Wahl Snyder architectural drawings and papers, 1929-1982 | HistoryMiami Archives & Research Center

The Wahl Snyder drawings are organized into the following series: plans in drawers; maps, mounted photographs and color renderings in drawers; rolled drawings, and boxed papers and photographs.

The boxed papers and photographed are arranged in the following sub-series: 20 x 24 in. photographic prints; papers; transparencies; 8 x 10 in. photographic prints; 11 x 14 in. photographic prints; 20 x 15 in. photographic prints; and 20 x 24 in. photograph albums.

Within the first three series (i.e., items stored in drawers), drawings and other materials are arranged chronologically. Only the first rolled plan, a 1929 residence, is not a Snyder design.

Wahl John Snyder, a well known and respected architect whose active career touched six decades, was a major force in introducing modern architectural designs to subtropical Florida and the Caribbean. Snyder was actively involved in architectural design in Miami until his death from lung cancer on January 30, 1989. His main contribution was the introduction of the split level home in 1939, an elevation of the main floor to within a short distance of the second story by means of terracing. He introduced the first Miami area townhouse in 1964.

Wahl Snyder was born in Beaver, Pennsylvania, on July 5, 1910. Snyder received his B.S. in Architecture from Pennsylvania State University in 1932. Arriving in Miami as a young man of 24 in 1935, Snyder quickly established himself as one of South Florida’s most active and innovative architects. He started his own firm in 1937, concentrating on residential designs for South Florida and the Caribbean. Homes, both ostentatious and modest, would remain a staple of his design business for the next forty-five years. Some of  Snyder’s most famous home designs are Amalia Bacardi’s residence near Havana, Cuba, a Bahamian home for actors Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, and a national award-winning inexpensive home design for returning World War II soldiers.

Snyder served with the Corps of Engineers during World War II, designing and supervising the construction of Brazilian air bases. He received a War Department Commendation for Meritorious Civilian Service Overseas in 1944.

By the 1950s and 1960s, Snyder had begun to take on larger projects, designing Coral Park Elementary School, Miami Carol City High School, the J. Neville McArthur Engineering Building at the University of Miami, and, eventually, townhouse developments for Lake Buena Vista, Hollywood, and Miami Lakes’ development companies. He was also responsible for designing the Department of  Housing and Urban Development’s project in the Culmer area of Miami. In 1959, he was made a fellow of  the American Institute of Architects, one of  the highest honors in the profession. Snyder also served as the President of the Florida Board of Architecture for one term in 1968. Snyder sold his architectural firm in 1982, but continued to work out of his home for another two years. He died of lung cancer in 1989.

Wahl Snyder is renowned as the architect who introduced the split-level house (1939) and townhouse designs (1964) to the Miami area. Snyder’s architectural hallmark was a keen interest in bringing the outside world into a house’s living space. Many of his designs feature open garden spaces within the building’s frame, outdoor patios which seamlessly blend into interior space, and large overhanging roofs which shade the building, allowing doors and windows to remain open. Even as air conditioning freed architects to isolate buildings completely from the elements, Snyder continued to make the outdoors an integral part of his designs, never forgetting climate’s central importance to Florida and Caribbean life.