Charles Hough, architect, community volunteer

Charles S. Hough, 89, of Whitemarsh Township, an architect in Philadelphia for 45 years, died Wednesday, March 9, of complications from leukemia at Foulkeways in Gwynedd.

Mr. Hough came from a family with a long-standing interest in architecture. His father, William J.H. Hough, was founder of the well-known Center City architectural firm of Harbeson, Hough, Livingston & Larson, now called H2L2.

Mr. Hough had a fraternal twin brother, William J.H. Hough Jr., who was a partner in his father's firm. The family business designed the Philadelphia Electric Co. Building and refurbished the Bourse, another Philadelphia landmark.

Mr. Hough graduated in 1944 from George School in Newtown, Bucks County. While there, Mr. Hough was president of the class and captain of the track team.

He served in the Navy during World War II, and earned degrees in art and architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.

He, too, worked for the family firm, but then in 1960, Mr. Hough's career path diverged. With Navy buddy John F. Hayes, he founded the architectural firm of Hayes & Hough, where he worked for the next 35 years until the firm dissolved.

He designed buildings for many of the Quaker schools in the region, as well as libraries, medical facilities, retirement communities, and other public structures.

His proudest moment, he told his family, was dismantling and relocating the Twelfth Street 1812 Quaker Meeting House from its site in Philadelphia to the George School campus in 1974 at a cost of $60,000.

The pieces were taken apart and moved by truck to the campus, where they were reassembled exactly as they had been in Center City.

"They took the pieces apart and they numbered them to make sure each piece was back in its original place," said his daughter, Karen Hough Mersky.

An early advocate of reuse, Mr. Hough salvaged most of the original bricks, which he had washed so that they would match any new bricks used in the complicated project, according to a history of George School.

Mr. Hough married Nancy Jean Hartung in 1952, and the two spent 1953 in Sweden on a Chandler Architectural Scholarship.

In addition to his work as an architect, Mr. Hough was a busy civic volunteer. He served for two decades on the Zoning Hearing Board and the Planning Commission of Whitemarsh Township, was active in the founding of the William Jeanes Memorial Library, and was a member of the Plymouth Meeting Historical Society.

He also worked on Whitemarsh Township's tricentennial celebration in 2004 and was honored as Citizen of the Month for his contribution.

He served for many years on the George School Committee, its ruling body, and was a member and officer of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

He was an active member, trustee, and property manager of the Plymouth Monthly Meeting.

Mr. Hough and his wife lived in Whitemarsh until 2005, when they moved to Foulkeways at Gwynedd.

The Houghs were enthusiastic travelers, touring 70 countries. When the two returned home, they gave illustrated lectures detailing their adventures.

Mr. Hough also enjoyed photography, listening to opera, making furniture, camping, gardening, maintaining his property, delving into family history, and restoring his 1946 Willys Jeep.

Besides his daughter, and his wife of 63 years, he is survived by sons Charles Jr. and Paul and four grandchildren. Mr. Hough's brother died in 2014.

A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 2, in the Community Center auditorium at Foulkeways at Gwynedd, 1120 Meetinghouse Rd., Gwynedd. Burial will be private.

Contributions may be made to the Plymouth Monthly Meeting, 2150 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. 19436.

bcook@phillynews.com

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