis, and delineation and with knowledge of materials, fabrication processes, and standards.”