By Kayleigh Howald
Samuel Ogren Sr., Delray Beach’s first registered architecture, is known as the “Father of Delray Architecture.” Born in Shanxi, China on the eve of the Boxer Rebellion in 1899, Samuel Ogren Sr. was the eldest son of Swedish missionaries Olivia and Per Alfred Ogren. Samuel’s father was captured and tortured during the Rebellion, and later died from his injuries. Olivia, newborn daughter Ruth, and infant Samuel were rescued, and they returned to Sweden in 1901.
In 1907, the Ogren family immigrated to the United States aboard the RMS Lusitania. Ogren spent his formative years in New York City, where he became fascinated with architecture. By 1918, Ogren worked as a draftsman in New York, learning what would become the family trade. By the 1920s, Ogren had relocated to Florida. In 1922, Ogren came to West Palm Beach to work for architect William Manly King. Amid the Florida Land Boom, Ogren was anxious to go out on his own. In 1924, he took the State of Florida architecture exam and was awarded license No. 024. He opened his own office in Delray Beach and built his first house on North Swinton Avenue.
Ogren designed many of Delray’s iconic structures, including the Sandoway House, the Arcade Building, and the 1926 high school and gymnasium at Old School Square. He also built three homes on Bankers Row, beach cottages, and the façade to the Christian Science Society church in the Marina Historic District.
Ogren’s residential and commercial designs are known to have a special quality and elegance, as Ogren had a unique knack for scale and proportion in relation to their sites and neighborhoods. From 1925 to 1950, Ogren utilized several architectural styles, including Mediterranean Revival, Streamline Moderne, Monterey Colonial, Colonial Revival, and Miami Modern (or Subtropical Modernism).
A true Renaissance man, Ogren was a self-taught architect and pianist, an expert fisherman, and a loving husband and father. He married Edna Galloway in 1921, until her death in 1929. The couple had one child: Sam Ogren Jr., who followed his father into the architectural profession. In 1931, he married Jessie Helen Gallup and had three children: Ruth, Betty Jean, and Ed. When Ogren retired in 1950, he left his architectural business to Sam Ogren Jr. Ogren and Jessie then moved to Windermere, Florida, and continued to travel for the next 30 years.
Samuel Ogren Sr. passed away in 1988, at the age of 88. His buildings and designs continue to be cherished by Delray’s residents, visitors, and preservationists alike. To learn more about Samuel Ogren and celebrate his legacy, please visit our new temporary exhibition: 100 Years of Samuel Ogren at Azure Development, located at 290 SE 6th Avenue.
