Born in Henderson, New York, he and his partner of 18 years, John Wellborn Root (Burnham & Root), designed countless public buildings and over 200 residences and apartment buildings. They gave us The Rookery (1885-87) and Monadnock Building (1889-91) in Chicago and the Mills Building (1890-91) in San Francisco. His interest in classical revival helped to fuel the City Beautiful movement during which time he drew elegant Paris-like urban street layout proposals for Washington DC (1902), Cleveland (1903), and San Francisco (1905).