Leander W. McCord Jr. was one of the Rochester region's foremost residential architects of the Jazz Age. His career spanned from the early 1910s through the late 1940s, reaching its zenith during the roaring ‘20s when his accomplishments were heralded in newspapers and his design capabilities were in demand by the rich and famous, as well as the burgeoning middle class. McCord crafted his homes in a multitude of styles, but his specialty was stately and whimsical Tudor Revival designs that rivaled the best work of the esteemed Syracuse architect Ward Wellington Ward. Having passed from this mortal realm a life-long bachelor, McCord faded into obscurity despite having designed hundreds of homes and buildings. Since 2008, Christopher Brandt has been researching and raising awareness about Leander McCord Jr's life and career. This presentation, richly illustrated, explores the remarkable accomplishments of an architect whose name it is hoped will no longer just be one memorialized in a simple epitaph of stone.

Christopher Brandt is a project architect at Bero Architecture, a firm with over 40 years of expertise in historic preservation practice. He received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture at the University at Buffalo and a Master of Architecture and Certificate in Historic Preservation at the University of Virginia. Brandt is the Education and Advocacy Coordinator for the Young Urban Preservationists, a member of the Board of Trustees of The Landmark Society of Western New York, and chair of the Town of Irondequoit Historic Preservation Commission. He spent his formative young adult years living in a home designed by Leander McCord Jr, which he credits for instilling a desire to pursue architecture as a career.