Halsey Ralph Ricardo [commonly known as Halsey Ricardo] was born in in Bath, England on 6 August 1854 and was articled to John Middleton (c.1821-1885) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire from 1872 to 1874. He then worked as an assistant to Basil Champneys (1842-1935) in London in 1874-75.
After travelling in Italy from 1876 to 1878, he returned to London and set up a private practice in 1878. He also taught architecture at Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.
Ricardo was financially independent and so he could pick and choose his commissions.
From 1888 to 1898 he worked as a ceramist in partnership with William de Morgan (1839-1917) for whom he designed pottery including tiles and vases.
Ricardo was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1906 and a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1893. He was Master of the AWG in 1910. He died in London on 15 February 1928.
A biographical file on Halsey Ricardo is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
Notable among Ricardo's architectural works were Foxoak, Seven Hills Road, Burwood, Surrey (1886–92); office building for Rendel & Robertson, 8 Great George Street, Westminster, London (1887); 15/17 Melbury Road, Holland Park, London (1891-93); Howra Railway Station, Calcutta [now Kolkata], India (1900-08); Woodside, his own house, in Graffham, near Petworth, West Sussex (begun 1905); Debenham House, 8 Addison Road, Kensington, London (1905-07); a house, Brooke Market, Holborn, London (c.1907); Penlee, Post Bridge, Dartmoor, Devon (1910); and 117 Old Church Street, Chelsea, London (1914-15).
Ricardo was among a group of architects, including Aston Webb, Reginald Blomfield and Ernest Newton, who designed Whiteley Model Village, near Cobham, Surrey, for the retired employees of the Whiteley department store, between 1912 and 1921.
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Source of Images
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Garland, Madge. ‘The Town Houses of Halsey Ricardo’. Country Life vol. 158, 13 November 1975 pp. 1290–1293
Garland, Madge. ‘The Town Houses of Halsey Ricardo’ [part 2] Country Life vol. 158, 20 November 1975, pp. 1388–1391
Goodhart-Rendal, Harry Stuart. 'Ricardo and Pite'. Architect and Building News vol. 144, 6 December 1935 pp. 283-287
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian Architecture: a Biographical Dctionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
Musson, Jeremy. ‘Debenham House, 8 Addison Road, London W14’. [House designed by Halsey Ricardo for Ernest Debenham in 1905-06] Country Life vol. 199, no. 7, 17 February 2005 pp. 52-57.
‘Obituary’. The Architectural Review vol. 63, March 1928 p. lxvi
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 134, 24 February 1928 p. 326
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 35, 10 March 1928 p. 312
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: InternationalArchitect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 p. 62