Herbert B. Rugh (1879-1924)

Herbert Bell Rugh was an American architect who emigrated to Canada in 1904 and sustained a successful practise in Winnipeg, Manitoba until 1914.
During the course of that decade, he completed more than fifty commissions for institutional, commercial and residential buildings in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. His most important works there are sumptuous private houses for wealthy residents of Winnipeg, and he was the first to introduce a contemporary Prairie School aesthetic to the residential architecture of southern Manitoba. Many of his designs for private houses were published in both Canadian journals, and in American architectural journals such as the Western Architect.

In 1911 he “…consolidated his business” in Winnipeg with Ross & MacFarlane of Montreal, and he was appointed manager of their western office, acting as local site supervisor for their commissions in Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Prince Rupert. After the outbreak of WWI, Rugh enlisted early in 1915, serving for four years with Canadian regiments and achieved the rank of Captain. After discharge in 1919, Rugh moved back to the United States and opened a new office in his home town of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this time in partnership with Charles B. Zalesky, as Rugh & Zalesky, Architects. His career was cut short when he was killed in an automobile accident near Hazel Green, Wisconsin on 11 July 1924, aged 45.