Roche, Martin

Wikipedia page about Martin Roche

Originally published in the 2009 Founders' Day booklet

Martin Roche (1854-1927) was the last surviving founder of the architectural firm of Holabird and Roche, world famous as the originators of the skeleton skyscraper type of office building.

Born in Ohio, he came to Chicago as a boy and as a young man entered the offices of the the famous architect William LeBaron Jenney (1832-1907), where he learned his profession. Here he met William Holabird (1854-1923), later his life-long partner. One of their first commissions after incorporating as Holabird and Roche was Graceland Cemetery.

Their legacy includes the design of several influential buildings, including the Marquette Building (140 South Dearborn Street ) and the Gage Group Buildings (three buildings at 18, 24, and 30 S. Michigan Avenue between Madison and Monroe Streets). The latter, whose facade was designed by Louis Sullivan, was cited a Chicago architectural landmark in 1962. After Holabird's death, his son, John Augur Holabird (1886 - 1945), took over the firm with John Wellborn Root, Jr., (1887-1963). It was renamed Holabird & Root and still exists.

Martin Roche was buried in Calvary Cemetery.

AIA Listing

File: ahd1037842 Martin Roche (1853-1927)

Name: Roche, Martin

Personal Information

Birth/Death: (1853-1927)

Occupation: American architect

Location (state): IL

This record has not been verified for accuracy.

AIA Affiliation

Fellow of the Western Association of Architects 1884-1889

Member of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) 1889-decease

Fellow of The American Institute of Architects (FAIA) 1889. (On the merger of the Western Association of Architects with The American Instute of Architects in 1889, all AIA members were made Fellows because WAA members were known as Fellows.)

Biographical Sources

Biographical directories

Entry in Henry F. Withey, A.I.A., and Elsie Rathburn Withey, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased), (Los Angeles: New Age Publishing Company, 1956. Facsimile edition, Hennessey & Ingalls, Inc., 1970)

Entry under Holabird and Roche in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects, (New York: Macmillan, 1982)

Related Records

Archival Holdings

The American Institute of Architects

Membership file may contain membership-related correspondence, although there are few written records concerning 19th-century members. Contact the AIA Archives at archives@aia.org for further information.

Publications