Ogden Codman’s Correspondence

Codman’s personal correspondence reveals his scrutinizing eye. In this 1883 letter to his mother he proposes specific pieces for the family home, adding, “papa will scorn my furniture.” His 1894 letter to friend and fellow architect Arthur Little (1852-1925) minutely catalogues his new wardrobe. Ending his letter “you would hardly recognize me I look so smart,” Codman provides a sketch of his stylish mustache — also captured in this 1887 portrait taken by his brother Tom. In later letters to his siblings, dating from the 1920s onward, Codman demands “kodaks” of the Codman Estate’s interiors to ensure the proper execution of his designs. 

Codman met his distant cousin, the future novelist Edith Wharton (1862-1937), at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1891. Calling her “the cleverest and best friend I have ever made,” he affectionately referred to her as “Puss”; in turn, Wharton addressed the young architect as “Coddy.” In 1897 they co-authored the enormously successful treatise The Decoration o/ Houses, a project Wharton references in this letter addressed to “Coddy.” Advocating a trickle-down theory of style, their book pronounced: “When the rich man demands good architecture, his neighbors will get it too.” 

Read full transcripts and zoom into Ogden’s letters below.