Clifford C. Wendehack

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Clifford Charles Wendehack (born around 1886 – May 15, 1948) was an American architect known for designing country clubhouses in the early 20th century. He did not have a university degree; he learned architecture through an apprenticeship with Donn Barber starting at age 17. In 1911 he married Daisybelle Frances Rinck. After their wedding, they spent time in Europe, and on the way home they heard about the sinking of the Titanic. While abroad, he designed a house in Montclair, New Jersey that they planned to live in at 124 Gordonhurst Avenue.

Wendehack was most active in the 1920s. He designed the Winged Foot Golf Club clubhouse in stone to reflect the club’s spirit and worked on many other golf clubhouses during the 1920s and 1930s. He published articles and books on clubhouse design, including a 1925 Architectural Forum piece, “Developing the Country Club Plan,” and the 1929 book Golf and Country Clubs, which features 55 clubhouse designs. He also contributed a 1930 article, “The Architect and the Building Committee.” He designed three Montclair houses that are now on the National Register of Historic Places and the Fleetwood Hills Apartments in Bronxville. With Roger H. Bullard, he designed the model home “America’s Little House,” opened in 1934 at Park Avenue and East 39th Street in Manhattan. Earlier, he helped Donn Barber with the first demonstration home for National Better Homes in Washington, D.C., opened in 1923. He died in New York City in 1948 at age 62.