Barclay Fitzhugh Gordon

LAKEVILLE — Barclay Fitzhugh Gordon, architect, died peacefully at his home in Lakeville, on April 6, 2016, after a prolonged struggle with respiratory illness. He was 81.

Born in New York City in 1934, the son of Georgia (Clinton) and Cecil Fitzhugh Gordon, he grew up In Huntington, Long Island, N.Y., in a home designed for his extended family by his maternal grandfather, G. Clinton Mackenzie. 

As a small boy, Barclay learned to draw at his grandfather’s side while watching him make architectural drawings. (“Always pull your pencil” he would say. “Never push it.”)

A graduate of Pomfret, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Columbia School of Architecture, he spent the years between college and graduate school, 1956 to 1960, as a lieutenant JG in the United States Navy, serving as a signalman and communications officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Randolph. 

On Oct. 26, 1958, Sir Winston Churchill boarded the Randolph, marking his first visit to a U.S. warship since World War II. Barclay immortalized Churchill’s visit in a memorable letter now held in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives at King’s College, London.

After graduating from architectural school, he worked for various architectural offices in New York including Damaz, Pokorny and Weigl and Caudill, Rowlett and Scott. In 1970, he joined the staff of Architectural Record, the country’s premier architectural journal, first as an assistant and then associate editor. He was twice the recipient of Jesse Neal awards for architectural journalism. 

From 1973 to 1982, in addition to writing articles for the journal, he was editor-in-charge of the prestigious annual edition of Architectural Record Houses, the last word for architects seeking validation for their residential work.

Upon leaving Record, he authored a book, “Olympic Architecture: Building for the Summer Games” (John Wiley & Sons, 1983), which examined each of the venues for the Summer Olympics from 1892 to 1984 and the special social and physical circumstances surrounding each one, noting particularly the largely unrecognized contributions of the many outstanding architects from all over the world involved in creating these unique sites.

Moving to Lakeville in 1983, he established in 1986 (with his architect brother Mac) Gordon & Gordon Architecture and Landscape Design, which continues in Salisbury. Their work, largely but not exclusively residential, has been featured in several books and magazines. Barclay designed his own distinctive home in Lakeville, where he and his family have lived for 27 years. 

But perhaps his most compelling work was a summer home he designed for his parents in the St. Lawrence River’s Thousand Islands. The house bridges a narrow channel to connect the two halves of the island, allowing boats to pass underneath. This open water channel, a singular feature, together with the creative, modern profile of the house has long attracted the interest of local fishermen and tourists in the region.

A natural athlete, Barclay was recruited as a freshman to play on the varsity tennis team at UNC, then as now one of the country’s outstanding college teams.

Later on, while living in New York, he became an accomplished badminton player. In the Northwest Corner, he played regularly in the weekend amateur softball games in Lakeville, and was for a time an assistant coach for aspiring 8- to 10-year-old Lakeville baseball players.

A strong baritone, he sang in school productions all the way from elementary school through college, where he was a performing member of the Carolina Playmakers.

Barclay’s great affinity for light opera, especially the works of Gilbert and Sullivan (to which he had been introduced by his father as a child) led him to join the Blue Hill Troupe, an all-volunteer amateur musical theater group in Manhattan that raises funds for various charities in New York City from their annual G&S performances.

He was a devoted member of the chorus for many years and helped write a tribute book for the troupe’s 50th anniversary.

It was there that he met his future wife, Cynthia, also a troupe performer, and they married in 1969. (A previous marriage to Elizabeth Ann Smith of Bermuda ended in divorce.)

Barclay’s passionate interest in operetta and his intensive research resulted in his acquiring an impressive body of knowledge on the subject. He came to be regarded as one of the foremost authorities in the field.

In 2000 he created and maintained a website for several years called Operetta Then and Now, for which he provided graphics and wrote regular articles. His blogs found interested correspondents from across the country and beyond. His continued enthusiasm for the genre led in 2007 to the making of a CD entitled, “Remembering Victor Herbert: Selections from his Operettas.” He was the project developer, coordinator and writer, while Donald Sosin was the musical director. Members of the former Light Opera Company of Salisbury were featured singers.

Shortly before his death, Barclay struggled to put the finishing touches on a short story he was writing — a parody written in his own inimitable style. It remains unfinished.

A gifted architect, artist and writer, Barclay leaves a worthy legacy of accomplishments. His family and friends will remember him best for his quiet strength, fair-mindedness and whimsical humor. For those of us whose lives he touched, we are all perhaps a little better for having known him.

His family would like to thank the Home Care Assistance and Hospice personnel of the Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association, whose caring help made it possible for him to remain at home, where he wanted to be. Special thanks to Alison, Nikki, Teresa, Gina, Kathy and Mark.

Barclay is survived by his wife, Cynthia Lincoln Scaife Gordon; his son, Christopher Scaife Gordon; and his brother, Graham Mackenzie Gordon. 

A memorial service will be held at a future date.