Architecture has historically been a male-dominated field – today, only about a quarter of architects in the United States are women. This Women’s History Month, we are celebrating the women who left their mark on Boulder’s buildings and distinguished themselves in the field of architecture.
Margaret W. Read: Boulder’s first woman architect
Margaret Williams Read was the first female architect in Boulder. She was born in Iowa in 1892 and was the youngest child of Margaret and John Wood Read. Margaret and her parents moved to Boulder shortly before 1910 so Margaret could attend the University of Colorado in Boulder. Margaret was socially and civically active and gave talks on “Civic Pride” in 1914 and “Our denominational societies” and “What will make our society a greater success?” in 1915. She lived at 525 Mapleton Ave. in the Mapleton Hill Historic District with her parents.
Margaret obtained a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Colorado, then graduated from the University of California School of Architecture in 1920. She then taught at the University of Colorado’s Department of Architecture and at the Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles.
As early as 1923, Margaret was providing drafting services to Glen H, Huntington at his architectural firm in Boulder. She began to officially work for Huntington in 1925 and specialized in “the problem of fraternity house planning,” and is credited with working on fraternity and sorority houses in Boulder, Denver, Golden and Fort Collins. She was credited with drawing and design collaboration for a number of buildings in and around Boulder, including:
The Pi Beta Phi Sorority House at 890 11th St.
The design of her brother’s house in at 1862 13th Ave. in Greeley, designated the Lim House
The house at 740 13th St. in Boulder which she built in 1928 for her elderly father and herself
The Trinity Lutheran Church at 2200 Broadway
The Boulder Day Nursery at 1518 Spruce St., and
The Alpha Omicron Pi House at 1015 15th St
Visit Boulder’s webpage for more Boulder women architects.